Tale 1: War of the Protector

Chapter 3

“Order’s up, Lily!”

I made my way to the small window behind the counter, where you could look into the kitchen. “I got more for you, Jeff.” I placed more orders up and grabbed the dish waiting for me.

The 40-year-old well-rounded man sighed. “I hate being so busy an hour to close.”

I smiled at him. “I know. You’ve told me many times before.”

He continued grumbling about something as I took my dish to its designated table. “Hey Lily,” Nancy said. She was a regular customer. Every night at seven the bell on the door would ring and Nancy would prance in.

She was young, with two kids and an ex-husband. Once or twice she mentioned before that her father had always brought her to the diner as a kid, so I guess it brought the good memories.

“Hi Nancy,” I said, smiling. I set down the plate and glanced around at my other tables. Everyone seemed set, so I turned back to Nancy for a nice chat. I liked talking to her to pass time. She was good at talking. “How was work?”

She sighed. “Tiring, as usual.”

Nancy was a secretary for a nearby elementary school. She sometimes didn’t enjoy it. Kids weren’t exactly her favorite, and being stuck alone with two at home sometimes drove her crazy.

“How’s the boyfriend?” she asked.

I rolled my eyes. She referred to Ryan as “the boyfriend” because she’d seen him pick me up a total of three times. And she just loved teasing me. “He’s fine,” I said. “He got me into detention today, though.”

She laughed. “How cute. I miss being young, when flirting was harmless.”

“What makes you think it was flirting?”

“Oh please. I wasn’t even there, and I know that you guys were flirting. You’re teenagers for Pete’s sake. Has he made a move yet?”

Typical Nancy. “No. And he’s not going to.”

“It’s obvious he likes you. I’m surprised he’s still waiting. It’s been what, a year since I knew he existed? And you say that this has been going on for years!”

“Nothing has been going on,” I said. “He’s a friend.”

Nancy scoffed. “Please, from the way he was looking at you the last time I saw him, he’s completely smitten.”

“Sure he is.”

Whatever Nancy was going to respond with was cut off by Jeff, calling that my orders were up.

“This isn’t over!” Nancy called with a laugh as I walked away.

......

It was close to closing time. Nancy had left a little bit ago. It was just me, Jeff, and a straggling pair of customers who were just finishing up their dinner. It was Thursday night, so you could sense Jeff and I’s surprise at the big group that crashed through the doors five minutes to closing.

Jeff groaned and I sighed. I was looking forward to going home on time. I still had homework to do.

I counted heads and grabbed eleven menus. I greeted the rowdy high school group and waited patiently as they took five minutes to move tables and seats close together.

While they were busy I turned my head and caught Jeff’s eye. He laughed at my annoyed expression. He knew I hated waitressing my peers. Sometimes they recognized me and called me by name, and I didn’t like them using my name like they knew me. I also had to be polite to the people that annoyed me.