But I wouldn’t get ahead of myself. All I cared about was Isla’s wellbeing. If she was safe and happy, and wanted nothing to do with me, I’d leave her alone.
Unless seeing her made all the feelings, I’d tried to bury, rush back. All bets would be off then.
The elevator dinged and I exited the metal box.
San Francisco, here I come…
7
ISLA
The gloomy skyloomed over the city and dampened my day. The past year in the Bay Area, I had experienced more overcast days than I liked. As a SoCal girl, it bummed me out and I was over it.
Even during a Canadian winter, when Ciro invited me out to visit, I could count on seeing the sun. Albeit I froze my tootsies off, but at least I had bright sunny days.
San Francisco, it’s almost June for goodness’ sake.
Living in the Bay Area wasn’t doing it for me.
“Are you just going to stare out the window or help me clean up after the lunch rush?” Chris, my co-worker, playfully nudged my elbow.
I shot him a deadpan expression. “I’d rather stare out the window.”
“Smartass. We all would.” He tossed a dishtowel at my head.
I caught it, whipped it in a circle above my head with a dramatic flair, and made us both laugh. It was times like this,being goofy with my co-workers, life didn’t seem quite so hard.
And hey, laughter and silliness made time pass quickly. So did lunchtime at West End. Mix it all together and the day flew by. The madness started promptly at eleven and didn’t slow down until after two.
Following the rush, we’d have three hours to recover and prepare to be slammed at dinner. My days were literally a blur when I worked, and I preferred it that way.
“So that IT guy I told you about? We’re meeting at a pub after my shift for drinks,” Keri whisper-shouted as she set the tables behind me.
“Is that a good idea?”
“What do you mean?” She blinked her eyes like she was confused. “It’s a date.”
“Who plans a date on a Thursday night?”
“An IT guy.”
“But Fridays are crazy and we’ll need you.” Everybody knew Keri was a lightweight. She was notorious for calling in sick after going out for drinks, and it took her two days to recover. “A coffee shop would be better.”
“Coffee is so boring.”
“What about ice cream? No, get gelato!” Why did I mention the Italian frozen dessert? Because Ciro and his family were never far from my thoughts.
Keri sighed and gave me an exaggerated eye roll. “He’s hot and has money. I need to be agreeable, so he’ll like me. Snatch him up before another girl catches his eye.” She fluffed her dyed jet-black hair with attitude.
But all I saw were her blonde roots.
“I don’t want to be a waitress for the rest of my life.” Keripeered past me at the door. The girl had the shortest attention span I’d ever seen.
“There’s more to a man than his bank account.” I snorted at her ridiculousness. The girl needed to raise the bar and set some goals for herself, other than finding a rich guy who would take care of her.
Stupid, stupid girl. She was clueless…
Money and good looks didn’t mean love. If anyone knew that it was me. I had first-hand experience with a painfully handsome, devilishly sexy, disgustingly rich man.
