He smiled and grabbed a soda from the fountain. Walking over to the counter, he took a seat and started playing on his phone.
After Sadie finished getting Carl’s Danish in one hand and the coffeepot in another, she saw Pearl slide out from the kitchen. When they made eye contact, she mouthed, “Thank you.” Sadie sent her a wink and headed to Carl, all the while knowing BJ was staring at her. A lapse in judgment on her part had left her the object of this eighteen-year-old boy’s affection. If she could go back in time and change her actions from last month, she would do it in a heartbeat.
“I’m heading out now.”
Pearl walked over to Sadie and pulled her in for a hug. She whispered in her ear, “Thanks, Sadie, I owe you one. Be safe.”
Sadie watched Pearl leave and head out to her car. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and checked the time. She had twenty minutes left. After grabbing the ten-dollar tip from table six, Mr. Bearded Potbelly, Sadie began wiping down the counter. The place was empty except for Carl and BJ.
Bernie and Marge were still in the office, Willie, the cook, was on a smoke break, and Juan was sweeping the kitchen. BJ was still at the counter, on his second soda. Sadie continued to wipe the counters as she made her way to BJ.
“So, how’s school?”
He looked up from his phone and shrugged his right shoulder. “Okay I guess.”
She turned to rinse out the rag just as he nervously blurted out, “Sadie, will you go to homecoming with me?”
Oh shit! She heard a chuckle from the end of the counter. She ignored Carl. It turned out last month’s poor judgment had just come around to bite Sadie in the ass. No good deed went unpunished.
Last month, BJ stopped in when Sadie was working. Three o’clock in the morning he came into the diner and announced he was finally legal. Was he legal to vote? Yes. Was he legal to drink? Not so much. However, that didn’t stop him from getting shit faced. Fortunately, he was smart enough not to drive. His friend dropped him off.
Willie wanted to call Bernie to come get him but Sadie insisted he could just sleep it off in the office on Bernie’s couch. Marge would freak out and probably ground him for life. Sadie felt sorry for him so she took him to the back and sat him on the couch.
“Hey, Sadie, it being my birthday and all, how about you give me a gift?” he slurred as he lay back on the couch.
She took off his sneakers and shook her head. This kid was going to be in so much pain the next day. “What kind of gift?”
“How about a kiss?”
She looked up from his feet. He was wearing a goofy smile and his eyes were slanted almost shut. He was so drunk at that point he’d probably pass out in minutes. Hopefully, before she had to answer.
He surprised her when he grabbed her arms and pulled her on top of him. He wasn’t rough. He laughed again as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
Oh God! Fending off a drunken horny eighteen-year-old was not her idea of a good time. She should have called Bernie. Dammit! She struggled to get up, pushing at his chest to right herself. She was just about off him when his next words stopped her.
“Please, Sadie, just one kiss. Be my first,” he said almost sadly.
Was he really eighteen and had never been kissed? Was that even possible these days? His eyes were still slanted but he was no longer laughing. Sadie looked at him, trying to see deception in his eyes but she didn’t see any. His serious face told her he was being honest. Poor kid.
She gave him a gentle smile and leaned in to touch her lips to his, a quick peck for his birthday wasn’t going to hurt her. However, this overeager eighteen-year-old had had other ideas and he opened his mouth jamming his tongue down her throat. She pulled back a bit, surprised by his tongue lashing lip assault but he came forward in full force, licking the inside of her mouth. This was a definite confirmation that she was indeed his first kiss.
Sadie decided if she was going to be his first then she was going to show him how it was done. She grabbed his face and whispered, “Let me show you.”
She kissed his lips again and slowly licked the seam of his mouth. When he opened his mouth, she slid her tongue against his. He mimicked what she was doing. He was a quick learner. They continued the kiss for a few seconds. There was no passion on her end. It almost felt clinical to Sadie, like performing a tutorial on Kissing 101.
She felt his hands start moving toward her ass and that’s when she pulled back and sat up. He was about to pass out. He took one deep breath and muttered what sounded like, “Thanks, Sadie.”
Sadie left him in the office and had only seen him a few times since. Neither of them mentioned his birthday. She was hoping he had been so drunk that he had forgotten. No such luck.
Now, here she was with the love-struck birthday boy and his invitation to Homecoming.
“BJ, it’s real sweet of you to ask me but…”
A large boom sounded and Sadie jumped. She looked around thinking maybe it came from inside but nothing exploded, there wasn’t a fire anywhere. Where had it come from?
“What the hell was that?” asked Carl. All three of them were now looking around the diner; everything seemed the same as it was a minute ago.
Sadie walked to the door and looked out into the parking lot. “Maybe it came from
