Part 18 (1/2)
”Pain's gone?”
”For the most part.”
”s.h.i.+t, that's great. We need you, man. I mean Steve is good, but he's not you.”
”True dat,” Jax says.
”Hey, little lady,” Brian says to the waitress, whose name I believe is Tabitha. ”You my server tonight?” he asks, dipping his eyebrows up and down.
”Not if you talk to me that way. We reserve the right to refuse service. You may just find your ugly a.s.s out on the street tonight.”
”Ooh, Bri, she called your fat a.s.s out,” someone at the table says, while the rest of us bust out screaming in laughter.
I look at Jax. ”Didn't she take your orders already?”
”Not Brian. He just sat down.”
”Right.” I forgot.
”Hey...Holly's friend, right?” the waitress says to me.
”Yeah. Tabitha, right?”
”Yup. Been a while since you've been here.”
”Ah...so the b.i.t.c.h is the chick,” Adam says, referring to why I suggested Donny's.
I ignore him, keeping my attention on Tabitha. ”Yeah, took the semester off. But I'm back in January...for school. I'm back now for baseball.”
”Cool. It'll be nice seeing your cute face in here again.”
Tabitha walks away, and the whole table starts on me about her.
”I'm tellin' you. She's not the reason. I like it here. The bartender's my friend and that's all.”
”Yeah right.” No one believes me, but they drop it and our conversation throughout the night is generic.
Many burgers and beers later, the bar signals last call, and the guys decide to call it a night.
”You comin', Falco?” Jax asks.
”No. I'm gonna catch a ride with Holly.”
”So it is the bartender,” Jax jokes.
”It's not the bartender. I'll catch you later.”
”So what's going on, Ben? What do you mean Rose may not like you? Did you tell her you like her? She might not realize it.”
”She knows. I don't know. I'm getting mixed signals.”
Holly moves to the sink to wash gla.s.ses, so I slide down the bar.
”She may not be ready for a...to date,” I say. ”Maybe I should back off for a while.”
She raises her eyebrows at me, but continues was.h.i.+ng. ”Maybe. I feel bad I only texted her once this week. With school and work, it's been crazy, so I don't even know what she's thinking these days.”
I just sit there thinking instead of responding.
”I can talk to her if you want,” Holly suggests.
”No. We're not in high school.”
”Eh...college kids need reinforcements too.”
”What?”
”Nothing. I can be indirect about it if I talk to her.”
”No. I'll deal with it. I'm gonna be busy now with ball, so...we'll see how tomorrow goes and I'll take it from there.”
Holly moves on to drying the gla.s.ses. ”You're seeing her tomorrow?”
”Yeah. Made the date last week, but...”
”Then she likes you.”
”Ya think?”
”Rose is sweet, but she's not a pushover. She does what she wants. She may not want to hurt feelings along the way, and she'll find the most compa.s.sionate way to let you down, but...she won't lead you on just to spare your feelings. That's not Rose.”
”Well that's good...I think. But I'm not sure we're dealing with the same Rose you knew before her accident.”
”Whaddya mean?”
”I didn't know her before, so I wouldn't know, but this Rose is lacking in self-esteem. People who lack confidence tend to do things that make others happy...not themselves. At least that's what I think.”
”Yeah, I forgot. You're farther along in your psych degree than I am.”
We laugh together then she moves on to turning over chairs. To the music that still plays on the jukebox, together we turn chairs onto tables, and then I watch her mop.
Tabitha comes out of the kitchen, wearing a dirty ap.r.o.n and yellow rubber gloves. ”Hey, gorgeous, you're still here?”