“Well, how did it go?” I ask her, trying my damnedest not to smirk. I scrounged up a dozen menus while she kept them occupied. I plan on sending her over, to keep them distracted while I run back and forth.
DeeDee’s cheeks are flushed and her voice i
s a little breathless as she says, “I told him he couldn’t have my number.”
“Did you?” I ask, extremely impressed.
She nods her head and I can’t help but giggle.
“Thatta girl,” I tell her before pulling out my notepad and walking over to take the order.
The guy in the black shirt though, he’s staring intensely at me. And the closer and closer I get to him, I can’t help but think there’s just something about him that looks familiar…
“Mandy,” he says with a sneer I’d recognize anywhere.
“Brett?” I ask, feeling like I was just punched in the chest.
If only a hole would open up in the floor at this very moment and fucking swallow me.
Panic.
Fight-or-flight kicks in.
I glance around frantically.
Where’s DeeDee? Is Grace back from her break yet? Fuck, all I want to do is tuck my tail between my legs again, and make a run for it.
And I almost do it too before remembering I’d probably get fired. And if I get fired, it will be even harder to land another job. My resume is painfully empty of work experience.
With no one else around to help me, it seems DeeDee has disappeared and Grace isn’t done with her break yet, I have no choice but to finish approaching the table.
My heart thunders in my chest, and my palms sweat as I grip my pen and paper.
I look Brett up and down. He’s changed so much. When I knew him, when I loved him, he was a skinny, lanky guy with a dark mop of unruly hair. Now he’s big, he’s muscular, and he’s certainly filled out.
But he’s still handsome. He’s always been so handsome it hurts.
And those eyes of his, those eyes that are narrowed at me as if I’m something nasty he just stepped in, I’d know them anywhere.
Gradually I realize while Brett and I are staring at each other, the chattering around the table has died down. As the silence stretches on, and I hear one of the guys whispering towards the other one asking, “What the fuck is going on,” I manage to get a grip and pull myself together.
I decide to put some of those acting skills I wasted so much money on when I was out in California to some use. I smile by stretching my lips as far as they will go and I soften my eyes towards Brett, pretending inside that he’s someone else. Someone who hasn’t haunted me for five years.
Trying my hardest not to stammer, I summon up every ounce of courage I have left inside me and look past Brett, focusing on the guy with the goofy ears.
“Are you guys ready to order your drinks?” I ask, and die just a little bit inside.
Brett chortles and I try to ignore him, telling myself he has every right to not like me… but it doesn’t work, it still hurts.
I thought I left what was left of my pride back in Hollywood. But apparently there’s just enough pride left inside me to make this situation really hurt like nothing else.
I loved him. I gave him my heart. I gave him everything. I gave him my virginity, and then I ran away.
And now he’s sitting there, Brett is sitting there all smug and cocky, as if I’m lesser than him.
And I have to ask, there’s no avoiding it. I just have to suck it up and roll with the punches. I lift my chin into the air and manage to maintain the smile while I ask the table, “What can I get for you?”
Chapter Two