Page 12 of The Sicilian Princess
Rose
Iwas reeling after Nick left me in the diner. He had a meeting with Haley and then mysteriously took off. I was left with everyone and their neighbors gawking at me after his affectionate display.
Eunji was the first to break the silence. "Rose, is it? I'm your trainer for today, Eunji." She held out her slender hand and I shook it. She had a square face, large prominent eyes, and a tiny nose. Her shoulders were pulled back and she wore a neat white blouse and blue jeans underneath her apron. I was shocked Haley didn't make the staff wear a complete uniform, like black slacks and a polo along with the apron.
"Yes, I'm Rose. Uh, I don't know if Haley told you, but I don't have any experience."
Eunji giggled. She covered her mouth with her hand. "She told me, but that's all right. I didn't have any experience when I started, either. Although I was raised in this town, so it just made sense for Haley to hire me." Eunji was so nice. I was used to some women being bitchy or mean to someone who moved into their territory. Or maybe that was just something I saw on television. All I knew was that women were not the kindest creatures on earth.
"Where do we begin?" I rubbed my hands together to show my anticipation. This was going to be my first job and I wasn't going to screw it up. I wanted to make a good impression.
"With that slut?" I heard someone whisper-yell on the other side of the diner. The same girl who was draped over Nick was towering over her group of friends, waving her hands like a maniac.
"That's Amber," Eunji informed me. "She's probably the least nicest person you'll ever meet. She also is very hung up on Nick."
I nodded my head but didn't take my eyes off Amber. She had turned in my direction and was glaring at me. What was I supposed to do? I waved. I could be an asshole too. Now most people would want to avoid confrontation, but not me. Even though I didn't want to admit that I loved the way Nick was fawning all over me, I wasn't ready for some chick to try to mess with me over a little attention. If she was that threatened by me, then maybe she should take it up with Nick. I wasn't that man's keeper. Amber bounced her way over to us. I couldn't help noticing how pretty she was. Sure, she wore too much makeup and her clothes were a lot tighter than what was normal, but I could see what was underneath it all. There was a naturally pretty woman who was probably low on self-esteem.
"You need to stay the fuck away from my man." Amber thrust her finger in my face. Her head was bobbing back and forth, and she had one hand on her hip—classic confrontation signs.
"Who?" I batted my eyes innocently. I knew she was talking about Nick, but if I acted like I didn't, maybe she would go the fuck away.
"Nick Greer, the guy you were all but throwing yourself at," Amber huffed.
"You mean the man who helped me when I had a seizure and then drove me to make sure that I wasn't going to have another today?" I asked sweetly, but I knew I didn't mean it.
Amber took a huge step back, like she could catch my disorder. I wanted to slap her in the face. The one thing I absolutely hated was when people acted like there was something wrong with me, like I was diseased. Worse, were the people who berated me in public when I had an episode. They made me feel like shit.
"Ew, why are you even working here? Haley," she started yelling for my manager.
I flushed red from the embarrassment. I wasn't going to back down, but I also wasn't going to air out my laundry in front of the entire town. Did no one work in this town?
Haley came from the kitchen, and when she spotted Amber, she threw her hands in the air. "What do you want, Amber? I got a business to run." I knew I liked Haley. She wasn't going to let Amber run me out of town or out of a job.
"This girl has some kind of problem, and she shouldn't be working around food." Amber put her nose in the air and sniffed delicately.
I could tell Haley was holding on to her patience by a thin thread. She must've heard the racket Amber was making but was allowing me to handle it on my own. My eyes shone with tears at the thought. That was something my family would've never let me do. They would have run Amber off before letting me decide how I wanted to handle the situation. In this case, Haley was letting me make a choice.
"Why shouldn't she be around food?" Haley had a mischievous look on her face now.
"I don't know, she could infect us or something, right?" Amber was looking a lot less certain than she did when she first approached me.
"No, she can't, and I don't appreciate you coming into my place of business and harassing my employees. Why don't you go on home now?" Haley made a shooing motion toward the door.
Amber looked around the diner as if she was asking someone to help her.
"Get." Haley emphasized that by pushing against Amber's shoulder blades. Not enough to hurt her, but just like a nudge in the right direction. Before she stepped foot outside, Haley stopped her again. "Don't you come back until you can apologize to Rose." And with that, Haley shooed Amber one more time and the drama was done. Haley told everyone to get back to work, there was nothing to see there, and I started my training.
By the late afternoon, I thought I had gotten it down. I needed to memorize the menu, but the job was easy. Smile, take orders, retrieve orders, and check in to make sure they were enjoying their meals. I flitted back and forth between tables in my section, which was half of the diner. Eunji had the other half. Between the two of us, we made a dynamite team. The tips weren't so bad, either. After Amber's departure, her merry band of friends left without ordering anything. That opened the table for a family of three to sit down and enjoy a meal. I didn't think they would tip well, but they did. Almost everyone tipped well above forty percent. I wondered just how well the economy was doing here.
"Hey, Rose, you need to take a break," Eunji called over her shoulder.
I didn't argue. I knew if I did, Doc Brown would be called and he could get me fired if he thought I was endangering my health. Food was free for staff, so I ordered a burger and fries with a water on the side. I tried to keep my blood sugar up along with hydrating. The less stress on my body, the better.
A large man plopped down into the chair in front of me.
"Hey, beautiful." He looked vaguely familiar.
"Do I know you?" I tried to place his face, but I couldn't.
