But all of the girls were in the change room when Jennie arrived. Chloe was lacing up her shoes in her usual corner as she entered.
“Jennie!” Kylie said.
A few of the other staff greeted Jennie enthusiastically. “Hey, Kylie. Hey, Alyssa.” Jennie glanced around, saying hello to most of them. “Hey, Chloe.”
Chloe stood up, wearing a pair of frayed jean shorts and the tied-off Jubblies T-shirt. She had finished doing her make-up for the night, and the sight of her lengthy eyelashes made Jennie’s mouth water. Seriously, how had she never realized how gorgeous this girl was?
When she spoke, it was so soft that Jennie had to read her lips. “Hey, Jennie.”
Chloe walked over to the mirror and leaned in to fix her hair without a glance at anyone else. Jennie followed her with her eyes, taking note of how an inch of her slim waist showed above the shorts. No tattoos there, but when she looked that good, Jennie couldn’t even complain.
Jennie didn’t miss how some of the others looked at her in confusion. She didn’t normally speak to Chloe, or vice versa. In fact, most of them tended to let Chloe come and go without taking notice of her. Jennie had been guilty of that in the past, but she wasn’t going to do that anymore.
She’d been thinking about Chloe all day, replaying last night’s events in her mind. Chloe had taken off so suddenly. What had made her leave right when things were starting to get interesting? She wished Chloe had stayed.
Paula’s eyes were on her, and Jennie stiffened. That girl always put Jennie on edge. From the time Jennie had arrived at the restaurant, she hadn’t revered her the way the other girls did. She still remembered how Paula had offered to help her with every little thing. She was always watching over Jennie’s shoulder with a “You’re doing it wrong” or “This way is better.” The restaurant’s self-appointed big sister had practically suffocated Jennie with her so-called helpfulness.
Jennie didn’t take help from anyone. She was fine on her own. She had always been independent, and that didn’t change because she was in a new workplace. If she could provide for herself since the age of sixteen, she could certainly deal with serving food to annoying customers.
No, she hadn’t arrived with encyclopedic knowledge of how to be a Jubblies waitress. But whatever she didn’t know, she could look up online or figure out for herself. Showing any sign of weakness was abhorrent to her.
Jennie had never asked anything from Paula but to be left alone. She was fine with doing her own thing, and Paula seemed incapable of respecting that. The more she protested Paula’s efforts to help, the more Paula pushed them on her. She wouldn’t stop giving her unwanted advice on her time management skills or tips on how to sweet-talk the customers. Paula had only been working here a few months longer than she had. How was Paula such an expert?
It all came to a head a few weeks after Jennie had started. Their coworkers might have forgotten their argument, but Jennie hadn’t. From time to time, she wondered whether she’d been too harsh with Paula. Yes, she’d raised her voice. She might or might not have used a few four-letter words. Paula just brought the worst out of her.
She tensed up as she thought about that one night in the parking lot. Paula had gotten under her skin so easily with her self-importance and condescension.
“Stop telling me what to do,” Jennie had yelled when she couldn’t take it anymore. “I don’t need your fucking help. I need you to leave me alone! Don’t speak to me. Don’t even come near me. I don’t need a damn thing from you.”
In the end, it had worked. Once she’d told Paula exactly what she thought of her “help,” Paula let her be. So what if she’d burned a bridge in the process? Jennie didn’t need her any more than she needed anyone. That was to say, not at all.
They’d had an unspoken truce for a long time. Still, Jennie got the feeling that her negative feelings toward Paula were mutual. She was fairly sure Paula didn’t like her speaking to Chloe. The way Paula was looking at her right now was far from friendly.
In any case, no one commented on her speaking to Chloe. And yet Jennie was still thinking about that brief exchange of words. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted Chloe. The girl got more attractive the more Jennie looked at her. She was funny in a strange kind of way, and Jennie had quickly started to like being around her. She had nothing in common with the rest of this rowdy, immature group.
If Chloe wasn’t interested in fucking, Jennie might have even been willing to hang out with her platonically. The girl was kind of cool. But Jennie suspected she would be up for something more. Chloe had definitely wanted her sexually. So what had happened?
Most of the girls had finished changing and were just loitering around at this point. Jennie needed to put in her earrings, and then she would go. She had better things to do than standing here chatting – namely pleasing customers, getting tips, and figuring out how to get into Chloe’s pants.
“I want the details about this date you went on,” Alyssa said to Kylie. “Where did you meet this girl?”
Kylie laughed. “We met on OkCupid. She seems cool so far.”
Fixing the post on her second earring, Jennie tuned out. She didn’t care about Kylie’s date right now. A more fascinating girl was standing silently at the mirror.
Jennie turned her attention toward that girl. Jennie seemed to be the only one who’d noticed that Chloe hadn’t said a word all night. No one had gone out of their way to include her. Most people would have taken the initiative on their own, like she had. But she was starting to see that Chloe operated differently.
“Hey, Chloe,” she said. “You met any cute girls lately?”
Obviously caught off guard, Chloe squeaked out a “no” and looked away.
The other girls stared at her, probably because this was the first time she’d shown any interest in Chloe. They were going to have to get used to it. Her attraction to that girl wasn’t going anywhere.
“You telling me chicks aren’t lining up outside your door?” Jennie asked.
Chloe’s face went bright pink. “They’re not, but boys come to my yard every time I drink a milkshake.”
Her voice was almost too soft for Jennie to hear, and she could tell that none of the others had heard. She repeated Chloe’s comment more loudly, and the girls laughed. Chloe took on a proud smile. Jennie felt good for making her look that way.
“Silly boys,” Paula said. “Don’t they know I’d beat up anyone who came near you?”
Jennie wrinkled her nose. There Paula went again with her “big sister” bullshit. She literally never stopped.
Some of the girls stayed, continuing to change and chat. For Jennie’s part, she was done with the conversation. She got up and walked out, ready to start making money. That was the only thing this job was good for. She was over pretty well every other aspect. Well, other than Chloe.
On her way out, she glanced into the back room. A hole had been knocked out where she assumed there would be a new window. The room was going to look pretty great once it was done.
Out in the main room, customers were already coming in. Chloe was at the hostess station, speaking to a young couple. Jennie’s eyes lingered on her for a long moment, and then she tore them away.
A man waved at her, and she recognized him as someone she had waited on the week before. He could be a big tipper if she played this right. She walked toward him, giving him her best smile.
“Harry, how are you tonight?”
He gave her a grin in return. “I’m great,” he said. “How are you doing? I couldn’t wait to come back and see you again.”
“I’m great. I’m glad you were able to make it.” She brushed her hand across his shoulder, noticing the way he shivered at the contact. Men were too funny. Being seductive was the easiest thing in the world.
“You look fantastic tonight,” Harry said. She could practically see his mouth watering.
Jennie draped her arm over the back of her chair, brushing her breasts against h
is back. Harry glanced at her cleavage, having visible trouble dragging his eyes up to meet her. She smirked, knowing the effect that her endowment had on men.
After a second, Harry pulled away. “Sit with me,” he said, patting the seat beside him. “Chat for a while.”
Chat? That wasn’t going to get her tipped. Maybe a buck or two, but not twenty. She trailed her fingertips over his shoulder, knowing she had to be causing blood to rush to his groin. “I want to get some food for you. Do you know what you’d like to order?”
Harry shook his head. “Not yet. In a minute.”
Jennie wasn’t ready to give up. “I would rather get your food.”
Now his lips tightened, and he frowned. “I guess I’ll have to talk to another waitress, then.” He stood up and walked to another section.
Jennie watched, perplexed, as he sat down at the other side of the room. Alyssa immediately sat down at a table with him. Jennie stared as they began to talk and flirt. Harry passed the other waitress a bill after only a few seconds of talking. That money could have been Jennie’s. What had gone wrong?
Replaying the interaction, she drew a conclusion. She had come on too strong. Wanting the money too much had pushed her away.
As she scanned the crowd for her next customer, a realization crystallized in her mind. That was also what had happened with Chloe.
FIVE
Chloe was constantly grateful to be a hostess and not a waitress. Her station was far enough out of the spotlight that she didn’t feel like anyone was staring at her. Her interactions were usually limited to seating people. Theoretically customers could come back to her with any problems, but it rarely happened.
When Jubblies wasn’t busy, she could relax and bob her head with the music. The loud, overtly sexual hip-hop bore little relation to what she usually listened to. She tended to prefer classical or jazz, although she could appreciate some pop songs.
Still, work got her out of the house and into the presence of others. The only people she spent time with outside this job were her parents. Being alone was lonely, although being around people was often more stressful than it was worth.
Snapping her fingers to the beat, Chloe glanced around the room. She tried to keep her mind off the question of where Jennie was. As much as she wanted to, she refused to obsess over her. She shouldn’t have left last night. She couldn’t help it when she was that nervous, but she wished she could have stayed.
Hopefully Jennie knew she was still interested. The way Chloe had left so suddenly had probably confused her. The brief interaction in the change room appeared to hint that Jennie was still interested. But what did Chloe know? She had never been in a situation quite like this before.
The song ended just as a group of young men was coming in. They didn’t have a reservation, so Chloe went through her usual script until she got them seated. Once they were at the table, one man leaned over and handed her a dollar bill.
She gave him a shy smile and stuck it in her pocket. The brief interaction had spiked her heart rate. Once she was back at the hostess station, it calmed again.
Even though she was over here, she could feel eyes on her. When she glanced over in that direction, her heart jumped into her throat. Jennie was walking from one table to another, looking too sexy for words in her little Jubblies uniform. She could tell Jennie was watching her, but she was too nervous to meet her gaze.
Chloe tried to twiddle her pen, but dropped it to the floor instead. Jennie had thrown her off in general. Everything felt different now that they had started talking. She had to get her head straight and stop thinking about that girl.
If Jennie was still into her, Chloe was definitely still into Jennie. She shot over another glance from the corner of her eye. Wow… Jennie looked better every time Chloe looked at her. It was hard to believe Chloe even had the nerve to daydream about being with her. A day ago, it would have seemed impossible.
Before anyone else came in, Paula stopped by. Giving her a light squeeze on the arm, Paula said, “What’s up?”
“Not much.”
“Quiet night, huh?”
“Seems like it.”
Paula nodded. Although she was trying to act casual, Chloe knew her well enough to guess that she had some agenda for this little chat. She just didn’t know what it was about.
They had been neighbors for as long as Chloe could remember. They’d especially bonded as teens when it became clear that they were both lesbians. There had never been any romantic feelings between them, though. They were too much like sisters.
Chloe had watched Paula get together and break up with her long-term ex. She’d never approved of that girl. These days, they were both single and had been for a while.
Even though this felt like a natural place to end the conversation, Paula stayed anyway. She lingered as if there was something she wanted to say to Chloe. When she spoke, though, Chloe had the impression that she was still beating around the bush.
“Everyone’s going over to Alyssa’s place tonight,” she said. “I was wondering if you’d want to come.”
They’d been going over there pretty often lately, and they were always talking about what happened there. Chloe had never gone. She was right there while they planned everything in the change room, and no one ever said anything to her at that point. Later in the night was when she would get a pity invite from Paula.
She knew there was no cruelty meant by the lack of an invitation. They just didn’t think about her. It was okay, though. She was used to it, and she wasn’t about to go somewhere that she wasn’t wanted.
Even though she was okay around Paula, this was one of those situations where she was nearly certain to say the wrong thing. Instead, she shrugged.
“You should come,” Paula said.
“Are you sure they’d want me there?” Chloe asked.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t they?” Paula’s confident tone implied that she’d never worried about being invited to anything in her life.
“Did Alyssa tell you to invite me?” Chloe asked.
“No. I realized you might not have heard about it, and I didn’t want you to feel left out.”
“I don’t know. Maybe another time.”
“Fair enough. Well, you have her address in case you change your mind.”
Chloe doubted she’d ever go to one of these parties. She barely knew Alyssa.
Paula paused before speaking again. “I saw Jennie was talking to you earlier.”
“Yeah.” Odd that Paula would bring that up. Her interaction with Jennie in the change room had lasted a few seconds at most. Considering that Chloe rarely spoke to any of the waitresses, she supposed that brief chat stood out.
“You two never talked before,” Paula said, her tone questioning.
As Chloe nodded, she decided to open up to Paula. Maybe she could help Chloe make sense of that experience. “We hung out last night. Well… kind of.”
Paula’s brows furrowed. “You and Jennie? What did she want from you?”
“Nothing.” Something made Chloe keep quiet about how she’d tried to buy drugs from Jennie… and how Jennie had planned to rip her off. “We got to chatting when we were leaving, and then we chilled for a little while.”
If Paula had allowed her to continue talking, Chloe might have told her about the spark that had leapt up between them. Jennie liking her back had surprised her so much that she would’ve liked to get a second opinion about it.
But Paula cut her off before she could say anything more. “It’s none of my business, but you might not want to hang out with her.”
Chloe’s stomach flipped over. She felt as though something was being taken away from her. Even if she wasn’t sure what that thing was, she wanted to find out. “Why do you say that?” she asked softly.
“Jennie… well… she’s Jennie,” Paula said, screwing up her face. “She isn’t a good influence for you.”
“In what way, though?”
“That girl sells drugs. She
probably does every drug on the planet.”
Nothing Chloe hadn’t known already. That was definitely a turn-off, but Chloe could live with that for the sake of her incredible face and gorgeous body. Jennie’s involvement with drugs would hardly matter if they were only going to hook up. Her face must have given away that she wasn’t convinced, because Paula went on.
“That’s not the kind of person that I want in your life,” she said gently. “You should be careful.”
Suddenly chilly, Chloe crossed her arms. She appreciated the concern from her big sister figure. It was nice to have somebody looking out for her. At the same time, she was a grown adult only a few years younger than Paula. She was old enough to make her own decisions, and more than able to choose her own friends.
“Well, I guess I’ll see how it goes,” Chloe said, careful to stay noncommittal. The last thing she wanted was to make Paula mad. She was one of the few people Chloe felt safe around, and Chloe would never want to push her away.
“I hope you’ll make the right decision,” Paula said. “You might be grown up, but to me you’re always going to be the little kid I played board games with through all of middle school. I have to protect you if I see you doing something that’s bad for you.”
Although Chloe nodded agreeably, she was a little annoyed. She didn’t need anyone to look after her. Besides, who was Paula to say Jennie was bad for her? Chloe had rarely seen them speak. Even after only hanging out with Jennie for one night, she doubted Paula knew Jennie as well as she did.
Chloe was no pushover, and she wasn’t a liar either. She wasn’t going to promise Paula anything that she had no intention of keeping… so she kept her words ambiguous. “I’ll think about what you said.”
With a sigh, Paula turned to leave. “All right, I’d better go. See you later.”
“Later.”
Chloe’s eyes lit on Jennie carrying an armload of plates with a look that said she’d rather be anywhere else. Jennie interested her. And she had been nice to her. Chloe didn’t care what anyone else said.
Seeing Her Page 3