Chapter 19

Macey

The breakfast rush is where I make most of my tips, and since returning from Vegas that’s what I’ve been using to budget with. I’ve been tempted to spend the money I put in the bank, but refuse to go back to where I was living.

After I came home, Morgan and I spent a few days in the hotel. We ate room service, laughed, swam in the pool and went to the water park. It was like we were on vacation and I didn’t have a care in the world. Except I did and they were all looming. First thing I had to do was make sure Eddie was going to give me my job back. He did without hesitation and told me to never take off on him again. I didn’t make that promise, but can’t imagine I’m going anywhere else. After I secured my waitressing job, Morgan and I set out to find an apartment close to Eddie’s, what would be her new school and the bus line. I thought about buying a car, but that’s an expense that I can’t afford right now.

Morgan and I chose a small two-bedroom on the second floor. It’s perfect for the two of us. When I finally had the courage to go over to my mother’s to get the rest of my stuff, I knew it was a mistake. She sensed a change in me and somehow figured out I had money. She demanded that I pay her for storing my stuff. So I left it all there and bought new things. Tangible items that Morgan and I can call our own. Some of it is secondhand, like our couch, but our beds are brand new. For the first time in my life, I have a bed that no one has slept on except for me, and that feels really good.

With Morgan enrolled in school, I’m back to working my full-time job at Eddie’s. The tips are good, my regulars treat me well and if I play my cards right I can sustain us with this paycheck and tips, meaning that the college courses I enrolled in shouldn’t overextend me.

I’m excited about taking these courses. I was good at math back in high school and thought I’d try my hand at accounting. It’ll take two years, but it’ll be worth it. I know I could’ve easily chosen a shorter course, but I want a career that Morgan will be proud of.

The flow of customers is heavy, but nothing we can’t handle. Eddie’s has been around for a long time and is a staple in the community. If you want a good breakfast you go to a chain restaurant, but if you want something amazing, you stop at Eddie’s.

“Hey, Macey, there’s a gentleman in my station asking for you. He’s at two,” Debbie, one of the other waitresses working today, says. This means I have to give her one of my tables in exchange.

“You can have table eighteen,” I tell her as I head to her section. Fortunately for me, since I’ve worked here for so long I know this place by heart, which means I’m walking with my eyes focused on my pad and making sure I’m not missing any orders.

As soon as I step up to table two, everything freezes. Staring back at me with his bedroom baby blues is Finn. I look around, wondering if someone is playing a joke on me, but who would? No one knows about him, not even Steph. She’s asked me many times what happened in Vegas, but I refuse to tell her. I don’t want her to judge me any more than she has in the past.

“What are you doing here?” My voice is barely audible over the various tones of chatter that surround us.

“Hi, Macey.”

The way he says my name turns my knees weak and I find myself leaning against the table for support. I don’t know whether to scream, fist pump or walk off. Either way, I look around the diner to see who is watching us. No one is.

I swallow hard and tell my lady bits to calm the fuck down. Of course they’d be excited to see Finn. Not that I blame them.

“What can I get you?” I ask with my pen poised on my pad of paper. He looks from me to the menu and back at me.

“What do you recommend?”

“Oh well, the hash and eggs is a favorite.”

“Is that your favorite?”

I shake my head and point to the pancakes. “Those or the French toast,” I tell him. Morgan loves the French toast with powdered sugar and syrup.

“I’ll have the pancakes.”

“Anything else? Do you want a side of bacon?”

“No, but I’ll take a side of Macey.” He winks, causing me to blush.

“Very funny.”

I turn away as quickly as I can, drop his order at the kitchen and make my way to the bathroom before I lose all composure in front of everyone. Inside the stall, I try to calm my breathing and get my brain to comprehend the fact that Finn McCormick is here, in town and at the diner. He somehow found out where I worked and showed up. Why? Why is he here?

After I wash up, I go back out on the floor and tend to my other tables. Each time I glance at Finn, he’s watching me. His eyes are following me around the restaurant. He’s my table so I have to check on him, even though I want to ignore him.

“Do you need a refill on your coffee?”

“What time are you off?”

“Not until three. Coffee?” I ask again, holding the pot up.

“I want to take you to dinner.”

I shake my head and move to the next table, refilling their cups and so on until my pot is empty. When I walk by his table again, he reaches out and snags my hand.

“Macey…”

“What? Why are you here, Finn?”

“Why do you think?”

“How’d you find me?”

“Lamar did a background check on you when you stayed with me. This place came up for employment. I took a guess.”

I shake my head, wishing he would go away. I’ve had enough of Finn in my life. His order is ready and as much as I’d love to throw it in his face, I can’t.

“We need to talk,” he says when I bring him his pancakes.

“I can’t after work.” There is no way I’m telling him about Morgan.

“When?”

“I don’t know, Finn.”

He cuts into his pancake and takes a bite. “Unacceptable.”

I remind myself that he doesn’t own me, at least not anymore. I walk away and tend to my other tables, stopping by Finn one last time to see if he needs anything else before I hand him his check.

And as if my day couldn’t get any worse—you know the saying, when it rains, it pours? That’s my day today. I’m watching as the hostess sits Joel, the guy from the plane, in my section. I have two options: pretend I don’t know him or act like I’m shocked to see him. I think pretending is the best way to go.

“What can I get you to drink?”

“Hi. Do you remember me?” he says.

I fake my surprise and smile. “Yes, of course. Joe, right?”

“Joel.” We both smile at the same time. I pretend to act embarrassed.

“Right, Joel. How are you?”

“I’m doing well and yourself?” He holds the menu in his hand, giving me all this attention. I glance up quickly and see Finn eyeing us. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Finn is jealous by the redness in his cheeks and the firm set of his jaw. I turn my attention back to Joel and answer his question.

“I’m doing better than I was that day on the plane.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah, it is. Do you know what you want to order?”

“Oh yeah,” Joel says as he looks down at the menu. “Um…yeah, so a Coke would be good and I’ll take the turkey club.”

I write down his order even though it’s an easy one to remember and tell him I’ll be right back. Once I drop it in, I go back to check on Finn.

“What else can I get you?”

“Who’s the guy?”

I shake my head slightly. “No one, a customer.”

Finn drops his fork onto his plate in a huff. “He knows you. I can tell by the way he looks at you. Are you dating him?”

“What?” I scoff. “Finn, what makes you think you can come in here and talk to me like this?”

“You’re mine, Macey,” he says, standing and towering over me. “Mine. I’ll see you when you get off.”

Finn stops and pays his bill and doesn’t look to see if I’m watching him. The hostess is flirting with him and a pang of jealousy washes over me. I shouldn’t be jealous. I shouldn’t care, but if I’m his, why can’t he be mine? Finn never looks at me when he walks out the door and the only thing that gets my attention is Debbie waving something in my face.

“Whoa, Macey, what did that man order?” Debbie ask as she fans herself.

“What?”

“Your tip and a note.” She hands me a stack of hundred-dollar bills wrapped in a note.

I want to see you and you know I always get what I want.

Finn

As discreetly as I can I count the money, stopping when I get to eight and knowing there are two more bills after that. He left me a thousand-dollar tip on an eight-dollar meal. And his note…he doesn’t leave a number, knowing I already have his tucked tight in that phone he made sure I had, even if he hasn’t used it.

Joel ended up spending an hour at the diner, taking every chance he could to talk to me, and gave me his number again. Little does he know that I still have the piece of paper he gave me at the airport sitting in my dresser. Maybe this time I’ll use it. Maybe today is the wake-up call I need to get over Finn. Maybe.

When I get off, Finn is standing outside the restaurant waiting for me. He’s leaning up against his car with his legs crossed at his ankles. I contemplate heading toward my bus stop, but I have a feeling he’ll follow me.

“Get in, Macey,” he says as he opens the door for me. There are no pleasantries in his words. It’s a demand. It’s business. After he slams my door shut, he rushes around to the driver’s side and slides in easily. He doesn’t ask where I need to go when he enters traffic, but seems to head out of town.

“I can’t be gone long.”

“I want to talk.”

“How long have you been in town?”

He smiles and looks at me, killing me dead with his blue eyes. “I arrived this morning.”

I look at him questioningly and he shrugs. “And you came to the diner?”

“Yeah, I needed to see you.”

“Okay,” I say, turning my attention back to the road. He turns off and drives up the hill in the direction of Lovers’ Lane. Funnily enough, I always imagined I’d be brought up here so I could make out with someone I’m interested in.

He pulls into the tree-secluded location and parks, shutting the car off. The view from here is amazing, looking over the city. Everything looks magical and pristine. From this vantage point you wouldn’t guess that when you get to the bottom there’s a festering shit hole of life’s worst hell.

“I’ve always loved it up here.”

“I wouldn’t know. This is my first time,” I tell him. He looks at me and pulls my hand toward him, setting it on his leg. His thumb moves back and forth over my skin. My eyes close, remembering everything that happened between us.

“Well, now it’s something you can knock off your bucket list.”

I sigh and shake my head. “I don’t have a bucket list.”

“Why not?”

I take my hand back and turn toward the door. “What’s the point of having a list when I know I can’t knock anything off?”

“I can help.”

Turning sharply to look at him, I say, “Why are you here? Our agreement is over and you made it crystal clear that we would never see each other again. So what gives?”

Finn rests his hand on the steering wheel. “Our agreement isn’t over.”

“Excuse me?”

“You owe me one more day and I’m here to collect.”

I scoff. “I don’t owe you anything.”

“See, that is where you’re wrong. As far as I’m concerned you left before our agreement was due to end. You owe me another day and I want to collect.”

I close my eyes and wish I had made a run for the bus. If I knew he was outside, I would’ve called a cab to come and get me. I would’ve done anything to prevent what’s happening now.

Silent tears start to fall as I see what my life is going to become. He’s going to always have something to hold over my head. If it’s not the agreement, it’ll be the tip he gave me at the diner.

“I can’t do this.”

“Why not?” he asks.

“Because I don’t want to be a whore, Finn. You left a thousand-dollar tip for me and now I’m in your car at Lovers’ Lane. This adds up to prostitution and I’m not…”

Finn pulls me to his chest. “That’s not why I left the tip and that’s not what I think of you. I’ve never thought of you like that.”

“It’s how you make me feel,” I tell him. “The clothes, the money and the phone? You show up here flashing your cash around, how am I supposed to feel?”

“I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intention.”

“What are your intentions?”

He releases me and rights himself back into his pants. “I don’t know, Macey, but I’m here for a few days and I’d like to see you.”

I nod, not knowing if I’ll be able to do that. It’s been hard enough getting over him these past few weeks. I don’t want to go down that path again.

“Not tonight, Finn. I can’t.”

“Fair enough. Tomorrow then, but don’t make me wait. You know I don’t like waiting.”

He starts the car and drives back to the diner. He must think I have a car because he never asks where I live. As soon as he drops me off I stand there, waiting for him to leave. Finn is Vegas, not home. I don’t want him here. When he’s out of sight, I head toward the bus that will take me home to Morgan.