His head turned my way as he rode in so my head tipped down and I studiously examined my feet as I kept going.
Thankfully, he was in the building by the time I walked passed Bubba’s (I peeked).
I went to the hotel, made myself a sandwich, ate an apple and then took the champagne to the reception desk where Ned was sitting.
“Betty still up?” I asked when I walked in, holding up the champagne and I saw his big grin light his face.
“I’ll go get her,” he said.
“And glasses!” I called after him as he walked away.
“Glasses!” he called back.
Then Betty, Ned and I sat in reception, drinking champagne and playing Harry Potter Clue. They were both big Harry Potter fans, each had read the books and seen the movies so many times they lost count (their words) and, being a fan myself, the Clue game was fabulous.
Betty eventually had to hit the sack so I chatted with Ned for awhile, said my goodnight on a smile and then headed back to my room.
*
I woke in the middle of the night and since the swimming thing worked so well the night before, I did it again and pushed myself harder, doing fifty laps with only one rest.
I was thinking about how pleased I was with my effort as I toweled off and went to my room. Therefore, I didn’t notice the silent man watching me on his silent Harley that was parked on the side street butting the hotel and couldn’t have known he’d been doing it for fifteen minutes.
*
Working with Tonia on Sunday was a lot less fun than working with Wendy. Krystal was on and Tonia was an hour and a half late. When she showed, Krystal surprised me by not saying a word, just giving her a glare that should have burned two precise laser holes through her head. Tonia ignored this totally and I soon noticed she was good at ignoring a lot of things, including me, who she didn’t say so much as “boo” to, and her customers, unless they were good-looking.
The good-looking ones she spent a lot of time with but not bringing them drinks. No, standing by their tables flipping her hair around or leaning into her hands and pressing her breasts together and swinging her booty this way and that (I’d seen Wendy do that the day before and now that I saw it, live and in person, I thought Wendy’s impersonation was spot on and even more hilarious).
Fortunately, Tonia ignoring her customers worked for me because all the rest of them eventually got fed up with it and moved to my section and since I wasn’t a crap waitress, I was very busy but I also got great tips.
Wendy showed at ten to seven and I would have stayed until Jonelle showed at twenty past but when Tonia and I were both at the bar and Tonia said, “I’ll just cash out,” Krystal replied, “Yeah, you’ll cash out in an hour and a half, the time you owe me.” Then Krystal skewered her with a look, Tonia’s mouth got tight and Krystal finished, “Ass back out on the floor and, while you’re out there, do me a favor and sell some fuckin’ booze.”
Wendy came back out while this was going on, she gave me a wide-eyed look and grabbed her apron.
After my shift, I decided to stay in order to give Wendy moral support and have a beer with Jim-Billy who, I found, showed on weekends much later.
“Like the quiet of the days,” he told me as we drank beer.
“It isn’t quiet now,” I told him and it wasn’t. The bar was jammed.
Jim-Billy grinned at me. “Also like the crazy nights,” he took a sip, swallowed then finished, “balance.”
“Right,” I grinned back.
Tate showed at eight thirty and I figured that was my cue to go, though I didn’t want him to think I was leaving because of him so I hung out for long enough to make that statement. This lasted a full twenty-five minutes all of which I avoided even looking at him.
Then I slid a bill on the bar, kissed Jim-Billy’s cheek, called good-bye to Wendy and Krystal and headed out.
*
Monday I was on days and would be for that week but, Krystal told me, I’d graduate to nights the week after.
Upon arrival at Bubba’s with my La-La Land coffee in one hand and carrot cinnamon muffin in the other, I saw Tate was also on.
His eyes came to me the minute I walked through the door.
Before he could say a word, I asked, “You want me to restock?”
I watched his jaw clench as I walked to the bar, sipping my coffee.
When I hit the bar, Tate asked, “You ever say hello?”
“Hello,” I replied. “Now, do you want me to restock?”
He shook his head a couple of times, his eyes not leaving me and he said, “Yeah, Ace, restock.”
He tossed me his keys and I waited until I was through the mouth of the hall to mutter, “Don’t call me Ace.”
*
Considering ten bikers didn’t come in that day, I found it harder to avoid Tate because I didn’t have much to do.
Therefore, I avoided him at lunch by running to the deli and buying him, Jim-Billy and myself a sandwich and taking a detour to La-La Land on the way back to get all of us a huge oatmeal cinnamon cookie, even Tate.