Over the Fence Box Set

by Carrie Aarons

  His eyes scan the room, stopping on me. “You there, new waiter. Miles is it? Come with me.”

  I didn’t ask questions, just follow him as he strolls out of the kitchen, not checking to look if I am behind him.

  He leads me out into a quiet, romantically lit dining room I’ve eaten in dozens of times. Being out in the front of Lucca’s, you’d never know about the zoo conducting itself in the back. It’s quiet, relaxed out here. The walls are old Italian brick; the tables covered in pristine white cloths and set with cream-colored napkins. The silverware is the finest silver, something I only know because my father made it a point to let clients know that when we dined here. The decor is simple but beautiful, old black-and-white framed and matted photos of the scenes of Italy. Red drapes line parts of the walls and ceilings, enclosing certain areas of the restaurant and making them private.

  He walks me to the middle of the restaurant where a bunch of people dressed like myself are folding silverware into napkins, filling the antique wood salt and pepper mills.

  “Everyone, this is Miles. He is our newest waiter, please help him learn the ropes.” Turning to me, he says, “You need to learn the menu, memorize it back to front, and always know the nightly specials. You will be shadowing Chloe tonight. She’ll teach you everything you need to know.”

  “Papa!” I’m shocked at the sound of her voice, turning to look two tables over at where she’s writing in a big notepad. God, she looks beautiful. Exactly as I pictured, her long black hair flowing over that white button-up. All I want to do is rip it open, expose her firm peaks and take them in my mouth.

  I have to check myself before I get a boner in front of this guy who is apparently her father. Great, he is definitely going to punch me in the nuts by the end of all this.

  “You will help him, Chloe.” Her father gives her one of the most menacing gazes I’ve ever seen, and she relents. After that he walks away, without even introducing himself, leaving me standing there like a buffoon.

  I walk to where Chloe sits, unable to stay away from her. “What’re you working on?”

  I smile, taking the seat next to her. Her small, smooth hand is so close to mine, I just want to grab it up and hold on. It’s been almost three weeks since I’ve actually seen her. My dick aches at the sight of her, knowing just how well we fit together, just how good she feels. My hand has done nothing to soothe the ache in me that yearns for her. I didn’t get nearly enough of her before, and that’s solely my fault.

  “The reservations book, making sure everything matches up and that we have the table numbers and party sizes right.” She doesn’t look up, her long black mane sweeping in front of her face so that I can’t make out her angular features.

  “How have you been?”

  The question catches her off guard, and she tilts her head up from where she’s crouched in the writing position, as if her niceness has won over the rudeness. “I’ve been really good. Busy with dance, of course. How have you been?”

  “I’ve been making a lot of changes. I’d love to tell you about them sometime.”

  She nods, not giving a committal answer. Her eyes are a soft purple, I can make out the vanilla scent she’s wearing and it tickles my nose. I want to lose myself in her.

  “I’ve missed you.” It comes out almost as a whisper but by the way her eyes widen, I know she’s heard me.

  “Okay! Time to open doors, everyone up and ready.” Chloe’s dad comes out, and I realize he must be the Anthony my father is always personally making reservations with.

  The staff rise and scurry about, everyone to their positions. Chloe motions for me to follow her, and I follow, mesmerized by the swing of her narrow hips when she walks.

  “So, I guess just for today, soak up as much as you can and listen to what I do. You’ll get the hang of it.” We’re standing close together in an alcove, waiting for her first table to arrive. I can feel the heat pouring off her body in this tiny space, and I have to physically fight the urge to close the gap by biting down on the inside of my cheek until I feel the vein in my jaw ticking.

  Finally, Chloe is called to attend to her first customers, and I follow like the pony-boy I am.

  “Good evening, and welcome to Lucca’s. My name is Chloe, how are you doing tonight?”

  Her formal introduction lands on deaf ears, the two guys in yuppy, too-tight expensive suits huddled close discussing what I can only imagine is some illegal business deal. I know guys like this. She waits a beat before setting her hands on the table, at which time Bozo 1 and Bozo 2 look up, noticing the hot girl in front of them, and put on their best leering smiles.

  “Hi, sugar. How are you tonight?” The innuendo laced within the question makes me want to kick this guy in the chest so his chair falls backward.

  If I’m going to have to put up with sleaze-bags like this hitting on my girl all night, I don’t think I’ll make it.

  But Chloe brushes off the come-on with her polite tone. “I’m great. Can I get you something to drink tonight? May I suggest our excellent wine list?”

  “Bring us the most expensive bottle of wine you’ve got.” Bozo 2 is trying to impress her, wave around that he’s got a lot of cash. Is this what I used to act like? What a fucking moron.

  “Excellent.” She just smiles, turning away to, I assume, fetch the bottle. When we’re out of earshot, she mutters to me, “Asshole didn’t realize this baby is going to set him back fifteen thousand dollars.”

  I’ve never heard Chloe curse, and I bark out a laugh at her annoyance. I want to pick her up and spin her around, kiss her until her lips are swollen and red.

  Instead, I follow her around for the rest of the night, picking up on her mannerisms and tactics. We deal with the expensive wine idiots, a sweet older couple who are regulars, and various other couples and families out for a Saturday night dinner.

  By the end of the night, I’m just as exhausted as playing nine innings of baseball. In fact, it feels like one of those games where you go into extra-innings; everyone is dog-tired but can’t go home for the night. And that’s what it’s like at the restaurant.

  There are still napkins to roll, cash registers and tips to count, liquor bottles to restock. I’m surprised at how lively and chatty all the servers are, sharing war stories from their night on the floor. It’s like one big family. And I am eager to fit in.

  A week and a half into my Lucca’s gig and I am a pro. I have tables eating out of the palm of my hand. Or out of Tony Sr.’s fucking brilliant menu.

  When I have a table of women or older folks, I turn up the charm wattage, schmoozing and heeding to their every need. The tips I’m making are outrageous, sometimes the older set of Mitchum left me a hundred-dollar bill right there on the red wine-stained tablecloth. Already I have a good nest egg going for next semester’s expenses.

  I’ve also been swallowed up by the Lucca’s family; Manny and Theresa, the two most senior waiters, have taken a liking to me. Manny especially, who is amazed at my ability to spit out random baseball facts. Even the head chef, Joseph, gave me some simple cooking lessons when I came in early, showing me how to roll out the dough for handmade pasta or prepare a basic marinara sauce.

  And that is one of the best perks of Lucca’s, the free meals. Not only are they free, meaning I don’t have to mooch off of Owen’s parents, but they are like tasting pure bliss. Joseph is a fucking food genius.

  I’m sitting in the kitchen on a bucket before my shift, shoving pasta carbonara in my face, when Chloe walks in. Did I mention that’s the biggest perk?

  I’ve known since that first night that she’s still into me, and I’ve made it my secret mission to get her back, win her trust. I don’t care what she says about deserving more or just being friends, I’m going to show her that I am better now, that I do deserve her.

  I’ve taken to cornering her in any way I can. Whether it’s in the small alcove where we prepare drinks, giving her my goofy smile and squeezing her hand before turning and walking o
ut, or sitting next to her after closing, folding napkins beside her and telling her stupid jokes.

  Working at the restaurant has made me feel better than I have in years. Maybe it’s that I am forging my own way, determining how my future will play out. Maybe it’s that I’m finally part of a family unit, I have people who genuinely care for me. But it’s probably that I’ve finally gotten out from under my father’s imposing shadow, free to think and feel and act any way I want.

  “Hi, gorgeous.” I smile with a mouthful of carbonara sauce, causing Chloe to shake her beautiful head of silk and smile shyly.

  “Hi, Miles.” I love it when she says my name. I wish I was free to take her in my arms, nuzzle into her neck before we had tables to attend to. But I’m not.

  “You better move your ass, shift starts in five minutes.” Tony Jr., Chloe’s brother, gives me a stern look to match his demanding tone. He doesn’t like me, that much I could tell. Probably because I’m sniffing around his older sister, and probably because I’ve managed to become so well-liked in a short amount of time in the place that would someday be his business.

  I roll my eyes at Chloe once his back is turned, and she gives a small chuckle.

  Half an hour into my shift, I’m working four tables and juggling a bottle of wine when Tony Jr. catches me in the kitchen, telling me that Danielle, the hostess has sat another table in my section. Okay, here goes.

  I walk up to the table, steeling myself and planting my professional smile on my face. Great, businessmen. I see two guys in suits on the side of the table facing me, and two guys in more expensive suits sitting across from them.

  I fidget with the black tie, hanging like a noose around my neck, and finally stop in front of them.

  “Good evening, gentlemen. My name is Miles, and welcome to Lucca’s. Can I start you off with a round of drinks, perhaps a bottle of wine. May I suggest our Pinot Noir, it’s aging well this year.” Chloe has slipped that line into her intro speech, and I’ve copied her. It makes me sound like a fucking prick, but it also makes me sound like I know what I’m talking about.

  Surveying the table, my eyes land on one person, and pop open so wide that my eyeballs just about fall out of my head. Sitting in the booth, flanked by three business assholes, is my father.

  Charles Farriston has a smug, shit-eating grin on his face, the dark blue of his tie clashing with the ruddy red skin on his face. He found me. And by the looks of it, he’s known where I’ve been this whole time. His fucking minions probably ratted on me. That, or his evil intellect has even further bounds than I imagined.

  “No, no, boy. We’ll take four Blue Labels, neat. A real man’s drink, but then, you probably don’t have the money to afford that right, waiter?”

  Instead of being appalled at the way he spoke to me, like normal people would have been, his accomplices break into a fit of roaring laughter as I can feel the tips of my ears burn. I want to slug him in the face, make him eat his words and grind a few of his expensive veneers while I’m at it.

  But as much as I can feel the rage form out a hollow, black pit in my stomach, I can’t do it. It would only let him win. This meal will be a test, a test to see if I can really make it on my own. Or if I’ll break just like the stupid, puny wuss he thinks I am.

  I will win. “Sure thing, sir. I’ll bring those right out while I give you time to browse the menu.”

  I turn on my heel, all but running for the kitchen. Once I burst through the swinging door, I keep going, even though I hear Chloe calling my name.

  Hitting the safety handle on the back door exit of the kitchen, I stumble outside, reaching for the first thing I see. I haul the empty tin garbage can over my head and throw it as hard as I can against the cement building. The commotion and cathartic throw seem to take the edge off my raw anger, which is beating like its own frayed nerve.

  I place my hands on the wall above my head, dragging in deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. Slowly the back door opens, revealing Chloe.

  I turn my head to where she’s pulling on her fingers, chewing her full, cherry-colored bottom lip as if she doesn’t know what to say to me. Her breaths come out in puffs of white smoke in the cold December air, and I realize she’s shivering a little. I don’t know if it’s from the temperature, or in fear of me.

  “Are you … okay?” Her usually honey-smooth voice is hesitant, and I see her narrow hips slanted toward the door, as if she might bolt back inside at any minute.

  I study the ground again, continuing to drag in breaths. “I haven’t … told you everything about me or my life or what’s going on. But, my father’s in there. He was sat in my section, or asked to be sat there, I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him in months, I moved out. I can explain more later, but he’s testing me right now. And I … I just need to get a hold on myself before I go back in there.”

  I feel her move beside me, and then feel her warm, small fingers wrap around my bicep, the thin white button-down doing nothing to block the shot of lust that just her fingers alone send rolling down my body. I feel instantly soothed and turned on.

  “I can take the table if you need me to. You shouldn’t have to deal with that.”

  Chloe’s eyes are soft when I raise my head to look into them, studying the flecks of indigo within the expanse of violet.

  “No, I have to do this. He’ll see me as a coward if I back out and let you take it.”

  She nods her head, her hand still resting on my upper arm.

  “But, Chloe? Tonight, after shift, I want to talk. I can’t take any more of this flirting around each other. Or the connection we have. I want to tell you what I’ve been going through. And then I want to settle this between us.”

  She purses her lips but nods again.

  And I can’t help myself when I turn to her, wrapping my arms around her small frame and pulling her in so that I can smell the strawberry fragrance of her hair. Her arms come around my waist, running her fingers delicately up and down my back. The move gives me goose bumps, and it’s been so long that I’ve actually touched her that my whole body flushes with warmth.

  But it’s more than just a sexual response to her. It’s deeper. As I nuzzle my nose into her neck and hair, my heart beats double-time, threatening to break free of my rib cage. My whole body lights up when I’m with her, and her understanding and acceptance are exactly what I need to continue on this right path I’ve chosen.

  She’s my energy source. It’s like before, I was some washed-up nobody. But with Chloe, I become a superhero, able to fight anything with just the power I receive from her touch.

  I pull back, knowing I need to get back to my father’s table. “Thank you.” I nod, palming her cheek. “And tonight, let me take you home. Let me explain.”

  I pull her back inside wordlessly and leave her in the kitchen as I go in search of some high-end Johnny Walker.

  The rest of their meal goes as I assumed it would. My father makes ridiculous requests about the way in which they want their food prepared, and I outline it all with the chef. My father sends it back anyway, without even looking at it, and then does it again when the corrected version comes out. He insists on cappuccino’s, which he says are too dry, and the whole experience is just so draining that my fists are screaming at me to let them go to work by the end of the dinner.

  “Here is your bill, gentlemen. I hope you all had an enjoyable experience and that you’ll come back sometime soon.” I smile rigidly, leaving the check on the table. Before I can turn around, Charles is leafing through the green bills in his wallet.

  “Here you go, five hundred and seventy-eight dollars. That should cover it.” He looks over the opened checkbook and nods, then begins to stand.

  Five hundred and seventy-eight dollars. That was what the bill was for, exactly. And he’s rising from the table, shrugging his jacket on. Meaning he’s leaving a tip of zero dollars for me.

  I can’t stop myself this time. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  The ir
e in my tone is unmistakable, and I’m so overcome with rage that I’m probably turning purple.

  He’s been waiting for this. This exact moment. His lecherous smile breaks out onto his pudgy face.

  “Is there a problem here, boy? I won’t stand for the help cursing at me!” His tone is too high, his voice too loud. He’s putting on a show. Other diners turn around to watch, and I see Tony Sr. come barreling toward us.

  Fuck. He’s about to get what he wants. He’s about to get me fired.

  “Is there a problem here, Mr. Farriston?” He’s addressing my father, who is probably one of his wealthiest and most-frequent diners.

  “Your waiter here is accosting my guests and me!” Charles stamps his foot, showboating for everyone.

  Tony turns to me, a question in his dark brown eyes. “Is this true, Miles?”

  “He’s stiffing me on a five-hundred-dollar check.” I say this low and surly so that no other diner can hear me. I’m not a money-grubber, but I work hard for what I make here. And having to run around for three hours while being harassed by my father? Yeah, I want payment for that.

  Tony turns back to my father. “Sir, is there some reason that our staff was unsatisfactory?”

  Charles grins and studies the lapel on his expensive pea coat. “Nothing in particular. I just found him rude, lazy, and overall sub-par. You should have better standards when hiring, Tony.”

  Tony’s eyes go black, and I can tell my father has pissed him off. Not only has he not given him the same respect by addressing him formally, but he’s now insulted his business practices.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Farriston, but I can assure you that Miles here is one of our best waiters, and he has only just come on with us. He is bright and attentive, and I can go so far as saying that he has an excellent future ahead of him. That being said, I must ask that you do not return here until a time when you can appreciate my staff and me for the fine establishment we run.”