Page 44 of Remembering You
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Elsa handed me a cup of coffee, grimacing as she looked at the clock on the wall. “A little early for a Wednesday, isn’t it?”
She wasn’t wrong. It was seven a.m. and typically on a work day, Jim and I didn’t pop in for our morning coffee until at least eight.
But I didn’t go into work at Tripp Construction on Monday because of my semester orientation at school. And then Tuesday, I had a full day of classes. So by the time this morning rolled around, I was a nervous wreck knowing I had to go back into work and face Jim. Which was why this morning, I was awake, showered, and dressed by seven a.m.. I couldn’t just wait around my little lake cabin for a whole other hour until it was time to catch the bus to Jim’s office.
But I didn’t say any of that. Instead, I simply shrugged and said, “New beginnings make me nervous.”
Elsa narrowed her gaze at me, seeing right through my ambiguous answer. “But your new beginning days were Monday and yesterday—starting class and orientation and all. Today should be like an old habit going to work at Jim’s.” She glanced around her diner. “Actually… where is Jim? Don’t you two usually come in together?”
I’d been too embarrassed to tell Elsa about our disaster of a date. So when she asked on Sunday, I just said it went fine and left it at that. Of course, she likely saw right through that, too, but up until today she had seemed to let it go.
I inhaled the steaming cup of coffee slowly and closed my eyes. I only had two more days to get through with Jim. Two more days that I had agreed to work for him. At my doctor’s appointment Monday, I was taken off the crutches and given a boot instead. And hopefully next week, I would be cleared for hospital work once more and I could go back to life as planned. Classes. My internship. And no boys.
Or men for that matter. Because at twenty-nine, Jim was far from a boy.
I cleared my throat, finally answering Elsa after a long sip of coffee. “I think he had to be at a job site early this morning, so I told him I’d find my own way into the office.”
“Oh,” Elsa said with a shrug and went back to wiping down behind the counter. I exhaled a relieved breath, surprised that that worked. Since it was still early, the diner wasn’t very busy. I took a seat in a booth at the corner and looked at the menu. On one hand, I should be careful about how much I buy with my measly budget. But then again, I had packed my lunch today, so maybe I could afford something smaller? “Hey Elsa, can I get a bagel and cream cheese?”
Crossing out from behind the counter, she came over to my table. “Sure. Hey,” she tapped my arm with her ordering pad. “How was the date with Jim? You never really told me the details.”
“Sure, I did,” I answered, not looking up from the menu even though I had already ordered.
“Well… you told me it was fine, but you didn’t tell me where you went. What you did. Did he bring you flowers?”
I shook my head. “No flowers. We went to a place called Jolie—”
“Oh!” She clasped her hands together. “I love Francois! Was he there? Did you meet him?”
I smiled genuinely. “I did meet him… he was so sweet.”
“Okay, okay,” Elsa said. “What else?”
“Ummm… I tried escargot for the first time. It was… good. Not as slimy as I expected.”
Elsa’s smile dipped into a scowl. “You went on a Valentine’s Day date with Jim freaking Tripp and you’re sitting there telling me about garlicy snails?” She clamped her hands to her hips and tapped her foot against the linoleum floor. “Okay, now I know something is up. What’s going on?”
“Nothing!” I wasn’t sure how long I could keep this up. Eventually I would have to tell Elsa the truth… I just really didn’t want it to be this morning when I was already such a nervous wreck to see him that my stomach was tied into knots.
She arched a brow at me until I finally gave in. “Okay, fine,” I said. “The date was—”
“Elsa!” A gruff voice scolded from behind us. “I’m not paying you to gossip with your friends.” Jack sounded even grumpier than usual as he came out from the back room and filled a tumbler of coffee for himself.
Elsa snorted. “Well, technicallyyou’renot paying me at all. Your mother is.”
“Don’t get smart with me.”
She held up both hands in surrender. “You’re right, you’re right.” My jaw nearly hit the floor. I’d never seen Elsa give up that quickly with anyone, let alone with Jack. “Getting smart with you is a bad idea.”
Even Jack seemed startled by her change in tone. “Th-that’s right.”
“Because you’re too dumb to keep up, anyway.” Elsa gave him a smile and flung the rag over her shoulder swinging her hips toward the register as the two continued with their sarcastic banter back and forth. She turned, pointing at me. “We’re not done with this conversation, though.”
I nodded and with Elsa’s back to Jack, it didn’t slip my notice the way his gaze drifted to Elsa’s hips as she sauntered away. I also noticed the extra sway in her step that seemed to be just for his viewing pleasure. I almost rolled my eyes… it was definitely not the sort of flirty-mean relationship I would ever want with someone, but based on the smile on Elsa’s face and the way Jack was biting the inside of his cheek as he watched Elsa walk away? I guess it was working for them.
Or maybe I was just really inexperienced.
