Uprising

Chapter 5

I made it to lunch with no problems and as I went up to my afternoon class, we were told that the classes for the afternoon had been cancelled as the teacher had gone home sick and that we should take the time to revise or catch up on the last of the course work that had to be handed in at the end of the week.

I didn't hang around and I certainly didn't go to the library like some of the others did. I headed straight home via the bus and went and got some sleep. I knew I was running on fumes and there would be no way that I'd be able to make it through my shift at work tonight if I didn't get some sleep. I set an alarm for four so that I had time to get a shower, change, and eat before heading off to work.

By six o'clock, I was at work. Normally my job was in the kitchen, which was fine with me as it meant that I didn't have to interact with people in the restaurant. However, tonight I'd been asked if I could work as a waitress as one of the girls had called in sick. I'd agreed, as I knew it was going to be a busy night, as Wednesday nights always were but by ten it would died down which was the end of my shift.

My night was going pretty well until I went to walk to my new table that had just been seated. I felt my heart drop a little into my stomach as I noticed that sitting at the table were Jake and a female. I frowned for a moment, wondering why he had a table for four, until I saw Eric and Jen.

Relief began to fill me that it wasn't just Jake tonight, so I walked over with a smile.

"Izzy!" Jen squeaked as she jumped up and hugged me, nearly knocking me backwards. Jen was a year younger than me, a little smaller than I was and she had beautiful blonde hair that she always kept pinned back. For all she was small in height, she certainly had a big personality and that was what made Jen, Jen.

"I didn't think you were working tonight." She sat back down as she looked at Eric, asking if he knew I'd been working tonight.

"Normally, I don't do waitressing; normally, I work in the back." I explained it simply.

"Aren't you supposed to be asking for our order rather than standing here talking?" The girl sat next to Jake, looking at me with a cocky grin on her face as she seemed to lean into Jake.

"Leah, there's no need to be like that." Jen snapped.

"No, your friend is right." I smiled and looked at Jen and Eric. "Drinks?" I asked them simply.

"Do you really need to ask?" Jen grinned. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her and wrote down on my pad of paper that she wanted a pepsi.

"Same." Eric answered. "Jake? Leah?"

"I'll have the same too." Jake answered. I noticed he seemed a little tense. I wasn't sure if it was who he was with or if it was seeing me again and me seeing him with a girl. Either way, I did feel sorry for him.

"Have you two already met?" Jen asked.

"Yeah, we met briefly this morning." I told Jen and then looked at the girl. "What can I get you?"

"Water." She snapped and then made a shooing motion towards me.

"Leah, there's no need to be like that to Isabelle." Jake seemed to snap at her. I understood now. It hadn't been seeing me that had caused him to be tense; it had been the company he was with tonight that had set him on edge.

"I'll be right back with your drinks, then I'll take your orders." I told them all simply as I headed back to the bar. I took a slow, deep breath as I walked over and then grabbed a tray and got all the drinks ready to go across to them. Before I went across with the drinks, I glanced at the time to see that there wasn't much longer left of my shift, which I had been thankful for. I walked back to the table, stood between Eric and Jen and put their drinks in front of them.

I walked around the table, stood between the girl and Jake and went to put Jake's drink on the table when I felt the girl called Leah push her chair back a little into my leg, making me spill the drink over Jake and the water over the tray.

"Oh my god. I am so sorry." I put the tray down and the cup down quickly. "Give me a minute." I told Jake as I went back to the bar to grab napkins and a towel to dry Jake off. I went back across to find Jake scowling coldly at Leah as I handed him the towel and I began to clean up the drink from the table.

"Don't worry about it; it was an accident." Jake told me but I glanced at him to see him still giving Leah a cold look. "Umm, let me get you some fresh drinks." I took the tray away, walked back to the bar and went and got two new drinks for Jake and Leah. I turned around and found Eric standing at the bar, passing me the towel.

"Is he mad with me?" I asked him quietly.

"No. He's mad at Leah for pushing the chair back into you. Jake asked her why." I put the towel back and then came around with the tray and walked with Jake. "She wanted his attention but you were getting it." Eric whispered. "We'll talk later about it ok?" I nodded as Eric went and sat back at the table and I went and put the drinks back down. This time Leah did nothing to me.

"Can I get you any food?" I asked them quietly as I looked at Jake apologetically.

"No, I'm good and so is Leah." Jake answered. "I've lost my appetite after that." I noticed Jake seemed to look at me apologetically too.

"It's fine." I told him simply. "What about you two?" I asked Jen and Eric.

"We'll get something on the way home." Jen answered, feeling the tension.

"Ok, well, drinks are on me because of the chaos I've caused. So don't worry about it." I smiled and looked at Jake again. "I'm so sorry." I told him again and then left them and went to the bar to tell the boss that I'd be paying for the drinks and then headed back to my tables to tidy them up. I payed no more attention to Eric and the rest as I got my head down and tidied tables and cleaned them down.

I looked up after cleaning up the last table to find the table that Eric was sat at was empty and the cups had all gone. I couldn't help but smile a little as I went across and quickly gave it clean over.

"I'm sorry for what Leah did to you." Jake's voice made me jump a little as I turned and looked at him.

"I was more worried about you." I told him simply. "I've had worse happen to me than that." I shrugged.

"She was still out of line for doing that. I asked Eric and Jen to take her home for me." I just nodded at him. "I also paid for the drinks and left you a tip to apologise."

"I told you I would pay for them. It was my mistake...."

"It doesn't matter anyway." Jake shrugged as he frowned a little at me. "Do you have much longer before you finish?"

"What time is it?" I asked him as I felt my heart hammering hard against my chest.

"Half nine." Jake answered after he checked his phone.

"Half an hour." I told him. "Why?"

"Can I get you a drink to apologise?" He asked. "No strings attached. I'm not sure what Eric's told you about me." He laughed and then ran his hand through his hair as if he were embarrassed by his actions.

"You don't have to." I told him simply as I felt my cheeks blush deeply. I really knew that tonight hadn't been the best night to take him up on it, as I had wanted to talk to Danny.

"Just one." He told me as if he could read me.

"Just one." I agreed with a nod. Jake smiled lightly and then went and sat in a booth that wasn't in my area, so I set about back to work but my mind for the whole last half an hour turned over just what did Jake want? I had no idea what he wanted from me, but I had a feeling that he'd be blunt and tell me what he wanted as he seemed to come across as that type of person. Just what had I got myself into now?