Page 14 of Be My Valentine

“We asked for you, you were supposed to bring the menus. Isn’t that your job?”

“I’ll get right on it.” Kate didn’t let go for a moment of the smile on her face. She watched as Mark Arrow sank his fingers into the basket of potato chips, the first thing to be servedon each table.

She ran to get the menus and took away three empty mugs from as many tables. That was the secret: optimize time and never go empty-handed. On Saturdays there was no fixed closing hour, she could end up working until four o’clock, so she allowed herself to sleep later in the morning.

She gracefully distributed what had been asked of her.

“I’ll give you a few minutes.”

“I hope to find your name on the menu as well,” Attorney Hanks told her, running his eyes over her figure. Kate swallowed nervously and for a moment it felt like she was naked in front of that pig.

One of the women at the table laughed forcibly and cringed at the man.

“Careful, Patrick, the waitresses can smell money from a mile away.”

Yes, and shit too.

She turned her back on the hideous crew and busied herself with the neighboring table.

“She’s got a nice little ass.” She heard a loud comment from one of the other lawyers.

She ignored what she had heard and turned to the next clients.

“Guys, what can I get you?” It was a table of loud and lively young people and they seemed harmless to her.

She served them first, then returned resignedly to see if Annie Carson and Company had finally made up their minds.

As she milled about the floor, she hated Arrow even more: only the day before he had given her his word that nothing would ever happen again, and yet there he was. It was impossible he hadn’t heard, yet he hadn’t moved a finger.

“There’s our Kate,” Hanks said again, “You’re quick with those trays.”

“Except with ours, will you let us order?” Carson gave her no pity and seemed sadistically pleased to see her running like a train, loaded like a mule.

Kate just nodded and started trotting again. She managed to complete the order by returning twice from the kitchen. She wasn’t able to carry more than four glasses on one tray, wedging the snacks in between. She set down the last basket of Potato Puffs and thanked her lucky stars she was done with them.

“With all the exercise you get, you don’t even have to pay to go to the gym! I almost envy you!” a peppery brunette had opened her mouth; she was definitely cut from the same cloth as her friend. “My personal trainer destroys me with squats for my glutes!” She complained with obvious falseness.

Kate removed from the table the tray of salmon canapés that had been devoured at an impressive rate and pretended not to hear. She certainly wasn’t paid for small talk. As she checked to see if she could take anything else off the table an arm suddenly wrapped around her. Kate had seen him coming he was one of her colleagues, waiting tables to fund his passion for painting, which he was struggling to make into his job.

“Hello, gorgeous!” He said snapping her a resounding kiss on the cheek on the fly, and Kate’s face finally lit up with a genuine smile.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Annie Carson asked her.

Kate couldn’t help but answer.

“No, we’re just friends.”

“Friends or fuck -buddies?” Attorney Hanks’ voice intruded on the conversation.

“Excuse me?” Kate hoped she’d misunderstood; he couldn’t be that disgusting.

It was only then that Mark Arrow opened his mouth, at least in front of her.

“Patrick, get a grip, okay?”

“Oh my God, Mark, don’t be such a prude!” Annie Carson couldn’t miss an opportunity like this, that was the first thing Kate thought “A girl got to have a right to have fun without commitments!”

“It’s not my fault! She’s the one who killed me with that smile!” Attorney Hanks theatrically brought a hand to his heart.