Lewis is a delicious hunk of sexual chocolate. His dark skin is so smooth, and the man has lashes I would kill for. He’s beautiful. I have never seen such perfect cheekbones in all my days. He also happens to be gay. All the gorgeous ones usually are.
“Any word yet from your man?”
“No, I am sure they are just getting to the restaurant.”
We fall into our easy routine of preparing the kitchen for Ronnie. The man is an asshole, but he is the best short order cook around. He comes in the back door, right on time, as we finish setting up his stations.
“Good morning, Ronnie,” I singsong knowing I won’t get a response. He grunts with a grimace, going up front to clock in on the register.
The dude has little-man syndrome—meaning he compensates for his short stature with his out of this world asshole personality. He never speaks to any of us unless he has to out of necessity.
Sasha and Lena come dragging in. They are Natalie and Joey's daytime girls. Lena runs the bar with Lewis while Sasha and I man the floor.
“Rough night, girls?” I smirk wondering who their latest conquest was. They always have some wild story to share.
“You have no idea,” Sasha says popping a cherry in her mouth.
“I need some fucking coffee,” Lena whines rubbing her temples.
“I’m waiting, bitches. Dish,” Lewis pipes in taking a seat next to me at the bar.
This is our daily routine. We trade sexcapades until customers start filing in.
Sasha starts going into some spiel about some college boys they went home with, but quickly stops mid-story when Freddie walks in. Interesting. Freddie is the busboy. There has to be a story there and I will get to the bottom of it.
Lewis pulls his cell out of his pocket and his face falls at whatever news the call holds. He covers his mouth and steals a glance at me. The way he is looking at me is freaking me out.
“Hey.” I touch his arm gently. “Is everything okay?”
“Don’t freak out on me, baby girl, but I need you to keep your cool and come with me to the hospital.”
Tears prick in my eyes. “Lewis, don’t fuck with me. What’s going on?” Deep down in the pit of my stomach I have a sick feeling that something is wrong with Joey. He didn’t call me and he always calls me no matter what.
“There’s been an accident,” he says, his voice shaky and uneven.
Fear grips me. I suck in a deep breath and exhale slowly, trying to prepare myself for the worst possible news.
“It’s Joey, isn’t it?”
He nods. I don’t know what to do. My hands are shaking, and I don’t know how to make them stop trembling. I need a drink or something. Lena reaches me a glass of water. My mouth is so dry. Please God let him be okay. I can’t lose him. He’s my world. I continue to silently pray as I trade the water for a shot of the hard stuff. Fire shoots down my throat and into my belly as it churns with unease.
The girls want to come with us, but Lewis needs them to stay and run the bar, so he can drive me. I know it must be bad if Natalie reached out to him instead of me.
The whole drive to the hospital I keep chanting in my head, praying Joey is okay.
He can’t leave me.
I can’t lose him.
He is my world.
He is the beat of my heart.
I want to marry him…make beautiful babies… I want it all with him.
“Joey will be fine, you’ll see.” Lewis tries to reassure me, but I can see the fear buried behind his eyes. He knows more than he is telling me, but I am too terrified to demand the truth.
The drive seems to take forever. I keep trying Natalie, but I keep getting sent to her voicemail, and I can’t bring myself to call Joey's phone. Something tells me that he won’t pick up. Something tells me that he will never come to the phone for me again.