AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What time is your meeting?”
Kelly shot Jenna an exasperated look before replying, “Soon. I have to go, actually.”
She tapped Jenna on the shoulder and smiled before walking away with a bounce to her step. Jenna was sure her best friend was convinced she’d win in the end; the troubling thing was Jenna thought she probably would. It was not that big a deal, after all, and it was for a worthy cause. Not only that, she wanted to be supportive and if Kelly would feel grateful for Jenna actually being part of the auction then it wouldn’t kill her to do it.
She lied down on her tummy and began to read her magazine but a little while into it the sound of running footsteps and high-pitched laughter distracted her, so she looked up to see a little child of about 7 years with strawberry blonde hair and fair skin trotting about gleefully with a football in her hands. Her dad was trailing behind her, clearly tired but enjoying every second of the happiness on his daughter’s face, and Jenna could not help but notice how young he looked. He seemed to be even younger than her, an independent young lady of 28 years, but that would mean he’d had his daughter at a very early time in life.
Not recognizing him from her high school she figured he had to be someone who’d moved to town later on or had, for some reason, commuted to a different school. The town was not exactly the kind of small where everyone knew each other but it was definitely not a large one either. It was a happy medium of quiet and friendly but still with plenty to do and new faces to be seen out and about. The man turned to look at Jenna and smiled, making her breath catch in her throat and her cheeks burn with embarrassment. She smiled pleasantly before quickly looking down at her magazine and turning the page. It was horrible to be caught staring at a stranger. She scanned the table of contents but nothing stood out, primarily because she was trying to get rid of the humiliation she felt. She silently found herself hoping she never saw the young man again.
Chapter Two
“It’s not that big a deal,” Carly laughed the following morning as they tied their aprons before heading out to the main room. The restaurant was going to open soon and they were the only two servers to arrive so far. “You’ve always been so weird about that.”
“I’m not weird about that,” Jenna defended. “It’s just so awkward to be caught staring at someone, especially if you don’t know that person.”
“Let’s be honest, Jenna, you’d feel just as embarrassed if I caught you staring at me.”
Jenna huffed but said nothing, knowing Carly was absolutely right. She made sure her hair was neatly pinned before walking out and greeting her supervisor. Not five minutes after the doors had opened three parties walked in, all a bit too happy for the early morning. Among them she noticed two men who appeared to be business associates rather than acquaintances; then realized one of them was the same man she’d seen at the park the day before. She gasped and quickly rounded back to hide behind the wall sectioning off the short hallway that led to the kitchen.
“What are you doing?” She heard Carly’s annoyed voice from the other side of the wall.
“The man from the park is here,” Jenna breathed.
Carly popped her head behind the wall to look at Jenna in confusion and, quite obviously, little patience for what she probably considered some sort of early morning shenanigans.
“Which one is he? The taller one with dark hair or the one that looks like a ginger?”
“Carly!”
“What? He does look like–”
“Ugh yes, him. The one with copper hair is the man from the park.”
“He looks young to have a 7-year-old daughter,” she muttered. “And bad news, honey,” Carly said with amusement, nodding toward Jenna’s table.
The man from the park and his companion had been assigned to her area. She sighed. “Good luck,” Carly hummed as she brushed past her to attend to her own tables.
Jenna sighed again before fixing a smile to her face and walking over to the table in as high spirits as possible. “Good morning,” she chirped.
“Morning!” The young man from the park smiled widely and it was quite clear he recognized her from the previous day. The man sitting across looked up curiously, perhaps detecting the tone of voice from his companion. “Fancy seein’ you here!”
“Oh,” Jenna replied dumbly, not quite sure what to say. All she wanted was to move past the embarrassment of being caught staring but here it was staring her right back in the face and there was no way for her to escape. She dreaded having to wait on the table for the duration of their meal, especially when the other young man began to talk.
“You two know each other?”
“Not exactly,” the man from the park responded vaguely.
The other young man smirked as if he’d caught onto something– something that had most definitely never happened. “Oh,” he muttered smarmily.
Jenna’s cheeks blazed up and she just knew that turning beet red would only make matters worse but she could not help it. She wanted to scream that it was nothing like that but it was all she could do to just stand there quietly, willing herself not to make a scene. She did not want even more attention than she currently had.
“We aren’t all you, Michael,” the young man sniped.
The young man turned to look at Jenna, eyeing her from head to toe, before responding, “Well why pass up…” He trailed off and turned his attention back to the menu, one corner of his mouth still upturned in a sly smirk.
Jenna cleared her throat and asked, “Would you like to start off with something to drink?” She maintained her professionalism outwardly but inside she was quite put off. It was enough that she had re relive her previous day’s embarrassment but now she had to deal with someone who was obviously a womanizing jerk.
“We’ll both take coffee. Thank you,” the man from the park replied politely before giving a nod and opening up his menu to have a look.
