This is only half of the chapter. Hopfully I will post the rest soon.
Roses POV
"I never liked these uniforms." Zoe said, staring down at her waitress uniform. Zoe and I worked together at Rose's. "Sucks for you." I mumbled. She fake-slapped me. "Have some compassion." "Be nice to your boss who by the way influences your paycheck." She threw her hands up in the air."White flag, understood." We sat at one of the empty tables in Rose's, the local hang out place for after school studiers, overloaded babysitters, and at night, couples.
I looked out the window at the building across the street. Ryan was there somewhere, setting up for tomorrow."What am I gonna do, Zoe?" I asked. She looked at me with her all-knowing look."Just ask your parents. If they say yes, score. If they say no, go anyways and say you're coming over to my house." I made a sound in the back of my throat. Like I could lie to my Dad. I stood up."I'm gonna go ask, wish me luck." I sang.
Dad's office was in the back behind the kitchen where Mom worked as head chef. I knocked slowly on the thick wooden door."Enter." A muffled voice called. I walked in. Mom stood behind Dad, pointing to things on his computer screen while he sat in the big fancy chair behind the desk. "Hey, what's up?" Mom asked. I sat across the desk from Dad."Ryan asked me if I would like to go to his restaurant opening tomorrow night. I said I would ask." Dad peered over the rims of his glasses.
"I told you I didn't want you seeing him again." He said."And I told you to give him a chance." He straightened in his chair."You know what Rose, this could work for our advantage." I cocked my head."Excuse me?" Dad stood up and circled around."We could use you as our little fly on the wall in there. You can check the place out, see if it's a threat to us." "No," I objected, "I'm not gonna double cross Ryan that way. If you need a spy, hire one." "Rose, do you want to take over here when you graduate?" he asked. I looked down to my lap. "Of course." I whispered."Then you will do this. At some point you have to learn that this business takes sacrifices." I closed my eyes.
"Mom, I can't do this." I said. She sighed."Honey, I know it feels wrong. But this is our life's work, we need to take precautions to keep it all on track. Don't think of it as deceiving him, think of this as you critiquing his place and then giving us your reviews." I flashed her a glare. "If I do this, I won't be proud of it." Dad smiled."You will be one day when Rose's is mass producing and they're opening up across the oceans. It'll be because of your dedication." He pet my head like I was his dog.
Maybe to him, I was. I sat in my car after my shift was over, debating. Do I tell him yes or no and for what reason do I tell him yes or no? I pressed call."Hey Rose." Ryan answered. I smiled at the sound of his voice. "Hi, um, I can go with you tomorrow."
