Mr West

Chapter 16

Eliza

The minutes ticked by agonizingly slowly today. I was eager to see Marcel. I had searched the whole building looking for him this morning but he'd been MIA. When I finally did catch a glimpse of him during the breakfast rush he waved, grinned and winked. I mouthed "Lunch?" and he nodded, giving a thumbs up. At least I was sure we were still meeting up later. Throughout the morning I kept myself busy filling out orders, cleaning tables and sorting out the money. I was met with a few grouchy customers who complained about the timing of their meals. They liked the food to arrive in a set time so they could digest each item correctly. Whatever the heck that meant! I was oblivious to their snarky remarks and bad attitude. They looked down their noses at me, faces scrunched up as though there was a bad smell under their noses. Wouldn't surprise me if they could taste the perfume wafting from their chests with the amount they put on. That would certainly put me off my own food if I bathed in perfume, especially such awful, musty smelling perfume, like they did.

Marcel had escaped from tennis court duties after the breakfast rush when things were relatively calm. Most of the tennis players had escaped for showers and a quick lunch. There were only a handful left and the other employee, a string bean of a teen called Gavin, was on hand allowing Marcel to slip away. He came on by the kitchen, I was in the corner washing up. We had a chore chart, dividing up the chores fairly between the 10 kitchen staff.  My hands full of suds, Marcel had lumbered over and stood beside me. He told me everything he could and reassured me that he honestly didn't care about what anyone thought of him. He promised me he would always be there for me no matter what. I was touched. He explained in rushed tones that he and Dylan had never seen eye to eye. It wasn't new. But he said he didn't expect me to worry about it.

Once he left I was even more eager to see him. Alone he would be more willing, or so I hoped, to spill the beans. By the time lunch struck for myself and two other employees in the kitchen, I was excited to leave. The other two, Nathan and Clark had already left minutes before. He hadn't spoken to me the whole morning, not even smiled and he didn't say goodbye when he left. It did hurt that he was now shutting me out. But I brushed it off. I sighed and dried my hands on a dish towel, then untied my apron and hung it back on the hooks by the swinging doors leading into the dining room. I'd told Marcel I would meet him outside of the club, in the car park. It just seemed easier for us both, what with everyone not being keen on him. It was almost like we were hiding our friendship. I felt like a disobedient child hiding a relationship from my mum because she didn't like the boy. It was stupid, foolish really but I felt this was the only way to avoid any more disasters.

Throughout the day I had been given more warnings and told to keep away from Marcel. I had ignored their demands. It wasn't until Jimmy jumped on board the crazy ship that I became frustrated and snapped at him. He apologised quietly and I felt like a right bitch. I had to apologise back for being ratty with him. He said he understood but he just wished I'd understand that the employees here knew Marcel better than anyone. He said he was just as surprised as anyone that Marcel had changed tones so instantly with my arrival. He sensed something wasn't right about the immediate change and just begged me to be wary. I hugged him and promised I'd be careful. At least he wasn't screaming at me to stay away. He was being respectful of my wishes. He was being a friend.

I stepped into the elevator, pressed the button and stood back as the doors slid closed. When I reached my destination and the doors deftly slid open, I was met with a bright and smiley Marcel. My lips pulled up into a full smile. He was slouching against a wall, chewing gum and with a finger crooked he held his leather jacket over his shoulder. He looked all kinds of badass! He grinned when his eyes caught mine and pushed himself up, sauntering over to me.

"You ready?"

"Yep," I replied, popping the P.

He chuckled. Crooking his arm he waited for me to slide my own through. I giggled and linked arms with him and we strolled out of the building, heading straight for the nearest café.

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