You're Not What I Was Expecting To Find

Three hours into her six hour shift and Charlotte Reid already wanted to go home. Waitressing was not her favourite thing to do, but she needed the money. She put a smile on her face as she walked out of the kitchen and back onto the floor to deliver an order to one of her tables. She set them down and turned around as the door jingled, signalling a new customer had just walked in. Charlotte glanced around, but she was the only waitress available, so she turned to walk toward the door. She stopped short when she caught sight of who had walked in. There were four men, all huge, all tattooed, all wearing sunglasses, and some with piercings.

A little intimidated, Charlotte walked over to the group of men to greet them. She plastered a smile on her face and grabbed four menus as she passed the podium. “Hello, and welcome to Charlie’s. Party of four?” she said, still with that smile. Then men looked in her direction as she spoke, but she couldn’t tell where their eyes were as they were still hidden my dark sunglasses.

But one spoke up. He was huge, to put it mildly. The muscles rippled under his shirt when he tucked his hands into his pocket as he spoke, “Actually, we have one more coming,” he stated and smiled, the lip ring he wore glinting under the restaurant lights. She smiled back and motioned for them to follow her.

On her way past the podium for the second time Charlotte grabbed a fifth menu to add to her pile. She sat the group of men at a table in the corner table set for six and placed the menus in front of five chairs. When they had sat down and finally taken off their sunglasses, she got their drink orders and walked quickly back to the kitchen.

“Charlotte, did you show those smokin’ men to a table?” Charlotte’s co-worker Lily asked as she whizzed by to put a ticket in the order wheel. Charlotte knew without asking that Lily was referring to the huge men she had just seated. But she laughed at her friend’s description none-the-less.

“Yeah, I’m just filling their drinks,” Charlotte called back as she grabbed clean glasses from the counter. Lily came up behind her and glanced through the door to the men talking idly at the corner table where they sat.

“You always get the hot ones,” Lily sighed, turning back around to grab a pick-up on the hot tray and before Charlotte could even respond Lily was breezing out the kitchen door and back to the floor.

“They’re not that hot,” Charlotte muttered to herself. Yet she found her eyes travelling back to the four men, slipping to the one with the lip ring and staying locked. She looked away long enough to noticed that a fifth chair had been filled. He resembled the rest, with his tattoos and muscles. She placed the fours drinks onto a black circular tray and swung through the door and towards the men. Placing the drinks down for everyone except the newest, she held the tray in her hand at her side and turned toward him and asked, “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Yeah, just a glass of water, please,” he told her, taking off his sunglasses as he spoke. Balancing the tray she still held in her arms, Charlotte pulled out her pad and pencil. Writing down his drink, she looked up again expectedly, “Have you decided what you want to eat?”

The one that spoke had black hair that hung past his ears, “Yeah, can I get the uh... chicken burger with fries.” Charlotte nodded as she scribbled it down on her white paper. The orders proceeded like this, including the new guy, who had decidedly hurriedly, blaming his quick decision on hunger.

Charlotte went back to the kitchen, ripped off the page from her pad and placed it in the order wheel before quickly filling a glass with water and placing a wedge of lemon among the ice. On her way out she grabbed an order that was ready for another one of her tables and breezed by to drop the water off before continuing. She checked on all her tables, refilling drinks and walked back towards the kitchen.

But just as Charlotte was about to walk through the swinging double doors, she caught sight of the men trying to gain her attention. She sighed and walked towards them, noticing for the first time that the huge one, the one that had spoken when they first walked in, was missing. “Is there anything I can help you with?” she asked politely.

The new comer spoke up, “Yeah, our friend, the one that’s not here, he uh...” but he trailed off, looking hopefully towards his friends. The tallest one rolled his bright blue eyes.

“Since shot shirt won’t say it, I will,” he spoke, “Matt, our friend, the one that isn’t here, has the hots for you and wants your number. And we know you like him too, because you haven’t stopped staring at him since we got here,” he stated, as if he was commenting about the weather. A little shocked, Charlotte stood speechless.

“I...uh...I mean, I don’t really just give my number out,” Charlotte told them nervously, glancing around.

“Listen, I know you probably don’t care,” the one with black hair spoke, “but he’s been really bummed out lately. Matt, that is. He just broke up with his girlfriend and we’re trying to cheer him up a little. And you’re basically his dream girl” The men looked at her hopefully, but she suddenly understood. Insulted, she put her hands on her hips.

“I’m nobody’s one night stand, okay? I’m not going to be another ass you’ve snagged for him. Sorry.” But when she turned to walk away, she felt a hand on her wrist. She turned around, and following the hand holding her, up the arm, past the shoulders in into vibrant green eyes.

“It’s not like that,” he told her.

The one with black hair spoke. “Okay, meet us at this club tonight, we’ll be there with a few...friends,” he grabbed her pad and pen and scribbled down a name, “We’ll probably be there around eleven, we’ll have someone look out for you,” he finished and handed her back her things. Charlotte wondered why they needed someone to look out for her. She could find them on her own. But she looked down at her pad of paper. Viper, it read. It was one of the only clubs she knew around here, and could easily take a cab.

“I’m Brian, by the way,” the one with black hair spoke. “That’s Zacky, Jimmy and Johnny,” he continued introducing everyone, pointing to the one with green eyes, the one with blue eyes and the shortest one, all in succession. “And of course, Matt’s the one that’s missing. He’s outside, taking a call.”

“I’m Charlotte,” she responded.

“So you’ll come?” Johnny spoke up.

Charlotte shrugged, “Maybe.” Then she turned around and walked away.