Worth Saving(17)

“Umm, yes she is still coming. Are you in some sort of a rush to get me out of here, or what?” I snap. The big guy’s eyes bulge.

“Oh no, absolutely not, ma’am,” he backpedals. “I was just curious and wanted to check up on you. I apologize.”

“I’m fine. I don’t need to be checked up on, and I’ll let you know when she’s here, that way you don’t have to keep coming back.” After the words come out my mouth, and I see the sad puppy look on the waiters face, I immediately feel bad for being so defensive. But, before I can rephrase, he walks away.

“Shit. Sorry, way-too-muscular-waiter guy,” I whisper to myself. Then I pull out my phone and check to see if I have a message from Marlene, because she really is taking longer than I expected.

There’s nothing, so I decide to reach out to her first.

Me: Hey, you still coming? I just hurt the waiter’s feelings.

After about thirty seconds, my phone chimes.

Marlene: Hey, I’m so sorry, girl. Amanda is having a meltdown moment. Something about her mom being sick. Like, REALLY sick. I have to head home. I’m sorry, honey. Rain check?

Me: Oh . . . I’m so sorry to hear that. Definitely rain check. Go take care of your girl. I’ll talk to you later. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.

Marlene: Thanks, hon. TTYL.

I place my phone on the table and hope that everything’s okay with Marlene’s girlfriend. I don’t have a mother, but I can only imagine what it’d be like if my life was normal, and I actually did have one that gave a shit about me, and then she got deathly ill. I mean, I literally have to imagine it, but I’m sure it’d be extremely difficult, so I really feel terrible for Amanda. She’s a first grade teacher, and a really nice girl. Beautiful too. Marlene and her are a gorgeous couple, and I’m just sitting around waiting for the day they send me the invitation to the wedding that I know has to be coming, because they’re just too great together.

Well, it looks like I’m going to be eating alone, because I’m just too hungry to get up and leave without getting some food in my belly. So, I make sure to be as gentle and polite as I can when I wave the waiter back over to the table. I smile big and bright and try to make up for how rude I came off earlier. I’m not a bitch.

“Hi,” I begin, drawing out the word and smiling. “I’m sorry about before, I didn’t mean to come off so rude. Turns out, my friend actually can’t make it after all, so I’d like to go ahead and place my order, if that’s okay.”

The large waiter—whose nametag reads Brian—whips out his pen and pad and looks ready to go. He also looks relieved that I didn’t snap on him. I proceed to order a bacon cheeseburger with extra cheese, and a little pink in the middle, and just the sound of it makes my stomach rumble. Brian takes it down and then turns on his heel to go put it in.

As Brian walks away, I hear the door to the restaurant being opened, followed by the sound of lots of men’s voices. They’re loud and laughing like they’re watching Kevin Hart doing standup, and I instinctively look over to see who’s making all the noise. They’re blocked off by a little statue next to the entrance, so I can’t really see them, but I get my first look when the hostess takes them over to their table. There’s six of them, all wearing military uniforms that I’m pretty sure are Air Force. The hostess leads them right past me, and every one of them gives me a little glance that I don’t like, so I’m already feeling really defensive when one of them sits down in the chair across from me. I look over at him, ready to ask what the hell he thinks he’s doing, but then I realize that I recognize him. It’s Austin.

“Fancy seeing you here,” he jokes with a big smile on his face. His uniform looks really good on him and seems to bring out those blue eyes of his. His face is clean shaven and his hair is cut a little shorter than before, but he still looks really good. Really good.

I play off the fact that he’s too damn attractive for his own good, and I give him the weakest smile I can.

“Pretty surprised to see you, too,” I reply. “You’re all dressed up. Just get off work?”

He lets out a little chuckle. “This is not dressed up. This is just work clothes, and yes, we just got off. Just finished completely in-processing with the base. So, how have you been? Been a few days since I last saw you.”

“I’ve been fine. Just working. Living my life and all that stuff.”

“Were you expecting someone?”

“I was,” I answer truthfully. “But she had to cancel, so I’m just eating by myself now.”

“Alone? Nobody should have to eat at Red Robin alone.”

“What? I’m sure people eat at Red Robin alone all the time.”

“Yeah, but you’re not supposed to.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s Red Robin, and that’s the rules.”

“I’ve never heard of these rules,” I giggle.

“See, that’s it right there. I actually have read the rules, and they clearly state that you’re not supposed to eat here alone. It’s company policy. So, it’s almost like I have to eat with you now.”

I scrunch my forehead and stifle a giggle at the same time.

“Is that okay with you?” Austin asks, tilting his head to the side, trying to be cute. Succeeding.