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“Who is this?” She sat up.
“It's me. Burt. From the diner. Listen, I'm willing to give you another chance. The new girl I hired is terrible.”
“Wait, are you offering me my job back?” Jessie rubbed her tired eyes in disbelief and confusion.
“If you want it, it's yours. On one condition, though.” Burt drew his words out.
“Anything,” Jessie agreed without hesitation.
“You control that temper of yours. I don't want you upsetting my customers again,” Burt stipulated.
“I'll be as good as gold, I promise. When can I start?” Jessie asked in excitement. The job may have driven her crazy at times, and Melanie was a monumental bitch, but before the disastrous week leading up to her firing she had actually enjoyed working at the diner… for the most part. She was good at it, and people always seemed to tip her well.
“Two hours ago!” Burt hung up the phone and Jessie smiled to herself in relief. His phone call couldn't have come at a better time. She had forty bucks left to her name and a past-due electricity bill resting on her kitchen table.
She would make the most of this second chance, she promised herself. She wouldn't even get angry with Melanie, although she had every right to. She had lost a week's worth of valuable wages, but she could cope with that thanks to the tiny bit of extra cash she'd made tutoring. As long as Melanie didn't get in her face, everything could work itself out.
Jessie quickly showered then slipped into her familiar uniform, relieved that she had kept it and not tossed it in the garbage immediately after getting fired. She had never been so happy to be dressed as a waitress, and checked herself in the mirror one last time before grabbing her bag and stuffing her apron into it.
She was one second away from leaving, her hand already on the knob, when a knock on her front door jumped her. A cautious girl by nature, she peered through the peephole and spied what appeared to be flowers of some sort. Slowly opening the door, she was greeted by a delivery man who was indeed holding a large bouquet of roses, a polite grin stretching across his young face.
“Miss Jessie Drew?” he asked cheerfully.
“Yes?” Jessie glanced up and down the corridor as if she were expecting a camera crew to jump out and announce that she'd been tricked. Things like this never happened to her, so it certainly must be a mistake of some sort. Perhaps the delivery guy got the address wrong? Then again, he did know her name. Who did she know that would buy her flowers? Surely this couldn't be a peace offering from Melanie, could it? Although she stood with her mouth agape for only a moment, a dozen thoughts raced through her mind as she struggled to understand what was taking place.
“What is this?” she asked, looking suspiciously at the delivery guy.
“It's a special delivery, ma'am. No need to sign,” he replied while hanging her the beautiful arrangement of red roses.
Jessie took the bouquet with a look of bewilderment. It was quite large, and even though she knew very little about flowers, she had a feeling this had cost the sender a good deal of money.
“Thank you,” Jessie said as she closed the door and walked back into her modest apartment to leave the bouquet in the sink. Taking in the beauty of the flowers, she shook her head and let out a small laugh of disbelief while covering a smile with her hand. A small envelope caught her eye, and inside she found a card that read: To my mistress. Enjoy the flowers, and enjoy your first day back at work!
There didn't have to be a signature for Jessie to know who they were from. She grabbed her purse and left for work glowing and feeling unstoppable. Why did John Harwood go through the trouble of getting her job back for her? Deep down, she knew the reason. The final look he'd given her when she'd left his office a week ago spoke volumes. There had definitely been an attraction between them. They were two people from two different worlds living two different lifestyles, yet the tension had been palpable. She'd spent the last week convincing herself that she was crazy, but the flowers revealed that her instincts had been on point.
Arriving at the diner, she entered the familiar establishment and bumped straight into a sheepish looking Melanie.
“So, Melanie, looks like I'm back. Bet you'd thought you'd seen the last of me.” Jessie glared at her through squinted eyes.
“You worked it out?” Melanie replied incredulously.
Jessie just crossed her arms and continued to glare at her.
“It was just a joke, Jessie.” Melanie suddenly blurted. “I wasn't trying to get you fired. You know that, right?”
“The best thing you can do right now, bitch, is to back off and let me do my damn job,” Jessie hissed angrily while brushing past the girl to clock in and begin her shift. She was proud of herself for finally taking a stand against the girl and speaking up, something that may have been inspired by John Harwood and his generous floral surprise. For nearly a year Melanie had thrown shitty comments in her direction, but Jessie was done allowing that to happen. She wasn't about to get fired again, but she wasn't going to let Melanie walk all over here, either.
Throughout the day, Melanie didn't say a word more to her, but did try to shoot her a smile every opportunity she could. Midday, at the end of her shift, Melanie rushed to catch up with Jessie as she left for home.
“I mean it, Jessie. I'm sorry. It was a childish trick that went too far. I fucked up. I know we don't see eye-to-eye, but if I thought you'd get fired—”
“Forget it,” Jessie managed to say as she pushed open the door to step outside with Melanie hot on
her heels.
Both girls stopped in their tracks when they saw a sleek, black car with tinted windows waiting outside the diner. Leaning against the passenger door was a familiar figure to both Jessie and Melanie.
John Harwood smiled at Jessie and lowered his sunglasses. It was mid-afternoon, and the sun was still high as he confidently approached Jessie, looking her straight in the eye with a slight smirk on his face.
“Did you like the flowers?” he asked as Melanie stood beside her speechless and dumbfounded.
“I'm not a flowers type of girl but, yes, they were nice,” she answered. She tried to conceal her grin, but her eyes gave away her surprise and excitement.
“What kind of girl are you? You don't like flowers, so what do you like?” he asked with same sincerity in his voice that she'd already grown accustomed to. He was genuinely interested in her, and that fact wasn't lost on Jessie.
She began to walk to the bus stop as he followed along side of her. “I'm just an ordinary girl who has no desire to become anyone's mistress.” She smiled back at him as he upped his pace so he could turn and face her. Melanie clumsily trotted behind them, desperately trying to hear their conversation with the look of shock still glued to her face.
“That's the last thing I want, either,” John said. “But I would love the opportunity to get to know you better.”
“Why?” asked Jessie, a hint of disbelief in her voice.
“Why not?” answered Melanie. John and Jessie turned around to look at her, both having forgotten she was even there. Realizing she was now the third wheel and intruding on their conversation, she pulled her lips into a line, nodded her head, and crossed the road to give the two some privacy.
“Look, Jessie,” John said quietly. “I can see you're not the kind of girl who's mistress material, and I'm not asking you to be. Call me crazy, but I believe there was a spark between us at my office and I'm still getting an amazing vibe from you. Don't tell me you can't feel it?”
