She laughs. “Yeah. I said don’t waste your appetite on Dick’s Diner.”
Nickchuckles. “Yeah, the name doesn’t exactly scream ‘five stars.’ I figured it was a joke at first.”
She laughs again. “Yeah, it’s… unfortunate branding.”
“I’m glad I came here though. The company and service are much better,” he says.Such a douchebag pickup line.
I keep my head down, working the bolt, jaw clenched so hard it hurts. When did she have a chance to meet this guyandinvite him over?
Nora’s laughter rings through the room like little bells. Little warning bells to my sanity. Too happy and too loud.
“She’s enjoying the company.” Cheryl’s voice sounds like metal scraping over a pile of sand. I look up to find her leaning her shoulder on the doorframe with a smug look on her annoying face.
“Is she?” I grunt, returning to work.
“Yep.” The damn loudp. “Looks like,” she glances back over her shoulder, “he’s asking her out.”
The pipe gives way under the wretch, pulling the higher sitting pipe along with it, and water from the u-bend spills out and hits me full in the face. I cough, sputtering, grabbing for something to sop up the liquid.
“Can you be useful and get some damn towels?”
Cheryl takes off with a smirk. “Only because I don’t want my sister’s diner to be flooded. Not because you told me to.”
“Yeah. Yeah. I got it.” I sit there on the wet floor, clothes soaked and shirt clinging to my chest. Water is dripping from my beard.
“Holy moly.” Nora’s voice breaks through my sulking. “What happened?”
“Cheryl happened,” I bark more harshly than I intended to.
“What?” She sounds confused, and rightfully so.
It’s shitty to put the blame on her sister, so I quickly correct myself. “I busted the pipe.”
“Did you?” Now her tone is suspicious.
“Yes.” I pull away from the cabinet to find Nora with an amused look on her face. “I’ll clean this up.” I sit back, soaked and fuming.
“Don’t worry.” She waves me off. “It was bound to happen, Roman was right.”
Cheryl shows up a moment later with an armful of towels.
“Smooth,” she laughs, earning a death stare from me.
“It happens.” Nora shrugs her shoulders with a smile.
“It does. Doesn’t it, Jericho?” Cheryl’s tone is full of glee, and I wonder how much Nora loves her sister in case I decide to kill her because she’s playing on my nerves. “To think of it?—”
She doesn’t have a chance to continue because her radio goes off, and she picks it up, muttering, “Saved by the bell,” and then walks out to the dining area and then outside. Thank fuck because I’m one breath away from exploding, and Cheryl just found my go-off button.
Nora walks away before returning with two steaming coffees in her hands and passes one of them to me. “Here. For your suffering.”
I take it, still not looking at her. She sits back against the counter and starts sipping her coffee.
“He seems nice,” I start my own punishment because I’m clearly a masochist.
“Who?” She blinks.
“Nick.” I try to sound even but don’t think it’s working.
