Second chance christmas, p.11
Second Chance Christmas, page 11
Rome quickly looked at his watch. “Give me your phone to program my number into it.”
I handed him my phone and watched as he entered his number. When he handed it back to me, we stood and hugged.
I melted into his arms as he wrapped them around me. We hugged for a few seconds longer than expected before we broke our embrace. “I’ll walk you up to the front.”
He held the door open for me as we walked through the restaurant. More people had filed in for lunch. I smiled and greeted some on my way to the front.
“I probably should have gotten some lunch too,” Rome laughed. “See you Friday, Fay.”
“Friday,” I confirmed, excited and nervous, all in the same breath.
“Have a good day, Fay.”
“You too.”
Trixie stood at the hostess booth on her phone. My father made sure I knew that he hated phones while working. All the employees knew how he felt about them, so I didn’t understand why she would pull out her phone.
I wasn’t as strict as my father regarding the staff using their phones. If you need to check your messages or calls, duck off to the side and do it. Trixie was right at the front on her phone while customers were walking in.
She had finally looked up from her phone, and that was when she noticed that both Rome and I were standing there. I watched as she quickly put her phone into the pocket of her apron and smiled at the party of three waiting on her.
“Welcome to Carl’s . . . How many are with your party today?”
The woman looked fed up. Rome noticed the interaction and saw his way out while I decided to step in. “Welcome to Carl’s . . . I’ll get you seated. Right this way, please,” I smiled and led the lady to one of the best seats in the house.
It was a round table near the kitchen. Your food came out quicker, and if you weren’t on your phone, you caught a glimpse of the chef cooking your food. I could tell my father had put a lot of work into the renovations of this place.
It still kept that homey charm with a modern twist. “Thank you . . . Rodney loves this seat,” the woman smiled.
Her mood had improved.
When I used to waitress, I learned a long time ago that a happy customer was an easy customer. The woman was already irritated that she had to wait while Trixie sat on her phone.
“Isn’t that perfect . . . Today must be your lucky day,” I gently pinched the little boy’s cheek. “My name is Faith, so if you need anything, please let me know.”
“Faith . . . as in Faith’s Shepherd’s Pie?”
I smiled.
Since coming back, I hadn’t browsed the menu. Marie usually had dinner prepared when I returned to the house, so other than a quick salad between the lunch and dinner rushes, I hadn’t had time to try anything new.
Faith’s Shepherd’s Pie wasn’t anything new. My father had this shepherd’s pie on his menu since he opened the place. It was one of his most popular dishes, next to the meat loaf and candied yams.
“Yes, ma’am,” I beamed with pride.
“It’s Laila’s favorite meal. It’s the only time I can get her to eat something other than McDonald’s.” She teased her daughter, who was too occupied with her tablet.
That was why I had a no-screens policy during dinner for the twins. I had tried allowing them to use their screens when we went out to eat so we could keep the peace. While they were quiet during dinner and didn’t cause a scene, they never ate and were so stimulated by their tablets that they had no clue what was happening around them.
“I’m glad that she loves it. When I was her age, it was my favorite too . . . Enjoy your meal.”
I quickly excused myself and went to the front, where Trixie assisted another party. I took over the hostess booth while she showed them to their table.
“Faith, I’m sorry for being—”
“I’m nice . . . Maybe even too nice. My father has his rules, and while I may disagree with them, I respect them. I cut you guys slack to check your phones in the back. To sit up here with your phone out was a slap in the face, Trixie.”
“You’re right, and I apologize for that.”
“Thank you.” I took a breath.
I didn’t want to come off as a bitch who acted like the boss’s daughter. However, I didn’t want her to think she could get over on me. She already showed up late twice this week, and I let it slide.
First, it was car problems; then her dog had gotten sick. I didn’t want Trixie to think I would keep allowing her to slide with all the excuses she made.
“So, Fay . . . You and Rome Atkins must go back deep—nicknames,” she smirked, causing me to blush.
Trixie was that employee you wanted to fire every week, then decided against it because you would be bored without her around. I knew that was probably the reason my father kept her around. More than anything, she kept him young with her shenanigans.
“Get back to work.” I walked back toward the bar where I had been sitting before Rome walked up on me.
“Actually, I’m on lunch . . . so you can just spill the tea while I eat this sandwich.” She skipped over and took a seat beside mine.
Trixie was twenty-eight, single, and lost on what she wanted to do with her life. I knew this because she and the cook seemed to be cool with each other.
I think he liked her, but that was beside the point. At her age, I was already a mother and wife with a host of responsibilities. I would never say I regret my daughters. Nonetheless, I probably would have killed to be carefree and kid-free like Trixie was at twenty-eight.
I never truly got to live my life for myself. Before the girls, I lived for my husband and did what I thought he needed.
Making his life easier.
Then when we got pregnant with the girls, my life transferred to being their mama. It wasn’t a job I took lightly, and I loved being their mama. Some days, I thought about my life and questioned if I had been living my life for me.
“We dated back in high school. I moved away, and I guess he stayed back.”
“You guess? You didn’t keep in touch with him?”
“Did you keep in touch with your ex-boyfriends from high school?”
She paused and pondered the question. “Well, I would, except he’s locked up. Attempted murder on his roommate . . . but he was the best fuck of my life, so I would have kept in touch if he didn’t get arrested.”
I stared at Trixie for a few seconds before I shook my head.
“Girl, you sound crazy. Why did you even move to Sageport . . . Nobody ever moves here. We all move away.”
“I love the beach and needed to escape the big city.”
“What big city?”
“Charlotte. I wanted someplace new and small . . . a place where the people smile when they greet you.”
“And you felt Sageport was the place to go?”
“Not exactly. My plan was Tampa or Miami, but I saw the sign while driving here and decided to stop for a night.”
“And never left.”
“Nope. This place gave me a good feeling, so I rented a room and walked over here to apply. Your father hired me right on the spot . . . old man saved my life.”
“If he hears you calling him an old man . . .” I giggled.
“I tease him with it all the time,” she said, taking a bite out of her sandwich. “I know I’m not his favorite person, and I constantly get on his nerves, but I think he keeps me around because I remind him of you.”
“I can see that,” I lied.
Trixie and I were nothing alike. While I was quiet and timid sometimes, she was the complete opposite. Trixie was the type who said what she was thinking.
“Anyway, I guess you should know that Rome and I went out on a few dates.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Really?”
“Yeah, but I decided we were better off just being friends. He has a lot going on, and I’m not sure I’m the kind of woman he needs.”
Everything inside of me wanted to pry. What did she mean he “had a lot going on”? Did he have children? Had he gone through a divorce too? I played it cool and continued to look over my father’s social media pages for the restaurant. The last time anybody had posted on them was over three years ago.
Social media was a big part of a restaurant’s success. With people like Keith Lee, you wanted to have social media so that people knew where to find you. While looking through my father’s pages, I could tell it had been neglected. Sageport was a small coastal town that generated a lot of tourists because of the beaches and our white sand.
With the foot traffic the city center got, my father’s restaurant should have been blowing up on TikTok for the portion sizes alone.
“Do you know who was running the social media for the restaurant?”
Trixie shook her head as she chewed. “Your father swears by word of mouth. I told him people barely even speak anymore . . . Everyone is always on their phones.”
And she was right.
My father was used to doing things the old-school way. Since I have been here, this place hasn’t been empty. The lunch rush may have slowed down some, but there were still butts in each of those seats.
“He’s so old school,” I mumbled.
“It took all of us to convince him to add to-go orders. Some people don’t have the time to sit and have a meal. If they’re like me, they want their food so they can go and be greedy in peace.”
“I feel you,” I snickered.
If I could grab my food and eat at home, it would be a win for me. As much as I enjoyed getting cute, going out to dinner, and experiencing the restaurant’s ambiance, I enjoyed sitting in my house watching my favorite shows while eating too.
Ashton and I got creative when we had the twins. Our fancy dinners had stopped, but we still wanted to have that time for ourselves. We would order from our favorite restaurant and set the dining table after we put the girls down.
That was when we both equally tried.
I missed the way we would talk and laugh about everything. Most of our conversations revolved around the girls and the silly things they had done during the day while he was at work.
I would scoot next to him and show him what I had recorded, happy that I could keep him updated on our girls.
Those home dates stopped shortly after. Neither of us tried to set one up because we were both tired.
“So, what’s Friday?”
“You weren’t that consumed with your phone.”
She smiled. “Don’t try to deflect from the date you have planned with Rome Atkins.”
“I’m not deflecting. He asked me to hang out on Friday . . . It’s not a date,” I tried to convince myself, although Rome had used the word numerous times.
I was trying not to get myself excited. My nerves were already bad, and Friday was two days away. “Sure, sounds like it . . . Rome loves Carl’s, but he doesn’t come in twice in the same week.”
“Stop making this more than what it is. We’re two friends reconnecting and catching up . . . nothing more.”
“Yeah, you can say that all you want. I know a match made in heaven when I see it.” She checked her phone, cleaned up her trash, and strutted off.
“Work the tables for the dinner rush,” I called behind her.
“Sure thing, boss.” She winked and went toward the back.
I shook my head and continued my deep dive down on social media. Before I left, I was determined to get some buzz on the internet about Carl’s.
Chapter Eleven
ROME
“ONE BEER ALWAYS turns into six with you, Pat. I got an early morning tomorrow, and I’m not trying to stay out late,” I told my best friend, Patrick.
Whenever he wanted to meet at the bar for a drink after work, I ended up nursing a hangover the following day. It never stopped at one beer when it came to Pat.
“When was the last time we got a beer together? It’s been months, Ro . . . Come on,” he tried to convince me.
“One beer,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, one beer . . . I heard you.”
Patrick and I played on the football team together. In high school, we weren’t the best of friends. We were cordial and hung out anytime the whole team was hanging out. It wasn’t until my brother passed away that he reached out to me.
He started by bringing me my missing work. Then that turned into bringing over video games to help get my mind off everything happening. Pat didn’t know how much I needed that and a friend.
I had not only lost my brother but also my girlfriend too. My parents were fighting and going through their own grieving process, so I was lonely. Pat would come over after school and chill. Some days, we never said anything. Just his presence alone was comforting.
Since then, he has been there for every major change I have gone through. Like when we were teens, he would just show up with my favorite food and a shoulder. No words ever had to be exchanged. His presence was just needed.
“Anyway, now that we got that out of the way . . .” He held open the door to our favorite bar.
Mizzy’s was the only original bar that was around. We used to sneak in here to grab beers when we were in high school. Mizzy never cared about the legal age limit, which is why his liquor license had been revoked several times throughout the year.
He always got it back, no matter how often it was taken. With all the fancier bars in Sageport, we needed a down-and-dirty dive bar where we could talk our shit and shoot pool in.
“It doesn’t make no sense that I always have to give you this pep talk before we come.”
“Yeah, whatever. I had a stressful day at the shop.”
Pat went on to open his own mechanic shop. The dealerships frequently utilized his shop whenever we had a car come in that needed to be fixed.
“It’s been hectic at the dealerships too. I had to fight my way out to take lunch . . . and I didn’t even eat lunch.”
“Then what the hell did you do?”
“Went to Carl’s.”
“Oh yeah? How is Mr. Stone? I heard he wasn’t well not too long ago.” Pat accepted the beer from the bartender.
“Why did everyone else know except me?”
Pat guzzled half of his beer. “Because you work and go home . . . I damn near have to force you to come out of the house.” He polished off the rest of his beer. “Why did you go to Carl’s and not get any food?”
“Faith was there.”
Pat’s eyes widened as he signaled for his second beer—after he told me we would have one. I hadn’t even had my first beer, and here he was, signaling for his second.
“Faith Stone is back in town? How did that fly under my radar?”
“I’m surprised your nosy ass didn’t know before me.”
“So, damn, she’s really back?”
“For the holidays, at least.”
“How does that make you feel? I remember when you broke up with her and were going through it.”
“I didn’t break up with her,” I defended.
“Then what would you call it? You allowed her to leave town without a goodbye, and you haven’t checked in on her in years . . . You broke up with her.”
I didn’t consider Faith and I breaking up. We never shared those words, only the emotions. I was so angry with her and had no reason to be. Faith didn’t get behind that wheel and kill my brother. We missed out on a life together because I let my anger take over.
When the dust had settled, I thought I had time to fix things between us. But by that time, she had already moved out of town, and I was too hurt to look for her. If she didn’t feel the need to stay behind for me, then maybe things weren’t worth fixing between us.
Now that she was back, I felt like this was a second chance at something we both missed out on. I wanted to know what the past years have been like for her. She obviously had kids since I overheard her talking to them earlier.
I wanted to know more, though.
I wanted to get to know the Fay I had let slip through my fingers fifteen years ago. Time had hopefully healed some of our wounds, and maybe we could fix things between us.
I was harsh to her that night.
She didn’t deserve the way I acted toward her, and it had been on replay in my head since I had run into her at her father’s restaurant the other night. As much as I was in pain that night, I was still a selfish asshole to her, and she never deserved that from me.
“Either way, you have a second chance . . . What are the odds that she came back to celebrate Christmas with her father? I thought she died because of the way Mr. Stone acted. He never speaks about her.”
“Yeah, I know. I figured she was married or something.”
“How are you not sure she’s not married? Maybe hubby is driving up here after work gets out.”
“Then why was she wishing her kids a safe flight?”
“Shit, you heard all that?”
“Yeah. I don’t know the situation yet, but we’re going out on Friday.”
“My man!” Pat dapped me up.
I tried to talk myself out of asking her on a date, even brushed it off as something I needed to leave in the past.
But I couldn’t.
I couldn’t brush Faith off like she was just an old high school friend. She meant more to me than that. Faith was the only woman who had ever meant something to me. I wanted to marry her and have a future with her. We would lie in her bed and talk about our future. Some nights, when I lay awake in bed, I thought about the future that I almost had.
It was right in my hands, and I could feel it.
Nothing was worse than having the future you always envisioned ripped out of your hands in a flash. Neither of us knew that night would alter our lives and rip us away from each other.
Our futures were altered.
Our relationship was ruined while both of us suffering losses. My biggest regret would always be not being there for her the way she wanted to be for me. Had I not been so deep in grief and hurt, we could have healed each other with time and patience.
“I just clocked in, so if you need anything, let me know.” Yasmine winked as she tied the apron around her waist.
