AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When I step inside, I’m apprehensive when I note how small and cramped it is, especially when I see the office chair behind the desk is empty. I was expecting to meet Harold, the manager who had called and offered me the job.
“Take a seat, Dolly.” Matt motions to a chair to the side as he closes the office door and takes the empty one behind the desk.
“Um, where is Harold?” I shift on my feet, wishing he’d left the door open, but sit as instructed when he pulls a few papers out of the desk drawer and passes them to me.
“Harold had to step out to run home for a few minutes, but he said I can finish this up with you. Fill those out, and then we can pick out your uniform.”
I ignore the way he looks me up and down as I fill out the W2 paperwork so I can get paid. Matt goes over how much I’ll be making per hour, and I balk because, holy shit, it’s a lot less than I was expecting.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. $2.13 an hour is just the base pay. You’re a gorgeous girl, and you’ll be making tips hand over first soon enough. Just gotta give the folks a big smile. Go on, show me how big you can smile.”
I was already nervous being in here alone with him with the door closed, but his slimy eyes and words are really starting to freak me out.
Maybe this was a mistake…
No, I’m a big girl now, and I need to do this. I need the work experience, even if I don’t end up working here for long—which I probably won’t if I have to deal with him every day. I need to know I can take care of myself and that I don’t have to rely on Wyatt like Mom is reliant on Dad.
The thought of Mom steels my resolve, though sadness sweeps through me at the reminder that I left her, who, for all her faults, still loved me. Matt taps the desk impatiently, and I put thoughts of her aside for now. I smile as big as I can, hoping it doesn’t look as fake as it feels.
Matt eats it up and says, “There you go. That’s what the customers want to see.”
Gross.
He stands to open a tall metal cabinet in the corner and pulls out a few of the pink and white uniform dresses. “Stand up so I can see what size you need.”
I do, and he comes to a stop too close, holding each dress up, eye-balling whether or not he thinks it will fit me instead of asking what size I am—or better yet, letting me look through them myself. I can smell the coffee he must have been drinking earlier and feel his breath on my face, and I start to panic when I realize he’s maneuvered himself between me and the office door.
“Here we go. I think this is the one. How about you try it on for me so I can make sure it fits?” His voice is husky as he holds up a dress that looks way too small and presses the back of his hand against my breast.
My stomach churns, and I want to vomit at the thought of trying on anything for him. Tears are prickling the corners of my eyes as he shifts closer, forcing me flat back against the wall behind me. I’m just about to say screw it to the job and shove him away when Wyatt bursts through the door.
“What the hell is taking so long, baby—” Wyatt takes one look at the tears in my eyes, and I swear to god, it’s like madness washes over him. His warm brown eyes darken, and a vein on the side of his neck bulges as he fists his large hands.
It’s Matt’s turn to panic when he turns his head at the sound of Wyatt’s voice. He takes a hasty step away from me, his slimy smile dropping as his eyes go wide in fear.
“You weaselly piece of shit!” It only takes Wyatt one large step to cross the office before he has the front of Matt’s white uniform shirt twisted up in one of his fists, and he slams Matt’s back against the metal cabinet. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Matt sputters out, “N-Nothing, I wasn’t doing nothing, man.”
Wyatt pulls him away from the cabinet and slams him back against it. “It sure as shit didn’t look like ‘nothing’ to me!” Wyatt turns to me, his face softening a fraction as I wipe the tears from my eyes. “Did he hurt you, babygirl? Did he lay a finger on you?”
“Um…” I don’t know what I should say. I don’t want to lie, but I also don’t want Wyatt to hurt him. Matt is a weaselly piece of shit, and he did touch me, but I don’t want the cops to get called if Wyatt does anything to him.
I’m saved from having to answer when an older man with a head full of salt and pepper hair walks through the door and comes to an abrupt halt. “What the hell is going on here, Wyatt?” The guys turn their heads toward the man standing in the doorway, who is followed in by Faye and another waitress I haven’t met yet.
“Harold, help m—” Matt’s plea for help is cut off when Wyatt shoves him back against the cabinet again.
Ahhh, so this is the boss. I’m for sure not getting the job now, not when my—boyfriend? fiancé?—is about to beat up one of his employees.
“This scumbag,” Wyatt answers, shaking Matt like a rag doll now, “had my woman backed against the wall. Pretty sure he was feeling her up, making her cry.”
Harold snaps his attention to me, taking me in, though not in the creepy way Matt did. He takes stock of my tear-streaked face and asks, “That true, Miss…?”
“Dolly, and yes, he…he…” But I can’t say it when Wyatt looks like he’s on the verge of tearing Matt to pieces.
The waitress, whose name I don’t know, pipes up, her murderous glare locked on Matt. “He used to do that shit to me, too, Harold, ‘til I threatened to run him over in the parking lot. Does it to all the girls, right, Faye?” Faye squeaks out a yes, and the waitress goes on. “He’s always touching the waitresses and groping their asses whenever he walks by.”
Harold’s face and thick neck have gone red, and if looks could kill, Matt would be dead three times over by now. “Why in the hell has no one told me before now?” Harold cuts his eyes to Faye, his expression softening for her as Wyatt’s did for me. “Why didn’t you tell me, Faye?”
