Wake Up Call

CHAPTER 10

Avery

After laying around for hours, unable to fall back to sleep, I finally crawl out of bed and give up on squeezing any last minute shut eye in. It's not happening.

I spent the rest of the night thinking about Jace after he left, and it did wonders to keep me awake.

Today should be fun...

Sauntering down the hallway, I knock on Jace's door. "Hey, are you awake?"

My heart pounds uncontrollably as I anticipate his response, that never comes.

"At least someone could sleep," I mumble to myself, while making my way to the kitchen.

My tired eyes somehow manage to seek out a blue post-it note on the fridge.

Be at work by ten. Don't be late.

-Jace

Crumpling the paper, I toss it into the trash in disbelief. I can't believe he left without waking me up. We always go to work at the same time, even when I don't have to start until a while after him.

Slightly annoyed by the shortness of his little note, I get dressed for work and call for a taxi, just ready to get this damn day over with.

On the way to the diner, I realize that I'm about two minutes away from being late, so I toss the driver the cash and hurriedly jump out of the vehicle, not wanting to disappoint Jace any more than I already have. Apparently.

Since he left without me this morning.

In a rush, I sprint over to the door, swing it open and run over toward the waitress station, accidently bumping into Jace's shoulder as he walks out from his office.

A bunch of papers scatter across the floor, causing Jace to look down at them while cursing under his breath.

"Get it together, please. Now all these orders are mixed up and we're already falling behind," he growls, while bending down to pick them up. "Just hurry and go find Stacy so we can catch up."

I get ready to bend down, but Jace grabs my arm, stopping me. His eyes meet mine, before quickly looking away. "Don't worry about it. I can get these," he says firmly. "Just hurry."

Great... good job.

Now, I've managed to upset him even more. Apparently, I'm good at pissing people off. "I'm sorry, Jace. I really didn't mean –"

"I said it's fine," he cuts in.

A hand grips my shoulder, causing me to jump. I turn behind me to see Stacy, wide eyed, and looking crazy panicked. I've never seen her look so crazy before. She looks almost... scary.

"Hurry, sweets," Stacy says. "We need to get busy. I'm so behind that I can barely think." She grabs my arm and starts pulling me behind her. "Throw your apron on. I'll let you grab the next table."

Instantly stressed out from the situation I've stumbled into, I grunt to myself and throw my apron on, before brushing past Stacy and over toward the window when I notice the back of a woman's head as she takes a seat in an empty booth.

Quickly, walking over to the booth, I pull out my pen and paper and prepare for my first customer of this crappy day. "My name is Avery, what can I-"

"I was hoping I'd get you."

I look down at the woman for the first time since I've walked over to greet her. It's the same damn woman that's been creeping me out since that day I waited on her.