Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 66978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Unlike the salad, the sandwich is delicious. Turkey and avocado is always an intoxicating combination for me and it’s dressed with some kind of garlic aioli.
I swallow. “Delicious.”
“The sandwich?” he asks.
“Yeah, you asked if I liked it. It’s delicious.”
He nods. “Good.” Then he takes another bite of his own sandwich, which is already half gone. As are his fries.
Terry has come by to refill his Diet Coke twice.
Each time she swings by, I think about apologizing to her.
And each time, I don’t.
Once we’re done, Leif signals for the check, which Terry brings quickly. He gives her his credit card before she leaves, and within thirty seconds she’s back.
Buck signs the receipt and stands. “Let’s go.”
He’s clearly angry at me. Glaring, actually.
But always a gentleman—despite what he says—he allows me to go first.
When I get to the exit, I turn. “Excuse me for a moment. I need to use the restroom.”
“Fine. I’ll be outside.”
I turn back into the restaurant, but I bypass the restroom, looking for Terry.
I find her on the way to a table to deliver an order. I don’t interrupt her, but once she’s done with the order, I waylay her in her path.
“Terry?”
“Yes?”
“I’d like to apologize for being rude to you. You didn’t deserve that. I just had a…”
“Don’t worry about it. We all have bad days.” She smiles. “I enjoyed serving you and your companion.”
“Leif. His name is Leif.”
“How long have you two been together?”
“We’re not together.” The words come out automatically. They’re true, after all. Except…something inside me kind of saddens.
“You’re not?” Her demeanor brightens.
“No.”
Terry fishes a pen out of her apron pocket. “Would you mind giving him my number then?”
Something surges into my gut. A feeling I don’t like. That need to lash out.
But I came in here to apologize to this woman. She clearly deserves an apology from me. However, that doesn’t mean I want to give Leif her number.
“Sure.” I say.
“Really? Great.” She writes her name and number on her pad, rips off the page, and hands it to me. “I appreciate that.”
“Sure. No problem.”
“You guys have a great rest of your day.” She smiles. A big wide smile on her ridiculously pretty face.
“Thank you. You too.” I leave the restaurant, shoving the piece of paper into my purse.
“Did you apologize?” Leif asks when I meet him on the sidewalk.
“Apologize? I went to the bathroom.”
“Nice try. I watched you. You walked right past the bathroom.”
“Maybe I went to the back.”
“Did I not tell you this is one of my favorite places? I come here a lot. I know exactly where the restrooms are, and there isn’t one in the back.”
“Fine. So I apologized.”
“Good. I’m proud of you.”
I scoff. “Proud of me? Just who are you to be proud of me?”
“God damn. You know what? I take it back. I take it all fucking back.” He stands out toward the street to hail a cab.
When a taxi slides across the lanes stops for us, Leif doesn’t wait for the cabbie. He opens the back door, and I get in. He gives the cabbie my address, and then he closes the door without getting inside the cab.
“Wait!” I yell.
But the cabbie drives off, leaving Leif standing on the sidewalk.
19
LEIF
I need a break from her.
Honestly, I don’t know if she apologized to Terry. She said she did, but if she’s telling the truth, her apology was probably trite and condescending. I go back into the restaurant, because Terry deserves a real apology.
I didn’t do anything wrong, but I can’t leave things the way they are.
I walk through the dining room, but I don’t see her, so I waylay another waitress. “You know where Terry is?”
“I think she just went on break,” the server says. “You can probably find her in the break room.”
“Where’s the break room?”
In the back, she nods. “By the restrooms.”
“The restroom is in the back?”
She laughs. “Yeah. We have two sets of restrooms. You didn’t know that?”
“I do now.”
Damn. So Kelly was telling the truth. She did go to the restroom. But she also lied. She didn’t apologize to Terry.
Christ…
I head toward the back, dodging the servers and customers, until I find—yes—another set of restrooms and an open doorway leading into another room with a couple couches and small tables.
Terry sits at the table, looking at her phone.
I clear my throat. “Terry?”
“Yes?” She turns and looks over her shoulder, and then she smiles broadly. “Oh, hello.”
“I’m Leif,” I say.
“Yes, I know. Your name was on your credit card. What can I do for you?”
“I came to apologize for my…er…companion. She’s been going through some stuff. She shouldn’t have treated you the way she did.”
She lets out a nervous laugh. “I’ve been treated a lot worse by paying customers.”
“Not by paying customers who accompany me,” I say. “I’m sorry for her behavior.”
“That’s kind of you. But she already apologized.”