by Kaci Hart
She walked behind the greeters station and slipped her shoes momentarily off. Normally she didn’t like pulling double duty as a waitress and the greeter but today her feet hurt so much, she considered the large enclosure as a blessing. Right then all she wanted was to reach down and massage her feet that were screaming at her after the showcase earlier. This rut was getting very old very fast.
It had to be Friday. Only the busiest day of the week at the restaurant. Fridays and Saturdays made more for her in tips than she made on almost all of the other weeknights combined and rent was due in a few days. She was just barely able to cover her half and if the past few times she spoke to Sasha were any indication, Chelsea was going to have to find a way to supplement her unemployed roommate’s portion of the rent as well. Again.
God, why is life so hard?
As quickly as she started to pity herself, she shook it off in typical Chelsea fashion. She’d already started formulating how she was going to beg the landlord for an extension on their rent this month when a group of men walked in. They were making their way to the greeters station, smiles on all of their faces. They stood in a circle, talking and shaking hands. Chelsea slid her aching feet into her shoes and walked to the middle of the greeters station. They were so into their conversation that no one even noticed her. She raised her voice slightly so that they could hear her.
“Do you all have a reservation?”
Bunch of happy suits. Must be a celebration. I just might be lucky enough to make rent this month after all.
The group must have finally noticed her with that and they quieted down. They all seemed to defer to the guy who was standing closest to the station with his back to her. While she waited for him to respond, she did a quick size up of the group. Party of eight. By the time she got done counting their party, her eyes made their way back to the guy.
Come on buddy, let’s get this show on the road. A girl has rent to p…
The thought trailed off when she saw the face that was watching her with understandable surprise on his face. It was impossible. Well maybe not so much impossible since he was standing right there looking at her almost as confused as she felt.
It was Ryder.
She was sure that the smile on her face conveyed just how happy she was to see him again. Her heart was practically pounding out of her chest in excitement. She hadn’t forgotten about him at all but New York City was a big place to say the least. When she ran off on him over eight hours ago, she never expected to see him again. Apparently this day had totally different expectations than she did.
Okay now it’s official. This day is not allowed to end. Ever.
***
Okay, not expected.
Ryder didn’t say anything for at least a few seconds. He blinked his eyes to make sure that they weren’t playing tricks on him like some weird movie scene. Nope. It was her again. She’d left him sitting in his car hours ago and he’d have gone inside after her if he didn’t have to close up a big deal today. He had no choice but to let her run off. The timing just wasn’t there earlier. He’d planned on maybe going back another day when he had more time and waiting for her to show up. He was the type to make his own luck but today was a mixed bag. If the timing earlier was bad, this was horrible.
The worst part about it was the look on her face when she recognized him. That sucked more than he could imagine. Sure, he wanted to smile and talk with her. Finish the promising little meeting that they’d had before but he and his father were entertaining a client. Among many things, his father was a good man but one of his pet peeves was mixing business with pleasure. No way, no how. It was never to happen at Chatham Holdings.
Yes, they were out with clients but that was to close a deal. That was not an issue. Flirting with a pretty girl he’d met earlier in the day simply because he liked her was different. Unless, of course, he could get a way for her to increase the bottom line of the company while taking their dinner order, any other conversation was not going to be acceptable to his dad right now.
Whether he liked it or not, he had to treat her like she was only another waitress to him right now. Hopefully she’d see his predicament and understand. His father leaned forward and put a hand on his shoulder while speaking softly in his ear.
“Ryder what’s the problem son; girl got you tongue tied? I understand but get it together. We have a guest and don’t have all night.”
His head bobbed up and down. His dad was right. It did suck that he was ignoring her for work twice in one day but he was there for a reason.
Sorry Chelsea.
Ryder had made up his mind what to do. Placing his closed hand over his mouth he cleared his throat and responded.
“Excuse me. Party of eight for Chatham.”
He looked at her eyes. She looked at him like she was waiting for more.
“I’m sorry. There is a reservation for us, right?”
He saw her look away from him, her face showed her astonishment as she looked down.
“Oh yes. I see your reservation right here. Is everyone here?”
“Yes.”
“Then right this way.”
Moments later his group was being seated in a secluded dining room in the back of the restaurant.
Oh great, she’s going to be our waitress too!
Any other time, it would have been the biggest stroke of luck. That night it wasn’t. That night, all he could do was keep himself as focused on work as possible. Regardless, after she had taken everyone’s drink order, she walked out and he watched her leave. He was glad she was so professional about it but he felt like a complete coward.
“Great job there Casanova. Now let’s get this thing going,” his friend teased.
As he got things started, Ryder promised himself that he would go back out there and talk to her at the first chance he got. A bathroom run should suffice. The important thing now was the task at hand-- bringing this deal to a close. It was worth too much to the company for him to slack off then because of a woman even if he had been thinking about her in the back of his mind from the very first moment she shared her beauty with him.
***
So what. They probably don’t even know that he knows me. I shouldn’t feel embarrassed.
But she did. She was excited to see him again and he treated her like a complete stranger. So moneybag was too good to talk to the waitress. Chelsea waited until he started to walk into the conference room before she looked up at him again, instead dutifully taking their orders. Obviously they were there for a business meeting of some sort. She guessed by the fact that he was wearing his same suit from before that he hadn’t been home – wherever that was—since she’d seen him that morning. The only difference was that he’d undone his top button and taken his tie off. Different look, same result.
Best looking guy ever.
As she looked back into the conference room she saw a group of men who were no doubt all very well off. Even in this relaxed setting among several other men, most of whom she admitted were attractive in their own right, he was still dashing. He easily stood head and shoulders above them all. When she grabbed their drinks from the bartender, she put them on a serving tray and took them to he and his associates. Inside the conference room she placed everyone’s drink in front of them, taking care to save his for last. She looked him in his eyes and smiled slightly as she placed the final drink before him Nothing. Just as she got ready to leave, he spoke.
“Wait.”
When she heard him call out, her heart skipped a beat. She turned back to him.
“Yes sir.”
“Thank you for the round. Please keep them coming.”
She saw that he had reached into his pocket and pulled out a very generous tip that he placed in the palm of her hand. Without any other acknowledgement he immediately turned his attention back to one of the other men in the room who seemed to be excited about some new feature they were testing for top accounts. She felt like an imbecile just standing there. She didn�
��t really care about that though. She was just upset.
“Of course. I’ll check on you a little later.”
Over the next fifteen minutes she was so busy stealing glances at him through the floor to ceiling glass wall that she messed up three different orders, one unforgivably so. It would be a fair approximation to say that she was irritated with his lack of acknowledgement towards her.
Wave. Wink. Use sign language, I really don’t care. Just give me something!
By now she had given him multiple chances and plenty of time to at least acknowledge her and what did he do? Nothing but act like the most stuck up guy in the world.
So that was it. She was right about him earlier. If he couldn’t even acknowledge that he knew her, then he was really more like the guy that took the phone call and less like the one whose coffee mug was sitting in her dishwasher at home. She didn’t know if she wanted much to do with a guy like that.
She tore her gaze away from him one last time. She was done with it for the night. There was no way she was going to face him in that room with his buddies while he served her another round of world class humiliation. She walked over to another member of the wait staff that was on duty that night.
“Alex, I need a break. I know it’s hard enough to handle your tables alone on nights like tonight and you know I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t really have to. I have to leave for a little bit.”
He looked at her as if she was joking.
“Are you serious? I can’t. I can’t. You know how much I love you Chelsea but I cannot. Did I mention that I can’t hand…“
She interrupted him, waving the folded up green bill Ryder put in her hand just moments before in front of him.
“I got this for the first round, and they just got here.” She saw his eyes light up. “Did I forget to disclose that they are great tippers?”
“Great tippers, you say? Well why didn’t you just lead with what matters. That was very relevant info. Have they ordered yet and when will you be back? I still need to take a break tonight. I definitely have to eat something because I have been running all day.”
“Honestly Alex, I’m not going anywhere but in the back. I’d appreciate it if you come get me when dining room A is gone, okay? I know one of the guys in there and don’t really feel like serving him.”
“Man issues, huh?”
She managed a weak smile and nodded her head.
“Yep.”
“Then don’t worry about it Chelsea. Plus, more money for me.”
“Thanks, I owe you.”
“If they tip like you said, we’ll call it even. Either way, I’ll come get you when they leave.”
She walked towards the back when she heard him call out to her.
“Hey. Weren’t you running the greeters station too?”
She nodded to him in silence, hoping that it wasn’t a deal breaker. She smiled when he shook his head and repeated softly several times.
“Big tippers. . . big tippers . . . big tippers . . .” He looked at her briefly. “Just go.”
She didn’t hesitate. When she got to the door to the kitchen, she turned around and watched Alex hurry to the conference room, motivated by the thought of making a nice tip. Chelsea thought she noticed Ryder look around when Alex went into the room instead of her.
Oh, so you want to look for me now? A little late buddy.
It didn’t matter. All he had done that night was confirm her suspicions. He was still working and still too busy to take time to say hello. He played interested well enough but when the rubber met the road, there was more to it than good intentions. He didn’t take the time to say hello so she wouldn’t make the effort to say goodbye.
Chapter 3
While so many people loved New York’s notorious pizza scene, Chelsea was on the hot dog band wagon. Not that pizza wasn’t good because she loved a good slice of brick oven pizza but there was nothing like biting into a juicy hot dog that was layered in all kinds of everything. And for Chelsea, everything meant everything. That’s why even though she would enjoy a hot dog from quite a few establishments in the city, her absolute favorite was from La Perrada De Chalo. That’s exactly where she was at the moment and she was having lunch with her best friend, Ava.
Inside the restaurant, the two of them were protected from the harsh temperatures outside, though Chelsea hadn’t noticed the weather so much today. She was still thinking about her interactions with Ryder from the day before and had come to the conclusion that if even a super perro combo couldn’t take her mind off of him, she was in trouble. She couldn’t help it though.
One minute he was prince charming, asking for her number. The next time she saw him, he was working his hardest to pretend that they barely even spoke the same language. It was strange. And stupid. Definitely stupid. Out of routine she smiled and nodded her head at Ava who had been going non-stop for the past few minutes about something or the other.
Ava was one of those people that always seemed to be amped up. Like she was getting an intravenous supply of caffeine, energy drink, and adrenaline constantly being pumped into her. The funny part was that Chelsea had never seen her drink any of them. She always had a hard time fathoming how one human being could talk and have as much energy as Ava and not be getting an assist of some sort. Chelsea had always said to herself that if this was her best friend in normal mode, she definitely didn’t want to see her in red-bull-gives-you-wings mode.
Normally, Chelsea would sit and quietly listen as long Ava talked. Even when she found herself completely uninterested in what Ava had to say--but not today. Now she was tired of pretending to be listening. She had a lot on her mind herself and at the first break for breath, she interrupted in with news she was pretty sure would catch Ava’s attention.
“I met a guy,” She just blurted it out, like she didn’t believe it herself.
Maybe she was caught off guard but Ava didn’t have any words. It was like she was trying to decipher what she’d just heard and it didn’t make sense. When the inner workings of her mind caught up to her mouth, she kicked into high gear.
“A guy? Like as in a human man? When? Where? How? And it better had just happened when I was in the bathroom washing my hands otherwise since we have been here for over twenty-five minutes, why am I just finding out?”
Chelsea smiled. Many times she’d thought that Ava was in the completely wrong line of work. She’d have made her become a reporter because, better than any interview she’d ever seen, Ava could always ask the right questions. Even more impressive was that she could do it in less time than it took the normal person to count to twenty.
“Yesterday morning and don’t look at me like that. I know I should have told you but I had the whole showcase and work and so much was on my mind. The guy is like dreamy attractive and . . . I don’t know . . . I felt this strange connection when we talked.”
Ava nodded her head in apparent approval. Of course as a good best friend, Ava would probably be happy any time Chelsea told her about a guy. It had been forever since Chelsea had even made mention of a guy to Ava.
“Well good for you Chello. Been too long that you haven’t had a good ol’ fashion date with a guy. You know, dinner and a movie or whatever. I’m glad for you. And from the looks on your face, you really like this guy. Too bad you didn’t meet him at the beginning of the month so you could get a Valentine’s Dinner. Don’t forget my motto when it comes to boyfriends. They are most useful when they are buying you gifts, taking you to dinner and just generally making you feel beautiful.”
“First of all, only you can get away with calling me a musical instrument all the time. Secondly, that’s a little narrow minded, don’t you think Ava?”
“Definitely, and that’s how you need to think Chello. How do you think I got Ben? I was picky. I had standards. But look at you defending this man you met barely twenty-four little hours ago. I hope you haven’t gone off the deep end already. No babies in diapers shooting pink arrows at you right?” Her frie
nd teased her sarcastically.
“Really Ava? This is me we are talking about and you know that I’m not the love at first sight girl. I’m still seeing what life has for me but he’s definitely the type of guy that could make me think twice about that. Or at least I thought he was.”
Her friend gave her a tentative look that said explain and do it carefully.
“So I did meet him yesterday morning when we literally bumped into each other on the street. I was already running pretty close to late so he offered to take me to the school in . . . his limo.”
“His limo?! Okay, even I like him now.”
“Yeah well just reserve your opinion until my story is done. So we ride over and everything is fine. We joke, we laugh. He gives me the whole I’m into you but don’t want to say it look. Then he has to take a call that lasted too long. I had to run inside. I heard him asking for my number when I went inside but I couldn’t stop. I guess that I was hoping he would have come inside or wait for me or something but that didn’t happen. I thought I’d never see him again.”
