My bottom lip dropped open again.
“Now, back to work, slacker. Time is money. Especially for you,” he demanded and then dove into his work like I didn’t exist anymore.
I eventually closed my mouth and fought for control of my motor functions. When my eyesight had cleared so that I could actually see what was in front of me, I followed his example and buried myself in the work he gave me. I resented this debt he believed I owed him, but right now anything was better than giving Fin more of my attention. I needed a distraction, and it was hard to find a better one than thoroughly Facebook-stalking ten people I didn’t know.
I wiggled my fingers greedily and then opened another Internet tab.
Sometimes being a girl sucked, like when every instinct inside of me demanded I obsess over every word, look and touch from the gorgeous boy sitting right next to me. But sometimes being a girl was awesome, like when I got to unleash the hungry gossip-hunting bloodhound drooling over the profile pictures of people I didn’t know spread out before me like a Thanksgiving feast.
Chapter Five
“So how was it?” Britte asked from behind me.
“You’re late,” I whirled around with my arms full of plastic menus all shiny and clean from the the rag that was now tucked into the pocket of my hostess apron.
She shushed me with a meaningful glare and a quick glance around for our manager Ty. “I fell asleep on top of my laptop while writing a paper. Do I still have the imprint of the keyboard on my face?” She turned her head and sure enough there were faint little red boxes where her cheek had been smooshed against her keyboard. They went from chin to temple and broke up her flawless, tanned complexion with cute little reminders she was up way too late last night finishing homework.
“This isn’t some weird euphemism for sex is it?” I asked with a sly glance. “Did you finally hook up with your chem partner?”
She snorted and rubbed at her cheek again. “I wish.”
Britte reached behind me for the apron she kept stashed in the hostess stand. After we met last orientation and decided to become lifelong besties…. well after we decided we couldn’t be separated and the likelihood we would never find anyone we could tolerate better became clear…. we both applied for a job at Baileys, an Applebees type establishment with a happy hour designed for college students and a healthy kids menu that kept family’s coming back to the downtown restaurant. It wasn’t too far from school, and most of the employees were fellow students. Ty, our manager, worked easily around our school schedule and was really nice about last minute days off. It didn’t pay anything and tips were average on the best of days, but I got to work with Britte, my brothers avoided the place and there was a small hope that once I turned twenty-one in a month, I would be promoted from hostess to server and my take-home paycheck would drastically improve.
Just in time to sign every last cent of it over to Fin.
“Are we closing together?” Britte asked sounding as hopeful as I would if I were in her position.
“Nope, sorry. I have dinner tonight with the fam.”
She groaned, throwing her head back dramatically.
“That’s exactly how I feel,” I grumbled. “Everyone’s going to be there tonight. It’s a welcome home dinner for Lennox. I would much rather be closing here with you.”
“No you wouldn’t,” she laughed. “You love your family.”
I made a noncommittal sound and she pushed my shoulder.
“Fine, let’s trade places. I’ll go eat dinner with all three of your lickalicious brothers, and you stay and close for me with….” she checked the time sheet that was taped to the inside of the hostess stand and then whined, “Creep-O Steve-O?”
I laughed at her nickname for the flirtatious high school student that was convinced he could get any girl he wanted whenever he wanted. He was cute enough for a seventeen year old Star Wars nerd that still had his mom drop him off at work, but still definitely a creeper.
“Lickalicious? B, that’s so gross.”
“But so true,” she winked at me. “But seriously, I have no patience to deal with horny high schoolers tonight. If he pulls out his wallet condom again and offers to give me a lesson in how to please a man, you owe me a million dollars!”
“I’m kind of already in the hole, so how about an ice cream cone from McDonalds?” I countered.
“Fine, deal,” she rolled her eyes at me. “But no pocket change. If you’re buying me ice cream, I want to be treated like a real lady with dollar bills and everything.”
“You’re so crazy,” I laughed at her.
“Ladies,” Ty’s condescending voice demanded from one of the server stations a few feet away. Ty was once a sergeant in the army and even in his late thirties still sported his bulky muscles, crew cut and preference to shouting commands over polite suggestions. He was gentle at heart, or at least we chose to believe that, but mainly he ran this restaurant like a battalion. We both whirled around to face our tanned, god-of-a-man-but-way-too-old-for-us manager. “Enough fraternizing. Get to work.”
He scowled at us, clearly meaning business. We just smiled back and at the same time he did, we chimed in with “Those tables aren’t going to bus themselves,” in our best and most sarcastic tough-guy voice.
Which of course only earned us another scowl. Britte and I were definitely rule followers. She maybe not as much as me, but being pre-med still made her driven and focused. And I was worse than her with my devotion to doing everything by the rules. Unless we were together. Then even Ty, the military-man couldn’t scare us.
Still, we separated, giggling and shooting each other laughing glances every chance we got.
Once I got to work my thoughts started drifting, and I was disturbed by their direction. On the forefront of every thought train was Fin and my stupid near kiss, mine because if there was any kissing involved it was obviously going to be one-sided. Or Fin and how adamantly he hated Colton, even though he was probably just a good guy that hated how bad guys gave only-marginally-bad guys like him a bad/worse name. Or something, not that I overthought it at all.
My thoughts also flowed to the seven people I was investigating for Fin’s upcoming game. Out of ten I already ruled out three, deeming them untrustworthy and lazy. Lazy people didn’t pay out debts because lazy people rarely had jobs to give them money. They also didn’t win very often, or that’s what Fin said.
I was unwillingly flattered by that statement since he apparently hadn’t thought I was lazy when he let my identity-thieving roommate enter his game. I actually learned he had rather a high opinion of me to let me in one of his bigger games. While most of the games that went on constantly under his aggressive supervision were played for small amounts, the winners coming out with only a couple hundred bucks at best, he held higher stakes tournaments every two months. It was in one of the bigger games that Tara lost all the money.
Apparently the most money ever lost in one of his games.
Why wouldn’t it happen to me?
I was really worried about the winner of the game, after he explained to me that usually transactions are made online, but I/Tara closed my/her account immediately following my/her colossal loss, therefore leaving the winner high and dry.
And even though Fin promised me the winner technically had no idea who I was, since the game survived because of its anonymity, I had still been worried. One super scary man coming to my door was enough. What if the next guy wasn’t as nice as Fin?
And that was assuming I could call Fin “nice.”
But then he told me that the money went through him, so he already paid the winner and the money was actually due him, outright.
Which somehow made me feel worse for the debt. Even though it wasn’t mine to owe. I felt all itchy and uncomfortable thinking about Fin paying all that money when he might not ever get paid back. Especially from me.
“That bad huh?” Britte asked from the other side of an empty table. She pushed in the chairs I was neglecting and righted the salt and pepper shaker, double checking the lids for pranks we deemed outdated, but the general middle school population still found hilarious.
“What do you mean?” I looked up at her so jealous that even flushed from busing tables and in her greasy black polo uniform she was gorgeous and poised. The dull black of the Bailey’s uniform only seemed to intensify the shiny glow of her glossy hair. Today her eyeliner was neon green and only worked to set off her bright emerald eyes. I loved her, she was my best friend. But honestly, how pretty she was just didn’t seem fair to the rest of us mere mortals.
“Fin Hunter,” she whispered dramatically. “You’ve been staring at the same spot on this table for six entire minutes. Your face is all puckered and your eyebrows are actually pointing downward. Was he mean to you?”
“No, he wasn’t mean,” I admitted even while I wondered why he wasn’t.
“Did he really expect sexual favors?” Britte gasped. “Because I will castrate him if he did. Or not, if you um, liked them.”
I blushed. “Britte!”
“So, that’s a no then. Just as frustrated as always?” She gave me a smirk and moved on to the next table forcing me to follow her so I could defend myself.
“He really just made me work for him. Nothing weird happened.” Except I almost attacked his mouth with my mouth. But even to my best friend I couldn’t admit that out loud.
“So what does that mean?” she pressed.
“Mostly he has me research potential gamblers. I have to make sure their credible just in time for them to destroy their credit. It’s complicated, you wouldn’t understand,” I explained dryly.
“Oooh,” she gushed. “So you get to spy on them? Are they all people we know?”
“Or have heard of.”
Britte made a squeal of delight, or intrigue since this whole fiasco was feeding her gossip obsession too. “I need names.”
“No way,” I shook my head. “I’ve been sworn to secrecy.”
“Yes, fine. But those things never include best friends. And it turns out that I am your best friend. You must include me.”
“Seriously, B, I can’t. You know at least half of these people, or have heard of them. And Fin would kill me if I told. Well, first he will kill me for the money I never intend on paying him back and then he’ll raise me from the dead, just in time to kill me again. I can’t do it. I value my life too much. Or my…. reincarnated sEcond life too much.”
Britte paused to think that over and with a curt nod of her head, turned back over her shoulder to say, “I understand that.”
“Oh, good,” surprised by her easy concession I went back to work.
“I understand that you can’t tell me their names. But if I guess them, that’s a whole new thing, right?” she smirked at me and then skipped, yes literally skipped, off to gather menus from the different server stations.
I stared after her until Ty shouted from across the room for me to get back to work. Really, I was not this negligent of an employee, but today did not seem to be my day. Although the same could have been said about this week…. month…. year.