Ten Below ZeroTen Below Zero(15)

I hadn’t heard a word from Everett since I dropped him off. I didn’t expect to, after all. I didn’t even know what it was that we had been doing. All of it was confusing. It was too much.

I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I didn’t look up at the patrons that were seated in my section until I heard my name being said.

“Parker.”

I whipped my head up and came face to face with Everett. I blinked several times, wondering if all my thoughts had conjured him up, if this was a mirage.

But no. He was there, with clear eyes and a frown.

Why was he frowning?

I slid my eyes to the person sitting in the seat opposite him. She was in her mid-twenties, with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She looked like sunshine. She watched Everett looking at me with great interest before looking at me as well. A little frown formed her lips and I was suddenly overcome with the urge to laugh. My lips twitched. Even her pout was pretty. I slid my eyes back to Everett. He was wearing a bright blue tee and jeans, looking nothing like himself. And both of them were frowning at me.

“What can I get you?” I didn’t know what else to say.

The blonde woman looked at Everett with concern etched into her face. “Ev?” she asked.

Ev. It didn’t fit him. Not that I had any authority on what “fit” Everett. But these blue clothes and this sunshine woman, and her stupid nickname for the man in black did not fit at all.

Everett looked away from me and turned to his breakfast companion. “Sorry Charlotte. Um. Coffee, please.” He didn’t look back at me.

Charlotte looked very concerned but spared me a quick glance. “Tea, bag out.”

I turned away and walked quickly back into the kitchen. My hands shook as I poured his coffee and my mind raced. Was Charlotte his girlfriend? Why was he wearing colors? Why was he frowning at me?

And more important, why did I care?

I nearly dropped the glass coffee pot as my hand shook with the fearful realization that I liked Everett. More than I normally liked anyone. More than I had liked anyone in years. A creative string of swear words flew through my mind, annoyance replacing the palm-sweating fear.

I poured cream into Everett’s coffee and then I poured hot water into a second mug and left a tea bag on a saucer. I took a breath and returned to the table, trying my best not to show how badly I was shaking. I placed the coffee and tea cup on the table and stayed longer than I should have. To be fair, it was both Everett and Charlotte’s reactions that made me stay.

Both of them stared at Everett’s cup. Charlotte looked at me and cocked her head to the side. “Who are you?” she asked. There wasn’t any animosity in her face, but there was curiosity.

My eyes darted to Everett who was still staring at his coffee cup. What were they staring at? I brushed my hands down my apron, trying to dry my sweaty palms.

“C-can I get you breakfast?”

Charlotte stared at Everett before looking at me and smiling, a plastic smile. Her smile only made me more nervous. “Give us a few minutes, hun,” she answered.

That was all I needed. I spun around and walked into the back, walking all the way to the walk-in freezer. I didn’t stop until I had walked fully into the small room, until puffs of cool air surrounded me. I flung my hands out, shaking them in the cold air, annoyed with myself, with my body’s reactions.

“Hey,” a voice barked. I turned my head to the freezer door. My manager, Doris, stood at the entrance, hands on her hips. Her white apron was stained with grease and her gray hair was piled high on her head, under her hairnet. “What are you doing in here?”

I put my hands in my apron and walked back out with my head down, avoiding eye contact. Doris was a force to be reckoned with, impatient and unforgiving.

I walked back around to the entry from the kitchen to the restaurant, taking a peek at Everett and Charlotte. Everett was still looking at his coffee. I could tell Charlotte was speaking to him, based on the way she was leaning forward across the table top, her hands inches from his. Her long blonde hair shielded her face from view, but I could clearly see Everett’s. His brow was furrowed. He had one hand in his hair, his arm propped on the table. I knew the scars that speckled his arm and wondered about Charlotte. What did she see when she saw them? And in what ways had he revealed them to her?

That made my stomach roll with nausea. I was angry with myself for worrying. I had no ownership over Everett. The feelings that were battering my head didn’t belong inside me. They were poison, corrupting the indifference I adopted.

“Table ten is up,” the hostess said, coming up behind me and pointing to the elderly couple she had just seated.

“Thanks,” I muttered, before looking back at Everett. Ice blue eyes met mine. He was staring at me. He tilted his head to his coffee, holding my gaze.

Cream. I’d poured cream in his coffee before giving it to him. He hadn’t asked for cream. But I’d remembered from when we had had breakfast the day earlier. And I’d taken it upon myself, though subconsciously, to add the cream.

A small smile stretched his lips, as he watched me struggle with that realization. What right did I have to do that, to remember how he liked his coffee? It felt intimate. The simple act of bringing him coffee the way he liked it had implications of how well I knew him. No wonder Charlotte had looked at us with confusion.

I saw Charlotte’s head turn to follow Everett’s gaze and I spun around, knocking into another waitress with arms full of plates. I bit down on the swear word that begged to be released from my lips. Luckily, the waitress held onto her plates, because just behind her was Doris, an impatient look on her face. I knew what that face meant.