I never intended to take him up on that, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
FIVE HOURS LATER, I pull up to Luke’s apartment complex, where he and his girlfriend, Charlotte, meet me out front, despite the late hour.
I step out of the car, giving them a weary smile, incredibly grateful he was so understanding and insistent I stay with him when I called. I hate depending on charity, but I tell myself I’d do the same for him if he ever needed it to make myself feel better.
“I’ll grab your stuff,” he says, enveloping me in a bear hug, his big body cocooning me safely. Everything seems a little more right with family who actually cares about me on my side. “You go on up with Charlotte and relax.”
She waves hesitantly at me from the curb, twisting a lock of her dark brown hair around one finger. We got off to a bad start when we first met, although I didn’t know it at the time. She mistook me for Luke’s hookup and/or girlfriend, which led to a huge blowup between the two of them, but that’s all in the past now.
It’s late so we all go straight to bed, me on Luke’s couch, at my insistence. Oh God, it’s so much more comfortable than the lumpy-springed mess Rob has.
Things seem better in the morning after a hot shower in a bathroom that isn’t the size of a postage stamp.
“I’ll ask my friend Becca and her boyfriend if they know anyone looking for a roommate,” Charlotte tells me as I join the two of them for bowls of cereal in the living room. “Between the two of them, they’re bound to find someone.”
“Awesome. I really appreciate it,” I smile at her.
“Mom would always let you live with her for the summer if you want, once they come back from vacation. You’re welcome to stay here too,” Luke adds.
“That’s super sweet of you, but at this point, I might as well find my own place. Now that I’ve had time to process it all, I’m actually kind of excited about it. I just hope there’s someone out there who only needs a temporary roommate for the summer.”
“I’m sure you’ll find something. Lots of students go back home during summer session, so someone must have an empty room.”
“Thanks, guys. Well, I’m off to find a job.”
“What, just like that?” Charlotte asks.
“Um, yeah. I need money. Anything will do for now.” I hop up off the couch and finish getting ready, slinging my purse over my shoulder and blowing them a kiss goodbye from the front door. “See ya’ll tonight!”
The day I turned sixteen I started working at Good Eats, my neighborhood’s local diner, as a waitress. It’s not my life’s calling by any means, but I was good at it and made okay money, better than a retail job at least. I feel guilty about having to quit, but the now five hour commute kind of makes it impossible to keep working there.
I decide to stick with the familiar and look for another serving job.
Circling around Luke’s neighborhood, I spot a cute restaurant with a yellow and white striped awning outside. The sign above it says Patty’s Diner and just my luck, there’s a Help Wanted notice in the window. Score.
I park and head inside, where vintage red leather booths line the perimeter of the restaurant. The counter running nearly the length of the place is edged in chrome and has stools with blue-collar workers sitting on them, drinking cups of coffee. A rotating pie case sits in the center next to an old fashioned cash register. I wonder if they actually use it or if it’s just for display.
A frazzled older woman with a blonde bob and graying roots stops short when she sees me, craning her neck up to fully look me up and down. Yeah, I get that a lot.
“Table for one, hon?” she asks, grabbing a menu and roll of silverware. Her yellow gingham uniform is faded, an unidentifiable stain on her white apron.
I hitch my purse higher on my shoulder, gazing around at the cracked but clean checkered linoleum floor, the broken jukebox in the corner, the mouth-watering pies on display. Definitely not too uppity in here, but not completely gross either. Yeah, this place will do fine.
“Actually, I’m here about the Help Wanted sign. I’m Samantha.” I hold my hand out to her, giving her a friendly smile. “I’m not sure what position you’re looking for, but I have three years experience waitressing and I’m willing to do whatever needs doing.”
She stares at me for a moment, her eyes going wide, then sets the menu and silverware down to vigorously pump my hand.
“I’m Patty. Oh, bless your heart child. Can you start right now?”
“Now?”
“Susie quit yesterday and we were already short-staffed to begin with. It’s just me running around like a chicken with my head cut off. You think you can help with the tables this morning?”
I nod, unable to believe my luck.
Her shoulders drop in relief. “Go around the counter and grab an apron and notepad. Tables five and six over there,” she points at the last two booths, “need their orders taken. I’ll handle the counter and you take the booths. Consider it your interview.”
“I’m on it.” I jump into action, tying an apron around my waist, a wide smile overtaking my face. What are the chances I’d get hired at the first place I tried?
Well, I think I was hired. I’m doing work and she used the word interview. Am I even getting paid right now? Eh, I’ll figure it out later. At the very least, I don’t have any other plans for the day and I’ll keep the tips from my tables.
I work alongside Patty for the rest of the morning and through the lunch rush. Luckily, I understand the diner lingo already and there’s nothing too crazy on the menu. When customers ask what’s good, I smoothly suggest the big breakfast combo. When we run out of sausage, I offer bacon instead. Between twelve and two, I upsell all the desserts until the pie case is wiped clean.
When the night shift waitress, Carrie, comes in at three to take over, I finally sit down, my feet on fire. I definitely did not wear the right shoes to be doing this all day.
Patty slides in slowly on the bench seat next to me after Carrie clocks in, her knee popping as she bends it. “These old bones ain’t what they used to be,” she sighs. “You were an angel sent to me today. I don’t know how I would’ve made it through without you.” I blush at the compliment, glad she recognized how hard I was trying with no preparation.
She has paperwork in her hands for me to fill out and as I take the pen from her, she asks what I’d like to eat, on the house.
“That is, if you can stand to stomach this stuff after seeing it all day.”
“Well, I really do have to find something on the menu to recommend to customers,” I muse. Besides, everyone that came in seemed to like the food, so nothing could be too bad.
When Patty leaves to take my filled out forms to her office, I snag my phone out of my purse, finding two missed texts from Luke. The first asks how my job hunt is going and the second says Charlotte has exciting news for me about an apartment. I text back that I’ll be home soon.
Javier, the day shift cook, brings my club sandwich out to my booth himself, setting it down in front of me. “You did good today, chica.” The man’s barely said two words to me all morning, communicating mostly in grunts, so I’ll take that as high praise.