Susan nodded in agreement. “He was quite the business man. And I know you only had the interior design degree. It must be sad to go from something so great to something so…mundane, like being a waitress. I know I couldn’t do it. What a step backward.”
Screw you, screw you, screw you. I smiled. “Well, we’ll see. It was great running into you. I’m sure we’ll see each other soon enough.”
“Wednesday at seven!” Susan smirked.
Pushing myself past them, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as I listened to them whisper about how it looked like I’d gained a few pounds and how heavy the bags under my eyes were.
I walked toward Savory & Sweet Café, and I tried my best to shake the nerves. What if they didn’t need any help in the café? What would I do to make money? Steven’s parents told me not to worry about those kinds of things, saying they would help us out for a while, but I couldn’t help it. I needed to find a way to stand on my own. Pushing open the door to the café, I smiled when I heard the loud shout from behind the counter.
“Please tell me I’m not dreaming and my best friend is back!” Faye screamed, leaping over the counter and tackling me in a bear hug. She didn’t let me go and turned to Matty, the owner of the shop. “Matty, tell me you’re seeing this too and I’m not just screwed up from the crazy amount of drugs I took before coming to work.”
“She’s really there, crazy.” He smirked. Matty was an older guy, and the way he dealt with Faye’s loud, vibrant personality was normally with eye rolls and smirks. His brown eyes locked with mine and he nodded once. “Good to see you, Liz.”
Faye snuggled her head against my breasts, as if they were her pillow. “Now that you’re here you can never, ever, ever leave again.” Faye was beautiful in all the perfect, unique ways. She had silver-dyed hair—unique for a twenty-seven-year-old age—with strands of pinks and purples running through it. Her nails were always dressed with vibrant colors, and her dresses always hugged her curves in all the right places. The thing that made her so beautiful, though, was her confidence. Faye knew she was stunning, and she also knew that it had not one thing to do with her looks. Her feeling of pride for herself came from within; she didn’t need the approval of anyone else whatsoever.
I envied that in her.
“Well, I actually came in to see if you guys were currently hiring. I know I haven’t worked here since college, but I could use the work.”
“Of course we are hiring! Hey, you, Sam!” Faye said, pointing to a server I didn’t know. “You’re fired.”
“Faye!” I shouted.
“What?!”
“You can’t just fire people,” I scolded, seeing the fear in Sam’s eyes. Poor guy. “You’re not really fired,” I said.
“Oh, yes you are.”
“Shut up, Faye. No, you’re not. How could you even fire people?”
She stood up tall and tapped against her nametag, which read ‘manager’. “Someone had to step into the role of management, woman.”
I turned to Matty, a bit of shock in my stare. “You made Faye a manager?”
“I think she drugged me.” He laughed. “But if you really need some work, we always have room for you. It might just be part-time.”
“Part-time would be great, really, anything.” I smiled at Matty, thanking him.
“Or, we could fire Sam,” Faye offered. “He already has another part-time job! Plus, he’s kind of creepy.”
“I can hear you,” Sam said, shyly.
“It doesn’t matter if you can hear me, you’re fired.”
“We aren’t firing Sam,” Matty said.
“You’re no fun. But you know what is fun?!” She took off her apron and yelled, “Lunch break!”
“It’s nine-thirty in the morning,” Matty scolded.
“Breakfast break!” Faye corrected, pulling me by the arm. “We’ll be back in about an hour.”
“Breaks are thirty minutes.”
“I’m sure Sam will cover my tables. Sam, you’re no longer fired.”
“You were never fired, Sam.” Matty smiled. “One hour, Faye. Liz, make sure to have her back on time or she’ll be the one who’s fired.”
“Is that so?” Faye asked, placing her hands on her hips, almost…flirtatiously? Matty smirked at her, his eyes traveling over her body almost…sexually?
What the…?
We walked out of the building, Faye’s arm linked with mine, confusion about the odd interaction between her and Matty still clouding my thoughts. “What was that?” I asked, arching an eyebrow in Faye’s direction.
“What was what?”
“That,” I said, pointing back toward Matty. “The little sexually intense tango you two just performed?” She didn’t reply, but she began chewing on her bottom lip. “Oh my God… You slept with Matty?!”
“Shut the hell up! Do you want the whole town to know?” She blushed, looking around. “It was an accident.”