You'll Never Know

I grabbed my jacket off the wobbly coat rack as fast as I could and sped past Caleb, who was now drinking a beer on the couch. I shook my head as I closed the door behind me. It was only 11:00 am and he was already at it. I had to walk to work as the next bus wasn't coming for another 15 minutes, and I didn't have any time to spare. By the time I reached the restaurant, I could feel my muscles relax. It was weird. I was comforted by the chipping blue wallpaper, the little lobsters on it soothed me. I peered into the little mirror in the break room as I checked in. My hair looked clean, my eyes were bright and open. The wonders of makeup, I sighed. May tapped my shoulder and I jumped. "Geez....Here's your apron," She tossed it to me and I tied it around my waist. I shrugged as she walked away. It was just habit, the whole jumpy thing. I could hear the back deck, already loud with customers. Yet another comfort. It was mostly office workers on their lunch break, the occasional mom and toddler duo. A pretty calming afternoon, I'd say, until around 2:00, a group of about 10 boys paraded in. They looked like they went to one of the colleges in the city, all scruffy and artsy.Two tables had to be put together to make room, and I just knew May would make me take it on. It often seemed that I was the one holding this place together. I took a deep breath and walked over to it and opened my mouth to speak. "Hi," A guy with shaggy blonde hair interrupted. I smiled and introduced myself to the table. "Hi, Grace!" the blonde guy said again, sounding a little excited. I raised my eyebrows, I never was actually addressed by name from customers. The blonde guy's friend whacked his arm and gave me an apologetic look. "So, have you guys been here before?" I asked as I whipped out my notepad for drink orders. Some nodded, some shook their heads. "Well, the specials today are..." "Are you on the menu?" Blondie. I nervously laughed and shook my head. "Dude, enough!" "Yeah, the poor girl" "Give it up, Trav." His friends were obviously used to their outspoken friend. "It's fine. I'm used to it. I get a lot of weirdos here," I smirked at him and snatched his menu away. "Travis is the weirdo of all weirdos," a deep, calming voice spoke out. "Shut up, Ben." The whole table laughed. I could tell this was going to be one of those talkative tables, the kind that actually took an interest in the server. Great. I took their drink orders and heard that Ben guy shout out, "Sorry if we held you up!" Whatever. I walked over to the bar area and filled glasses with beer, balancing them all on a tray. It was a little wobbly but I can handle such things. I could hear the group of guys cheering my name as they saw the beers when I stepped back onto the deck, but strangely felt an arm grabbing mine, keeping me from moving. "You know them?" Caleb. He was sitting at a single table, a beer in front of him as well. Of course. But, shit! What was he doing here? "I'm at work, Caleb!" I said, looking at him in disbelief. He gripped me tighter. His eyes were dark. I was calm on the outside, but shaking on the inside. This was new, assaulting me in public. I could feel at least a dozen eyes on us. "You with those guys?" "I'm taking their orders... it's what I do. I work at, oh.. I don't know. A restaurant?" I hissed. Caleb's face grew red and I regretted using that tone. Before I could apologize, he jerked me forward. He didn't seem to care that we were in public. May peered at us from inside. "I bet you came here to sneak off with one of them, you had this planned." My eyes widened. "No! I-" "Whore," and with that, he pushed my away from him as he walked away, the tray of drinks falling from my grip and to the floor. Glass shattered everywhere. I gasped and rubbed at the bruise I could feel forming on my wrist. "oh no..noo no.." I didn't even try to keep my cool. May rushed over and immediately called one of the bus boys to help sweep up. Travis's group all had their gazes turned to me, their mouths in that surprised "o" shape. I felt embarrased and didn't want to face them again, even if I did barely know them and one was slightly pervy. "Take the day off, now. But do not go home. Do not go see him," May advised. I nodded and glumly walked into the restaurant. I slid down on one of the lobby chairs. I heard the door open and tensed up, afraid it might be Caleb. But I was wrong. It was...Ben? I think that was his name.