Terrible Habits

Luke

"You wanna go out for food?" Jay asks, lounging on the couch, flipping through miscellaneous channels on the TV. He just came back from a full shift of workouts. Jay is a personal trainer at the gym down the road.

"Sure," I reply, finishing up on the computer before shutting.

"Quincy's?" he asks, flipping off the TV and jumping off the couch, as if the prospect of food suddenly rejuvenated him.

"Yeah, you drive?" Maybe Lenny will be working. I hate that that was the first thought to enter my mind.

"You get Sam this weekend?" he asks, shrugging his hoodie over his head as he grabs the keys.

"Still working on it," I respond, following him out the door. Missing a Saturday not visiting Sam isn't an option, with already so much turmoil in his life, he needs regularity, a schedule of when people are going to show up. That's something my mother sure as hell doesn't give him and I can't let him down like that.

Walking into Quincy's seemed wrong without Sam, though the smell of the burgers made my stomach ache. I lead Jay to a different booth than the one that Sam and I sit in, the one that my father and I used to sit in. It wouldn't feel right with someone else. I lean my head against the back of the booth, Jay looking at the menu when our waitress approaches us.

"Hi, um," the girl fumbled with the tray full of water, attempting not to spill anything and my face breaks out into a smile. "My name is Lenny and I'll be your server," her voice is shaky.

"Hi Lenny," I say and her eyes shoot up to mine, a small smile breaks across her face.

"Hi," she responds, clutching the tray to her side.

"How's the job?"

"Well I think Georgia is starting to realize she wasted her money on me," she says, placing her hands on her hips. "First week," she frowns slightly.

"You're doing great so far," I gesture towards the un-spilled water.

"Yeah, well you weren't here earlier, turns out you don't get great tips if you suck at this," she sighs and we make eye contact before I hear Jay clear his throat. "Right," she jumps. "Can I get you guys something else besides water?"

"Water's fine," Jay responds as Lenny fumbles with her pad of paper taking down his order. "I'll have the double with fries, no cheese." I watch as she sticks her tongue out a little on the side of her mouth as she writes furiously.

"Same, but with cheese," I say waiting for her to finish writing before handing her the menus.

"Coming right up," she smiles and spins to return to the register. My eyes don't leave her as she leans up against the monitor screen, until I feel something hit my face.

"What?" I ask.

"She's hot," he offers and I ignore him pulling out my phone. Hot, didn't cover it, she is beautiful.

It was an update from Morrissey asking if I had the files backed up from the Traynor file. I'm in the middle of typing a response when I hear laughing from the back of the restaurant. Jay is on a phone call, I'm guessing with the girl from the previous weekend, Katrina, something. I look up and notice a group of men at the back of the restaurant, looking at Lenny, gesturing towards her. I'm about to stand, about to address them when I see that she is talking to them. I hover and then sit back down and watch.

I try to make out their conversations but they are too far away. Finally, she turns her back towards them, anger and embarrassment evident on her face, but something tells me that she knows them. Once she is out of the way, I study the men, there are three of them, mid twenties, big, tall. The police officer in me is assessing the situation. The guy stands, throwing a bill on the table. The others walk towards the door when the leader of the three, walks towards Lenny, standing behind her, he puts his hands on her waist and whispers something in her ear before laughing and exiting the restaurant.