"Yep," Leigh replied. "She said it was last minute…she has to take her sister to the doctor."
"What time do you need me to come in?"
"Yay! My second favorite flavor of Lifesaver! Can you come in four to eight?"
"I've got nothing better to do," Julie answered honestly.
"You're the best, Julie. Thank you so much."
"No problem."
Honestly, even if it was work, Julie was relieved not to have to sit at home like a loser for the second Saturday night in a row, passing out before eleven while she read a book.
Riveting stuff—that was her life in a nutshell.
Plus, she only had one more eligible book to read before she ran out—well, basically ran out. Technically she had Girl with a Pearl Earring left too, but she wasn't about to read that one—the topic made her too agitated, and when she went to sleep in a bad mood she was having really weird dreams, so she was attempting to keep the reading light.
When Julie went in at four, she saw that other than herself, it was just Leigh and Aaron working, then of course the cook and dishwasher in the back.
It worked for her. She really didn't care for Debbie—who clearly didn't care for Leigh, and Julie couldn't figure out how anyone could dislike Leigh—and she didn't seem to work enough to really get to know any of the other waitresses.
Everything seemed to be running really smoothly –like it usually did when Leigh and Aaron were both working—even though it was a relatively busy night and Julie still kept forgetting how she was supposed to describe the Reuben sandwich.
Then, as it approached seven o'clock and began to slowly wind down, a single customer walked in the door.
Julie glanced up, plastering on a smile for the petite girl who had walked in, and she went to grab a menu.
Leigh's hand shot out toward Julie and all she said was, "Don't."
Julie's jaw dropped open as she saw something she had never seen before in her life—pure hatred all over Leigh's face.
Leigh was capable of hatred? And by the looks of it, not typical hatred, but a deep, burning kind of hatred. If Julie didn't know Leigh better, she might expect her to spring across the café and lunge at the girl's throat.
Even though she had no clue what was going on, Julie knew she had to get a better look at anyone who could have that kind of effect on Leigh, the sweetest person in all of Chicago.
Looking back at the girl who had walked in, Julie took a typical female inventory. The girl was short, maybe just about five feet, give or take an inch, and she had beautiful bright red hair that flowed down her back, almost to her butt. Donning a lovely white sweater and a pair of jeans that hugged her curves, the girl seemed to be displaying the slim perfection of her curves in a way that just wasn't fair to any other girl in the room. She had blue eyes, you could tell even from a distance, and the cutest dimple in her left cheek as she smiled, brilliant white teeth standing out even against her smooth, porcelain skin.
She was beautiful.
Her blue eyes were still shining, her cute little smile in place, and even not knowing her, even knowing she must be bad if Leigh didn't like her, Julie felt the urge to just go talk to her, to bask in her glow.
Then a cold breeze interrupted all thoughts of glowing as a stone cold Aaron –even colder than Julie had seen him before, which she found impressive—walked over to the register, barely sparing the stunning redhead a glance.
"Are you ordering?" he asked a bit rudely.
Leigh's eyes narrowed as if daring the girl to say yes and give her some reason to be brutally attacked.
"Hi, Aaron," the girl said.
Even her voice was lovely. Talk about unfair.
Torn between watching Aaron be colder to someone than he was to her, and prying information out of Leigh, she tried to compromise by nudging Leigh and keeping an eye on the counter interaction.
Leigh glanced over at Julie as if she had just remembered she was there—and she probably had—then Leigh sneered, "Shannon Hamilton."
At hearing her name, the girl glanced over their way, but when she met Leigh's gaze her smile slipped for a second, then she quickly looked away, turning her attention back to Aaron.
Leigh was seething beside Julie, and Julie was too intensely curious to move from where she stood, seemingly rooted to the ground.