I Didn't Know I Could Break Your Heart

"Hey, I hear you have a hot date at lunch," One of the girls called as Marrietta raced back into the kitchen. Marrietta did not remember the girl's name, she was new and was not planning on staying long, but the girl winked as she passed. "Do you have something classier in the car to change into?"

Marrietta rolled her eyes, "No, you see we're really into role-playing so I'm going as a slutty Hooters waitress," She replied sarcastically. Shaking her head as she took two plates from the counter, she said, "Of course I have something to change into in the car. Not that Tyler wouldn't love it if I showed up like this."

She was just about to exit the kitchen when, almost as if it was an after thought, she added, "It's not a date. In case you forgot, I'm engaged." She tried to wiggle her left hand's ring finger, but found it hard to do with plates in her hands. Instead she just stuck out her tongue at the girl and headed out into the restaurant.

"Two Tuesday specials," Marrietta said as cheerfully as she could muster as she set the plates down in front of two large men. They nodded in consent and as she walked away, she sighed. It was so much better when the customers did not insist on talking to her.

She stopped by two other tables before going back into the kitchen, checking for refills and to see if everything was tasting fine. If she had to pick something she liked about her job, it would be the breakfast shift. The people tended to be less talkative and no one was yelling at the sports games that were playing on the televisions. Everyone was in an early morning mood and she loved that.

Pushing through the kitchen door, she headed straight for the fridge. She ignored the joking catcalls of her co-workers as she bent over to get the lemonade and then poured it into four glasses. All of the girls used to try to get her to join in when they went for drinks or played pranks on the new girls, but she had become to be known as the no-nonsense one of the group. Most of them thought it was because she took her job seriously, but it was exactly the opposite.

"Hey, Mary, someone's on the phone for you," A male voice called from the back office.

Marrietta rolled her eyes and handed off her drinks to the nearest waitress, "It's for table four. The two guys in the hats are drinking beer and need refills too. Can you ask Chris to do it? I mean, since she's working the bar in the mornings, they must be her best customers."

The waitress nodded in understanding and headed out the door. Marrietta then bounded into the back office to face her boss, but he was uncharacteristically quiet as he handed the phone to her. "Who is it?" She whispered as she held the receiver up to her ear.

"Some guy," He replied, shrugging as he looked down at the invoices in his hands, "Asked if Marrietta was there, so I assumed he wasn't a crazy-ass customer. They all call you Mary. But he seemed surprised when I answered the phone the normal way so... I'm not sure if he's all there, if you know what I mean, eh?"

"Yeah, I do," Marrietta replied, rolling her eyes. "Hello?" She said into the phone.

"Hey, Mary, what was that all about?" A familiar voice asked, confused.

"Shit," Marrietta breathed out. She glanced towards her boss and was glad to see that he was not paying attention. As quietly as she could, she took the cordless phone out into the parking lot and double checked the connection. It was still working. Slowing her fast-beating heart, she replied confidently, "What was what all about?"

"The guy who answered the phone... he said this was Hooters?" Rodger said incredulously. From his voice she could tell that he did not want to believe what he had heard but his tone implied that he just might believe it if she said so. There was a pause and then he added, "Who was that, Mary?"

"My secretary, George," She bluffed smoothly. The hours she had spent in front of the mirror practicing lies to tell Rodger if he ever found out were coming back to her. She breathed easier now as she continued, "He's such a douche. He never knows what is appropriate to say in an office and what's not. He's very... challenged when it comes to business edicate."

"Why don't you just fire him?"

Marrietta blinked, "It's not my responsibility to hire and fire secretaries. He's the office secretary, all calls go through him no matter who they are to." She lied, hoping that that sounded reasonable.

Rodger took a deep breath at the other end of the line, "Okay, I get it, you're scared of firing someone for the first time," He responded, his tone a little more than a bit condescending. "That's okay, you'll get used to it eventually. But I was just calling to ask you where you and this friend of yours are having lunch?"

"Why?" She asked, her voice choking a little on the words. Her heart rate had sped up again and she could count the drops of sweat that were running down here face. She shook her head to clear it and said, "I mean, sorry, we're going to this little run-down cafe on thirty-second. The foods just horrible." She added, unsure why she had said so."

He laughed, "Then why on earth would you go there?"

"It was a meeting spot," Marrietta explained, her voice dropping substantially, "After football games we would go down there and hang out... They had no problems with teenagers and were fine if we ordered nothing. It was fun there."

There was a pause as he nodded to himself on the other end. "Well, I was going to ask if I could join you, but if the place has sentimental value, then I don't want to ruin it for you."

Marrietta held her breath. Her mind was working faster than it ever had before. She was supposed to tell him that he would not be ruining it, that he would not feel like an intruder. She wanted for him to leave it at that and just hang up the phone. But he was still on the other end so she would have to pretend to want him there. Even thought if he came it would be a disaster.

"Oh, you wouldn't ruin it," She exclaimed. Her voice sounded fake. She could tell she was too excited, "Tyler would love to meet you, I know he would. You simply have to come!" And now she had said what sounded like a line straight out of an old movie. She swore under her breath. He would know.

"Come on, you know I would," Rodger said calmly.

She was tired. It had been a long morning working a job she hated and she still had two more hours to go before she got to have lunch. Before she got to go on her so-called 'date' with Tyler. She had no time to talk like this to Rodger. Her tables were being left unattended.

"Damn it, Rodger, just come, would you?" Marrietta said coldly, "I mean, for the love of god, we all know that's how this conversation is gonna end. So just f*cking come to lunch and stop worrying about ruining the place for us, would you?"

He was taken aback. She could tell without even being in the same room as him. A minute passed and then two, and she was getting impatient. Finally, Rodger's voice came back over the line, "Okay, I'll come. I'll talk to you later, I've got a conference call in five minutes. I love you, bye."

"Love you too, bye," She replied, hitting the off button on the phone. She snuck back inside, laid the phone in its cradle on her bosses desk and exited back into the kitchen. Heading straight outside, the only thing she could remember saying was, "How is everything today?" before her mind went blank so that instead of focusing on the disaster that would be lunch time, she could do her job.