Page 16 of The Lair

“I don’t want to hear it.” The woman, who doesn’t look much older than us, sends my co-worker a cutting glare before sliding it toward me. “I am allergic to onions, and look what this burger comes with—onions. See? It’s here between the meat and the bun. This isunacceptable. I want to speak to the manager.”

I breathe in and out, willing my inner peace to come back. This is Travis’s business, and I don’t want to ruin its hard-earned good reputation.

“I am so sorry this happened,” I start because, at the end of the day, I want to keep my job. I show her the menu. “As you can see, every dish includes allergy disclaimers, as well as every ingredient. In the description of the burger you ordered, onions are the third ingredient listed. If you had warned me about your food restrictions, we would have taken care of it appropriately. Still, I apologize for not checking beforehand.”

I know I’m not imagining the way my fingers tremble as I hold the menu in her direction, but I keep my shoulders straight and my chin high.

This was an unfortunate mistake. Maybe I shouldhave double-checked, but I have never had this problem before, and I sure as hell wasn’t trying to kill anybody.

“Oh, so now it’smyfault?” When she raises her voice, the man next to her grabs her arm, trying to calm her down, but it’s like she can’t even hear him. “I told you I was allergic to onions, and I asked for them to be removed.”

I blink. “No, you didn’t.”

Shedidn’t. I wouldn’t forget something like that.

She looks at me as if I had just verbally slapped her. “Excuse me?”

“Mindy,” the man next to her tries once again. “It’s okay. It wasn’t her fault.” When he looks at me, his mortified expression makes me feel bad for him. “Could she get another burger without onions, please?”

I’m quick to nod. “Of course.”

“I don’t want another burger.” Mindy grabs her purse and stands from their booth. Charlie shifts closer to me. “And I’m also not paying for that shit that almost killed me. Where’s your manager?”

What’s with people refusing to pay for their food and drinks lately?

“He isn’t here right now,” Charlie says, which isn’t a lie. Travis was here this morning when my shift started, but I haven’t seen him since. “If you would like to file a complaint form, I will get one for you, but we can’t let you leave the restaurant without paying the tab, ma’am.”

Her companion stands after her and gives Charlie a tight smile. “That won’t be necessary. And of course we’ll pay.”

“Like hell we will.” Mindy shakes off his grip and drills those hard, cruel eyes into me.

But then something shifts.

It happens in slow motion. First, the confused frown. Then the change in her gaze from furious to unsure. And finally, she asks the question.

A question I’ve only been asked once before in the past six years.

A question that made me flee Nashville months before planned.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” And then she makes it worse. “You looksofamiliar.”

Sweat collects at the back of my neck.

My pulse throbs, turning my vision into a blur. My lungs cinch tighter, not letting air in, as adrenaline surges through me.

Three things happen all at once.

One—I panic.

Two—I get a strong urge to cry.

Three—I need to throw up.

Now.

But Mindy’s eyes are on me, and I need to think of something before recognition dawns on her.Anything.

She looks the part. Maybe I’m being too judgmental, or maybe it’s the way she’s dressed in the latest trends or how tightly she grips her phone, not putting it down for one second.When I took their order, she was browsing through a popular app, so it wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that she…

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