Page 20 of Locked Down In Watch Hill
EIGHT
KYLE
“Thank God you’re back,” Tyler called from his place near the cash register as I strode through the employee entrance.
“What?” I took off my coat and hung it on the nearby hook before I tossed the empty coffee cups, holder, and pasty bag into the nearby trash can. “Did something happen?”
“No, but you were just gone longer than I thought you would be.”
I glanced at the wall clock as I crossed to him. “Yeah, sorry about that, I guess time got away from me.”
Tyler stepped away from the cash register. “We only had like two orders while you were gone. Things slowed down a bunch.”
I nodded. “Thanks for all the work you’ve been doing.”
“Don’t mention it.” He grinned, showing off a mouthful of braces crammed into his mouth. “Unless you plan on giving me a raise.”
“We’ll see about that.”
He had a point. Rewarding Tyler and Seth was something I needed to do soon. They’d both been more than helpful over the last few days, Tyler especially. Once things calmed down a bit, I needed to show them how much I appreciate it.
“How about this?” I added. “Why don’t I show you how to close the store, so that you can be my second-in-command, and do things when I’m not here.”
Tyler’s face brightened and he stood a bit straighter. “Really?”
“You’ve shown yourself to be responsible. I think you can handle it. In fact, I know you can.”
This felt good too, and together we set about closing the restaurant for the evening, counting money, sorting receipts, cleaning the prep station, and going through the inventory to see if any orders needed to be made the following morning. Soon enough, Tyler left for the evening, and I was alone again.
Before leaving myself, I took a few more photos and sent Ashley a text.
Me: That was a fantastic concert, by the way.
She answered a few seconds later
Ashley: I haven’t given one in a long time
Me: You should do more of them
Ashley: Maybe—when things are better.
Me: Not much longer. And once it’s over, we can really celebrate.
I send the message before I realized what I’d said, before thinking about how it sounded. “We” probably wasn’t the word I meant to use, but I’d somehow unconsciously typed it anyway.We. Not her. Not me. We.
Then again...
Three dots in a bubble appeared, telling me she was about to reply. Maybe she liked the idea of “we” too, and maybe she saw potential in it, a chance for something to begin in the middle of all this craziness. Maybe. I stared at my phone, waiting for her to reply.
But in the end, nothing came.
***
