"Whoa, girl," Jamel said holding his arms out to catch me as I came barreling into the kitchen.
A hiccup escaped and I swallowed back the sob that followed it.
"That was brutal in there but it could have been worse. At least Lisa came to the rescue." Jamel patted my back and hugged me.
I didn't want Jamel to know how incredibly cheap I was. I couldn't tell him these tears were because I'd become a rich guys dirty little secret. Not because some mean bitch had dumped food all over me in front of a room full of people.
"Get back out there Jam. We need more servers on the floor. I'll talk to Jennie," Shan said as he walked into the kitchen.
Jamel hugged me hard one more time then frowned over at Shan before taking his tray and heading for the door. "You be nice to my girl," Jamel said as he passed Shan.
Shan didn't reply. Instead he studied me. I figured this was it. The big "it's your fault so you can leave now" moment.
"I go to the trouble of warning you about Somi and it isn't even Lisa's fault a jealous bitch attacked you," Shan growled and shook his head in disgust. "I'm sorry, Jennie. This one is all on me. I wasn't expecting that from her. She's the crazy exgirlfriend I can't seem to shake."
He wasn't firing me? I leaned back on the counter behind me to take a deep breath.
"Due to the drama, I don't want you back out there. You can stay in here and help prepare trays though. I'll make sure you make the same amount as you would have made out there."
"Thank you. But can I change?" I asked, needing to get the snail off of me.
Shan smiled, "Yeah. Go get one of the cart girl outfits from the office. We have all our extra server uniforms in use tonight."
I pushed off from the counter and headed for the door.
"Take your time. We are fine in here if you need a break," Shan called out as I exited the kitchen.
Lisa and Somi stood in the hallway in what looked like a heated argument when I walked out. Somi shot her icy glare my way. I could see the frustration in Lisa's expression. I was only causing him grief. I didn't care to see this. They could have their family quarrel and get over it. After tonight, I should have enough money to move out. Tomorrow I would find a place because sleeping under Lisa's roof was going to be impossible. I turned and opened the door leading outside.
"Jennie, wait," Lisa called out.
"Let her go, Lisa," Somi demanded.
"I can't," he replied.
The door closed behind me and I tried to block out what I'd heard. I didn't need to think or even consider that Lisa would fight for me.
The door swung open and Lisa came running out of it. "Jennie, please wait. Talk to me," he begged.
I stopped and watched as he ran over to stand in front of me. I had nothing to say to him. I'd said it all.
"I'm sorry. But you're wrong; I didn't ignore you in there. Go ask anyone. My eyes never left you. If there was any question in anyone's mind how I felt about you, the fact I couldn't look away from you while you walked around that room should have answered it." He paused and ran his hand over his hair, and muttered a curse. "Then I saw the look on your face when you saw Jisoo with Vic. Something inside me was ripped open. I didn't know what you were thinking but I knew you were realizing the wrongness of tonight. You should have never been there serving everyone. You should have been by my side. I wanted you beside me. I was strung so damn tight waiting on anyone to make a wrong move toward you that I forgot to breathe most of the time."
