I knew Taylor had good intentions, but there was nothing he could do about all that.
We went for lunch at a burger joint, but we had to cut it short because I was working the afternoon shift. Taylor dropped me off at Mill’s, and I was grateful that I could just work and ignore my problems. At least for a while. But just as I was about to count the cash drawer, in walked Danny with his friends.
“Sorry, we’re closing,” I said, noticing the stupid varsity jacket he always wore. Was it the only thing he owned?
“It says on the door you close at nine,” he responded, looking at his friends and laughing.
“It’s five to nine.”
“Yeah, exactly.” He clapped Harry on the back. Victor laughed, and they walked to the table farthest from the counter. Mrs. Mill walked out and looked at her wristwatch.
“Hey, kids,” she called, a bashful smile on her face, “we’re closing in five minutes.”
“That means you’re still open, right?” Danny replied nastily.
Mrs. Mill leaned on her cane. She’d been having back problems all week. I’d been doing virtually everything there because Mr. Mill was now bedbound. Didn’t Danny realize how shitty it was to barge into a place five minutes before closing?
Mrs. Mill tried to smile, telling them, “I could make something quick if y’all like.”
“What do you want, guys? I’ll take the full breakfast with extra bacon and scrambled eggs.”
“Same.”
“Me too.”
I hated him. But what could Mrs. Mill do? She had a business to run. So she took their order, and, as she passed, I told her not to worry: I’d make everything and lock up; she could go home.
The relief on her face made me hate those jerkoffs even more. “Are you sure, honey?” she asked.
I nodded with an uneasy smile. “Absolutely. Don’t worry about it.”
“Well, that’s just wonderful, thank you. Don’t forget to lock the back door too.”
“I won’t.”
As Mrs. Mill left, I went into the kitchen to start cooking. I was so engrossed in the task that I jumped when I noticed Danny had found his way back to the kitchen.
“You can’t be in here,” I said. “Staff only.”
“I just wanted to make sure you’ve got everything under control.”
I stopped beating the eggs.
“You think I don’t know how to make breakfast?”
Danny walked around the pastry table and leaned against it, crossing his arms and giving me one of those charming smiles I could no longer stand. “It’s still hard to believe you had to get a job. What happened to the Kamila Hamilton everyone used to idolize? Do you have any idea how pathetic you look here?”
I ignored how much that hurt and fired back, “Do you have any idea how pathetic your mere existence is? Now get out.” I pointed at the door.
“Your family isactuallybroke! The Hamilton dynasty in shambles!”
“Fuck off, moron,” I said, on the verge of throwing the whisk at his head.
“You know, I’m kind of glad there’s some psycho trying to ruin your life because if there weren’t, I might do it myself. Watching you suffer is bringing me more pleasure than you could imagine.” He smiled.
“Are you hearing yourself?”
“Loud and clear,” he responded, and came closer. “You tried to fuck me over, and now it’s your turn to go down… But, believe it or not, there’s a part of me that’s sad to see you go. I do still care about you. I mean, we did go out for two years, didn’t we?”
