“I don’t want to,” I admitted, a sinking feeling filling my gut. I may not want to, but in the end, it may be exactly where I ended up. Back home in the small town, dying old Mrs Wilken’s hair her favourite shade of blue while I served her cups of tea and listened to stories about her grandson’s bathroom habits.
“Then don’t.”
“I wish it was that easy.”
“Why can’t it be?”
“Come on, Isaac. Sydney’s expensive. Even living here with you guys, which I’m sure is cramping your style has wiped out my savings.”
“You’re right. But you’re working now, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how many shifts I’m going to get, but it helps.”
Isaac rose from his seat and walked over to where I was fretting and wrapped me in a hug. “You got this, Claire Bear. You got this.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so.”
With one final squeeze, he left me there my mind whirling. I’d spent so many hours thinking and worrying about everything that it was becoming all-consuming. I hated it. But thankfully, I didn’t have time to work myself into a frenzy today. I had to get to work. It mightn’t be my dream job, but right now it was saving me from my nightmares.
* * *
Today was a better day.
Thank fuck.
I managed to survive my shift without pouring a drink in someone’s lap or covering myself in trash. I’d even managed to have a bit of fun while I was at it. Then, as the sun went down and we started to clean up, Isla pumped up the music and turned it into a dance party as we wound down for the weekend.
Everything was cleaned up, and we were winding down for the night. Beth, Jamie, and I had just finished stacking the chairs when Toby appeared with a tray of brightly coloured cocktails complete with tiny umbrellas and fancy fruit flowers.
The Beachside Café was an incredible place. During the day it was a family-friendly café – bright, fun, and funky. But when the sun went down, the cocktails came out, and the skirts got a hell of a lot shorter. That’s what made it awesome though. It changed, and I got to change along with it. I got to have fun, meet new people, and put some cash in my pocket. And after only two days, two very busy days my feet were aching, but my wallet wasn’t looking as pathetic. Turns out not only was working cocktail hour double the tips of the breakfast shift, but it was a hell of a lot easier too.
The fruity cocktails went down easily.
Too easily.
If I wasn’t careful, I’d be calling my brother to come and carry me out of here.
But the drinks weren’t the best part. Not even close. Commandeering a booth, Beth grabbed a couple of bags of potato chips and set them in the centre of the table. Before I knew it, we’d spent the better part of two hours laughing and trading stories about the men we’d loved and the men we’d lost.
I hadn’t realised how much I missed having someone to talk to. When I’d dished the dirt on my date with Seth, deliberately leaving his name out of it, they swooned, barely able to believe that he could be real. Not that I could blame them. I was still shocked.
“He took you horse riding on the beach?”
“Yeah.”
“On a first date?”
“Well, uh, yeah. I don’t even know if it really was a date…” I started backtracking quickly, realising how many questions I still had about the whole thing.
“Girl,” Beth slurred. “He took you riding on the beach. And then he rode you all night long.”
“It was all night, wasn’t it?” Jamie added, leaning forward knocking her glass over.
“A lady never kisses and tells.”
“A lady doesn’t. But you, Claire, you need to.”
