Page 5 of Baby Boy

“Can I get you gentlemen anything else?” Their waitress, Rebecca, asked. She kept glancing over her shoulder as the busboys hurried to finish what Avery had tried to clean.

“Is the young man okay?” Jace asked. “He took a good tumble.”

Rebecca smiled, maybe the first sign of true feelings he’d seen all evening. The restaurant was way too stuffy for his taste but as long as Avery was there, Jace would be dining there. “I think so. Maybe a little embarrassed, but I’ll check on him as soon as I get a chance. Thank you for asking, sir.”

The way she saidsirdidn’t have his body reacting like when Avery uttered that word. “Good. I’d just hate for him to get in trouble for what was probably an accident.”

Rebecca pressed her lips together. “I agree. So, was there anything else?”

“Just the check,” he told her. “We do need to be going.”

“I’ll bring it right away, sir.” Rebecca scampered off and Jace peered at Mitch again.

“You sure you don’t want to join me at the club?” He’d already asked but he thought he’d try again. Mitch really did need to meet someone.

“Not tonight,” Mitch replied then finished his glass of wine. “I really am tired. And there’s a new case I need to look at. I think I’ll go home, drink some wine, and look at the file in bed.”

Jace nodded, then smiled at Rebecca when she brought the leather folder back to him. He couldn’t get Mitch out of his funk, he couldn’t do anything for Avery—Jace wasn’t feeling much like a Daddy at all. He felt like a failure. And that just wouldn’t do.

§ § §

AVERY

“You have to be the stupidest idiot I’ve ever met.”

Avery flinched at the rage directed at him. He didn’t do well with anger or yelling and at the moment he was getting both from his manager. He hadn’t meant to trip or drop the tray. He’d reported the small piece of carpet that had somehow torn months ago, but it had never been fixed.

“I told you how important tonight is,” Gregory shouted. “The mayor could eat anywhere in town for his birthday and he picked here. The only reason I let you work tonight was because your ass looks so good in those slacks. But you couldn’t even give everyone some eye candy. You had to act like a moron.”

Avery began to shake, so he wrapped his arms around his middle. He didn’t like working at the restaurant, but he made really good tips there and the money was important. Still, he did more than look good in his pants. Not that he was going to correct his boss. No, Avery couldn’t do that.

“I swear each time you come in you’ve gotten even more stupid.”

Avery sucked in a breath, trying to hold back his tears. His knee hurt where he’d landed and even though he’d tried to catch the tray, all he’d managed was to hit his chin.

“You’re off for the rest of the night. Maybe forever. Just go home and get out of my sight. I might call you again, or maybe not.”

“What about my tables?” Avery asked. He’d been there for four hours and still had a couple more hours left on his shift.

“I’ll have one of the real servers take your place. They’ll do a better job anyway.”

Avery nodded before pulling out his order pads and handing them over.

“Pathetic,” Gregory sneered at him. “And go out the back door. I don’t want any of our good upstanding customers seeing a loser like you going out the front.”

Avery didn’t say anything at all. He hurt down to his bones. It wasn’t the fact that he’d fallen—his soul ached. He’d fucked up once again. His boss couldn’t even stand the sight of him.

He slunk though the kitchen, ignoring the other staff who tried to get his attention. Luckily, the employee lounge was empty so he was able to grab his backpack and jacket before anyone could talk to him. A large order had come in so nobody noticed as he slid long the back wall to the door leading to the alley. He escaped just before the tears started to fall.

The night hadn’t gone at all how he’d wanted. After such a great day in class the day before and having the morning off, Avery had been looking forward to the shift at the restaurant. Saturday nights were always busy, reservations made months in advance, and he’d known he’d make hundreds of dollars in tips. Instead he hadn’t managed to finish his shift and would forfeit his tips to the server who cashed out his tables. That was money that Avery needed.

He limped down the alley to the parking lot of the restaurant. He was grateful no one was hanging around the valet stand as he made his way to the bus stop on the street. He’d have a long wait. The bus only ran every thirty minutes and he’d missed it by five. Twenty-five minutes sitting at the stop wasn’t bad.

Avery dropped down in the cold metal bench before tucking his backpack against his chest. The freezing temperatures merely added to his torture. Avery could never get warm. Since it had hit January, Avery layered clothes and had picked up a cheap coat from Goodwill, but even at home he was always cold. His knee was throbbing, but Avery didn’t want to look at it right then. He huddled over his bag before bringing up his jacket to cover his front. He covered his face and let the tears fall freely.

He didn’t understand why this kept happening to him. Avery tried so very hard but just couldn’t seem to do anything right. He’d been carefully watching where he was going but that stupid piece of carpet had still caught his toe, making him stumble. And once he lost his balance, there was no stopping the crash right next to the mayor’s table, ruining the birthday celebration. Avery sobbed harder, knowing he would be lucky if he ever got another call to work there and he didn’t know if anyone else was hiring. He could deliver more food through the app but that used up a lot of gas and his car wasn’t very reliable. Plus, the tips sucked through the delivery app service and he’d have to work even more hours.

Shaking so hard he could barely hold himself together, Avery jumped when a hand landed on his back.

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