Chapter 1
*Amelia’s pov*
I volunteered to open the diner today because I couldn’t bear to be my parent’s punching bag this morning. They beat me up last night because the chicken didn’t have enough salt, and they took away my mattress because they said I didn’t deserve something to sleep on if I wasn’t able to make them happy. I made breakfast and made sure to make it really hot so it wouldn’t be cold when they wake up and kept it in the microwave so it would stay warm. I grabbed my apron and started setting everything up for the customers and staff. I walked up to the door, looked at my broken-down watch, it was 8:59 am. The diner opened at 9 am, so I waited for a couple of seconds and then flipped the sign as soon as my clock struck 9.
I had 3 best friends, Grace, Adeline, and Elena. They all didn’t know about my abusive parents they just think I’m really clumsy and that’s how I get all my bruises. My thoughts were interrupted when Grace and Elena walked in to start their shift, “Hey girl, you opened today?” Elena asked. “Yeah, I thought it would be nice to get up early and get some work done”, I said hiding last night’s damage.
“I don’t know how you do it, I woke up at 8:45 and got ready as fast as possible so I could be here”, Grace said. “Good morning ladies, less chit-chat and more work please”, Ms. Charles said. “Yes ma’am,” I said while doing a soldier’s salute, she chuckled at my humor. “Who wants billing and who wants to serve?” I ask. “I’ll bill”, Elena said. “I’ll serve with Amelia then”, Grace said. I nodded my head and went over to the pen jar and the notebook pile and grabbed one of each. “Here come the early birds”, Ms.Charles said.
“Ding” the bell rang notifying us that someone had come in. “Can you get that one?” Grace whispers as if she was scared they would hear what she was saying and when I looked up I saw why. 3 men walked in thick leather jackets and an office t-shirt underneath, they looked intimidating but what was the worse they could do, kill me? I would be relieved and it’s not like my parents would care, they would just lose a punching bag. I straightened up and walked over to them, “What can I do for you?” I asked with a polite smile trying to hide the fact that they intimidated me. “We need a table of 4, no kids,” the tallest one said. “Of course, follow me,” I say smiling but wondering why they need a table of 4 when there were 3 of them. I take them to one of our more private booths and asked “Is this fine or would you like something else?” One of them gave me a small smile and nodded. “I’ll give you guys a few minutes to look at the menu I will be right back,” I said. As I was walking away I heard one of them say “That’s the only waitress I’ve ever seen that hasn’t started shaking when we walk in” I smirk while walking away, proud of myself. I go check up on some other customers and then walk back to their table. “Are you ready to order or do you need a few more minutes?” I ask while getting out my notebook and pen. “We’re waiting for someone else to come too but can you wait here, we are kinda bored and want to talk to someone and it seems you are the only one willing to be near us,” he says bluntly making me think about it for a second but after weighing my options I grabbed a chair from another table and set it down but said “Give me a second I have to tell my coworker to take care of the other tables,” I said and I ran back to the counter and told Grace that I was sitting with them for a little while leaving her shocked.
“Introduce yourself,” one of them said. “My name is Amelia, I’m 18 and I’m planning to start college this year, now introduce yourselves so I can know what to call you,” I say “I’m Jacob,” the tallest one says. “I’m Edoardo,” the decent sized, black-haired one said. “And I’m Mario” the cute, and well-built, brown-haired one said. I pointed at each of them and called them their names, “Jacob, Edoardo, and Mario” I say trying their names on my tongue. “Why aren’t you scared of us, be honest”, Mario asks me. “I’m not scared but I’m slightly intimidated, it’s because I’ve learned that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, the person that you should trust the most in the world might be the ones who make you want to leave the world,” I say nostalgically,
“Dude, that’s so deep,” Edoardo says and I shrug my shoulders. I change the subject and make them talk about themselves more and we continued the conversation until I heard the bell on the front door ring and I looked up to see a very sexy man walking towards our table, he had dark green eyes that made butterflies in my stomach and he had brown luscious messy hair that sent a shiver up my spine. He had a business suit on that hugged his well-built body, I was in a daze when I was looking at him but I covered it up quickly and stood up and put back my chair from where I had gotten it. I let him get seated when I started talking, “Can I start getting your order or would you like a few minutes to look at the menu?” I asked with a polite and small smile. “We can start ordering while Hayden makes up his mind, Amelia”, Mario says trying to introduce us without having to say the exact words. “What can I get for you?” I ask and write down their orders one by one and finally ask Hayden “And you sir?” I asked. He looked up and gave me his order and I wrote it down. “I’ll get that right out for you,” I say with a smile. I walked back up to the counter to see Elena staring at their table, “Can you get this order billed please I have to tell Eddy (our cook) their order” I said trying to break her out of her trance. “How were you managing over there?” she asks me, while still looking at the table. “They are actually really nice but right now is not the time for that because I need to get their order over to them,” I say to her trying to make her focus on her work. After a few minutes, I left her and went to tell Eddy their order. I told Eddy and waited for him to make their order. Two things at a time I took their order out and was about to leave them to eat but I felt someone hold my wrist. I turned to see Hayden holding my wrist, “Stay, I’ve heard good things about you from my friends. I would like to experience that.” he said trying to smile. I shrugged my wrist out of his hand and his face fell but I grabbed a chair and sat down like I did before which made his small smile appear again.
*time skip*
We talked for about 45 mins when they finally had to leave, I left the table and went to get their bill. “Amelia, you have to tell us what happened at that table, they look so scary and you sat there talking with them for like 1 hour 30 mins!” my friends exclaimed. “I’ll tell you when we walk home,” I tell them. I got their bill and walked over to their table and set down their bill. “I’ll leave you all to it,” I said and walked away. I sat behind the counter waiting for a few minutes so they could settle the bill. I got up and walked out from behind the counter when I see Hayden, Mario, Jacob, and Edoardo walking up to me with the bill. Hayden handed me the bill and I handed it to Elena. While Elena was swiping the card and finishing the transaction, I was turned around and enveloped into a hug by Mario and I took a second but I reached my arms around his neck and I hugged him back. Jacob and Edoardo followed slightly hesitant but ended up doing it anyway. I could feel people’s eyes on us but I didn’t have the energy to care at the moment. I didn’t expect Hayden to do the same, he was more conservative and didn’t seem like the type to hug people. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Elena handing me his credit card, receipt, and a pen. I took it from her and handed it to Hayden expecting him to take it from me, sign it and leave but he took it from me and put it on the counter beside him and picked me up in a hug, his warm hands wrapped around my waist and his face in my neck. It was as if he was trying to savor it and it meant more to him than just a hug, He reluctantly let go, signed the receipts, and handed it to me. I held his gaze and handed the stuff to Elena, they were going to leave and I was probably not going to see them again....
