He gave me a bright smile and a ‘Hey,’ before his eyes drifted to the bathroom door behind me. And then to the test in my hand. He quirked an eyebrow.
‘Something you need to tell me?’
My face burned with embarrassment. I held up the test to him. ‘I’m … not … pregnant?’
He laughed and it reminded me how much I loved that sound. How infectious it was. I wasn’t just laughing because I was relieved for Ava, though I absolutely was.
‘Good to know. Because usually a positive pregnancy test from a guy means testicular cancer.’
My laughter stopped. ‘Wait, what?’
Our first week back at school was surprisingly uneventful. I worked at Sunset Estates that Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, but Gabe wasn’t there any of those days, so we must have been on opposite schedules for the week. The only good thing about not working with Gabe was that it meant Natalie wasn’t constantly watching me for a mistake she could exploit.
In the two weeks since striking our deal, she had managed to find other ways for me to prove I was deserving of a lukewarm recommendation letter I had yet to see. On Tuesday she asked me to pull double duty, doing sick trays – delivering food directly to the apartments of residents who couldn’t make it down to the dining room – and also taking a section when I returned. Thursday, she had me take a special table in the formal dining room; a resident brought her family to dinner, and even though I also had the T in the casual dining room, she ‘knew I could handle it’. It was inconvenient, but, yes, I could. At least none of the residents I served asked for anything special or off menu. The downside was that this meant part of Natalie’s challenge was still to come.
Thankfully, on Friday, George was the only manager on duty. But still no Gabe.
It wasn’t until the following Monday that I walked into the kitchen and saw his name next to mine on the lineup sheet again. My stomach did a loop-de-loop. Ava must have gotten a psychic twinge next to me because all she said was ‘Mm-hmm’ before we went out to the formal dining room.
Gabe was already there, waiting for lineup to start. When he saw me, his eyes brightened and his dimples showed up again. I really did like those dimples.
‘I was starting to think you were avoiding me!’ he said as I sat down next to him. Ava pulled out a chair on my other side.
‘I am. You didn’t get the hint from all the texts I’ve sent you, or when we watchedEternal Sunshineover the phone last Thursday after you said you were in the mood for a depressing comedy?’
‘I mean, did I deliver or what?’
‘You did.’
I could feel Ava’s eyes on me, so I turned to meet them, giving her aWhat? I don’t know what you’re talking aboutlook. And was thankfully saved when Natalie came out to start lineup.
Gabe and I were in Hell again, but at least Morgan had been nice to us, seating all our tables perfectly timed out – but I think that was also just the natural flow of residents, because she only double-sat her ex, Luke, once.
Toward the end of the night I told Gabe to grab some linens for our tables while I headed back to get a fresh tray of silverware. Our closing duty was polishing the silverware anyway, so I’d get a jump on that for everyone.
When I emerged from the kitchen, seafoam-green silverware holder in hand, Connor – a tall brown-haired server who was in the same grade as us – was yelling at Gabe.
‘I put those there formysection,’ Connor was saying. The service station cabinets were open, and there weren’t any more tablecloths inside.
‘All right, sorry.’ Gabe held out the white tablecloths, but I stepped forward before Connor could take them, blocking his hand.
‘Hold up,’ I said. ‘Youdidn’tput them there for your section. You just don’t want to go back to the laundry room and get more.’
‘No, they’re mine.’
‘Then why didn’t you put them in the front station near your section? This is where all the linens are kept, and you know the rule: if there’s none for your section, you need to go grab them from laundry.’
Connor took a step toward me. He was barely an inch taller than me but still tried to make me feel small. I made my shoulders broader and held my ground.
‘And what if I say I don’t agree?’ he asked.
‘Then you know the rules for that, too.’ I’ll be perfectly honest, I was hoping to call Connor’s bluff.
‘Fine.’ He took a step back. ‘Loading dock. Seven forty-five.’
I held my ground. ‘Splendid. See you then.’ But now I was nervous. This wassuperagainst the rules and not only grounds for Natalie to deny my letter of recommendation, but also to be fired. Connor opened the door to the kitchen, and Roni’s voice from the other side of the line filled the tense silence.
‘I see a bunch of y’all standing around out there!’ she said. ‘Come run these dinners!’
