AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He gives me a friendly smile before he leaves. He’s cute and looks too sweet to be in any sort of mafia.
“Tommy, tell Khalid I’ll be there in twenty-minutes.”
“Okay,” he replies before walking away.
“I have to get to work.” I look at my phone. “I only have two minutes.”
“At the bar?”
“No, I’m working at The Blue Chip.”
He cocks his head before taking my arm and walking me to the restaurant nearly twenty feet away. At the hostess table, Vicente stops and says, “Is the manager here?” Penelope nods her head but continues to stand there looking between us. “Go get him,” he says with a bite in his tone.
Penelope scurries off while I look around, still searching for the man who was following me.
“Why are you so nervous?” Vicente asks.
“I don’t know. I mean, I’m not. I just need to clock in, and my shirt is wet and my hand kinda hurts. Plus, I don’t know where that guy went.”
Vicente turns around, his eyes scanning the area. “If you can give me a description I can keep an eye out.”
I shrug. “He looked like every other guy out there. He’s white, I think. Dark brown hair. Average height. Nothing spectacular. A thousand guys in here fit that description.” I sigh and inspect my hand again.
Vicente takes my wrist and studies the redness of my skin. “It’s not blistering, so that’s good, but it’s pretty red. Can you make a fist?”
I bring my fingers in toward my palm, but the coffee poured over my forefinger, thumb, and the space between them, as well as splashed on the back of my hand. All movement is giving me some slight discomfort.
He makes a noise, then looks up to see the manager approaching.
Mr. Whitlock looks annoyed until he sees Vicente. The transformation from irritation to respect is quick. His eyebrows reach for his hairline as his lips curve into a smile.
“Mr. Moreno. To what do we owe the pleasure?”
Vicente looks down at me. “Your employee here had a run-in with me. I suppose it’s my fault. She got coffee spilled all over her shirt and hand,” he says, gesturing at me. “My associate is getting her a new blouse now, but having looked at her hand, I’m not sure she should be working tonight.”
“No, I’m fine,” I chime in, looking at Mr. Whitlock. I don’t need him thinking I can’t do my job over a slight burn. “I can work. I just need to change and then I can get started.”
Vicente stares at me before looking back at my manager. “I’m sure you understand,” he says. “A fine restaurant like this wouldn’t want to make their injured employees work through pain, right?”
“Right. Of course,” Mr. Whitlock says. “She can definitely take the night off. No worries at all, Mr. Moreno.”
Vicente nods and gives him a tight grin. “She’ll return in two days.”
“Sounds good. Perfect,” he says with a smile. “Is there anything else I can do for you tonight, sir?”
“I’m good. Thank you, but perhaps your concern should be placed elsewhere.” He puts his hand on my lower back as he stares daggers at Mr. Whitlock.
“Are you okay, Mariella?” my boss asks, stuttering through his question.
“Yes. I’m fine.”
Vicente spins me around. “Let’s go.”
“What did you do?” I hiss. “And why? I could’ve worked. Now both he and Penelope will tell the other employees what happened and they’ll all treat me like shit.”
“If that happens, I’ll shut the whole damn restaurant down.” He looks over and smiles. “Don’t worry. You won’t be fired or treated any differently.”
The cute and sweet guy from earlier heads our way holding a hanger with my new shirt on it. I reach for it when we both come to a stop.
