CHAPTER 14
Saturday mornings were always busy at the restaurant. Angel’s parents wouldn’t be back until that evening so Sarah offered to come in and help. Angel picked her up an hour before they opened. Sarah smiled when she saw Sofia in the car also. She was anxious to speak with her alone.
No sooner were they in the restaurant than Sofia pulled Sarah by the arm. “I’ll take Sarah to the back so she can try on one of the shirts.”
Angel frowned. “That’s okay, Sofi,” to Sarah he said, “You don’t have to wear a uniform, babe.”
Sarah lifted her chin. “But I like the shirts.” She turned to Sofia. “I’ll take a medium.”
Angel smiled and she blew him a kiss. When they got to the back room Sofia closed the door behind them and grinned wickedly.
“Oh my God, I’ve been dying to talk to someone about this and you’re the only person I can.”
Sarah wasn’t sure she wanted to be the only one that knew. From the very beginning Angel didn’t even have to say it. It was so obvious how protective he and his brothers were about Sofia. She thought of Alex breaking the head off the turtle figurine and smiled feebly.
Sofia opened a drawer, grabbed a polo with restaurants log on it and an apron. She handed them to Sarah. She continued eagerly apparently unaware of Sarah’s sudden lack of enthusiasm. “I told him!”
Sarah gulped. “Told him what?”
Sofia glanced at the door then whispered. “That I’m saving myself for him.”
“What?” Sarah’s heart raced. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Sofia put her hands over her mouth and giggled. Sarah couldn’t help laughing too. She felt silly but Sofia’s attitude about the whole thing was startling. Was she crazy?
Sarah clutched the polo and the apron in both hands in front of her face. Her eyes were wide open. “What did he say?”
Sofia’s face lit up even more. “He kissed me.”
Sarah blinked, unable to find words.
Sofia didn’t seem to notice Sarah’s anxiety. She mistook Sarah’s previous nervous laughter for excitement and went on. “I’ve never been kissed before. But he was amazing. He knew exactly what he was doing. I never wanted it to stop. I was so glad your cousin was there to keep Romero busy. He probably would’ve ruined everything. I can hardly wait for it to happen again.”
Again?
“Oh but there’s so much more I wanna tell you.” Sofia gushed.
“More?”
“Yeah, there’s more than just kissing.”
Sarah wasn’t sure but she could swear it was getting hot in that room.
“I mean he’s so much more to me than just a crush. I’m really falling for him, Sarah. It killed me that he was acting so cold and distant last night after what happened in the parking lot at school. I knew he was thinking the worst. So, I suggested we go for a walk and I told him he had nothing to worry about, I was saving myself for him.”
Sarah stared at Sofia. “So, what’s going to happen now?”
There was no way her brothers would allow it.
Sofia looked defiant. “I don’t know. All I know is I want to be with him and no one is going to stop me.”
This was only getting worse. There’d be hell to pay if Eric was honestly considering going forward with this.
“You have to be careful, Sofia. You don’t want him to get hurt.”
“He wants to wait until I’m seventeen to tell Angel. But that’s not until next year.”
That sounded reasonable to Sarah but she could tell by the expression on Sofia’s face that wasn’t going to happen.
There was a knock at the door and Sarah jumped.
“She’s still getting dressed, Angel.”
“Alright, we’re getting ready to open in a few minutes.”
“Okay,” Sarah finished adjusting her apron. “We’ll be right out.”
She almost lost her balance when Sofia hugged her. “I’m so glad I have someone to talk to about this.”
*
At first Angel had protested her helping, but of course, Sarah insisted. Now he watched as she waited on a table, smiling, and talking to the customers as if it were second nature.
Angel went back and forth from the hostess desk, to the back office where he was trying to finish up writing a help wanted ad he was going to submit to the local newspaper that week. His parents were looking to hire a few more cooks and a couple more people to wait tables.
He thought about asking Sarah if she wanted the job waiting tables, but something told him she might be insulted. Plus, she had her weekends full already, babysitting. She was so damn devoted to the families she worked for. He knew she wouldn’t want to let them down.
The phone on the desk rang, disrupting Angel’s thoughts.
“Angel?”
He was surprised to hear Valerie’s voice.
“Hey, Val, what’s up?”
“Sorry I’m calling on this line, but Sarah’s not answering her phone.”
“It’s alright,” he said. “She’s waiting tables. She doesn’t have her phone on her. I’ll get her for you.”
“Wait.” She sounded nervous. “Maybe you should tell her, ‘cause she’s probably gonna freak.”
Angel sat up slowly. “What is it?”
“Sydney was in a car accident this morning.”
Angel gripped the receiver a little tighter. “Is she okay?”
There was silence on the other end for a second, and then Valerie cleared her throat. “Her ... uh parents were calling from the hospital but they don’t know anything yet. I have all the information, the hospital and the number and stuff. They gave me their cell phone number in case she doesn’t have it, so she can call them directly.”
Angel took all the information down and hung up. He picked up the phone again and started dialing Sydney’s parent’s cell. He thought it’d be better if he knew something before he laid the news on Sarah.
He let it ring twice and thought about it again. It was already his fault they hadn’t been able to get a hold of her earlier. He knew she’d want to know as soon as possible. He hung up and walked out into the restaurant. Sarah was walking toward him with a tray in her hand. She smiled proudly. He walked straight to her and took the tray away, setting it down on the bar counter.
He looked over his shoulder. “Sof, take over Sarah’s tables.”
He put his attention back on Sarah and took her by the hand into the office.
“What’s going on?” Sarah asked.
Angel sat her down on the chair in front of the desk and closed the door. Sarah began to look worried. “What’s wrong,” she said. “Is this about the coffee I spilled? ‘Cause it didn’t get on-”
“It’s about Sydney.” There was no hiding the concern in his voice.
Sarah’s eyes opened wide, he could see her searching his eyes. “Angel, I was gonna-”
“She was in a car accident this morning, baby.”
Her expression went slowly from confusion to panic. “What? Oh my God!” She jumped from her seat, and rushed over to her purse. She pulled out her cell phone. Her hands shook as she fumbled with her phone.
He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Relax okay? I have Syd’s parent’s cell phone number so you can call them directly.”
Her eyes shot up from her phone. They were already welled up with tears. “You talked to them?”
“No.” He walked toward her. “They called Valerie at your aunt’s when they couldn’t get a hold of you, and she called here when she couldn’t get a hold of you either.”
Sarah inhaled deeply, her face crumbling. “Did she know anything?”
Angel shook his head. “No.” He turned around and walked over to the desk picking up the paper with all the information. He walked back and handed it to her. Her breathing was all over the place. “Sarah, calm down.”
She took the paper from him and started dialing. Angel watched as she waited for someone to answer. He braced himself, hoping for the best.
“Frances?” She was almost in tears. “Yeah, it’s me. How’s Sydney?”
She clutched the paper Angel had handed to her at her chest and listened. She stared at Angel. “Oh, thank God,” she said. “I was so scared.”
Angel exhaled relieved. “No, no, I’m glad you called.” she said. “So, what happened? Why was an ambulance called?
She was on the phone for a few more minutes, and Angel sat down on the desk chair, leaning all the way back. He watched as Sarah hung up and looked at him. He held his arms out for her to come to him. She walked over and sat on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her. “So, she’s okay?”
Sarah nodded. “The ambulance was called because Sydney complained of pain in the stomach. They wanted to make sure there was no internal bleeding.”
“Was there?”
Sarah shook her head and took a deep breath. “No.”
Angel leaned his forehead against hers. “How are you doing?”
She smiled weakly and shrugged. “I was just imagining the worse.”
“Sarah." He kissed her head. "Tomorrow, when my parents are back, we can drive out there so you can see her.”
She pulled away from him and sat up. “That’s like a five hour drive, Angel.”
“That’s okay,” he caressed her cheek and smiled. “We can leave early.”
She stared at him blankly, and then shook her head. “I already told the Salcido’s I’d watch their kid’s tomorrow afternoon. I can’t cancel on them now. I’ll be fine once I talk to Sydney.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” She smiled. “But thanks, that’s very sweet of you.”
She stood. “I better go help Sofia, she’s probably swamped.” She slipped her cell phone in her pocket.
Angel frowned. “You don’t have to go back to waiting tables, Sarah. What if Sydney calls you?”
Sarah smiled and padded her pocket. “I have my phone.” She walked toward the door, stopped then rushed back to kiss Angel. “You’re such a sweetheart. Thank you.” She smiled and walked away again.
Less than an hour later, Angel watched Sarah from the hostess desk. Her face lit up when she answered her cell. Her eyes filled with tears as she talked and he knew it had to be Sydney. There was no doubt how special Sydney was to Sarah. Angel smiled, feeling a small pang in his heart. The chances of her changing her mind about staying were dismal at best.
**
Sunday morning Sarah called Sydney early, to see how he was feeling. She’d just got off the phone with him when Valerie walked into the room. “So, Angel still doesn’t know Sydney’s a guy?” She sat down on Sarah’s bed.
Sarah winced, and shook her head.
“You should tell him already, Sarah,” Valerie said. “Alex says he’s never seen Angel like this. He’s really fallen for you. If he’s that into you, I’m sure he’ll understand or try to anyway.”
Sarah thought about how she’d almost spilled it yesterday, when he first pulled her into the office and said he needed to talk to her about Sydney. Her first thought was he’d found out somehow and she was ready to plead if she had to, for his understanding. Then he told her about Sydney’s accident and she’d lost it.
“I know, I know,” Sarah said. “I just keep waiting for the perfect moment, but there never is one. And the more time passes, the harder it gets.”
She saw the disapproval in Valerie’s face. Then thought about what nerve Valerie had. “What’s going on with you and Alex?”
Valerie frowned. “I haven’t heard from him since Thursday. I think his curiosity with me was over once he got what he wanted.” She shrugged. “It’s better if we don’t go out anymore though. In between all the making out we’d started doing a lot of talking, and surprisingly, I was beginning to feel a connection with him that was more than just physical. I’m sure he’ll call again when he’s ready for more. But if we keep going out, I might start falling for him, for real. I’d just be setting myself up for heartache.”
Sarah looked at her sympathetically. “Well, you never know. Maybe he felt the connection too.”
Valerie chuckled “I know what he was feeling alright.”
“You think he’ll say anything about you hanging out with Romero?”
Valerie’s face soured. “I doubt it. First of all, I don’t think I’ll be hearing from him anytime soon, unless he gets horny, and even then I really don’t think he cares. Besides, I didn’t do anything with Romero. He kissed me once but it felt wrong, so I stopped before we went any further.”
“Good,” Sarah said. “’Cause I don’t care what you say, I saw the two of you the very first day at the restaurant and there was a definite connection.”
Valerie half smiled. “Well, apparently he's been too busy this weekend; probably making more connections, to call me.”
“Angel’s picking me up in a bit. We’re going back to the restaurant for brunch again." Sarah gave her a crooked smile. "You wanna come?”
“No way.” Valerie gasped. “How desperate would that look? Me, showing up without being invited. No thanks.”
Valerie stood up and walked to the door, stopping when she reached it and turning around. “So, Sydney’s okay?”
“Yeah.” Sarah nodded “Just a couple of bruises, but otherwise he’s fine.”
“Did he wreck his car?”
“No. Luckily, he was in his dad’s truck. It’s a full size truck, so it might have been worse if he had been in his car. Sydney said it was mainly the passenger side door that was smashed.”
Valerie raised her eyebrows. “Well, I’m glad he’s okay” She turned around and walked out.
Sarah strolled over to her dresser. She picked up the string bracelet Sofia had given her. All the girls on the track team wore them for good luck, and even though Sarah wasn’t officially on the team, Sofia still wanted her to have one. Sarah thought it was sweet and smiled as she put it on.
Angel picked her up and she was back at the restaurant again. Alex and the guys were already there. They were sitting at a table in the corner. Sarah and Angel sat with them. Romero and Eric were engaged in one of their inane football disputes.
“I don’t care what you say, they should’ve never got rid of Drew Brees” Eric said.
“The guy threw five touchdown passes in one game!”
Romero shook his head. “Yeah, but against who?”
“Doesn’t matter, five touchdown passes, five!”
“Doesn’t count when it’s against the Raiders,” Romero said. “Shit, I could score five times against them.”
Alex laughed. “That’d be a first for you.”
“I’ve scored, ass.” He turned to Sarah. "Speaking of me scoring, where’s Valerie?”
Sarah went stiff. She glanced at Alex his face was expressionless. “Home.”
“You should’ve brought her,” Romero said.
When Sarah looked at Alex again, he was staring at Romero, but didn’t say a word.
Eric laughed. “Scored? She shot you down on Friday, and she was drunk. She takes one look at your mug sober, she’s gonna freak that she even let you kiss her.”
Alex's eyebrows shot up. “You kissed her?”
“She liked it.” Romero said, more to Eric than Alex.
“So, you went out with her?” Alex asked.
Romero turned to look at Alex. “Nah, we hung out after the game. All of us did at the beach.”
“But you kissed her?”
Sarah squirmed, wanting to disappear. Alex had that same tone he’d had on the phone with Valerie. The same unmistakable tone Angel would get when he was getting heated.
Romero made a face. “Yeah, so what? I can’t help it if the chicks dig me.”
Alex rolled his eyes, and looked at Eric. “And she shot him down?”
“Yeah.” Eric laughed.
Sarah nodded vigorously, and then stopped when she saw Romero was looking at her. The look on his face was almost comical. “She told you that?”
“Well, no... I mean… I can’t tell you what she said. It’s girl talk.” She stood up quickly. “I’m starving.”
“You got shot down.” Alex smiled.
Sarah could see it was a forced smile. Angel stood up with Sarah and followed her to the buffet table. When they got back Romero and Eric were arguing again about the Chargers and Alex was gone. Something told Sarah Valerie would be getting that call she’d been waiting for.