Happily Ever After

I had to wear a v-neck to work, because everything else was dirty. I tried masking up the hideous red mark with my makeup as much as I could, but you could still tell it was there.

Thank God, the annoying mob of girls weren't camped outside of the building when I left, and I prayed they wouldn't be there when I returned.

Work was slow, which was boring but also a relief. There wasn't one table in my section filled, and I idly wondered how long it would last.

A little after four, I was sitting behind the counter, drinking my lemonade, reading a magazine with my feet propped up when Jerry called out to me. "Chels, you got a table."

I hopped up, grabbing two menus and actually stopped in my tracks when I looked over at the table. My eyes narrowed in on the curly haired boy. Sunglasses or not, there was no mistaking those curls. And then I sighed. My manager would absolutely kill me if I didn't worship at his feet, and I couldn't afford to get fired. So I took a deep breath, and put a small-forced-polite smile on my lips.

"Welcome to Denny's, my name is Chelsea and I'll be your waitress this afternoon," I recited, placing the menus and rolled up silverware down, "Can I start you two off with something to drink?"

The lady with him smiled at me politely, "Just a water will be fine." she said softly with a thick British accent.

I nodded toward her, and reluctantly turned my attention toward Curly. "And for you?" I forced out politely, and mustered up the best smile I could.

Even though he had sunglasses on, I could see his eyebrow raise, and he bit his lip to stop the smirk from appearing. Which I was thankful for, because I wasn't sure if I would've been able to resist smacking it off his stupid face. "A water's fine for me as well." he said, and if I didn't dislike him so much, I would've concentrated on how appealing his accent was.

I nodded, "I'll bring those right out." I mumbled, before walking away.

I filled the glasses up, resisting the small urge I had to spit in Curly's water, and headed back out. I gently placed the glasses down in front of them, and pulled out two straws from my apron. I noticed he took his sunglasses off.

"Do you two know what you want? Or would you like a couple minutes to decide?"

The lady glanced up from her menu and her eyes widened slightly, "Oh, my, that looks quite painful." she gestured to the ugly red blotch on my chest.

I shrugged, "It's uncomfortable, but it's fine."

"How did you manage to do that? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

I glanced at Curly who was looking down at his menu. "Someone ran into me yesterday, spilling their hot coffee on me."

"Burns are absolutely terrible, you should probably get some ointment so it doesn't get infected." she spoke with genuine kindness.

I smiled softly at her, "I was planning on getting some when I got my check. It'd be better to wait and get the good kind than to waste money on some that didn't work at all."

She nodded understandingly, and then began reciting her order. I wrote carefully, to avoid any errors. And when she was done, I turned my attention to him. "And what can I get for you?"

He looked up, and his eyes scanned over the burn guiltily before he glanced back down at the menu. He pointed to what he wanted, and-to my surprise-politely voiced how he wanted it. I took his order carefully as well.

"Okay, it'll be done shortly." I smiled, before heading back into the kitchen. I gave the chef the order, and went back to my chair, propping my feet up again while I waited for their food to cook.

When it was done, I carefully took their food out to them. I noticed some people outside pointing in, and it bothered me to be completely honest. I knew he was famous-even if I didn't know who he was, or why he was famous-but he was still a human being. Why should he have to eat with people watching him and taking pictures?

"If the people outside are bothering you, I could move your table or close the blinds. It's very rude of them to watch you eat." I shook my head.

Curly looked up at me with a curious expression. He glanced outside studying the couple people watching him. A few girls pointed, others waved and he gave them a grin, giving a small wave back. He glanced to the lady across from him. "It isn't bothering me at the moment, is it bothering you?"

She looked up from her meal, "Oh, no it's fine. If it gets out of hand we'll be sure to let you know." she smiled at me.

"Okay, enjoy your meal." I said before walking back to my chair.

"So polite, what a lovely girl." I heard her say quietly to Curly, and it left a huge grin plastered on my face.

She obviously didn't think I wasn't worthy of her time.

I made sure to check in periodically , checking to see if everything was fine, asking them if they needed anything, refilling their waters-the usual. I gave them their check when asked too, and went to the register so they could pay and get on with their day. Curly paid for the meal, despite the small protests from the lovely lady with him.

"Have a wonderful day." I smiled to them, I definitely wasn't getting fired today, that's for sure.

"Thank you, darling! You too!" the lady beamed at me.

I sighed while on my way to clean off their table, why couldn't more people be as polite as she was? I wouldn't mind my job if everyone was as lovely as her. Even Curly wasn't as bad as some people I get.

Once I got to their table, I saw a note scribbled on an unused napkin.

"I'm terribly sorry for burning you, and ruining your shirt yesterday. I hope I can make it up to you somehow. Have a wonderful day, Chelsea. - Harry. xx" I smiled at the apology, and shook my head when I saw the tip he left me.

The costs of my shirt, and extra-what what I'm assuming-to be used to buy ointment.

I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face as I cleaned their table..

And it made me dislike him a little less.