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Ben kissed Riley on the shoulder.
“She even waited outside Rockefeller Center in a blizzard to get me Cumberbatch’s autograph. Who does that, huh? Riley does! Actor crushes, boyfriends, and girlfriends may come and go, but Rye never failed me.” Tears glistened behind Piper’s false eyelashes. “I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do without you. I miss you already.” She sniffed. “Dammit! I wasn’t going to cry…”
“Oh, Pip.” Riley’s nose prickled with impending tears as she sank into Piper’s outstretched arms. “I’m so proud and excited for you! And this isn’t goodbye. A best friend like you is for life. I’m going to text and FaceTime you so much, you’ll be begging for a restraining order.”
“You better come visit.” Piper wiped her nose. “And when you’re ready to move to LA, I’ll be there, playing tour guide.”
Casey chuckled, cutting his churro waffle. “Are you going to do this all over again at the airport tonight?”
The girls laughed through their tearful hug. “Probably!”
Fifty-Seven
Two days later
“Hey, man! Welcome back!” Ben’s diner buddy slapped him on the back. “Oh, shit…did I hurt you?”
Fuck, yeah. Ben bit his lip. “No, I’m good. It’s been just over six weeks…goin’ a bit stir crazy, to be honest.”
“I’ll bet.” The server flicked through his notepad and looked over his shoulder at a table of seniors wearing Hamilton sweatshirts. “We’ve missed you…and we weren’t the only ones. All those school girls stopped coming when they realized you weren’t here.”
Yeah, that’s me, Mr. Popularity! Ben chuckled. “Well, I’m itching to come back. Is Stavros about?”
“Stavvy? Nah, he hit the road.”
“Ah, bollocks.” Ben sighed, stuffing his hands in his hoodie’s pockets. “I’ll try him tomorrow, then—”
“No, he’s gone, dude, like, no-longer-here gone. Family stuff.”
Concern darkened Ben’s eyes. “Oh, shit. Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. They moved upstate…beginning of October.” His co-worker pointed to a stocky guy with muscles for days flipping through paperwork at a far table. “Talk to Ethan. He’s taken Stavvy’s place.”
Ben broke into a smile. “Oh, cheers, mate.”
His friend nodded at a customer waving for his attention. “Great seein’ ya, Ben! Let’s grab a beer when you’re back.”
“Definitely!” Ben weaved past diners and servers, pausing several times to say hi to his co-workers. A few new faces slipped past with meals aloft, but such was working life in a restaurant. The revolving door of employees was always spinning.
With a big friendly smile, Ben caught Ethan’s eye. “Hello!”
“Hi. What can I do for you?” A confident grin brightened Ethan’s face.
“Ethan, I’m Ben Fagan.” He offered his hand to shake and the diner boss accepted. “I worked as a server for Stavros.”
“Okay.” Ethan released Ben’s hand and cocked his head, his eyes straying and coming back, keeping tabs on the restaurant.
“I’ve been on medical leave for six weeks and I’m ready to come back. I realize my day shifts have been given to someone else, no worries—”
“Day shifts?” Ethan blew out his cheeks. “Sorry, but I don’t know who you are and we don’t have any jobs open.”
Who is this joker? Ben smirked and leaned in. “Stavros was holding my job for me. He was renewing my visa and—”
“Nope, no, sorry.” Ethan shook his head, his eyes escaping down to his invoices. “I don’t know anything about your visa.”
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me… Ben narrowed his eyes. “What?” His heart began to hammer in his chest. “Stavros had all the paperwork…”
Ethan chewed his lip. “Visa renewals went in for the kitchen staff, but Stavros didn’t leave immigration forms for any servers. Things have been slow since summer, and we’re in the middle of a hiring freeze. I had to let two staff go last week.”
