If It Means a Lot to You

“Rose, table three!” Jen, the manager at Red Robin, called into the kitchen.

“I’ll be right there!” I said as I jumped off the counter. I stowed my phone in my apron pocket. I pulled out my pad as I headed out. “Hey there. Welcome to Red Robin. I’m Rose and I’ll be your waitress today. What can I get you guys started with to drink?” I greeted, immediately spewing out the rehearsed lines.

“You can get me a beer, gorgeous,” one of them said. I glanced at him as I wrote down what they wanted. He had semi-long black hair, his blue eyes accentuated by the color. Snake bites adorned his bottom lip, catching the light when he smiled. I returned his smile.

“I’ll be back in a moment with your drinks.” I headed to the back. I pulled my phone out as I started getting the drinks.

Maybe you can sing when we talk tonight?

I smiled when I read Jeremy’s text. He had been pestering me to sing again. He kept saying he wanted to hear me sing again since the last time he had heard me sing was almost a month ago.

The guys had been officially gone for a month now. I was keeping in touch with all of them, especially Jeremy. Rachel was constantly on the phone with Neil whenever she had time and he was available. She has been thinking about taking him up on an offer to go on the rest of their tour.

I, however, was a mess of feelings. I found myself missing Jeremy more than the rest of the guys and he was on my mind a good portion of the time.

But I was at war with myself.

Part of me wanted to welcome the feelings I knew I had for him but the other part wanted to fight those feelings and was winning at the moment. I didn’t want to have to put up with not seeing him for months at a time. I knew it’d be for a good reason but I’d still miss him like no other.

Pushing these thoughts out of my head, I headed out to the table with the drinks balanced on a tray.

“Here you guys go,” I chimed. “You guys ready to order?” I wrote down their orders before disappearing back into the kitchen. I spent my time texting and going out to check on my tables. I headed to the table with the boy with the snake bites an hour later. “Here’s your check for when you guys are ready to pay,” I told him, setting down the receipt.

“I’ll just pay for it now,” he said as he went to pull out his wallet. “So, I was wondering if I could maybe have your number?” he asked after a moment.

“Sorry but I’m taken,” I told him, lying immediately. His face fell.

“Oh well. Have a nice day.”

“You too.” I watched him catch up to his friends at the door. I shook my head. I knew lying was wrong but I didn’t want to get his hopes up when I knew I wouldn’t give him the time of day.

A few hours later I clocked out and was headed home. It was ten o’clock at night and I knew that Rachel would be asleep by the time I got home. Sure enough, the lights were off when I entered the quiet house. I headed to my room. I dropped my stuff on my bed and went to the bathroom to shower. I came out a few minutes later, drying my hair vigorously. I picked up my phone and dialed Jeremy’s number.

“Hello?” he answered on the first ring.

“Hey,” I greeted, smiling immediately at the sound of his voice.

“Well this is a surprise. You called first for once.”

“Maybe I wanted to for once. I could hang up and let you call.”

“I’m cool with you calling first.” I let out a small laugh. “So are you going to sing?” I rolled my eyes, shaking my head a little. “Please, Rose?” I wordlessly took in a deep breath and started singing.

I painted your room at midnight,
So I’d know yesterday was over
I put all your books on the top shelf
Even the one with the four leaf clover
Man, I’m getting older
I took all your pictures off the wall
And wrapped them in a newspaper blanket
I haven’t slept in what seems like a century
And now I can barely breathe

Just like a crow chasing a butterfly
Dandelions lost in the summer sky
When you and I were getting high as outer space
I never thought you’d slip away
I guess I was just a little too late

Your words still serenade m
Your lullabies won’t let me sleep
I’ve never heard such a haunting melody
Oh, it’s killing me
You know I can barely breathe

Just like a crow chasing a butterfly
Dandelions lost in the summer sky
When you and I were getting high as outer space
I never thought you’d slip away
I guess I was just a little too late

Just like a crow chasing a butterfly
Dandelions lost in the summer sky
When you and I were getting high as outer space
I never thought you’d slip away

Just like a crow chasing a butterfly
Dandelions lost in the summer sky
When you and I were getting high as outer space
I never thought you’d slip away
I guess I was just a little too late

Just a little too late

“Jeremy?” I said after a moment of silence.

“Way to put me to sleep, Rose,” he chuckled as he yawned. A small laugh left me.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to put you to sleep.”

“It’s okay. I just haven’t been sleeping well the past couple of days.”

“I’ll let you go then so you can get some sleep.”

“No, don’t.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I want to talk to you.” I blushed, taken aback by his words. “Your blushing now, aren’t you?”

“No!” He laughed. “I hate you.”

“I love you too, Rose,” he playfully retorted. My heart skipped a beat at those words. I mentally scolded myself for feeling that way even for just a second.

“Well I’m gonna go anyways. I had a long day at work. Night, Jer,” I told him.

“Night, Rose.” I shut my phone and placed it on the small table by my bed before settling down in my bed and going to sleep.