An Unexpected Hunger (5 page)

“I’m gonna’ be late,” he muttered, out of breath.

“What? How late?”

“Thirty minutes maybe? I’m still on campus.”

I slammed by hand down on the table, causing the fruit
in the bowl to jump. “Thirty minutes? Nick! It’s my first day! I can’t be late on my first day!”

“Relax,” he said. “I’ll call Mia and let her know.”

I hung up the phone, cursing under my breath. I should have known better than to trust my brother to actually follow through with something.

“What’s the matter?” mom asked, sending another carrot
to its demise in the juicer.

“I don’t have a ride to work.”

“Well, I can take you,” she said, a little surprised that I didn’t ask.

I let out a heavy breath, knowing that it was my only option. “Fine,” I said, putting my bowl in the sink.
“I’ll wait for you in the car.”

* * *

I took one sip of the cup mom handed me and moaned with exaggerated enthusiasm.

“Mmm,” I said, closing my eyes. “Nothing like
cold carrot juice first thing in the morning.”

It actually didn’t taste as bad as it looked
, but I would never admit it to her.

I walked into the empty Mug, holding a thermos full of my mother’s special blend of carrot, celery, and blueberry juice.
It was only ten in the morning and Mia was already behind the bar.

“Don’t you ever go home?” I asked as I sat down on one of the stools.

She laughed. “Only when Ricky lets me.”

“I can’t imagine having a brother as a boss.”

She shrugged. “I’ve worked for worse.”

A few minutes later, Casey came strolling through the door, her apron
hanging over her shoulder.

“Hey Case,” Mia said. “You remember Alexa
, right?”

Casey offered me a quick smile. “Yeah sure, Nick’s sister. I hear you’re my new trainee.”

I nodded my head. “Yeah, I’ve never waitressed before so I’m afraid you have your work cut out for you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she chuckled. “Just keep your hair back and your boobs out
, and you’ll do fine.”

* * *

I stared at the clock perched above the giant Corona poster that hung above the bar. Two more hours until closing and my feet were counting down every minute. I didn’t think twice about agreeing to do a double shift when things picked up around dinner time. It took a few hours, but I finally got into the routine of grabbing drinks from the bar, taking orders, and remembering the ketchup. The tips were pretty decent, and after a while I had accumulated a nice stack of cash in my apron.

Casey took about thirty minutes to explain all the job requirements and introduced
to me to the kitchen crew. Joe was the head cook, followed by Cesar the short order cook. They nodded and smiled, each one wearing black Mug tee shirts and black and white checkered chef pants.

“
Mike comes in sometimes to help out,” she said.

B
eing in the kitchen sent shivers down my spine. My eyes darted from the grill to the fryer then back towards the swinging double doors. Everything seemed to be moving all at once, and I tried to pay attention to what Casey was saying through all of the distractions. I felt my heartbeat thump in that familiar way while I did my best to take nice even breaths. Knowing that I only had to be back here in short bursts of time kept me from having to fight off a full blown anxiety attack. This wouldn’t be easy, but it was manageable.

By the end of the night, I had made about a
hundred dollars in tips as I secretly counted the cash in the bathroom. I stuffed it in a nice neat roll back into my apron and let my hair loose, feeling it fall free around my neck.

I headed back to put the chairs on
the tables so Jesus, the dishwasher, could mop the floors. Mia sat behind the bar closing down the register while Casey hopped on top of it and started to text on her phone.

“Get your ass of
f my bar!” I heard a voice boom from the front door.

In walked Ricky,
wearing sweatpants and a white tee shirt, looking every bit as good as he did the other night.

“Oh
, please,” Casey called back, hopping off. “Like you haven’t done worse on here.”

I cringed at her response, trying not to imagine what she meant.

Ricky ignored her comment and headed straight to the back office. After I had finished refilling the sugar packets and salt and pepper shakers, I walked over to Mia to make sure it was okay to leave.

“Sure,” she said with a smile. “Do you need a ride home?”

Yelling emanated from Ricky’s office, and my eyes glimmered in that direction, distracting me from answering Mia’s question.

“Don’t mind him,” she said. “He’s probably talking to my dad.”

Ricky and Mia’s dad was well-known around town. He ran out on them while we were in high school when their mom had become sick with cancer for the second time.

“I didn’t know you guys still talked to him.”

“We don’t,” she said. “But he calls Ricky every once in a while to ask for money. It’s pretty lame.”

I watched Ricky as he paced back and forth i
n his office. He finally hung his cell phone up and tossed it on his desk. He eyes flickered over at me, and I quickly looked the other way, knowing he caught me staring.

“Mia!” Ricky called
from his office. He looked to Mia and then back at me, a confused expression spreading across his face.

“What?” Mia called back annoyed. She had been in the middle of counting money and paused for a second, trying to remember where she left off.

“Where’s Toni?” he asked, walking towards the bar.

I suddenly felt self-
conscious, wishing I could slip under the stool, unnoticed.

“She quit
,” Mia replied.

“What
…when?” he asked, surprised.

“Two days ago. I told you that.
”

“Dammit,” he grumbled
, heading back to his office.

“Well
, if you stop sleeping with them,” Mia muttered under her breath.

Ricky glared
at me. “Have you even waitressed before?”

“Not exactly,” I said.
“But it’s not exactly rocket science.”

He rolled his eyes
, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well…that’s wonderful.” He turned to Mia. “Stop hiring people behind my back.” She rolled her eyes back at him and shook her head as Ricky stomped back into the office.

I took that as my cue and undid the knot of my
apron. I grabbed the order book I was assigned, dreading having to go into the office to put it back in its place. I approached the room slowly, trying to subtly clear my throat to announce my arrival.

Ricky sat behind his desk, his eyes peeled on the computer.
I said nothing as I reached in and plopped the order book back on the shelf. I turned to head outside to wait for Nick to pick me up when I heard Ricky speak behind me.

“Lex.”

I turned slowly, leaning my hand against the frame of the door.

“
Nice hair.” He smirked and returned his eyes on the computer.

I FLICKED THE note mom taped to the fridge, listing all of the do’s and do not’s while she was away on her cruise. I couldn’t believe when she told me she would be away for four weeks, touring Spain, Italy, and Greece on a European cruise with aunt Carol. I thought it would mean I would have access to her car for the next few weeks until I remembered she would be driving it to meet Aunt Carol in Pittsburgh.

I swung
open the refrigerator door, grabbing the ingredients to make myself something to eat for dinner. After two weeks slaving away at the Mug, I decided to splurge at the grocery store. I set a pan on top of the stove and let it warm while I sliced the pancetta. It sizzled when I dropped it into the pan, and the steam rose to my nose, filling it with a mouth-watering aroma.

I drained the pasta in the sink and tossed it
all together with a bit of freshly shredded pecorino cheese, peas, and a few sprinkles of chives and parsley. When I sat down with a bottle of red wine I found in my mother’s pantry, I exhaled, chewing in total bliss. The house was quiet, and I was alone; just me and my pancetta.

After I finished washing the last dish
, I put the leftovers in the fridge. I planned on cruising through the selection of movie rentals on TV and topping off my glass of wine. I plopped down on the couch, holding my cell phone out to see if anyone had called.

No one.

A few seconds later a text message from Nick appeared.

Nick: House to urself! Let’s celebrate!

Me: What did u have in mind?

Nick: The Mug?

Me: Not on my day off! : (

Nick: Mom’s house it is then!

Me: ??

Halfway into the movie, I quit looking at my phone
, waiting to hear back from Nick. I figured he had made other plans. When the old grandfather clock in the corner chimed at eleven, I peeled myself off the couch and started to head to bed.

Passing the front door, I heard the knob jiggle
. In came Nick with Mia right behind him. They both held on to brown bags, bottles of liquor peeking through.

“Thirsty?” Nick asked as he headed towards the kitchen.

“Hey girly!” Mia said, giving me a half hug.

“Nick…what the hell?” I asked, yawning. “I was just about to go to bed.”

“What?” he cried. He emptied each brown bag, laying everything out on the table. “But I brought drinks!”

I shuffled towards the kitchen, scoping out the wide selection. “Damn...what’d you do? Rob the bar?”

Mia chuckled as she sat in one of the kitchen chairs. “They were donated.”

Nick rummaged through the cabinets, trying to find anything resembling shot glasses.

“Who’s in?” he asked, pouring tequila into mismatched cups.

“Me!” Mia said, raising her head.

“Lex?” Nick asked. He didn’t bother with waiting for me to answer before he poured for the third time.

We each grabbed a glass and
swung them back, slamming them back down on the table.

“Yeow!” Nick cried, pouring another round.

I swiped the edges of my mouth as the door bell rang in the background.

“Who else did you invite?” I said.

“A few people.”

I headed to the door, preparing myself to spend a night with the three stooges. I let the door swing open
and walked away, not even bothering to see who was behind it.

“Is that the way you greet all your guests?”

I cut around only to see Ricky standing at the threshold of the door. He stared back at me in tattered dark wash denim and a nicely fitted navy tee shirt, a brown belt peeking through at his waist.

“Ricky…I didn’t expect it to be you,” I said, walking back towards the door. “Come in.” I waved him in. “They’re in the kitchen.”

Ricky followed close behind me
, and I couldn’t help but feel his eyes checking out the curvature of my ass as I walked. I did a quick peek back at him surprised, and a little disappointed, that he was more occupied with staring at the pictures on the wall.

* * *

After too many shots of tequila, I called it quits, and left the drinking to Nick, Mia, and Ricky. Charlie and the rest of the trio never bothered showing up which was a big relief. Nick had enough trouble holding his own without their help, let alone when they’re around to egg him on.

“I’m starving!” Nick said as he opened the fridge door. He rummaged through the drawers until finally discovering my leftovers from dinner. “Oooo,” he said, pursi
ng his lips. “This looks fucking awesome.”

“Hey, that’s mine!” I yelled.

Nick grabbed a fork out of the drawer and stabbed at the pasta, shoveling it into his mouth. “Oh my God,” he said with a mouth full of food. “Lex, this is so good!”

“I want some!” Mia whined
.

Nick grabbed another fork and tossed it
on the table when he sat down. Mia dug in, her face happily contorting as she chewed.

“Ricky…you gotta’ try this,” she said
, handing him a forkful of food.

I watched as he grabbed the fork and popped it into his mouth, letting it slide out clean. “Damn,” he said, cocking one eyebrow. “That
is
good.” He grabbed another forkful out of the bowl while Mia pouted about her stolen utensil.

Nick and Mia ate until they cleaned the bowl
. We all ended up on the front porch so Ricky and Nick could smoke. I sat on the first concrete step, watching Mia plant pecks on Nick in between puffs. Ricky sat on one of the patio chairs, one leg hitched over the other. I tried not to notice Ricky’s eyes settling my way. I caught him staring more than once, and each time I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment.