A North Carolina Autumn

Hot Coffee

Monday morning comes all too soon, and I quickly get ready for work. "I'll come pick you up before I go to the hospital, okay buddy?" I say to Harvey before crouching down to kiss his head and hurrying out the door.

The drive to work is quiet, and I put on some music to keep the torrent of thoughts and emotions from filling my mind. When I arrive, I'm the first one there. Groaning, I step out of my car and unlock the diner to begin opening.

I didn't know who was supposed to be opening, but my guess was Jennifer and Timothy. For some reason, Larry always scheduled them to open, but they were always late. Normally, I would just get everything done as quickly as possible, but today I start with the easy, mindless tasks. Five minutes before we open, Jennifer and Timothy finally show up. Luckily, they get to work right away on the things that still need to be done. I don't miss the concerned glances they share as I continue to work silently, but I ignore it.

The first part of the morning goes by quickly, thank goodness, but I know the remainder of my shift is going to drag by when I see the next group seated in my section.

"Shit..." I mumble under my breath, my frown only deepens when I see that it's only Jim, Carl and Joe. Dan isn't with them today. "Hey, Jennifer. Would you mind taking over table five for me?"

"Sorry Aspen, I've got my hands full." Jennifer responds before hurrying off.

"No worries." I reply to her retreating back.

Except lots of worries. All the worries. My mind argues. I take a deep breath before slowly approaching the table. Joe's eyes meet mine first, and I fight a shiver before pulling my eyes away. I try not to take note of the ugly, greedy look in his eyes.

"Aspen! We've missed you. Where have you been?" Carl says in a surprisingly polite tone.

"You haven't been avoiding us again, have you? I might have to talk to your boss if so." Joe says, and I raise one eyebrow. "Oh, yeah." He continues. "Larry and I go way back. I bet he'd be able to do something to make sure our favorite waitress is the only waitress to serve us from now on."

Serve you and your nasty, cheap ass friends and get nothing in tips back? Hell no.

But he was right. Larry was my boss and if he and Joe were buddies, I might be out of luck.

"What can I get for you this morning?" I ask, choosing to ignore his words.

"Well, hey now. You didn't answer my question. We're your favorite guests, you wouldn't be avoiding us, right?" Joe's voice had taken on a new tone, one I didn't like.

"No, Joe. I've just been busy." Dealing with my abusive ex, my dog, and my girlfriend who is currently in a coma. Not that I'd spend any of my energy on you even without those things.

"Hmm... I've heard that before. What did you do to your arm?"

"Nothing. Now, I've got things I need to get back to, other customers that need to order. What can I get y'all?" My patience was running very thin. Today was not the day to test me, and yet, that's all Joe wanted to do.

"You're awfully short with us this morning. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"Joe, we've been busy today. I'm just trying to stay ahead of the rush. Would you like me to come back when y'all are ready?"

"Well I'm sure Larry wouldn't appreciate knowing his best waitress is being short with his paying customers."

I'm going to lose it. I am going to kill a man today.

"Let me get y'all some drinks while you decide what to order." I say abruptly, knowing that if I didn't walk away, someone would be leaving in an ambulance. Someone whose name started with a 'J' and ended with an 'oe'.