Matter of Time: A Workplace Romance

by M. E. Carter

  “What do you want to do?”

  Isn’t that the million-dollar question? “I have no idea. It seemed like a good idea, starting college without any direction. I don’t have to decide on a major for the first two years so I figured I’d try it out and see if I got any clarity. But all I can see is the deadline to declare looming in the distance. I’ll probably end up working at the bar for the rest of my life.”

  “There’s no shame in working there forever,” she says kindly and it makes me love her all the more. Or like. Or crush. Hell, I don’t even know. The last time I had feelings remotely close to this, I was in high school and crushing on a girl named Melissa. This feels so much more intense than that.

  “We’ll see.” I know it’s a non-answer, but I need to quit with the pity party. I’m taking the girl of my dreams out to lunch. I should be on cloud nine right now. “This is the place,” I say changing subjects and pull the door open for her to walk in.

  We get in line and Nicole’s eyes take in the small, café-like area. There are the standard open coolers for pre-made food and snacks, and a large fridge full of bottled drinks. One of the counters is set up with a clear sneeze guard you can see through as you decide if you want soup and which one. Behind that is where several students in the work program do all the cooking. They serve everything from fried cheese to pizza to burgers and nachos. I’m surprised it’s not busier this time of day. Then again, it is almost one. The lunch crowd is probably just thinning out.

  “You said soup and sandwich, right?”

  “If that’s what you’re craving. The whole menu is on that giant chalkboard except for the pre-made food.”

  Nicole looks around and I swear she hasn’t stopped smiling since we walked in.

  “I guess this will do for you?”

  “What?” She looks at me blankly before her thoughts catch up with her. “Oh. Sorry. Yes.”

  I furrow my brow. “What are you thinking?”

  “Just about how nice it is to be back on campus. I mean, I don’t go here yet or anything, but I really love college. I love the vibe and the people and things like this—a random café where I can get anything I want to eat at whatever time of day. I miss it.”

  “So, you’re into learning?”

  She twists her lips and thinks for a moment. “I like new experiences. I don’t mind the learning, but college life is so much more than just learning in the classroom. Does that sound strange?”

  I shake my head because it doesn’t. At all. If anything, it makes me more intrigued. I keep that thought to myself, though.

  “Then it’s a good thing you’re going back.”

  “Yeah,” she says quietly and looks back at me. “Yeah, I think you’re right. Thank you for bringing me here, Kade. This is just what I needed today.”

  My chest swells with unnecessary pride. I’m not the one cooking. “I hope their food lives up to your expectations.”

  “Next!” the cashier yells. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

  I order my normal baked potato soup with a turkey melt sandwich and side of fried pickles, because everyone should always get fried pickles. Nicole goes with all the unhealthy food—chicken tenders, fries, and a side of fried cheese. I like that she didn’t pick a salad. She, on the other hand, does not like when I pay for both our lunches.

  “No, Kade!” She tries to snatch my credit card away but it’s too late. It’s already in the machine. “I know how much you make and you need to save your money.”

  “You also know I recently got a small raise at work and how tips are going lately, so you know one lunch isn’t going to kill my budget.” Not that I really have one. I don’t exactly have a hopping social life.

  She finally gives up on her resistance when the card machine beeps and she realizes there’s no going back now. “Well thank you. That was really nice of you.”

  “It’s not a problem.” I can feel myself getting uncomfortable with her compliment so I go for distraction. “Where would you like to sit?”

  “Um, can we find a spot by the window? I like people watching.”

  “I knew that about you.” I guide her through the maze of tables to find what she’s looking for. “You did a lot of sitting and observing in your spot at the bar.”

  Nicole makes a quick detour to grab some napkins and utensils from the small counter while we chat. “I didn’t know anyone noticed.”

  “Oh, I noticed.” I grimace and tilt my chin down. Just when we were finally getting past the awkwardness, I go and say something like that. “I mean, it’s hard not to notice when someone is there every night. You were kind of like a regular.”

  Done. I think I saved myself. At least I hope I did. Nicole doesn’t seem to have any physical reaction to my faux pas and she hasn’t run away screaming so I think I’m good.

  “It worked in my favor though.” She slides into a chair at a small table right next to the large window. “I already knew half the customers when I started and what their drink of choice is.”

  “This is true.” Slinging my backpack over my chair, I join her. “Not that it’s hard to remember Dwayne is either going to drink water or an Apple Pie ale.”

  “Yeah, that one is pretty easy.” She takes a breath, and that awkward silence is back. I hate this part. I don’t typically have problems conversing with people, although I don’t go out of my way to talk to just anyone. But Nicole is different and consequently, I’m overthinking. I just don’t want to say anything wrong when I’m with her. The crazy part is, I don’t even know what wrong would be. I just know I don’t want to do it.

  At least we can stick to one topic while we wait for our food.

  “Since the semester already started, how are you going to register for classes?”

  I swear Nicole breathes a sigh of relief at the topic change. I can’t help but wonder if that means she’s feeling the same anxiety I am. Which would be weird since she’s just about perfect and I can’t think of anything she could say that would sound strange to me.

  “I’m not sure I’m totally ready for this much, I don’t know… time in public I guess. Working is one thing. I’m comfortable there. But being here? Let’s just say it took me a couple hours to get enough nerve to come to campus by myself.”

  That makes me sad for her. And yet, I admire how strong she is. She powered through and accomplished her goal. There’s something to be said for that.

  “How do you feel now that you’re here?”

  She thinks for a moment before answering. “Proud of myself, for one.”

  “As you should be.”

  Nicole flashes me a quick smile and continues. “I think I’m ready. Maybe. They have a few of those rapid evening classes I want to try. It’s like an entire semester’s worth of class squeezed into three weeks. I figure if I can make it through that with no issue, I can consider taking a regular class or two next semester.”

  “Can I just make one suggestion?” I offer. She nods in response. “If you can get into that rapid Economics class, do it. It’ll suck but three days a week I spend an hour and a half wishing to get the flu or something so I don’t have to be there.”

  Nicole giggles and it’s possibly the most attractive sound I’ve ever heard. “I’ll do just that, thank you.”

  Our food finally arrives and we spend the rest of our time eating instead of talking. But this time the silence isn’t awkward at all, it’s comfortable. I like it. It seems we’ve come a long way already.

  Chapter Seven

  Nicole

  “I took the liberty of calling you lovely ladies an Uber and it’s waiting for you. You ready to go?”

  I strain my ears to listen as Kade navigates his way through an awkward conversation with a bunch of drunk bridesmaids who’ve had way too much to drink tonight. Or at least I assume they’re bridesmaids. The t-shirts that have the words “I’m with the bride” written in a very strategic location across their chests were the first indicator they came here for a bachelorette
party.

  The second indicator was the massive amount of shots they ordered and consumed.

  “You’re so cute,” one particularly cute bridesmaid slurs as she runs her finger down Kade’s chest. “You’re like a big teddy bear. I just wanna cuddle you.”

  Having lost all her inhibitions, she wraps her arms around his midsection and tries to settle in. I wonder if she’s right about what it’s like to hug him. I hate that she’s finding out but I’m not.

  I continue to take glances up while I work, watching as Kade quickly, yet gently removes her arms from him and helps her steady herself on her own two feet.

  “Thank you, you’re sweet. Let’s get you guys out of here.”

  “I have my car. But where are my keys?” someone else asks and begins digging through her purse. She finds what she’s looking for and holds them up in the air. “Here they is… are… is? What’s the word?”

  Kade gently pulls the keys from her hand. “Thank you for finding these for me.” She looks at him, confused and likely having already forgotten what they were talking about. “I’ll keep these for you until tomorrow and then you can come get them.”

  “But what will I do with my car?” She hiccups right in his face. He doesn’t even flinch.

  “I’m going to take care of it for you.”

  “But I can drive,” she tries unsuccessfully to argue.

  “But I would feel so sad if something happened to you. And I want you to get home safe so you can come back another day.”

  A huge smile breaks out on the bridesmaid’s face and suddenly all the women are following Kade outside, telling him how much fun they had and how nice he is. He just keeps it moving, never once getting annoyed or upset by the extra effort, and likely forgotten tips.

  Lots of men pretend to care about the well-being of others, but I’ve never known anyone like Kade who just does it without a second thought.

  It’s so sexy.

  “Hey,” Kiersten says as she eases up next to me and grabs a bucket of long necks. “What’s got you so deep in thought tonight?”

  I could tell her I’ve been eavesdropping on our coworker, but I’m not going to. She’d just interfere and my growing attraction to Kade is one thing I need to figure out on my own. So, I lie.

  “Nothing. Just feeling kind of mellow. How is my wonderful nephew anyway?”

  “Oh, I didn’t tell you!” She leans against the shelves to settle in. This must be good. “The other day Carson asked if Paul was his daddy.”

  My eyes widen in shock. The issue of Carson’s parentage is a hard one to discuss with a four-year-old. How do you say “Well, your daddy died before you were born, but it turns out he was living a double life and wasn’t the nicest of men”? You don’t. You sort of sit back and wait for him to ask questions and hope you can come up with a good answer on the fly.

  I grip her arm. “And? What did you say?”

  “I asked if he wanted Paul to be his daddy and when he nodded, Paul almost burst into tears.”

  I put my hands over my heart. I can’t help it. It might explode from all the sweetness.

  “So, from here on out,” she continues, “Paul is Carson’s daddy and no one can tell him otherwise.”

  “Kiersten that is so amazing.”

  She nods sweetly. “It really is. It’s just hard to wrap my mind around the fact that two years ago, I had resigned myself to raising him all alone and just did my best to surround him with good people who loved him. And now here we are, with Carson getting the best dad ever.”

  “You know this means you need to start working on number two, right?”

  She rears back like I’ve slapped her. “Hell no. Carson is enough of a handful. Let’s wait until he’s sleeping in his own bed first before we talk about adding another to the mix.”

  I’ll give her that, even though it probably means I won’t have another niece or nephew to spoil until Carson is a teenager.

  Chuckling to myself, I turn to greet the customer that just sat down. “Hi, what can I get… Mom?”

  “Hello, Nicole.”

  It feels almost like an out-of-body experience seeing her here. The last time I saw my mother was when she left me at the hospital over a year ago. We’ve talked on the phone, mostly about gossip and her country club and other shallow things, but there’s definitely a rift between us.

  “Wha-what are you doing here?”

  She completes her assessment of the bar and is obviously unimpressed. “Since my daughters never come to see me, I thought I’d take time out of my schedule to come see them at this… establishment… instead.”

  I want to yell at her that the last time I saw her, she was kicking me while I was down. But she’s my mom and I’m not sure how to stand up for myself without being disrespectful. And maybe there’s still a tiny bit of hope that she’s here to apologize.

  “It’s a long drive. Can I get you something to drink?”

  “You wouldn’t happen to have a white wine spritzer do you?”

  “Not that I’ve ever seen. But I do have white wine.”

  She huffs, probably irritated with the nervous shakiness in my hands from seeing her. I could say I don’t care, but that’s untrue. Is she sorry she left me at my lowest point? Does she believe me now? Does she want to fix things between us? A million thoughts run through my mind.

  “I guess that’ll do.”

  I grab the chardonnay out of the fridge and grab a wine glass to begin pouring. Thank goodness Kiersten finally notices mom at this point because I’m at a loss as to what to do next.

  With a saccharine sweet smile on her face, Kiersten leans on the counter and rests her chin on her fist. “Mom. What brings you here a week early?”

  Our mother practically sneers at her, their relationship tumultuous at best. “Honestly Kiersten, do you have to be so rude?”

  “That depends on the answer to my question,” Kiersten responds without batting an eyelash. I just quietly place the drink in front of our mother and back away, letting them hash this out.

  Mom responds by taking a sip of her wine, clearly making my sister wait for an answer. This is the game they’ve played with each other for years. Or at least since Kiersten stopped trying to make her happy and went about her life without worrying about parental approval. Me? I haven’t gotten to that point yet. I’m still hoping to have a better relationship with her.

  Placing the glass back on the counter, Mom finally answers Kiersten.

  “I was going to be here next week but plans changed when Jeremy informed me he was coming this way and offered me a ride to the hotel.”

  Jeremy? My Jeremy? Er, my EX Jeremy? There’s no way.

  My heart begins to race as I watch my biggest nightmare begin to unfold before my eyes.

  “I suggested we stop here first on the off chance either of you is working and so here I am. With both of you.”

  The door opens and he walks in, all swagger and money, like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Every step he takes closer to the bar is another step backward I take until I have nowhere else to go. I’m right up against the shelves staring at the man who claimed he loved me and then used his fists to prove he was a liar.

  Kiersten turns to see me backed up in panic, likely sporting a terrified look on my face. “That’s him, isn’t it?”

  It takes everything in me to nod. I don’t even think I’m breathing anymore. That, combined with my heart racing with adrenaline and I think I’m going to pass out. What is he doing here? How did he find me? Did she tell him where I was? Is he going to come after me again?

  I feel like a cornered animal, with nothing but the anticipation of his fist in my face to keep me company.

  Kiersten immediately whips back around to confront our mom. “How dare you bring him here? He is not welcome.”

  My mother barely blinks, completely unflappable by Kiersten’s tone. “I have spoken to Jeremy at length and he assures me none of what Nicole said is true. But he loves her so much
he wanted to come and work out their misunderstanding.”

  “Misunderstanding?” Kiersten roars. “Did you even see the bruises? Did you get the hospital bill?”

  “I did, but I refused to pay it. I won’t condone lies like that.”

  They continue to argue but my eyes are on Jeremy. He’s smiling at me. To anyone else, it would look sincere. But I’ve seen that look before and it’s anything but genuine. He knows exactly what he’s doing by being here. He may have lost me, but he’s making sure I know he hasn’t lost control of me. That he will come in and out of my life however he wants and will even sacrifice the last of my relationship with my mother to do it.

  My hands continue to shake and I grab a random corkscrew off the counter, holding it in front of me. It’s not much of a weapon but right now I have no idea what else to do. He was ballsy enough to show his face here, will he be ballsy enough to try to get over the counter to me? I just don’t know. I don’t know anything right now except terror.

  Kiersten continues to rant and it looks like her head might explode at any moment. “You need to leave,” she finally yells, completely ignoring the fact that our customers all seem to be paying attention to the commotion now. “Get out. Now. Both of you.”

  Jeremy takes a step forward but Kade, who I didn’t notice before, moves to the front of the bar, blocking his line of sight. “You may have noticed the sign that says we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.” Kade’s voice is strong and steady. “We’ve never had to enforce that rule, but there’s a first time for everything. Tonight is the night. Please leave.”

  My eyes dart back and forth between my mother’s face and Kade’s back. I’ve never heard him say anything but kind words so he must be really angry. For whatever reason, it makes me feel the tiniest bit more calm. I know he’s several inches shorter than my ex-boyfriend and he doesn’t work out, but somehow, I feel like Kade would fight to the death for me.

  Jeremy tries to move to the side, but Kade steps the same way, blocking him again.