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“You can do it, Jenny,” Ramone said.
“Yeah, you can do it, honey,” Amanda said as she breezed through on her way to refill a water pitcher. “Whatever it is.”
“Going to business school,” Jake said helpfully.
“Oh yeah,” Amanda said on her way back through, giving me an encouraging smile. “You can do it. I bet you’re way more hard-working than all of those trust fund babies put together.”
It felt good to have the camaraderie and support of my coworkers. It didn’t change the fact that I was bone tired, but it did make me feel a little bit better.
“Hey,” I said to Ramone, “do you know what Dill meant when he said that there were big changes in store?”
“Oh, that? We have a new owner.”
I sighed and covered my face with my hand… which got soapy water in my eyes. I blinked rapidly to clear them and shook my head.
“It’s probably bad news. When they get a new owner most places fire a bunch of staff.”
I tried not to think about it and got to work. I struggled to get the mountain of leftover dishes done, but they kept giving me more and more. I couldn’t make any headway on the new stuff because I was still grinding out the old.
The end of my shift approached, and I had finally cleared out the old dishes and actually caught up on the newer ones. My fingers ached to the bone, and my back had a crick in it. All I wanted to do was go home and take a long, hot bath.
Dill burst into the kitchen and I cursed inwardly. Great, I had thought he’d torn into me enough for one day. Apparently he had not.
“Jenny,” he sputtered, coming up to me and putting his hands on his, shall we say, ample hips. “Table number five just said that they found a spot on their glasses.”
I felt something burning in my chest.
“Yes, they probably did because the dishwashers are broken, and that means no jet dry. I do my best, Dill, but it’s next to impossible to get all the spots off.”
“Hey, take it up with them,” he said with a shrug. “Or with the new owner. All I know is they said they have spots on their glasses.”
Suddenly, my fatigue disappeared and I felt blood boiling in my veins.
“Take it up with them?”
I knew he didn’t mean it, but I didn’t care anymore. I untied my apron and threw it over the edge of the sink. “Fine, I will take it up with them.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but I just stormed past him. My anger had reached a boiling point. I charged out through the kitchen door, my gaze scanning the room. A group of businessmen sat around at one of the tables, laughing and talking with each other. I saw their tailored three-piece suits and big smarmy grins and I seethed with anger.
I spied the biggest stuffed suit of them all, it was obvious that he was the center of attention of the group.
“So, who’s the Princess with the Pea who wants to complain about spots on their glasses?” I addressed him, even though the question was more or less for everyone. “Is it you? Are you the one who can’t handle a freaking spot on their glass? Hmm? Do you know that I’ve spent eighteen hours at this place over the last thirty, and the dishwashers are broke, and I’m doing all of this by hand, and your damn glass is clean and sanitized, I promise you that.”
I glared at him and snorted.
“You act like you own the place, but all you do is manage the money that you probably inherited. I’d bet a porterhouse steak that you’ve never done a day’s worth of manual labor in your entire life.”
His eyes widened for a split second, and then he stood up… and up. The guy was well over six feet tall, with a broad chest and tapered waist that said he kept himself in excellent shape. His eyes flashed at me, and I felt my heart catch in my throat.
Jesus Christ, what a dream. He’s stunning.
His gaze traveled all over my body in a matter of moments. I could feel him appraising me on a variety of scales, and my cheeks burned.
“I’m sorry,” he said in a voice more confident than God. “I didn’t catch your name.”
“I didn’t give it, but it’s Jenny. Jennifer.”
“Well, Jennifer,” he said in a maddeningly calm voice. “I’ll take that bet.”
