Something So Unexpected

Chapter 2

Jamie’s POV

Family is the most important thing to me. I have a twin sister, Jillian. We’re 23, but our lives have gone in very different directions. Jillian, always more of a people person, is an elementary school teacher. We were concerned about her being able to finish school after Jason.

Jason and Jillian were high school sweethearts. They were together for five years. However, with them both being in school, when Jillian ended up pregnant, Jason didn’t respond well. In fact, he told her that he didn’t want to throw away his life just because she ended up pregnant.

He accused her of cheating, whoring around, and any other concept he could think of that resulted in her getting pregnant. The fact that they had been exclusive and sexually active was apparently irrelevant. I’m pretty sure Jason always knew the truth, but for whatever reason, he couldn’t accept reality. He left her as right after she told him and he never looked back since.

This brought Jillian and I even closer. I told her we would solve this together. She felt trapped. She thought about dropping out of school, but I wanted her to reach her goals. Jillian always loved working with young children. In order to help her, I found a job working nights. That way, I could watch the baby during the day while she finished school and when she got a teaching job, I’d continue to help her during the day.

The problem is, nighttime jobs are limited and often aren’t ideal. Having no formal education beyond my high school diploma, I got a job at a diner. The Kingston Diner was 24 hours and attracted many truckers, travelers, and drifters. Tonight would be no different.

The problem is, money has been tight lately. Even with Jillian’s teaching job, we’ve been struggling. The costs for Bella continue to accumulate. She is two now and between pull ups, food, clothes, and toys, not to mention inflation, our salaries just don’t seem to be cutting it. I talked to Jillian and she suggested asking my boss for a raise. I’ve been here for two and a half years and despite my strong performance, I’ve never gotten a raise. Today I’m going to ask.

As I enter the diner for my shift, I make my way to the office, I see Devin inside. I politely knock on the open door and wait for him to acknowledge my presence. He glanced my way, but didn’t turn to face me.

“What do you want?” He spat. This was going to be harder than I thought.

“I’ve been working for you for a while. I’m a consistent and reliable employee. The regulars like me and I was just thinking…” My voice trailed off. Devin turned to me, rolling his eyes and sighing.

“What. Do. You. Want?” He enunciated each word with a pause. I swallowed, and suddenly my mouth felt dry. I started to fidget with my fingers.

“I want a raise,” I blurted out. He raised his eyebrow in disbelief. Not both eyebrows. Just one. Like he was waiting for me to explain myself or change my request. “I believe I’ve been an asset here and I’ve learned so much. I just-”

He cut me off. “You want to earn more money?” I nodded. “Let me give you a little advice. Unbutton your shirt more. THAT’s how you’re going to make more tips.” I felt a chill go down my spine. I had to have more value than my body. “If that’s all, leave. I’m pretty sure you’re now considered late for your shift. It started, oh, eight minutes ago” he said flatly. “Now, why would I give a raise to an employee that is eight minutes late?” He laughed.

“I was on time, I just came to talk-”

He cut me off again “Nope. You want to talk about personal business, do it outside of your shift. And I’m docking you the eight- now nine minutes.” My frustration grew. Tears stung my eyes. I turned on my heel so Devin wouldn’t see. I walked quickly to the kitchen with a deep breath. I looked down at my uniform. It’s a simple short sleeved black button up. Maybe he’s right. I usually have a modest 2 buttons undone, but let’s test it out. After all, I needed to make up for the eight- no, nine- minutes I was being docked today for “being late.” I tied my apron around my hips and got to work.

Like any other day, a steady stream of customers came in. After the dinner rush, it started to slow down a bit. I was bringing my customers, a dad and his daughter, out their food. One of the truckers was getting a little ballsy for my taste. He grabbed my arm as I passed by him. I had my hands full with the dad’s burger and his daughter’s chicken tenders.

“Sir, I’ll be right with you, but please take your hands off of me.”

“You know, it gets lonely on the road.” He tried to lower his voice to entice me, but it had the opposite effect. I took a deep breath to avoid shuddering.

“Unfortunately, that is not part of my job description.” I spat back. I yanked my arm away and he grunted at me. I made my way to the father daughter dinner and placed their plates in front of each with a smile. “Here’s your dinner and I’ll be right back with drink refills!” I said as cheerfully as possible.

When I went back to the kitchen, I took another deep breath to steady myself. I reminded myself why I do this. Jillian and Bella. The bell over the door rang, announcing more customers arriving. Luckily, that meant there’d probably be more tips. After all, Mister Gruff and Tough, the trucker who grabbed me earlier, probably wasn’t leaving me a tip now that I refused his advances. One more deep breath and I set my smile back on my face. I made fresh drinks for the father and daughter and delivered them.

I glanced around to the back booth where my new patrons just sat themselves. Two guys sat already looking at the menus. The guy closer to me seemed to be looking at every inch of my body. While most customers doing this might make me uncomfortable, for some reason the expression on his face looked as one of admiration. When he looked at me, it was like a work of art, not a piece of meat. He had already piqued my interest. As his eyes continued up my body, I heard something that sounded almost like a growl. And when he looked into my eyes, my heart skipped a beat. His eyes were slate grey as he seemed to look into my soul. I regained my bearings and started the conversation.

“Hi, I’m Jamie and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. Can I get you guys started with something to drink?”