After they’d walked for a long stretch, Elijah declared himself hungry. “Want to grab some food? I think there’s a bunch of places on the main drag,” he said.
“Sure.” And truth be told, she also wanted to check out the bars and restaurants because she was hoping to scrounge up some work. She needed to make money fast or she would be out of options.
They found the strip easily enough. It was just down the road from the beach, not even a mile from where their hotel was located. It was getting busy now that they were hitting dinnertime.
There were fewer restaurants and bars than she’d imagined, just a handful really.
It made her wonder if finding work out here would be as easy as she’d assumed.
And it wasn’t as if she had an incredible resume, either, just a couple years of waiting tables at Friendly’s in high school.
They walked past an ice cream shop with a line out the door, and a cute little breakfast place with a broken egg on the sign—an oyster bar, another bar with live music floating into the street.
“How about this place?” Elijah asked.
It was called Mean Margaritas, and it was big, with a lot of outdoor seating.
Plenty of people were eating and drinking, but there seemed to be room for more.
“Sounds good,” she said. “Let’s eat.”
They went inside and a girl who looked no older then eighteen sat them at a small table looking out onto the strip. A moment later, their waitress stopped by and asked if they wanted drinks.
Elijah ordered a Coke and she ordered a diet Coke. The waitress left, and then they were quiet again. Elijah was looking out on the street. Tourists strolled past—some with children in tow, others in rowdy groups, looking for action.
“So, what’s your plan now?” she said, finally. “I mean, you must have had a reason to come to Florida, right?”
Elijah nodded, but didn’t meet her gaze. “Of course.”
She wanted to ask him what exactly that reason was. After all, he knew a lot more about her than she knew about him at this point.
But he seemed to be putting a wall up—she sensed that he didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t want to talk about anything, apparently.
The waitress brought them their drinks, as Elijah and Caelyn studied the menus.
“I think I’m going to get the Mean Burger,” she said.
“Same,” Elijah replied.
“Great. And how would you like that burger cooked?” she asked.
“I’d like mine medium well,” he said.
“Same for me,” Caelyn added.
“Oh, you two are cute. I love when couples get the same meal—me and my boyfriend have totally different tastes,” the waitress laughed, before taking their menus and walking off.
Elijah grinned at her. “Here we go again,” he said. The moment seemed to have loosened him up. He took a big swig of his soda and leaned back in his chair. “I could get used to this,” he said.
Caelyn nodded agreement.
The food was really good, but by the end of dinner she was ready to call it a night.
Everything was catching up to her now, and she felt heavy with food—and most of all, tired.
The waitress brought the check and Caelyn went to pick it up.
“No way,” Elijah said.
“Let me pay just this once,” Caelyn cried, trying to take the check.
The waitress laughed, watching them argue over it.
Elijah grabbed it out of her hands. “Listen, I got this. You can pay me back when you get a job.”
“Oh, come on—you don’t have a job either,” she said.
“Well, I don’t need one right now.”
The waitress looked at Caelyn. “You’re looking for work?” she said.
Caelyn waved her hand at Elijah, shaking her head. “Yes, I’m currently looking,”
she said.
“What kind of work?”
“Anything. I thought maybe waitressing,” she said, grimacing as she said it. She was half-expecting the waitress to laugh and tell her how impossible it was to find waitressing jobs around the area.
“Well, you might just be in luck then,” the woman told her. “We’re actually hiring right now. We lost a couple of girls last week and Kenzie is looking to replace them right away.”
Caelyn straightened up, feeling suddenly more awake. “Really?”
“Yeah. If you want, I’ll introduce you to her before you go.”
“Oh, wow, that would be awesome.”
The waitress grinned. “Well, I am pretty awesome.” She nodded to the check.
“I’ll come back for that in a minute,” she said, and then turned and left.
Caelyn turned to Elijah. “Wow, wasn’t that so cool?” she said.
He nodded. “Yeah,” he said, but not very enthusiastically. “Very cool.”
“Is something wrong?”
He took a final sip of his soda. “Nope.” And then he took out his billfold, counted out the money, and put it with the tab. “We’re good.” He stood up. “I’m gonna hit the bathroom,” he said.
She watched him go, puzzled by his behavior. Maybe he’s just tired, she thought.