Us (Completed)

1

Before Us

Penny
6 months earlier

I watch the rain finally slow down outside the diner window, as I clean up the table from the family that just left.

It has thankfully been a quiet afternoon, and evening because of the rain. As much as I need the tips right now, I need the peace more, after the hectic week of course work and extra shifts I picked up.

I take the dishes to the back, and wash my hands. I push back out through the creaky double doors right as the front door dings signaling a new patron walking through. I look up right on time to lock eyes with the customer, and I freeze.

It's him again.

"Sixth night in a row," I hear my friend Beth say behind me, teasingly in a singsong voice. I cut her a look that reminds her how far her voice carries. "Maybe he just loves Lee's cooking," I mumble.

She laughs, coming to put a hand on my shoulder. "Whatever you need to tell yourself Penn," she says nodding over to where he has moved. He takes off his suit jacket, and places it neatly on a chair. Then takes a seat at the same table in my section that he has sat at every night, for six nights now.

The first time he came in I was sure he was from out of town. He didn't look like most of the men from Seabrook. Being a beach town, the men who come in to Lee's Diner are more casual. Polo shirts, and khaki shorts, or jeans.

And honestly, our town was mostly Caucasian. So rarely did you see a gorgeous Middle Eastern man walking around here in an expensive three piece suit.

Rarely did you ever see a man like him in real life period.

He was so gorgeous that the first time he walked through the door of the diner, Beth and I almost dropped the plates that we were carrying.

And we weren't the only ones who noticed him. A group of cheerleaders who had come in from Seabrook High were gawking, and giggling amongst each other, openly eye fucking him.

But he had kept his gaze on me from the minute I nervously approached his table to take his order, until he left an hour later. Leaving me an extremely generous tip.

He'd been back every night since.

He always ordered the special, tried to start a conversation with me, that I was too nervous to fully engage in, and always left a great tip.

Tonight, he's wearing a dark suit, with light pinstripes. A black tie wrapped around the neck of his white shirt, an expensive watch on his wrist that looked different than the one he wore yesterday. Shoes that I knew cost more than my existence.

He puts his elbows on the table, and steeples his hands as I approach him. Unabashedly, he slowly looks me over from head, to toe. I feel heat taking over my body as his green eyes trace over me.

I reach his table, and look at his large hands instead of his face. "H-hello again. Would you like coffee?" I say trying to not fidget with my apron.

"Hi gorgeous," he croons in his deep voice. Being close to him does my head in. He smells amazing, and that deep voice with his slight accent, embeds itself inside me every time he speaks to me.

"H-hi Clark," I say, stifling a smile at his compliment, and wondering if I'd ever say a full sentence to this man without stuttering.

"Coffee would be perfect. You know how I like it." He says moving his hands from the table and sitting back. My gaze finally meets his, and his lips tip up in a smirk. "I'll be right back." I say scurrying away to make his coffee.