Well, New York was starting to feel like the harsh place everyone had warned me it was when I decided to move here in the first place. It’d been kind to me at first, but after Aaron, it didn’t feel quite so warm.
A solid few weeks by the Pacific, tucked away in the sleepy little seaside town I used to call home didn’t soundcompletelyawful. Not right now. Especially not after last night.
I could hide out in my old black-walled bedroom and wallow in my misery until I either got over it or accepted it as a permanent part of my life.
“Good,” Marissa said. “A few weeks without you here to scare the customers might be enough to turn this place around.”
“I yell atonecustomer…”
“One customer in front of her grandchildren,” Marissa pointed out.
“They were brats.Shewas a brat who thought she was old enough to get away with it. Aliyah was practically in tears over that woman’s crap. I’m the head chef, the only person who gets to make the servers cry is me.”
“You’ve never made a server cry,” Marissa said.
“Yeah, well, I’ve been in their shoes. They have a hard enough job without me on their backs.”
“Take a vacation before you lose it at another little old lady,” Marissa said. “No matterhowrude she was. If you do it again, I’ll have to fire you.”
“Can you fire me?”
“Hell yes I can, I'm the manager here.”
“It's my name on the lease,” I said between mouthfuls of ice cream.
“It's the company name, don't test me.” Marissa pointed one perfectly-manicured cherry-red nail at my chest.
“I feel like I've been testing you for about thirteen months, and I'm sorry. Maybe a break is a good idea.”
“Who are you, and what have you done with Hayden?”
“I did saymaybe.”
“Well, as of now you’re on indefinite leave,” Marissa said. “Finish your ice cream and pack your bags, I’ll book your flight. And Hayden?”
“Yeah?”
“Try to get laid.”
3
Wes
“You gonna eat that bacon?”I asked, eyeing up the rasher going cold on Seth’s plate.
“No,” he said, pushing it toward me. “I’m watching my weight.”
“Watching it stay exactly the same as it has been for the past decade?” I asked, taking the bacon before he changed his mind.
“I’ve gained half a pound since Christmas,” Seth said.
“Oh no. That’s like… carrying an extra cell phone and a pack of gum around,” I teased. “Can Mark even still lift you?”
Seth squirmed in his seat. “He can,” he confirmed. “I’m just…”
“Worried he’ll get tired of you, I know,” I said. “You don’t see the way he looks at you.”
“I’m an adorable trophy boyfriend, he’s meant to look at me like that.”
