Jonas tried his best to keep his gaze from straying toward his new hire. Elle was in her second week of waitressing at the diner. She’d passed her one-week tryout with flying colors. Jonas knew he would have hired her even if she’d been the worst waitress in America. Elle had gotten under his skin. Even after the doors of the diner had closed for the night, Jonas found himself daydreaming about Elle. What would it feel like to be the man in her life? Did she like flowers? What was her favorite movie? Around and around the questions went in his head. He wanted to know everything about her.
But he was her boss. It wasn’t wise to date a subordinate. What if they started dating then broke up? It would add tension to a great workplace. He shook his head. He was getting way ahead of himself. There was no indication Elle would ever agree to a date with him, although they did share a nice rapport.
He let out a sigh. Maybe he shouldn’t have hired Elle. That way he could have asked her out with no potential drawbacks.
Just then, Elle walked up to the counter where he was standing.
“Hey, Jonas. Can I ask you something?” she asked. With her blonde hair pulled up in a high ponytail it only served to emphasize her lovely features.
“Sure thing,” he said in an overly casual voice. He didn’t want Elle to have any idea of how often he thought about her. Or that he was crushing on her in a major way.
“People keep talking about the summer block party. When is it? Is this different from the one they had when we were kids?” She had a cute little frown on her face.
The summer block party. It was an annual event in Sugar Hollow where all of the businesses on Main Street had a party celebrating the townsfolk. Each restaurant or eating establishment offered items from their menus at no cost. It was a lively celebration of summer. Music flowed freely and the vibe in the air was one of community and fellowship.
“Well, for starters, it’s my favorite town event. A few years ago we switched it up a bit from the way it was done when we were kids. It’s mushroomed into a really cool town event. People come out for fellowship, food, music and mingling. It’s a fantastic event. The diner provides food. We pick about four items from the menu and then make them in bulk. It’s a great way of saying thank you to all of our faithful customers.”
“It sounds great. And you’re right. It’s a perfect way to say thank you to customers. You have a really successful business, Jonas. You’re truly blessed.”
“Thanks to my parents. They were the ones who did all the work building up the business. I owe them everything.”
“I like a man with gratitude,” Elle said, giving him a cheeky smile then turning toward the entrance to greet the party of four awaiting a table.
He watched as she introduced herself to the group, then led them toward an available booth.
“Why don’t you just ask her out?” Trina’s voice washed over him. He turned toward her, feeling annoyed by her probing question.
Jonas gave her his most disgruntled look.
Trina held up her hands. “What? I’m only asking the question everyone else is thinking. It’s so obvious, Jonas.” Trina dramatically rolled her eyes.
He frowned at her. “What do you mean by everybody?”
Trina shook her head. “It means you aren’t fooling anybody. It’s clear you have feelings for Elle.”
“Shh. Lower your voice, Trina,” Jonas urged. All he needed was for Elle to overhear their conversation. She would probably run in the opposite direction as fast as possible.
Trina sucked her teeth. “Why are you acting so strange about this? From what I can tell, she likes you too.”
Jonas felt his heart beating like a jackhammer inside his chest. “You think so? Really?”
Trina shoved him playfully. “I really do. And I think the two of you need to stop circling each other and go out on a date.” Trina smirked at him, then walked away.
Maybe Trina was right. He and Elle had known each other since they were kids. They were the same age and had graduated in the same class. What harm could there be in taking her out to the movies or dinner and dancing? After all, he’d had a crush on Elle ever since middle school. If he was being honest with himself, he’d probably liked her romantically since they were in first grade together.
Jonas chuckled as he remembered leaving a bunch of wild flowers at her doorstep with an anonymous note. He wondered if Elle remembered receiving them. One of these days if he mustered the courage he might just ask her.
***
It was lunch time. Although Elle was getting used to the waitressing gig, this morning had been non-stop customers. She was beat! Elle often wandered outside to eat lunch since being inside all day caused her to miss the gorgeous summer weather. She loved it when the sun beamed down on her. She couldn’t wait till her skin was burnished from the summer sun. Elle walked across the street to the town green. There was a little picnic table she liked to eat at and people watch during her lunch hour.
Elle slid on to the bench. She pulled out her brown paper bag and sorted through the contents. As she bit into her tuna sandwich, Elle began to watch the passersby. Loving couples. Small children running ahead of their parents. A woman in a wheelchair playing Frisbee.
It was one of her favorite things to do. She’d done it a lot in Central Park in New York City. The folks here in Sugar Hollow were equally interesting, but different in many ways. Here in Sugar Hollow there wasn’t a hustle and bustle. The pace was slower. The residents tended to linger over their lunches and walk around the park with a deep appreciation of their surroundings. Elle was finding peace in it. As she bit into her apple, Elle noticed a teenager sitting on the grass about twenty feet away from her. The girl was sitting cross-legged and sobbing so hard her shoulders heaved with the effort.
On impulse, Elle grabbed the remains of her lunch and stuffed it back into her brown bag. Bag in hand, she headed over toward the young woman. She stood right in front of her then bent over at the waist to address her.
“What’s wrong? Is there something I can do?” she asked the girl.
The teenager looked up at her with tears streaming down her face. “No! There’s nothing that can be done. My life stinks. Everything’s ruined.” The girl bowed her head down and continued sobbing.
“Hey. Everything can’t be all that bad,” Elle said, trying to sound encouraging.
The girl looked up. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying. Her black eye makeup was smudged by her tears. The pink streak in her blonde hair made her look like a rebel. Elle imagined that’s what she intended.
“Everyone hates me at summer school. They’re spreading lies about me on the Internet. And I feel like I can’t ever go back. I’m a round peg in a square peg world. I don’t fit in.”
Elle sat down beside her on the grass. “Aah, that explains the tears. Rumors are terrible things,” she said in a soothing tone.
The girl looked at her and nodded. “Yes, they sure are.”
“Do you have a best friend you could talk to about all this?” Elle asked. “Someone who’ll understand and give you a shoulder to cry on?”
“Not anymore!” she said, brushing away her tears. “She’s part of the rumor brigade.”
Ouch! “I’m sorry about that. Having a best friend is important. By the way, I’m Elle.”
“Hannah,” she muttered, bowing her head.
“What about Main Street church? When I was your age they had a youth group. It really helped me along the way. Pastor Richey used to lead it.”
“Ha! I don’t need a pastor telling me what to do. Or how to feel!” Hannah said in a raised voice.
“Well, from what I remember, the teens led the group. It was a no-adult zone which made it easy for us to share our troubles with one another and pray.”
Hannah frowned. “Really? No adults?”
Elle nodded. She cast a quick glance at her watch. “I’m sorry. I have to get back to work.” She pointed toward the diner. “I waitress at the diner. Would you like to come over and have a lemonade or a milkshake on me?”
Hannah grinned. “Really? That’s so nice of you.”
Elle got to her feet and pulled Hannah up to a standing position. “If I were you, I’d go for the cherry chocolate milkshake. It’s pretty amazing.”
They walked side by side across the street and entered the diner just as Jonas was walking toward the front counter. He took one look at them and stopped short, his features creased with worry.
“Hannah! What are you doing here?” he asked, his face suddenly appearing like a thundercloud. “Why aren’t you in school?”
Elle looked back and forth between Hannah and Jonas. “Do you two know each other?” she asked.
“You could say so,” Hannah answered. “Jonas is my big brother.”
***
Jonas almost laughed at the stunned expression on Elle’s face. Sadly, his sister’s antics weren’t a laughing matter. She was supposed to be attending summer school due to her failing grades in two classes. Even though Hannah was as smart as a whip, she continued to flounder in school. Jonas’s parents were sick with disappointment and worry over their youngest child. At sixteen, Hannah was ten years younger than he was. She’d been the late in life child of his parents, Louella and Dean. He sometimes got the impression his folks didn’t quite know what to make of this child who was so different from the rest of their brood.
Hannah looked at him with wide eyes. Her lips began to tremble.
“Did you not understand the question?” he asked through clenched teeth. “What are you doing here?”
“Elle invited me in for a drink,” Hannah said in a feeble voice, darting a sorrowful look at Elle.
“Well, I’m sure Elle didn’t know the whole story, especially the part where you’re my sister,” he said. “Or where you’re obligated to complete these classes or risk having to repeat your junior year. That’s not a joke. It’s fairly serious and it could affect your future.”
Hannah stuck her lip out. “If you’re going to rag on me, I’m leaving.”
Jonas let out a snort. “To head back to school? Maybe that’s a good idea.”
Hannah let out a groan. She threw her hands in the air. “I can’t wait to be eighteen so I can leave this town and all the people in it.” She turned on her heel and stormed out of the diner, letting the door bang shut behind her.
“Hannah!” Jonas yelled after her. Customers turned their heads in his direction. Their expressions were startled. For a moment he considered following after her. Elle reached out and grasped him by the arm.
“Take a deep breath, Jonas,” Elle urged. “Just let her go.”
He turned toward the customers. “Sorry about the commotion. Keep enjoying your meals, please.”
“Maybe you should go to the lounge to simmer down,” Elle suggested.
Jonas let out a deep breath as he faced her. “Leave it to my sister to make a scene and bail.”
“You were riding her pretty hard,” Elle said. Her lips were pinched together and he could tell she was holding herself back from saying more.
He held up his hand. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you’ve known my sister for all of one lunch break. You really don’t know what’s going on.”
“I know she’s struggling with social issues. I can see she’s hurting.”
Hurting. Suddenly, it felt as if his heart was being squeezed inside his chest. It killed him to know his sister was so wounded.
“She’s in pain?” he asked. Why didn’t he know any of this? How could he have been so blind?
“It’s hard to feel like you don’t fit in,” Elle said. “She’s in the middle of some serious teenage angst.”
“How would you know anything about it?” Jonas asked. “You were at the center of everything back in high school. I’m guessing you never had a single bad moment, did you?”
“That’s not true,” she said with a shake of her head. “That might be someone else’s story but it’s not mine.”
“So what is true, Elle? Who are you, deep down behind that mask of perfection?”
She let out a brittle laugh. “Perfection? Are you kidding me? My life has basically crashed and burned. I have no money, no place of my own, no career and very little hope for my life to turn around. I’m starting over in every possible way.”
Jonas couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded. “So you’re saying I have it wrong about you?”
“Yes, Jonas. You’re way off base. The truth is, you can have an idea of someone and in your mind believe your version is accurate, but in reality it’s just perception.”
Jonas quirked his mouth. “Are you telling me you weren’t one of the popular girls with the perfect hair and the trendiest clothes and a hundred different guys who wanted to date you?”
“Some of that is true. But the biggest truth is that I never felt right in my skin. I used to get such anxiety attacks every morning before school. Was I pretty enough? Or thin enough? Or just enough? Why wasn’t I smart? The only time I ever felt right in my skin was when I was dancing. Ballet saved me in every way imaginable. And then God found me. Or I found God. I always get confused about which way it went.”
“Wow,” Jonas said, his voice filled with awe. “I thought you were golden all through school. I guess I had it all wrong.”
She twisted her mouth. “Don’t worry. I’ve gotten used to it. People make up all kind of narratives based on what a person looks like or who they hang out with. They think you’re this one person they’ve dreamed up in their mind. It’s really unfair. And most of the time just plain wrong.”
Jonas nodded. “You’re right. It is very unfair. And what’s worse, I know better than to judge. I’m sorry, Elle.” He knew her family had endured a tragic loss. That in itself had marred her life. How could he have been so thoughtless?
“You’re forgiven,” she said in a light voice. “I won’t hold it against you. You’ve been so kind to me by giving me a job. That holds a lot of weight with me.”
“I’ve been judged myself a time or two,” Jonas admitted. “It makes you feel really low. I should have known better than to do it to you.”
“You? Really?” she asked, sounding surprised by his admission.
“Yeah. Back in high school a lot of folks thought I was strange because I was always working on computers and software programs. I used to wear this black T shirt all the time, so I was labeled as an oddball.” He let out a flat laugh. “Imagine. All because of the color of my shirt. Being that age is hard because there’s so much judgment. Meanwhile everyone is just trying to discover themselves, to find out who they are in the scheme of things.”
“You’re right about that,” Elle said with a sigh. “To be honest, some of us are still trying to figure out who we are. And on that note, I better get back to work.”
Jonas watched Elle as she headed back on the floor. This whole time he’d misjudged her, thinking she was this entitled woman who’d had the world handed to her on a silver platter. She really was a good person, one who’d been through a terrible ordeal over the past year. And prior to that, she’d lost her brother in a tragic accident. She was living proof that life was all about picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and plunging right back in. Perhaps Elle would be the perfect person to talk to Hannah and show her that life sometimes threw you curve balls.
God, please watch out for Hannah. She needs Your love. She needs to know she can turn to You when everything in her life feels like it’s falling apart. She needs to understand that the things she’s going through now won’t last forever. Life is a long journey and she’s only just begun.