"Here at Sunny Side Up, what should we be...?" Matteo inquired with his fingers up and a stupid grin across his face.
"Sunny," I grumbled.
"That's right. Now, no more distractions and make sure to smile," Matteo emphasized for the third and final time today.
I gave him a half-hearted, tight lipped grin that seemed to satisfy him enough to leave. As soon as his back was turned, I slumped over the bar counter and looked at the bustling of customers enjoying their brunches.
"Matteo's being a real pain in the ass today," Kay whispered while carrying a tray stacked high with plates of half eaten eggs Benedict, French toast, and an ungodly concoction of all other breakfast foods smooshed together.
Working at a brunch place was fairly easy for the most part since no one was expecting a 5-star experience, but hell would break loose if you don't refill the mimosas fast enough. Unfortunately for me, there were too many distractions in my personal life to keep up with the demands of customers. Three complaints had been made about me, and each time Matteo, the manager, had to step in. I don't blame him for lecturing me, but I could do without the blatant passive aggressive tone.
Kay was my sanity here. We never spoke or hung out outside of work, but she was always quick with the jokes whenever I felt down. Sometimes we would share tables like a team and pool tips. It definitely made some of the other servers jealous of how close we were, but she wasn't my work wife for nothing.
"I don't blame him. I've already pissed off a bunch of customers today," I sighed defeatedly.
"Yeahhh. What's up with you today? Customers usually love you." Kay's eyebrows furrowed with concern.
I looked at her, trying to decide if I should divulge the turn my life had taken the past week. All she knew was that I needed time off due to some accident related injuries, but she had no idea why I was actually gone. I wasn't sure who to trust when it came to the situation with Damien. They would judge me or ridicule me for sure. I mean, what normal person gets mixed up in a situation where they have to nurse a stranger back to health? I shook my head. I liked Kay and I knew Kay, but I didn't really know her.
"It's nothing. Just some personal stuff," I took a sip of the orange juice I kept behind the counter.
"Is it about Damien?" Kay asked calmly.
I began choking on my juice, face filled with bewilderment.
"How do you know about Damien?" I struggled to say between coughs. I could feel some dirty looks in my direction from customers who probably thought I was going to make them sick any minute.
Kay gave me a playful smirk. "You left your phone behind the counter, and he sent you like a thousand texts. I didn't read any of them, but I had to move your phone away from Matteo's gossiping ass. Come on. Tell ol' Kay your boy troubles."
I groaned with frustration. How can a man I'm not even dating be so clingy?
"I'll tell you about it later. I think a customer's calling me," I scurried away to attend to some tables.
"I didn't hear anyone calling you," Kay shouted after me.
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I was beginning to finally get my head straight with only three tables left. We had already been closed for about 15 minutes, but Matteo made me stay behind until they were finished. It was just Matteo, a dish washer, and me. I was sweeping when I got yet another call from Damien. Since we were packing up to go any minute, I decided to pick up this time.
"Damien, I'm still at work. What is it?"
Damien was breathing heavily and his voice was raspy, "Val, please come back. I need help."
Damien had called earlier that day only 5 minutes into my shift, but after some interrogation, I realized he was just being a big baby. This time, something was definitely wrong.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming right now, okay?"
He hung up without saying anything else. I ran over to Matteo, who was busy counting change in the register.
"Matteo, I have to go. It's a family emergency."
Matteo turned to me with a piercing glare, "No. You have to stay until the last customer leaves."
I shook my head, clutching my phone, "I can't. I'll see you tomorrow."
"If you leave now, there's no need to come in tomorrow," Matteo's tone was much harsher than his usual passive aggressive approach.
I nodded my head and stormed out. I had taken the bus there initially, but there was no time for that. Instead, I ran nearly 3 miles to Damien's apartment.
Once I got inside, I nearly toppled over. Sweat had caked my shirt against my body, and I was breathing hard. None of that was my concern, though, because I was more worried seeing the bed empty.
I looked around frantically trying to see where Damien had gone. My heart was beating out of my chest, ready to burst. Then I heard it. A faint voice coming from next to the bed.
"Valencia?"
I ran over to see Damien lying on the floor next to the bed. His shirt was off, and he was sweating profusely. His thick hair was matted to his head. He looked as if he was in agony. I cupped his face in my hands.
"Damien! What happened? Are you okay?"
"Yeah. It's just.. so... hot," Damien said quietly through labored breaths.
I placed my hands on his face, neck, and forehead. Although it was cool in his apartment, Damien's body was burning up. I leaned over and wrapped his arm around me. Adrenaline had overtaken my exhaustion, allowing me to safely take Damien back into bed. After I made sure he was secure, I ran into the kitchen to get him water, which he drank greedily. His temperature reading showed he had a high fever of 103 F. The guilt of leaving him alone washed over me along with the exhaustion re-entering my body. I wrapped my arms around Damien and buried my head in his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry. You trusted me to take care of you, and I left you here," I choked on my words, attempting to hold back tears. It had been a rough day, but not nearly as rough as what Damien probably had to put up with.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. It's just a fever. I'm fine. You probably shouldn't be hugging me, or you'll get sick, too," Damien patted my head softly.
I jerked my head up and looked at Damien dead in the eyes. Why was I always being the one comforted even though he's having to deal with so much shit? I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. But the best thing to do was to hold it together for his sake.
"No, it's not okay. I should've been there for you. From now on, you're not leaving my sight," I pointed at him, my eyes filled with determination.
"Maybe you should shower first before that because you smell like eggs and dog shit," he responded with a small chuckle.
I gasped. Every time I thought he was being sweet, he turned it around into something bad. I threw a pillow at his head and promptly left to go shower. The realization I was fired finally hit me mid-shampoo.
If I thought I was spending too much time with Damien before, it's about to get a lot worse now.
Damien spent 5 restless nights with the flu. During that time, he lay sweating in bed nearly half naked, complaining about being hot one minute then cold the next. I had run out a few times to get medicine and groceries but would come back quickly to make sure he was still okay. I began to realize I cared a lot about what happened to him even outside the scope of our deal. I chalked it up to a standard sense of human empathy-- nothing else.Most of my days were spent cleaning him and making him comfortable. He didn't make many snarky remarks during that time, but he always looked at me like he wanted to say something to me. A look of worry seemed to occasionally flash through his face then disappear in an instant. Something bothered him, but I knew he wouldn't come out with it on his own."Why do you look so concerned?" I asked while giving Damien his daily sponge bath. He needed these more frequently now due to the excessive sweating. I did feel proud that he was finally looking more
After a cold shower, I came to a conclusion that Damien was just some deranged pervert that lured me into his home. The cocky look on his face as he fondled me kept popping up in my head. I can't say I hated it, in fact... I quite liked it. I wasn't going to tell him that, though. Maybe I was also a deranged pervert. I put on a bra this time, not wanting to repeat the same mistake. This couldn't happen again because if we crossed that line between caretaker and... whatever that was, there was no going back. The last thing I wanted were for things to be awkward between us. It was too late though. The tension between us was palpable. He was passed out by the time I came out of the bathroom, but the following days were filled mostly with silence and uncomfortable pauses. I avoided any conversation with him that wasn't directly connected to his recovery or chores. He was back to his old self, typing away on his laptop, and occasionally sneaking glances in my direction. He tried to be su
Rustling of magazine pages and light taps were the only sounds filling the small waiting area at Dr. Helder's office. She was the best physical therapist in the city, and Damien made sure of it. He always dove headfirst into researching any topic that was of importance to him, and being able to walk again was extremely important. He wasn't the only one that knew Dr. Helder's qualifications, a fact which was amplified by the amount of people crammed into the small waiting area. "Uggghhh," Damien groaned loudly, alerting the attention of everyone in the room. "What's wrong with you?" I asked, a little agitated by his verbal outburst. "How much longer? What's the point of an appointment if I still have to wait?" He complained. "I'm hungry!" I rolled my eyes, and took out a granola bar from the backpack I had placed on Damien's wheelchair. "Eat this and shut up, please," I pleaded with a harsh whisper. He took a bite and gave me a tight lipped smile, a huge chunk of granola bar fill
Tension hung in the air around us in that small elevator. The silence was deafening as we waited for our rescue. I kept glancing over at Shawn expecting him to say something rude. He always looked like he had something to say but not anything I wanted to hear. He had refrained from opening his mouth so far, so that was all that mattered.Seeing him under that bright elevator light, I realized why Darcey was infatuated with him. Objectively he was fairly handsome with a strong, slim build towering to an imposing 6'2". His dirty blonde hair was styled to look messy with probably a hundred different hair products. He had piercing blue eyes that some may find attractive, but to me, they were soulless.I was sitting on the ground near the elevator buttons with my legs crossed in front of me. I tried to distract myself with my phone, but it proved pointless against the flurry of thoughts going through my head. Damien had been typing furiously on his phone. He had the same expression on his
"You've got some nerve coming back here," Darcey stated angrily.She had a point. I really wasn't trying to see her ever again, but circumstances made it hard not to come back. She turned her focus on Damien, her features softening a little at his presence."Oh, and who might you be?" She asked flirtatiously, her finger twirling a strand of her hair. I could tell when Darcey was flirting immediately. She was not subtle."Hi. I'm Damien. Nice to meet you," he said, extending his hand out. Darcey shook his hand but lingered for a moment."Can we come in?" I asked, trying to distract her from Damien. She gestured us in then pulled me aside immediately after closing the door."Who is that hottie with you? What happened to him?" She asked in a harsh whisper.I sighed and rolled my eyes. I definitely saw this coming a mile away. Darcey always wanted to be involved in my business, even more so if an attractive man was involved. She had a tendency to want everything I had, which was usually v
I bit my bottom lip and traced the little red marks on my back with my fingers. Damien had apparently been holding back during the weeks I spent with him. It had become obvious that he wanted me once I saw the way he had narrowed his eyes, the hypnotic swirls of green and gold igniting at my touch. It felt good to be wanted even after I had shown him some of the worse sides of my personality. I was awkward, quiet, and insecure. But no matter how much I showed that side to him, he remained unfazed, always greeting me with a smile.I sighed at the unknown of where we would go from here. After we had sex in my bed, Darcey promptly kicked us out for being too noisy in an apartment that I no longer lived in. She was not very happy seeing me in that tight little dress, not because that proved we were up to no good, but because she would've definitely taken it for herself if she had found it. In our rush, I only ended up leaving with one box containing two plants, a couple of skirts, a t-sh
Girlfriend? Did I hear that correctly? A wave of nausea crashed into me as I watched Gemma caressing Damien's face and speaking to him lovingly. Her words didn't register in my head. All I could hear was static as I tried to process what was happening.I had built Damien up to be this charming, caring guy, but in truth, I hardly knew him. Now I was facing the consequences of being delusional."Excuse me," I choked out before running out of the apartment. I heard Damien calling after me, but I didn't care. He had taken advantage of my timid nature, lulling me into a false sense of security. Everyone in my life had always disappointed me, and now he had added himself to that list.I sat down on a bench not too far from the building. I wasn't intending on leaving since I promised to take care of him to pay off a debt. We had crossed a line we shouldn't have, so the best option was to backtrack to a professional relationship.I placed my head in my hands, attempting to hold back tears. I
A fury of long fingernails attempted to scratch at my face as I held a couch cushion against my body. Gemma had started running with enough distance between us for me to grab the cushion to protect myself before being tackled to the ground. It was like a reflex, but I was grateful for it after seeing the wild look in Gemma's eyes. She was strong, but my instinct to survive was stronger. I pushed up, keeping Gemma's claws as far as possible while wondering what the hell I did to provoke this woman.Suddenly the weight on top of me lightened, and I saw Matthew holding Gemma in the air like a child throwing a tantrum. I scooted away in an attempt to create some distance between us."Gemma, you've got to calm down. Why are you trying to hurt this woman?" Matthew asked calmly, his voice unwavering to the pressure of the situation."This bitch stole him away from me! And just when I found out he was rich," Gemma growled, her face glowed a beet red while she struggled against Matthew's tight