Seeing Her

by Maria Jackson

Instead, the owner laughed. “I must say I didn’t see this coming, but I can see how it might work. You two might be good for each other.”

  Chloe tried to smile. She didn’t need Tony’s approval. Still, it was good to hear that she had it.

  “You strike me as someone with common sense,” Tony went on. “I’m sure you can figure out that there should be no hanky-panky in the restaurant. Stay professional, and you’ll do fine.”

  With an even weaker smile, Chloe nodded along. She and Jennie had kind of broken that rule that time in the change room. It was irrelevant now, anyway.

  “Other than that, I don’t have a problem with it,” Tony said. “Don’t let the customers catch a hint of what’s going on. I doubt they’d be too excited to know the girls they’re staring at are actually dating each other. If they figure you two out, it’s on you. Not on me. I won’t fire you, but I also won’t make up the tips you’re going to lose.”

  When was Tony going to get back to Chloe’s actual question? She and Jennie wouldn’t be breaking any rules as long as they were still broken up. Chloe had to fix that situation right away. If only Tony weren’t so terrifying, she could try to get back to the original subject.

  Tony opened his mouth to keep talking, and Chloe steeled herself. It looked like she was going to have to try to direct the conversation anyway.

  Her voice was just a whisper, but it came out loud enough for Tony to hear. “So, would you tell me what really happened last night?”

  Tony considered the question for a moment. Finally, he placed his hands on the table and stood. “I’ll deal with it myself.”

  TWENTY

  The table of middle-aged men laughed at Jennie’s canned line. She hoped her smile came off as genuine. The night was going better than she’d expected, yet she still wished she could go home and be alone.

  When Kylie tapped her on the shoulder, Jennie started to shoo her away. “I’m taking care of these gentlemen.”

  As the customers giggled, Kylie shook her head at Jennie. “Tony wants to see all of us in the change room.”

  Jennie blinked. As she looked around, she saw several of the waitresses filing out toward the hallway. She had half a mind to just stay where she was. The men were definitely going to tip well so far, and she didn’t want to do anything to ruin this cash cow.

  But they’d heard Kylie, too. “Sounds important,” one said. “You better go see what’s happening.”

  “I guess so.” Jennie spoke as seductively as she could. “I’ll be back before you know it. Don’t let any other girl steal you away from me when we come back, all right?”

  It seemed to work. “I wouldn’t let anyone but you serve us,” the customer said.

  After giving his arm a stroke, Jennie was off to the change room. Her fists balled up and loosened as she walked. An impromptu meeting was bound to be bad. Seeing as she was at the center of the recent drama, it was probably going to be about her. She braced herself for the worst.

  She was a good waitress, and the customers liked her. Tony wouldn’t fire her. Would he?

  Jennie was the last into the room, and the others looked at her expectantly. She went in and took a seat on the bench, as far from everyone else as she could. If she was going to be a pariah, she might as well act like one. She was across the room from Chloe, but her eyes were drawn to her. Chloe was looking back at her. She gave her a little thumbs up, which Jennie didn’t return. Jennie kept her face neutral and crossed her legs tighter.

  At the front of the room, Tony closed the door quietly. He began to pace, pursing his lips as if trying to decide what to say. Jennie glanced around as she waited for him to get to the point. Alyssa looked curious, Kylie looked bored, Paula looked suspicious, and Chloe looked… proud?

  When Tony spoke, it was sudden. And his words brought Jennie’s complete attention.

  “I fucked up,” he said.

  Jennie sat taller, and so did a few of the others. She trained her eyes on Tony as if that would make him speak faster.

  “Last night, I made a decision that I thought would be best for the restaurant. I made this decision on my own, and I didn’t think it through completely. This decision could have been risky for the entire restaurant. But I was thinking short-term rather than long-term, and I let my desire for profit get in the way of what was right.”

  Jennie’s throat was tight. Could Tony be apologizing? It was impossible. She glanced around to see Chloe nodding. Paula’s eyes were wide, but she seemed to be listening.

  “Some of you have no idea what I’m talking about,” Tony said, his eyes going to Kylie and Alyssa. “Some of you already know.” He looked at Jennie, Chloe, and Paula. “Last night, I asked Jennie to offer drugs to some of our clients here.”

  The girls who hadn’t known were silent, but Jennie could see the shock on their faces. None of them appeared to have expected it. “Why would you do that?” Alyssa asked quietly.

  Tony kept pacing, not meeting any of their gazes. “I believed it would help the restaurant,” he said. “I wanted this place to have a reputation as a party spot. If we could attract every bachelor party in Bridgehaven, we’d have a large crowd here every week of the year. That would solve all our financial difficulties.”

  “That’s true,” Kylie murmured. “That one group spent a lot.”

  With a subtle nod, Tony went on. “So far, there’s been nothing to distinguish us, and we don’t stand out.”

  The girls nodded.

  “We have customers here, but not enough,” Tony said. “I want this place full every night instead of always half-empty. I want more customers than waitresses here. I want a line-up outside instead of paying a hostess to stand there and scratch her ass.”

  His voice rose slightly, then fell again. Jennie had never seen him with this little confidence. “My idea was to make this more of a party spot. I thought having drugs available would attract more people. I figured they’d have a better time if they were able to get whatever they wanted here… that it’d be a novelty for them to buy drugs from a very attractive woman, that word would spread, and that they’d tell their friends.”

  As Jennie glanced around, disbelief was on most of the girls’ faces. It was so obviously a bad idea. How had Tony ever thought it would be good for Jubblies? And how had she herself been willing to go along with it?

  “As I said, this was short-term thinking,” the owner went on with a sigh. “I didn’t think about the ramifications if someone were to overdose. Or if the police were to be called. There are all sorts of things that could go wrong when you’re dealing with illegal substances. Jennie had it right to begin with. She never offered drugs to anyone who wouldn’t want them. She prescreened them and kept herself safe. She never went too far. I did.”

  Tony glanced at Paula as if making sure she’d understood his words. Paula just looked at her with wide eyes. Jennie probably looked equally dumbfounded. She had never expected the owner to go to bat for her. It felt strange that he had.

  “What I did was reckless and foolish,” he said. “It was the wrong method by far. We’re going to save this place, but we’re not going to do it by turning it into a crack house. I’m going to come up with something better in the future. For now, I just wanted to make sure that Jennie’s name was cleared. So don’t blame her or get angry at her. She only did what I asked her to do.”

  Jennie swallowed, feeling as if the others expected her to say something. “Thank you.”

  “That’s all,” Tony said. “There’s nothing more to discuss. You can all go back to what you were doing.”

  With another glance around the room, he headed out the door. He walked slowly, as if his confession had placed more weight on his shoulders instead of lifting it off.

  None of the girls walked after him. Jennie might have if she’d had the energy. Instead she sat on the bench, her head in her hands. She felt like slumping over. She was suddenly exhausted, even though she should have felt vindicated.

  Paula was the f
irst to approach her. “Hey, look, I…”

  Glaring at her, Jennie waved her away. “Get lost. I don’t feel like hearing your apologies.”

  “I need to say this,” Paula said. “And I need to say it in front of everyone. I’m sorry, Jennie. I was horrible.”

  “I know you were.”

  “I didn’t think for one second that you could have been telling the truth about Tony. It didn’t fit what I believed about him… or about you. I judged you unfairly, Jennie.”

  “Yeah, you did,” Jennie snapped back.

  Paula simply looked sad. “Well, I just wanted you to know that.”

  Although Jennie still resented Paula and her superiority, she felt the need to do the right thing. “Fine. I accept your apology.” She gritted her teeth. As much as she hated to say this next part, her conscience wouldn’t allow her to stop there. “And I shouldn’t have sold to customers, no matter who told me to do it.”

  A few of the girls followed Paula as she moved away. They gave Jennie reassuring nods, which Jennie took as a sign of their support. Other than Paula, none of them had attacked Jennie personally. She didn’t hold anything against them.

  Still, Jennie wasn’t quite ready for the next person to approach her. “I’m so happy he stood up for you. You must feel better now, right? I knew you wouldn’t have done that for no reason. I knew it all along.” Chloe reached for Jennie’s hand.

  Jennie pulled it away. Despite everything, she wasn’t ready to let Chloe touch her. Her emotions were too confused right now. “I can’t do this right now. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Chloe looked pained, but she left as Jennie asked. Jennie was going to have to apologize to her for that later. She just couldn’t handle an emotional conversation right now. And if Chloe wanted to talk about what had happened, she wasn’t ready to open up that much.

  When Jennie thought the onslaught of people wanting to talk to her was over, Kylie approached. Jennie slumped down, reluctant to talk to her.

  “What was that all about?” Kylie asked, gesturing at Chloe walking out.

  “Oh…” Maybe it would be a good idea to open up to Kylie. After all, she was Jennie’s closest friend at the restaurant. It wouldn’t be too bad. She could use someone’s outside opinion on this. At least Kylie was asking about something other than the drug fiasco.

  They didn’t usually talk about personal stuff, but there was no reason that they shouldn’t. Jennie had gone through enough lately, and she wanted to get it off her chest.

  “Me and Chloe kind of tried dating,” she said, trying to keep the explanation as brief as possible. “I don’t know if we’re right together.”

  “You and Chloe?” Kylie said, her eyebrows raising. “I guess she’s good-looking.”

  Only the best-looking girl here. Well, Kylie didn’t have to agree with her. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea,” she said.

  “Yeah, you’re right.”

  Jennie leaned against the locker. Even Kylie could see what a fuck-up she was. Clearly she should stay away from Chloe. That girl was much too good for her, like Paula had said. Jennie wasn’t right for her. She’d drag her down, and she cared about Chloe too much to do that.

  Kylie interrupted her musings. “Chloe is so weird, Jennie. Does she even have a personality? I mean, looks aren’t everything. Don’t you want someone who’s more than cute?”

  Jennie’s eyes widened, and she stood up abruptly. “Of course she has a personality.”

  “I haven’t seen any sign of it in the past six months. She sure does keep it hidden. She’s so weird. You don’t want to go out with somebody like that.”

  “Don’t tell me what I want.” Jennie bristled. “Chloe is a wonderful person.”

  Kylie laughed as if she thought Jennie was joking. “You must be joking. That girl has to be one of the weirdest people I’ve ever met. She never talks at all. Has she even talked to you? Bet she doesn’t.”

  “She does, actually, and she is amazing.”

  “You can do better,” Kylie said, shaking her head as she realized Jennie was serious. “I don’t see why you would want to touch that with a ten-foot pole. There’s other girls you could date.”

  Jennie couldn’t take it anymore. She stepped toward the door. “I have to go.”

  “To go where?”

  “I have to find Chloe.”

  TWENTY-ONE

  As she left the change room, Chloe surveyed the room. She watched as the girls went back to the tables they’d been serving. After the meeting in the change room, the atmosphere was different.

  All of the waitresses were smiling and talking less. Chloe watched Paula as she tried to chat up one woman. Chloe had never seen her looking so off-kilter before. Paula looked downright awkward. Chloe wondered if she had been that disturbed by the information. Did she seriously think so little of Jennie? Why was she so shocked that Tony had asked Jennie to do it?

  Speaking of Jennie, why couldn’t Chloe find her in the room? With her glasses off, she had to squint. Jennie was nowhere to be seen. Could she still be in the change room? Chloe’s mind was focused on Jennie, not the customers she was greeting.

  Jennie appeared beside the hostess station. “Come here,” she hissed.

  Chloe blinked at her, hoping her face wouldn’t show her happiness. “I’m working,” she said.

  Jennie shook her head, reaching a hand out for her. “I need to talk to you.”

  Chloe’s heart pounded. This was what she had wanted, but she couldn’t quite believe that it was happening. “During my break,” she whispered. “It’s coming up in five.” That should give her time to collect her thoughts.

  Her cheeks were flushed for the entire five minutes. She was painfully conscious of Jennie standing right by the hostess station, her eyes drilling into her. Chloe wondered if Jennie cared at all about her work. In Jennie’s shoes, she might not have cared either. Even in her own shoes, she was fighting the urge to jump off the stage and see what exactly Jennie wanted.

  At last the time was up, and Chloe stepped away from her station with nervousness. She let Jennie lead her out of the main room. Her hands were shaky and her legs unsteady as they walked together. To Chloe’s surprise, Jennie led her to the room that was getting remodeled.

  It was Chloe’s first time seeing the room since it’d been closed. It appeared to be completely finished. There was a huge window, the walls had been repainted, and all the furniture was brand-new.

  “Um, why are we going in here?” Chloe asked.

  “It’s a good place to talk,” Jennie said. “No one will disturb us here.”

  She shut the door behind them and guided Chloe to sit at the table. Chloe sat gingerly, afraid to damage the shiny varnish. More than that, she was on edge at being alone with Jennie.

  Jennie grabbed her hand and squeezed it, her head bending apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

  “You are?”

  “I am,” Jennie said. “I’ve been awful to you, avoiding you and being rude to you. I don’t know how to explain myself. I let Paula get to me, and I didn’t think I deserved you.”

  “But you do,” Chloe said softly.

  “I don’t deserve you,” Jennie said. “But if you’ll have me, I want to be with you anyway.”

  Chloe’s heart fluttered. She had to be hearing things, because Jennie was saying everything she had wanted to hear.

  “Of course I’ll have you,” Chloe said, grasping Jennie’s hand back. “I’ll always want you. I don’t care what you do. Even if I wouldn’t have approved of you selling drugs to customers, I should’ve believed you when you said it was Tony’s idea.”

  “And you had something to do with him telling everyone that, didn’t you?”

  Chloe nodded shyly, averting her eyes. “I asked him to tell me the truth. It was his idea to tell everyone. I didn’t know he was going to do that.”

  “You went and asked him? For me?”

  Chloe nodded again, amazed that Jennie understood how hard
it had been for her. Jennie seemed to naturally understand her so much better than anyone. “I did. For you.”

  “Come here.”

  Jennie brought her out of her seat and took her into her arms. Chloe sank into Jennie’s comforting embrace. Chloe cherished the feeling of being intimate with her almost-lover. She could draw strength from this woman. She hoped Jennie would feel the same way. If they could rely on each other and make each other stronger, then they had the beginning of something great here.

  After a moment, the comfort turned to arousal. Chloe’s nipples hardened as she felt the familiar ache growing in her groin. Of course she would get aroused by the contact. Being so close to Jennie would have turned anybody on.

  It wasn’t the time or place to make a move, so Chloe didn’t. Jennie, though, did. Chloe heard her breathing grow more ragged, and Jennie’s hand slipped down to graze over her breasts. Chloe pressed against her, and Jennie’s free hand circled around to cup her ass. Chloe suppressed the groan that she wanted to let out. They were still in the restaurant, after all.

  “I want you,” Jennie whispered.

  Chloe bit her lip. “I want you, too. Here, though? Now?”

  Jennie trailed her fingertips along Chloe’s waist. The touch made her tingle inside, and she wondered if it was even a question. This was inconvenient, but it was also urgent. They had been postponing this for too long.

  “If you’re ready, I’m ready,” Jennie said seductively.

  Chloe glanced around the room. No one was around, and there were no security cameras that she could see. It was far from ideal… but then, nothing in life was ideal.

  “I want our first time to be good,” Chloe said. “I hope it’s going to be the first of many times.”

  “It will be,” Jennie promised, drawing her closer. “And any time that you and me are together is going to be good.”

  With a sigh, Chloe gave into Jennie’s advances. She was conscious that they were on the verge of disobeying Tony’s rule about hanky-panky in the restaurant. At the moment, though, she couldn’t make herself care. She’d been so close to losing Jennie. Being here with her was all that mattered.