Chapter Eighteen
Sienna
I hated that I expected to hear from Parker. I’d religiously checked my phone all day Sunday, and here I was Monday morning and continuing to stalk my best friend. I had written him several texts that I eventually deleted. And I lost count of how many times my finger hovered over his number but didn’t have the nerve to press it. I wished I would have left his house when I’d had the chance. It’s not like he would have been offended if I hadn’t lain down with him. I was so stupid to allow myself to think he was actually speaking the truth through some sort of drunk haze. I wasn’t that girl. So, why did I feel so shitty?
I checked my phone the second I woke up and there was nothing from Parker. After a quick look at his social media profiles, he hadn’t been active since Friday. At least he wasn’t off doing something fun. But I actually would have preferred that, so at least I’d know he was alive and well. I wasn’t a fan of being the only sober one at a party, but I wanted Parker to have a good time and get him home safely. I knew he’d have a hangover, but I thought he’d at least send a text to let me know he woke up okay. And maybe talk to me about him calling me Rachel.
Whatever.
He’d contact me when he wanted. I wasn’t going to pine after him like every other girl. I had to get to work and make a living. Not everyone had billions of dollars and an offer for more money on the back burner.
When I got to the diner, I parked and walked toward the back entrance. Tony was there smoking. Again. I clenched my jaw. I didn’t have the energy to yell at him. Instead, I walked right up to him and took the cigarette out of his hand. Before he could snatch it back, I threw it on the ground and stepped on it, digging it into the ground with the toe of my shoe.
“Do you know how much those cost?” he asked, annoyed.
“Yeah, your life. Now pick it up and throw it away before coming in. And don’t let me catch you doing this again or I’ll throw the entire pack away.”
“First of all, you wouldn’t dare go through my things. And second of all, what bug crawled up your ass this morning?”
If I was going to open up to anyone about my feelings, it would be Tony. He was my closest friend, other than Parker. But as much as Tony disliked Rachel, I wasn’t about to tell him or anyone how stupid I’d been. Who falls for someone that’s getting married? Parker made it obvious by moving mountains to plan his wedding that Rachel was the one for him. He apparently had a high tolerance for brats; he still wanted to marry her.
My stomach churned. It wasn’t Tony’s fault that I was in a pissy mood. “There’s no bug; I’m just a little annoyed.”
“With?”
I tried to open the door, but he pushed it closed and stood between me and my diner.
“Talk to me, Sienna,” he said. “Me and you banter, we don’t fight.”
I pushed my hands through my hair. “I’m fine, really. Sorry I got all worked up. It just annoys me to see you smoking every morning. You know I don’t want you to do it, but if you’re going to, just do it somewhere else.”
“And that’s all you’ve got on your mind?”
No.
“Yes.”
Tony hesitated but eventually moved out of the way for me to open the door.
“How was the rest of your night on Saturday?” I asked, trying to get on better terms with him. Tony had been a good friend and texted me Sunday morning. Granted, it was a picture of the strippers in his bed, but at least I knew he was okay.
“It was wild, man,” he said. “Those girls have some tricks up their sleeves.”
I laughed. “I’m sure they do. Did you have to pay them extra for those tricks?”
He pulled a face. “They’re strippers, not prostitutes.”
“Did you check your wallet when they left?”
His eyes widened and he pulled out his wallet and looked through it. Relief crossed his face. “I don’t know why you do this to me. For a second there, I actually believed you.”
I shrugged. “You never know.”
“Do you think Parker had a good time? I know I hogged the girls, but he looked comfortable talking with you.”
I had no idea of the actual answer, but I didn’t want Tony to feel bad about keeping the strippers to himself. “I’m sure he did. He was properly wasted with a smile on his face when I left him.” That wasn’t a lie. Everything that had come out of Parker’s mouth was, though.
We went to work preparing for the morning. Tony went on about things he did with the strippers, even though I begged him to stop telling me his personal business.
Our banter made me smile, though, and for a little while I was able to forget about the flame I held for Parker.
It was later in the morning when the Lamontes came in. Immediately I smiled and waved at them through the pass-through.
“I thought we were going to miss you today.”
“No dear,” Harriet said. “We had a doctor’s appointment. But thanks for asking.”
“Sure thing,” I said. “I’ll be right out with your coffee.”
Harriet and Ken always had a way of bringing up my mood. And as I felt myself start to backslide and check my phone every two minutes, I was happy to have them distract me.
I poured their coffee and brought it over to their table.
“Good morning,” I said cheerfully.
“Good morning, Sienna,” Harriet said. “How was your weekend?”
I didn’t tell them about the bachelor party, especially the fact that it was at the diner. I knew them well, but not well enough to inform them that there were strippers not too far from their table.
I stuck to the facts. “It was good. I went surfing and cleaned up around here. How about you?”
“Oh, well, we don’t do much now. We went to the movies to keep cool.”
“What did you see?”
Harriet told me about the movie. Then Kenneth proceeded to tell her she was wrong about the details. Even after forty years, they argued, and it was the cutest damn thing I’d ever seen.
“I hate to interrupt,” I said as Kenneth worked himself up so much he started hacking into his handkerchief. “But I have to get some orders out. You want the usual?”
“Yes, dear,” Harriet said. “And I’m going to look up this movie on my phone. I know I’m right about the dog being the villain.”
I smiled and left the two of them.
I was almost to the kitchen when the door opened. I glanced up and saw Parker entering the diner.
I shoved through the doors. We had four other tables of patrons, so I put my head down and worked hard to get their food done before I could start with the Lamontes. And maybe Tony would intercept Parker and tell him how busy we were.
Instead, Tony burst into the kitchen and I glanced over my shoulder at him. “What’s up?”
“Parker is here,” he said while grabbing an extra plate for the table he was working with.
“Oh?” I said, pretending as if I hadn’t seen him come in before.
I looked across the room. Parker stood in the middle of my diner, staring at me. It was the place where I had seen him get a lap dance. He looked much fresher than he did on Saturday. His blue eyes pierced through me, and he had the audacity to smile at me. Everything I’d pushed out of my head for most of the morning came rushing back.
I tore my eyes away from him and pressed the flat end of a spatula onto the french toast sizzling on the grill. How dare he come here and expect everything to be okay. Even if he forgot our conversation, which was probably going to be his excuse, there was no reason not to contact me for an entire day after I worked my ass off pulling together his bachelor party.
“Hey,” he said through the pass-through.
I placed two plates right in front of his face and dinged the bell for Tony to come get the food.
“Hi,” I said stiffly.
“Are you busy?”
I grabbed another ticket and reviewed it. “What does it look like?”
“Can we talk?”
“Not now, Parker.”
“How about when you get off work?”
“Are you going to sit here all day and wait for me, again?”
“No,” he said.
I almost felt bad for him, but I allowed those feelings to linger. “Okay.”
“Okay, we can talk?”
“Yes, Parker. We can talk when I’m done with work.”
“Okay,” he said and turned to leave. “See you later.”
I watched him walk out of my diner and into the lot before the door closed behind him.
I sighed and pressed my hands against the counter. I took several breaths before gathering myself.
Tony poked his head through the pass-through. “You okay, Sienna?”
I shook out my hands. “I’m fine. Just burned myself.”
He sucked in a breath through his teeth. “That sucks. Put some water on it. I can come help, if you need it?”
“I’m good,” I said. I needed to dig my head in the sand and get on with my day. I had a feeling I knew what Parker wanted to talk about. He had to remember what he said to me, and now he wanted me to forget it. He’d probably chalk it up to being in a drunken stupor. He wasn’t the first person in history to say something he didn’t mean to a girl. But why had he said those things to me? His best friend. I wasn’t someone he was trying to have sex with. There was no need for him to say anything at all. If he’d just wanted to spoon, that would have been fine, but telling me that he wanted to pursue a relationship with me? That was unnecessary if it wasn’t true. Where did he get off playing with someone’s emotions like that? He probably learned it from Rachel.
I cringed when I thought of her. This was all her fault. If she slept with him like she promised, then he wouldn’t be overly horny and trying to get some whereever he could. Rachel would be gone for a few days longer; I wondered if Parker would beg me to help him with more of the wedding planning. I really hoped not.
What I needed was to detoxify my life of Parker. And wedding planning would not help that.
I shook my head hard enough that my hair loosened a little from the elastic. I grabbed the ingredients for Harriet and Kenneth’s meals and started working on that. I flipped on the radio above the grill, something I never did, and one of Tony’s metal stations was playing a god-awful song with intense drums and screaming vocals. As much as I hated it, it took my mind away from Parker and me while I prepared the meal.
I was in a little better mood when I came back out to the Lamontes.
I put the plates down in front of Harriet and Kenneth. “Can I get you anything else?”
Harriet touched my hand. “Is everything all right with you and Parker?”
I sighed. “Was it that obvious?”
“You seemed a little terse with him.”
“I’m sorry you had to see that.” I knelt down next to her.
“It happens, dear. Love is a funny thing, but whatever it is, you will figure it out.” Then she smiled and winked at me.