“Hey Juan!” she yelled out to the empty doorway.
He walked backward to stand in the door. Juan didn’t speak much English. Besides, hi, bye, yes, no, and thank you, she didn’t think she’d ever heard him speak. He was one of the busboys at Bernie’s. They worked almost all the same shifts. They were about the same age, though he might have been younger. He was a hard worker, always on top of bussing the tables and swept at the end of his shift.
She waved her hand for him to come into the break room. Sadie reached into her bag and pulled out a folded wad of ones and handed it over to him. He smiled at her and said, “Thank you.” The waitresses were supposed to give a five percent cut of their tips to the busboys. Not everyone gave, but Sadie always did.
“You’re welcome. Have a great night.” She smiled at him but got no response. He was already counting the money. She figured he lived similar to her; every little bit counted.
Hoisting her bag over her shoulder, she walked around Juan and passed through the kitchen. Waving to Willie, she was through the doors and out onto the floor. She scanned the diner. At five after five, it was still quiet, waiting on the breakfast crowd to come in. Her shift started at nine last night; it was a long night.
The incident with her obsession happened an hour into her shift. By the time Sadie came back in from her break, he was gone. She had spent the last seven hours trying to block the scene from memory. Melinda didn’t say anything about it when she came back in from break, which she was thankful for. Melinda sensed she didn’t want to talk about it and felt bad. She thought she was doing Sadie a favor and it backfired. It wasn’t her fault Sadie’s obsession turned out to be an asshole.
“Good night, everybody,” she said to no one in particular. She threw her hand up in a wave as she strutted to the door.
“Don’t you mean ‘Good Morning’?” A feminine voice snickered sweetly from the counter.
Sadie smiled at Pearl. Pearl was another waitress at Bernie’s. She trained Sadie and became one of her few friends. She was older than Sadie at forty-four, but they just clicked from the beginning. Pearl had looked out for Sadie from the start. The years hadn’t been too kind to her. She had a rough life. Some things she had shared with Sadie, some things she knew from watching her. Poor choices in men had been Pearl’s downfall. She was a beautiful woman but the years showed on her face. She had great curves though and the best personality. She was a favorite amongst the customers.
“Ha…my night, your morning. Have a good one.” Sadie snorted while buttoning her coat as she headed toward the exit.
She was just about to the door when Melinda touched her arm.
“Hey girl, I just wanted to say sorry about before, you know, table two?” She shifted her weight from one leg to another in a nervous sway.
“No big deal.” Sadie shrugged. Her heart still stung but Melinda shouldn’t feel bad. It wasn’t her fault he was a jerk, and it certainly wasn’t her fault Sadie was obsessed with him.
She bit her lip, and Sadie could tell she still felt guilty.
“I just thought,” she stopped and fidgeted with her order pad, “the way he’s always watching you, staring at you when you’re with customers… I just thought he was interested, you know.”
Sadie’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. “He watches me?”
“Well, yeah, all the time.” She nodded her head.
What? She never saw him watch her. Mostly it seemed as though she didn’t exist. She never caught him looking at her or checking her out and she watched him all the time. Maybe Melinda was wrong, maybe he was looking at someone else. Maybe he was just daydreaming in her direction. After the way he acted tonight, Sadie couldn’t see why he would be watching her. He didn’t even want her around him. He had made that perfectly clear.
She heard a customer ask for the check and broke out of her daze to meet Melinda’s eyes.
“Anyway, listen, next time we have off, let’s go to DL’s? We’ll get our drink on and have some fun.” She smiled at Sadie. Melinda’s cure to all things was a drink and a good time. It sounded like a great idea.
“Definitely!” Sadie replied, matching her smile.
“Great!” She winked as she sauntered back to her customer.
Pushing through the glass door, Sadie headed out to her car. Walking past the front of the diner to the side of the building, her mind tried to grasp what Melinda had just told her. Her obsession watched her? Sadie was torn between disbelief and shock, but a little excitement crept in. The butterflies were back and her lips spread wide. He watched her.
Chapter Two
Sadie’s mind had been on him—her obsession—the entire ride home. Was he really watching her? If he was interested then why was he such a jerk? It didn’t make sense. Sadie pulled into the trailer park entrance and drove down the pebbled street. It was early with no one in sight. She had lived at The Cedar Bluff trailer park since she and her mom first moved there sixteen years ago. She was six. They lived with her aunt in Indiana before moving to Cedar Bluff, Nebraska. Her mom and Aunt Jenn, her mom’s sister, fought all the time. Her mom couldn’t wait to leave and took the first opportunity she got. That opportunity was a salesman named Billy. Her Aunt Jenn wanted Sadie to stay. She could still remember listening to them argue from the top of the stairs. She would wake up to yelling—her mother’s voice. Her mom always yelled. Aunt Jenn was always the calm
