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“A customer wants to speak with you, Dad.”
My father looked up as if waking from a trance. When his eyes settled on me, he looked taken aback. Or maybe just put out.
“Can't you handle it?” he grumbled.
“He specifically asked for you,” I said. “I don't know what he wants.”
My dad wasn't the most pleasant man around. In fact, most days, he wasn't fit for human interaction. He sighed as he tossed his spatula down and wiped his hands on his apron. He followed me through the door into the dining room, not saying a word the entire time.
There was a reason I worked the front of the diner and he remained in the back. My father wasn't very good with people – which might have been the understatement of the century. He was grumpy and irritable on a good day. Now, thanks to all of the pressure and stress he was under, it had only gotten worse., much worse. But, he'd brought it all upon himself.
We were all being made to suffer for his poor decisions. So, if anybody had a right to be upset and angry, it was me, and yet here I was every day with a damn smile on my face.
“Yes?” he said without so much as a greeting, simply standing in front of Nico with a scowl on his face. “My daughter said you wanted to talk to me.”
“There is a rumor going around that you're losing the place,” Nico said.
A shot of fear lanced through my heart, along with a little bit of anger at Nico for betraying my confidence when he'd sworn not to. My dad looked over at me and I shrugged, trying to act innocent.
“I want to help,” Nico said.
My dad scoffed. “Help? How could you possibly help me? And, why would you?”
“I have a proposition for you,” he said.
Just then, another group of customers walked through the front door and I needed to run over and seat them. Grabbing a stack of menus from beneath the counter, I turned to walk away from Nico and my father, but he called me back.
“Sophia, you will need to listen to this as well,” he said.
I looked at my father who seemed as confused as I was. “I'll be right back,” I said. “I just need to seat this family.”
Nico nodded and off I went, curious as to what he wanted to offer us and how it would affect me. I knew Nico was a businessman, successful in whatever he did. But I had no idea what he did. Could he be interested in buying the diner. He didn't seem to be the diner-owner type; more like a banker or CEO.
“Hey there,” I said, greeting the new customers with a smile. “How are you doing today? Follow me and I'll get you seated.”
As I walked by them with my group, I could hear my dad and Nico talking in hushed whispers, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I got the customers seated, but wasn't really paying any attention to them. I was so focused on what Nico and my father were doing, that I didn't even hear what my customers were saying.
I handed them their menus – more like, tossed them on the table – and rushed back over to the counter.
“Yes, we will do it,” my father said.
“Well, I'd like to hear from Sophia first, if you don't mind –” Nico said.
“She will do whatever it takes for this family,” my father said. “Won't you, sweetheart?”
I looked over at Nico who smiled at me, but I still had no idea what I was agreeing to. I also couldn't let my family down, especially if it meant keeping the diner open and operating.
“Of course, I'll do anything for the family,” I said, watching both men carefully.
“Good,” my dad said, clapping his hands together happily. “Go home, Sophia, and pack, please. You're going to be leaving shortly.”
“Leaving?” I asked, fear shooting through me. “Where am I going?”
Nico turned around to face me and said, “If you are willing, I would like to take you on a vacation. No strings attached, I give you my word. It will be just you and me on a tropical island. We can have dinner, drinks, some adventures,” he said. “In exchange for your time, I will give your father the money he needs to keep the diner.”
My mouth fell open and practically landed on the floor. I looked from my father to Nico and back again, feeling the waves of shock rolling over me. How could my father so willingly sell me to this man? Even temporarily? He was basically pimping out his daughter to save the diner – and he didn't seem to give a damn about it.
He certainly didn't know the first thing about Nico. Yeah, he'd always been nice and kind, but for all we knew, he had a stack of bodies in his garage at home.
