by Maya Hughes
Finally, he hung up the phone and gave the one-page menu a quick once-over, then laid it on the table. Dumping her algorithms textbook into her backpack, she tucked it behind the bar and walked back over to his table. His gaze tracked her from the time she made it out of the double doors from the kitchen until she was standing tableside. It was a little unnerving to have someone watching her so intently.
Her apron was clean and she thought that she looked at least presentable, but fading into the background was what Alex did. Having someone take notice of her was usually not a good thing. It freaked her out a bit, but she tried not to let it show. She started to squirm until she realized he was probably only looking at her because he was waiting for her to take his order.
She cleared her throat and pulled out her note pad and pen. “What can I get you?” Even though he didn’t have many choices, force of habit made her write it down. You never knew when you were going to encounter that one super-picky, exacting customer who wanted eight condiments layered in a specific order.
“I think I’ll just go with a cheeseburger and fries.” He handed back the menu, grazing her fingers. A slight shock travel up her spine.
“Excellent choice!” She broke finger contact and cleared her throat. “How do you want your burger cooked?”
“Medium.”
“Okay, perfect. And to drink?” He licked his lips and ran his thumb over his upper lip as he thought it over.
“I’ll have a Coke,” he replied, but she had zoned out, her gaze glued to what his thumb was doing. He had the most perfect mouth she’d ever seen. She shook her head because she was not this type of woman. She was not the swooning, giddy kind of girl, but Mr. Hottie was making her all kinds of flustered.
“Great,” she answered, snapping her gaze back to his eyes. “I’ll just put in your order; it shouldn’t be long.” She speed-walked over to the window and gave the ticket to Ben.
He glanced at it and tossed it back on the window ledge. “That movie crew was supposed to be here three weeks ago. Had I known they were going to start this late, I would have closed us down, taken Maggie on a nice vacation and reopened,” he grumbled as he moved to the grill.
“But then you wouldn’t have been able to see my smiling face every day,” she chirped.
“Yeah, well you better hope the crew members are big tippers or this week is going to be rough for you.”
She took the guy his Coke. “It shouldn’t be very long. Ben’s just dropped your fries.” Curious about who he was, she couldn’t walk away. She started rocking back on her heels. Feeling awkward, she started to bounce while she stood there. She wasn’t normally so nervous around customers, but she didn’t usually get customers who got her panties wet by just looking at her.
“So, are you part of the movie crew that’s coming through? Or just passing by?” She tried to cut the awkwardness.
“Yeah, I’m here for the movie. I’m in a little bit earlier than most of the circus. Just a few crew guys around; I told them this place was open, so you should expect more company soon. This town is dead.”
“Well, that’s pretty standard in the off season in a shore town. You guys are only here for a few of weeks? I didn’t think they filmed movies that quickly,” she said.
“Why don’t you sit down? You’re making me nervous standing over me.” He smiled and gestured to the seat across from him in the booth.
“Sorry. Yeah sure, no one else is here.” She looked to the window to see if Ben was watching, but he was busy cooking. He didn’t mind her studying when no one was in the restaurant, but if there were customers, then there was no slacking allowed. The last time she’d been studying when there were customers in the diner, he’d made her clean the fat trap in the fryer for a week.
Satisfied that she wasn’t in imminent danger of being elbow-deep in the grease pit again, she slid into the booth. He reached his hand across the table and held it out for a handshake.
“Gabe.”
“Hi Gabe. Alex,” she said, placing her hand in his. His hand was strong and smooth, but slightly calloused on the fingertips. She relaxed her fingers and moved to pull her hand back, but he held on just a bit longer and brought their hands down to the table, still clasped.
She shoved her hair behind her ear as an excuse to remove her hand from his. She didn’t want him feeling her hands getting sweaty or her pulse racing.
“And to answer your question, no, not usually. We already did a lot of the filming—we’re just doing reshoots. Major reshoots. That’s not usually a good thing. I’m one of the leads, so this may be my first and last rodeo.” His shoulders slumped a bit.
“The lead? Wow, that’s cool! I’m sure it’ll work out and everything will be great. What’s it about?”
“It’s kind of top secret. I’d love to tell you, but I’ve had to sign a mountain of waivers and non-disclosures.”
“Wow, sorry, I didn’t realize.”
“No, don’t be sorry. I can tell you that it’s a love story with a twist.”
“Sounds intriguing. How long have you been acting?”
“Not long. They had an open call in Philly for this role and my friends dared me to go. I didn’t have work that day, so I figured, why the hell not.” He shrugged. “And the rest, as they say, is history. What about you? How long have you been waitressing?” The ding of the kitchen bell cut her off before she could speak.
“I’ll be right back; let me get your food.” She stood up and walked over to the window. “So, I take it Mr. Romeo over there is trying to woo your panties right off, huh?” he said with a big goofy grin on his face.
“Shut up Ben,” she muttered, “it’s slow. What else am I going to do?”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll think of something.” The weird kissy noises and smooch-lips faces he was making made her laugh. There was just something about a giant guy in a white t-shirt making kissy faces that was hilarious, even if he was making fun of her.
Just then, what seemed like a busload of the crew came streaming into the restaurant. Within a few minutes, she was pushing full steam ahead taking orders, getting refills, and delivering food to an entire restaurant full of people.
At least ten more tables of very hungry people kept her busy after the initial rush, and a few even hung out at the bar. She was run ragged from handling both waitressing and bar duties by the end of the night, but tips were generous.
Mr. Hottie hung out for the rest of the evening, even as some tables cleared out. She would catch his eye every so often. She liked having him there—she’d never had someone look at her like he did. It was like he wanted to eat her up, and the feeling was mutual. As she was making her last rounds for refills and dropping the final checks, she noticed he’d left. Disappointment crashed over her. Apparently, she’d lost her chance with Mr. Hottie, but hopefully he’d make it back in. After all, he was going to be there for a few weeks.
Chapter 2
With pockets stuffed with cash, she was wiping down the last table of the night while Ben was finishing up in the kitchen. Her plan to stay until the end of October would finally pay off. If the crew coming in kept up until their shoot was over, she would be able to pay her rent, tuition next term, and maybe have a bit leftover to eat.
She’d be graduating and that was the most important thing. Getting out of this town and getting a job that paid well was her sole focus. Taking the train an hour into the city wasn’t ideal, but the money she saved in rent was worth it, especially in the off season. Plus, the commute gave her lots of time to study. The school had been good about letting her take time off when she needed to work to pay for the next semester, and taking many of the basic courses through the much-cheaper community college also helped.
“Five minutes and I’m locking up, kiddo,” Ben called out from the kitchen, clanging and banging all the pots and pans as he cleaned up. She checked out the rest of the dining room and made sure it was in pretty good shape. Even though she wouldn’t be in until lunch, she got
everything ready for the morning because Ben was opening for breakfast.
“Wiping down the last table now. See, I told you it was a great idea to stay open,” she gloated.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he grumbled as he popped out of the kitchen door with a ring full of keys in his hand. He twirled them around his finger as he surveyed the room.
“See, all tidy and ready to go for tomorrow,” she said holding her arms out and showcasing the dining room.
“Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner tomorrow. I can’t wait for the next two weeks to be over. My wife has been clamoring to go on that cruise for months now,” he said. She grabbed her bag from behind the bar and followed Ben to the front door to lock up.
“I’ll see you at noon,” she told him as he turned the key in the lock.
Ben hopped into his truck and pulled out of the parking lot, waving at her. She waved back and shifted her bag on her shoulder. The weather was miserable, with the heavy smell of rain in the air and the cold wind whipping around her. Her hair was flying all over the place and she cinched her hoodie a bit tighter around her neck. All that didn’t keep the little bounce out of her step as she crossed the parking lot. Flirting with a seriously hot guy and having generous customers will do that to you.
She glided across the parking lot, even with her sore feet. A couple more weeks of this and she’d be good to go in the savings department. She’d taken the semester off because she was worried about loans and didn’t want to have to work too much during the semester, but it also meant that she had to save every penny to get by once school began again.
Alex was worrying about the costs of the upcoming semester as she made her way to her car. As she reached for the handle, a hand landed on her left shoulder and a jolt of fear shot through her. After an unpleasant run-in with her mom’s boyfriend, she’d taken a women’s self-defense class. She used those instincts and reacted.
“Hey—” Her assailant’s words turned to a howl as she delivered a swift punch to his nose. She was just bringing her knee up for a groin shot when she recognized him.
“Jesus, Alex!” The stranger she’d mistaken for a psycho turned out to be Mr. Hottie. He cried out, holding onto his nose with one hand while shielding his groin with his other.
“Gabe? Oh my god, Gabe, I’m so sorry,” she said, covering her nose and mouth with her hands.
“You have a nice right hook,” he stated as he held onto his nose.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” she repeated, placing her hand on his back. “Are you ok?” She crouched down in front of him and grabbed his hand and pulled it away from his nose. Her stomach dropped. The first guy to hit on her forever and here she was hitting on him back—literally. She wanted to smack herself in the head. Not knowing what to do, her hands hovered over his head and back.
“You’re bleeding. Oh shit, I’m so sorry.” She dug through her bag looking for some napkins. “Here!” she said as she thrust the one napkin she found at his nose.
“Thanks.” His words muffled by the napkin. “You sure know how to make a guy work for your number.”
“My number? You want my number?” Her head jerked up and she nearly head butted him.
“Well, I wasn’t waiting for you after work to mug you.” He chuckled and braced his hands on his knee to push himself to a standing position.
“Of course, of course. Yeah, you can have my number. I can put it in your phone, assuming you still want it,” she stammered, hoping that she hadn’t broken his nose. She probably would have given him a kidney right then if he’d asked for it. Poor guy.
“Here you go.” Gabe smiled at her through the tissues on his nose, pulled his phone out of his back pocket and handed it to her. She put her number in and called herself. Her phone started to ring and she ended the call.
“Now I’ve got yours. You know, in case I need some boxing practice after work,” she said with a weak smile. “I’m really sorry. How is it now?”
He pulled the tissues away to see if the bleeding had stopped. “I don’t think the studio would appreciate me being your punching bag beyond tonight.” He grasped his nose between his fingers and moved it from side to side. Wincing, he attempted a smile, which was something out of a horror movie, what with the blood smeared across his top lip.
She opened her car door and grabbed a handful of napkins from her glovebox, then took the bottle of water from her cup holder and doused them. She held the damp napkins out and attempted to wipe some of the blood off his lip.
“Looks like it stopped bleeding,” she sighed, giving him an uneasy smile.
“Yeah, it looks that way.” He touched his nose and pulled his fingers away to look at them. “So … the real reason for my parking lot approach—sorry about that by the way; I realize how that could freak you out—and the reason I want your number—” She attempted to interrupt, but he held up his hand to wave her off.
“I’m in town for the next two weeks and I would really like to see you again.” A bright smile lit up his battered face in the dark parking lot. Her heart stuttered and she did the happy dance inside. Trying to play it cool, she nodded her head.
“I’d like that too,” she said breathlessly. “I’m working at the diner every day from twelve ’til eight, but other than that my schedule is pretty much open.”
“We’ll be shooting mainly at night, so it looks like I can come by the restaurant when it’s quiet and we’ll have plenty of time to see each other,” he said with a smile. Butterflies fluttered in her belly and she knew that a blush was creeping up her neck and onto her cheeks. She hoped that the poorly lit parking lot meant that Gabe couldn’t see just how giddy she was.
“It would seem that way.” She beamed. “And I’ll be sure to keep my fists of fury to myself,” she said, holding her fists close to her chest.
“Good to hear. Let me get your door for you.” He stood by the door and she got in. He closed the door for her and she rolled down the window.
“I’ll see you soon, Alex,” he said as he stepped away from the car.
“See you soon Gabe.” She pulled out of the parking lot and checked her rearview mirror in time to see him shove his hands in his pockets and walk off into the night.
Chapter 3
Gabe stared down at his phone and it took everything he had not to send her a message apologizing again for frightening her. Almost getting knocked out by her in the parking lot had been bad enough; he didn’t want her to think he was a stalker, too.
He walked the last couple of blocks to the hotel that the cast and crew were staying at and waved to a couple of the crew members that were sitting at the bar. He rode the elevator up to his floor while going over some of his lines for his scenes for tomorrow. The rewrite notice had been scary, especially after everything Aaron, his manager, had told him. He remembered the conversation they’d had in Aaron’s second floor office in the management building in LA.
“Gabe, it doesn’t look good,” Aaron had said solemnly as he handed Gabe the updated script from the studio. “This type of overhaul is usually not a good sign.” Aaron plopped down in his seat across from Gabe. He knew Aaron had just as much riding on this project as he did. The success of a big project like Stargazer would be a major break for them both. Aaron would get bigger clients, and he would be seeing more roles. He had flipped through the script.
“These are a lot of changes,” he said. “Now we’re ending up in a desolate ocean planet?”
“Looks that way. The good thing is that there are no notes about your performance. The studio loves you! So even if this bombs, there’s a chance they might still try to find something else for you.”
“Maybe. I guess it’s good that I kept my registration spot for school,” Gabe mumbled.
“It’s not the end of the world, Gabe. Keep doing what you’ve been doing and people will want to work with you. Now, you head out tomorrow morning. Ann has your tickets. Someone from the shoot will pick you up from the airport and take you to your hotel.
I’ll be out there a bit later to check in on you.”
Gabe hadn’t been able to sleep that entire night waiting for the morning flight. He’d been a leg-tapping bundle of nerves during the taxi ride from the airport. This was supposed to be his big break—not that he’d even been on this path a little over a year ago. It was crazy to think he was going to be an actor in a major movie. When the random guy approached him when he was working at the electronics store, Gabe thought it was just a pick-up line. He’d been reluctant to call the number on the back of the card, although he had Googled the company and it looked legit.
Cautiously, telling pretty much everyone he knew where he was going, he went to the address they gave him and, lo and behold, there was a whole room full of casting people and he hadn’t had to take off his clothes. Getting up and performing in front of the room full of people had been a strange feeling. He’d acted in a few school plays and had done a few community productions when his mom put him up to it, but this was different.
During those, he always played the Ducky from Sixteen Candles character. Best friend to the girl that gets trampled on. It probably had to do with the fact that he was less than 5’6” and skinny as a rail during most of high school.
Between a growth spurt that pushed him over six feet and serious time spent in the gym during the summer between high school and college, he was transformed. Gabe hadn’t wanted to go off to college as the same bean pole he was in high school. During that time, his mom went out of her mind trying to feed and clothe him. He figured she was probably elated that he was going to be his college’s problem when it came to food that fall.
Newly muscled and much taller, Gabe felt like an imposter for most of his freshman year. The change in attitude when it came to girls was probably his biggest mind-fuck. Girls who would have never given him the time of day, except to maybe ask to borrow a pen, were suddenly all over him. It was insane!