Ben eyed me. “I take it you and Cindy aren’t going to become besties in the next few days?”
“I doubt it,” I said flatly.
“She’s probably a really nice girl if you got to know her,” he teased.
“I’m sure she is,” I answered sarcastically.
“You’re just jealous.”
“I am not,” I turned and hissed at him. But truthfully, I was. I was so jealous of Miss Pouty-Lip right now and the way her low-cut top had fallen open when she’d leaned over to reveal just the right amount of almost-nipple to Ben.
Ben turned his entire body towards me and leaned forward. “I wouldn’t do anything with her, even if she threw herself at me naked.” His voice was low and husky.
“Oh, but your reputation proceeds you,” I said in a mocking tone, locking eyes with him. And suddenly it was awkward. I could see I’d hit a nerve and he squirmed under my gaze.
“That’s in the past,” he quickly said. Thank God the airhostess interrupted us at that moment, because the conversation was headed somewhere it really shouldn’t be. I bought a Coke and soon felt better when I was washing it down with some Jelly Babies.
“You consume a lot of sugar,” Ben suddenly said.
“I know.” I popped another Jelly Baby in my mouth and didn’t bother to look up.
“You know sugar is bad for you.”
“So I’ve been told. But I need it to keep me awake and functioning.”
“That’s only because you work too hard.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Really, and how many shifts did you do this week, Sera?”
This time I stopped eating and looked up at him. “Every night this week. That’s how many.” He said it like a statement of fact. As if he knew exactly how many shifts I’d done that week. He must have sensed my thoughts because he quickly added, “I can hear you coming home late at night. And that’s why I’m glad you’re coming, you could do with a break and this won’t be stressful. You can relax.”
“That does sound nice.” I suddenly imagined three whole days of total relaxation and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually relaxed.
“When was the last time you went to bed at a normal time?” he asked.
“What’s normal?”
“I don’t know, before three in the morning? I mean I know I’m not supposed to sleep, but youreallydon’t sleep.”
I thought about this for a while and realized that I only really got one normal night a week, Sunday night.
“I worry about you.” He looked straight into my eyes.
“This is starting to sound verynotprofessional again, Ben. We have a rule about that.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s called employee wellness. It’s also my job to make sure my staff aren’t completely overworked, stressed and exhausted. Of which you are all three.”
“Don’t worry ’bout me. I don’t need much sleep to function, from years and years of practice.”
“How long have you been working at the restaurant?”
“Since I was fifteen,” I said without thinking.
“Seriously? Through school and college and now this job?”
I nodded. “It’s been a long time, I guess.” I hadn’t actually realized that I’d been working there for so long already . . .
