Page 4 of Fragile Heart

CHAPTER2

Quinn

My daysat the diner always fly by. It usually feels like I get to hang out with my friends all day more than anything. Most days, Holly is there too, but I also really like the other servers we have on staff. The cooks are always a good time, especially Danny, and our manager, Martha, is like the cool aunt that I never had. But even our customers are a good time. I love listening to all their stories.

The pay is decent, especially since I don’t have anything to spend money on. The hours are long, but I don’t mind. It keeps me busy. Keeps my mind off things I don’t want to think about.

I have no reason to complain. Which also means I don’t have a reason to quit. I’m comfortable with my life right now, and I want to keep it like this for as long as I can.

The day after Hudson Porter made his grand appearance, the entire town buzzes with talk of the new movie being shot in our town. At almost every other table I serve, someone asks if I saw him and what he’s like. They all deflate a little when I have nothing juicy to tell them.

Holly is just as excited as anyone else about the prospect of celebrities dropping into our small town, so when our friend Jake comes into the diner for dinner, she tries to get as much info out of him as she can.

“Hey, Jakey.” I watch as Holly slides a Dr. Pepper to him. “How’s everything?” Jake looks at Holly before he turns his smile to me. Jake has had a small crush on me for a few years now, but I try to pretend like I don’t know. I haven’t really been in the headspace to date, but I’m also not sure if Jake would be someone I would want to date anyway. He seems perfect on paper: attractive, with a good job and a supportive family. I’m just not sure he’s right for me, and I’d hate to ruin our friendship over it.

“Things are good. How are you ladies doing?”

“Living the dream, Jakey, living the dream.” He chuckles at my best friend. “So what can you tell us about the new movie filming in town?”

He takes a sip of his drink. “What do you wanna know?” Jake works for the biggest law firm in town, and our local government often contracts them out to review agreements and permit requests on the city’s behalf. Jake almost always has the good details, but he only tells us stuff he’s legally allowed to, of course.

“Anything you can tell us.” Holly leans onto the counter and sits her chin in her hands, readying herself to listen to Jake. I try to appear uninterested, but we all know I want to know as bad as Holly does.

“Well, it looks like most of the filming will be done in the new studios, but they submitted a film permit request for a few locations around town. I think they’re filming here on Main Street later this week, so some roads might be blocked off. Someone also asked for rental homes in the area, so I think some of the actors might be staying around here. I don’t know which ones, though.”

“Do you know what the movie is about?” Holly asks.

“Holly, they don’t send us their script to review. How would I know what it’s about?” He laughs.

Holly straightens up. “I don’t know. I thought lawyers knew everything.”

“You would think that,” he teases. She sticks her tongue out at him, and I can’t help but laugh at the exchange.

Out of nowhere, Holly freezes and says, “Oh, shit.”

“What?” I look around, trying to find where her eyes are, when I land on him. Hudson.

Two days in a row.

He reads the samePlease Seat Yourselfsign before making his way to the same booth he sat in yesterday morning. My section. The same hat sits on his head, pulled down low to hide his face.

“Well,” I take a deep breath. “Hopefully, he’s in a better mood today.”

“Do you want me to take the table?” Holly offers.

“Nah, I got it. I’m not nervous today like I was yesterday.”

“Nervous? About what?” Jake asks, completely oblivious to what we’re talking about. He finally turns his head, and his eyes land on our topic of conversation. “Is that. . .?”

“Yep. I had to serve him yesterday, and he definitely didn’t live up to the lofty exceptions I had for him in my mind.”

“He was an ass and a shitty tipper,” Holly adds.

“He wasn’t an ass. He just didn’t really say anything. Kept to himself. Not as friendly as I always assumed he was.”

Another man around Hudson’s age walks in and looks around before landing on Hudson’s location. I recognize him immediately. Vaughn Slayter. He must be a co-star in the movie Hudson is filming.

Vaughn slides into the booth on the opposite side of Hudson. The two of them start talking to each other, and I can’t help but notice how different they are. Hudson has his head lowered and hat pulled down to hide his identity. Vaughn sits up straight with a smile on his face. He has no hat on, so I can only assume he isn’t trying to hide who he is. He looks approachable, whereas Hudson does not.

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