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Jenna rushed back to pour coffee into two mugs wishing now more than ever that Mac had been scheduled for the morning. She knew he’d find it funny and trivial but he would have listened to her regardless. Maybe he would have even given her some snarky remarks to make before the two men left the restaurant, not that she would have actually made them. She was far too professional to do something like that even in the worst of situations, and this definitely did not qualify as that.
“How’s it going?”
Jenna gave a start and the coffee sloshed back and forth in the pot, too close to spilling for her comfort. “Oh, Carly,” she responded in relief. “Not great,” she muttered unhappily before telling her, “That guy he’s with seems like a jerk, honestly.”
“He looks awful familiar,” Carly told her. Jenna looked up from the filled coffee mugs she had been arranging on a tray. The man accompanying the young man from the park had not looked the least bit familiar to her so she was sure Carly had to be confusing him with someone else. Or maybe she’d seen him around town, for some reason remembering how he looked. “Not in a way of having seen him before, either. Like not in person anyway.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Like I’ve seen his picture somewhere, I mean,” Carly replied before walking off.
Jenna stood rooted to the spot with her brows furrowed. Where would she have seen his photograph? Shrugging, she carefully took the tray and walked back out to the table asking if they were ready to order as soon as she had set the mugs of coffee down. “We’ll both have the Eggs Florentine,” the young man from the park said. Jenna looked between them, finding it funny that they both kept ordering the same and it was always one of them speaking. The young man noticed and replied, “Michael isn’t much of a talker.”
The other scoffed and chuckled before taking a sip of the black coffee. He looked up at Jenna with slightly hooded eyes; she did not miss the way he looked at her breasts, which were really very large, before his eyes settled back on his coffee. He took another sip.
“I’m Harrison, by the way,” the young man said. He smiled.
Jenna could tell he was naturally friendly. Setting aside she did not want to be rude to a customer, she did not want to be mean to someone like him. She smiled in return as she awkwardly pointed at her nametag. That only gave Michael the perfect excuse to stare at her breasts again and she instantly regretted doing it.
Pointedly ignoring him, she told Harrison, “It’s nice to officially meet you.”
If she had to be subjected to this she figured she might as well make the best of it. And he was extending a friendly thread, after all. She turned around and headed to the kitchen to place the order, amicably greeting the morning’s chefs. She got on well with pretty much all her co-workers but it was only Mac who she’d consider something more of a friend. Carly came in second but she figured it was mostly because she’d worked with her more than with any other server. Besides, Carly was quite the social butterfly and didn’t have many qualms about speaking her mind. Sometimes it was a bit much but, overall, Jenna found it likable.
Not having another table to wait on and not wanting to be around the two young men more than she absolutely had to, Jenna hung around near the kitchen until her order was up.
“Hiding out, I see,” Carly laughed as she piled hot plates on the large tray she held. She clicked her tongue in mock disapproval before disappearing.
Jenna was hiding out, at least she sort of was. The chef dinged the bell and she walked over to place the two identical plates of food on the tray she’d gotten from the tray spot. She gripped the edges and drew in a deep breath, mouth curling into a smile, before walking back out. She noticed a family of four had just been seated in her section. She cursed under her breath at first but then realized they were the perfect excuse to escape the table at which Harrison and Michael sat. She placed the plates in front of them and asked, “Is there anything else I can get for you at the moment?”
Michael looked up at her with his smirk and she felt her cheeks burn. He had not even tried to hide the fact he’d checked her out, yet again, before responding, “Looks good.” He poked one of the eggs with his fork but hadn’t torn his eyes off her.
“Great,” she told him with a sarcastic smile. She knew exactly what he was doing only because she was all too familiar with the type of guy he was. What was throwing her for a loop was his interest in her. Jenna was no longer self-conscious about being a thick woman with voluptuous curves but playboys like Michael usually looked at women who looked more like Carly– only with larger breasts. The idea of him being one of those playboys who said things like, “I don’t discriminate” left a sour taste in her mouth.
She turned on her heel, tucking the tray under her arm, to walk over and greet the customer who had just been seated in her section. As she was talking to them she noticed a middle-aged couple come in and be seated in her section as well so before inputting the drink order from the family, she took the opportunity to greet them as well. The inflow of people was steadily growing and she was silently thankful for being busier now. She was kept so occupied it came as a surprise when Michael and Harrison left. She saw their table empty. She picked up the signed receipt and stuffed it in her apron before continuing to work.
The rest of her shift went by quickly and without a hitch. Every customer was pleasant and most were very easy to work with. Hardly any of them had complicated orders either. Carly left an hour before she did so there had not been time to talk about her experience with Harrison or wonder how it was Carly had previously seen a photograph of Michael. It was not until she was settling everything that she saw a note on the back of Harrison’s receipt. “I don’t know many people in this town so thanks for being a friendly face!” She smiled. He was quite chipper and as she walked back home she could not help but wonder if she’d see him again.
Chapter Three
It was Wednesday late afternoon when Jenna was jogging through her favorite park and the music playing through her almost made her miss the sound of a man shouting out, “Jenna!”
She slowed and turned to her left. There stood Harrison, holding his daughter’s hand and grinning widely as he waved at her with his free hand. Jenna smiled and took off her earphones, walking over to them.
“Hello,” she said awkwardly.
“This is my daughter, Fay,” he said as he ruffled the little girl’s hair. She made a face of protest before fixing her eyes on Jenna as if sizing her up.
Jenna crouched down and beamed. “She’s so cute,” she chimed. The little girl broke into a smile and extended her hand.
“Sorry to interrupt your run,” Harrison apologized. “We came for a walk and now we’re waiting for Fay’s mom to pick us up on her way home from work.”
“Aw, that’s sweet,” Jenna remarked as she straightened up. Looking right at Harrison’s face at such close proximity she really wondered how young he was when Fay had been born. Jenna thought he looked even younger than her. “So you moved here recently?”
“Indeed,” he responded. “Tara, that’s Fay’s mom, was offered a promotion but the catch was to transfer here. We talked it over and went for it! I knew Michael from college way back when and he actually is thinking of offering me a contract job.” Harrison chuckled and ruffled the hair at the back of his head. “Look at me goin’ on and on about my life when all you did was ask if I just moved here. I know you were just gettin’ a run in. Sorry ‘bout that!”
“Not at all!” Jenna assured. “I read your note so I figured why not be a friendly face?”
There was the sound of a honk and Fay started clapping and jumping up and down. “Mommy is here! Daddy, mommy is here! Let’s go! Let’s go!” She tugged at his hand impatiently, eyes not moving from off her mother’s car.
