Page 4 of Right Place, Right Time (Second Chances)
Chapter One
Kate
“One Black and Tan and one Killian’s,” I set the two pilsners down on the high-top table with a smile. “Would you like to order any food tonight?”
“None for me,” the black haired guy says.
“We’d like to start a tab,” the bald one states as his eyes seem to undress me from head to toe. It takes everything I have not to visibly cringe. You don’t get good tips by recoiling from your customers.
“I’ll take care of that for you. My name is Kate, holler if you need anything.” I quickly move away from the table and check on a few others on my way to the back for a bit of reprieve. St. Patrick’s Day is always a great day to work because the tips are generally high, but it brings out the creepers, even to an upscale establishment like Five.
I step outside the back door and take a deep breath of fresh air. The salty bay air is mixed with a little exhaust from the highway and a little garbage from the nearby dumpster, but it’s close enough to fresh.
“Kate,” Laurie, Five’s hostess, calls out through the cracked back door. “You have a visitor.”
A visitor? I know it’s not Casey, or any of my classmates from school, since none of us can afford a place like Five on our starving student budgets. Could it be my parents? That thought makes me laugh out loud, garnering an odd look from one of the dishwashers I pass on my way back through the restaurant. It would be extremely unprofessional for a professor to ask for me at work, so that can’t be it…
I continue to wrack my brain of the possibilities as I weave through the crowded bar area and make my way to the hostess stand. Out of the billion scenarios I’d imagined in my head, not one of them includedhim.
I nearly trip over myself coming to an abrupt stop just a few steps away.
He hasn’t seen me yet; I can still make a run for it.
Not the most mature thought, I admit. I’m just not sure I can handle this…handlehim. What is he doing here after all this time? How the heck is he in California? How did he even know where to find me? He’d told me flat out he stopped reading my letters. It’s beenyearssince I’d last seen or heard from Jay, and during that final visit I’d gotten the impression I’d never,eversee him again. I’m not going to lie, it had hurt. Bad. And he knew it. So what is he doing here now? On the opposite side of the country from where he should be.
Before I can decide whether to speak to him or run far, far away, he looks up and sees me. His cold, gray eyes drill into me, taking me in from head to toe in a much more invasive way than the bald guy at my table, yet it makes me tingle with desire rather than unease. I don’t move and I don’t speak, I stand stock-still as he continues making his assessment, expecting him to turn and flee once he’s gotten his fill. I’m sure he’s real impressed with my uniform—knee-length pencil skirt and long sleeve button-down shirt, both in black, with a small red scarf tied around my neck. Standard Five uniform.
Jay looks about the same as he did the last time I’d seen him with the exception of his hair. It’s a little bit longer than the super short buzz cut, with some messy spikes on top. His hair is dark blond, I note. He’s clean shaven and he’s got a small scar on his left cheek. A tremor runs through me at the thought of how he might have gotten that. He hadn’t had it the last time I saw him. His square jaw is locked in a perpetual scowl he seems to have gained proficiency in over the years.
When his eyes meet mine again, he doesn’t flee, instead he hesitantly steps forward and my breath catches.This is it. This is the moment I’ve been waiting years for. The moment when he says, “I’m sorry; I was an idiot.” Only he doesn’t say that. He doesn’t say that at all.
“I shouldn’t be here.”
Those are the words that come out of his mouth. Afteryears…that’swhat he says to me.
“Then go,” I tell him flatly, pure disappointment flowing through my body. Without wasting another moment, I turn away from him and go back to the busy dining room. I will not let him affect me the way he did before. I willnotgive him that.
***
Laurie seatedhimin my section thirty minutes ago, and I haven’t been by his table once. I’m pissed he’s taking up space, but I know he’ll leave a tip whether he orders or not. That’s just the type of guy he is. At least I think it is. It’s the way he had been when I thought I knew him. I guess it turns out I hadn’t really known him at all. But still, there’s just something about him…something I’ve trusted since the moment I first saw him…which is completely crazy, considering his past.
Deep down though, I know he’s a good guy. He’s a good guy trying to do the right thing. Isn’t that always when they hurt us the most? When they think they’re doing the right thing? Whatever.
Bald guy is pretty lit and black-haired guy is unsuccessfully trying to get him to chill out. He hasn’t made a grab for me yet, but he’s been getting closer and closer every time I pass by their table. I’ve only served him two Black and Tans, so I suspect their evening started before they’d arrived here tonight, either that or he’s an incredible lightweight.
While I’m at the bar getting refills for my less obnoxious guests, I chance a look at Jay. He’s tucked away at a high-top table in the corner by a window. His feet are resting on the lower bar of the stool, his knees are bent, and his elbows are resting on the table. His head is down, focused on the paper coaster he’s decimating with his hands. When he was standing at the hostess stand earlier, he looked like a rugged man in his black work boots, faded jeans, and leather jacket that covered the sleeves of tattoos I know he has. Now, hunched over the table like that, he reminds me of a vulnerable boy.
“Order up,” the bartender, Ted, says, and I pick up my tray of drinks. “That table treating you right?” he asks, nodding to bald guy’s table.
“So far.”
“You let me know if they get out of line.”
“Thanks, Ted.” I give him a smile and move to deliver the drinks to my table.
Ted’s a…nice guy. He’s in his early thirties, tall, dark, and handsome with brown eyes and brown hair. He could be a really great friend, too, if he didn’t have a crush on me. He’s worked at Five as long as I have and asks me out at least once a season. I find a way to politely turn him down every time, with school being the most frequent excuse. I’m pre-med at Stanford, and I truly don’t have the time for a relationship or dating. I also never really envisioned a guy almost ten years older than me being my boyfriend. Not that there’s anything wrong with dating older people, it’s just not for me at this stage in my life.
Still, it’s good to have Ted around on nights like tonight when patrons can get a little out of control. He’s not overly buff or anything like that, but he practices martial arts, so he’s got some moves. It helps considering we don’t have bouncers like many of the other bars around. We’re known for our upscale cuisine, not as a drinking establishment, but the “rules” pretty much fly out the window on holidays—especially ones celebrated with alcohol.
