AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And there went my hope that I’d be having an early night.
I headed for my now ice-cold coffee and dumped it out in the sink and refilled it, refueling myself for the next few hours.
The college hockey team had clearly won, from all the happy faces and excited chatter as people started streaming in about twenty minutes later. I grabbed another set of extra menus and took them over to one of the tables I’d cleared off a few minutes before. I put on my bestI’m not exhaustedsmile and took the four teenagers’ orders as they chatted away about the game, their flushed faces telling me they’d had a bit of a cold walk from the car to the diner.
Overtime. They’d scored with less than twenty seconds left in the game.
I went to grab their drinks and looked at the time—at least another two to three hours of my shift left. I put the drinks on the tray and headed back out.
***
College kids were the worst tippers.
I scooped the three bucks in literal quarters from a table of six kids and stuck it in my apron pocket, the coins jingling on my walk to the back. The snow was starting to pick up outside, making it hard to see the street, let alone the streetlight in front of the diner.
I was hoping it would die down before I had to go home, although I was glad I had managed to get my snow tires on the car in time this year. Jimmy had actually made sure I booked the appointment this time, unlike last year when I’d gotten stuck after the first snowstorm and it had taken him and my best friend to help dig me out. The lecture had been enough to make sure I’d put a post-it note on my calendar for this year. The tires were changed while the leaves were still falling, as ajust in case.
I took one more order from an older couple who’d come in and took it to the back, leaving it on the counter for Jimmy before checking the time.
The other waitress for the night, D, a sweet first-year college girl, smiled at me. “Take your break, I’ll get them.”
“Thanks.”
I took my short break in the kitchen, my sandwich Jimmy had made for me waiting on the warm plate and an extra-large soda beside me. My rare five a.m. wake-up call had started to hit me as I fought back another yawn and tried to ignore the slight twinge of pain in my lower back that told me I’d been on my feet for way too long. I ate in relative silence, the only sounds of the kitchen and a radio on low in the back filling the space. I could hear Jimmy talking on the phone somewhere off in the distance while I watched the other two servers come in and out, filling orders and clearing tables.
Jimmy took a break of his own a few minutes later and leaned on the table in front of me. I noticed his hair graying more at his temples. It had just started to gray when he’d hired me five years before. I’d been a nervous college student, sitting in one of the booths while he and his wife, Marnie, asked me half a dozen questions before hiring me on the spot. Marnie had brought me a burger to eat while I’d filled in the paperwork.
“You look wiped.”
I gave him a grin. “You know the way to a woman’s heart.”
He laughed. “Marnie wants to know what you’re doing for Christmas.”
“I’m supposed to be driving home.” I punctuated that statement with a sigh, not sure which I wasn’t looking forward to more—the actual drive itself, or the Christmas with family.
“Well, if it storms and you can’t get out, you’ve got a plate at our place.”
“Thanks, Jimmy.”
“Of course.” He smiled and headed to check the freezer, tablet in hand to update the inventory.
I leaned back on my stool, taking a big bite of my club sandwich. I was dreading the idea of going home for Christmas. Another year of listening to how well everyone else was all doing, which was always followed by the inevitable question: How was my little photography going? Always the emphasis onlittle.
I sighed.
My photography had gone nowhere post-graduation.
All the awards and potential success had seemingly halted once I’d had that little piece of paper in my hand.
I’d burned out on rejection and had decided cocooning myself right now was the only way forward. I’d think about it again in the new year...at some point. But for now, my photos were solely for me, a way to sustain that creative part of me still there...just super reluctant to emerge again.
I’d go back to it when I was ready, I told myself.
Everyone eventually hit burn out. And I’d hit it early.
***
It was well after midnight when I finally made it home, yawning while unlocking the door to my old studio apartment over Lee’s Chinese restaurant where I’d lived since my second year in college. It was cozy, which I guess in some way was real estate code for small, but it housed everything I needed. My bed, mainly.
