Salty

Thirty-One | Blood, Tears & Hollandaise

Thirty-One | Sloan

New Message: Ava Linden:
Where are you?

New Message: Ava Linden:
He's closing the doors in like 3 min.

New Message: Ollie Mulligan:
Where the hell are you?

New Message: Ollie Mulligan:
?????

New Message: Ava Linden:
The test was horrible. I think I failed. Hope everything is okay :(

New Message: Hallie Reynolds
Please come out of there. I love you. You shouldn't cry alone.

New Message: Ava Linden:
Are you missing every final? Are you dropping out? No retakes... remember?

New Message: Thomas (TJ) Jones:
I know you don't want to hear it, but I'm thinking of you today.

New Message: Ollie Mulligan:
Answer your damn phone. You're scaring the hell out of me. I had to fail you!

New Message: Hallie Reynolds:
Wanna watch Pretty Woman and drink wine with me?

New Message: Ollie Mulligan:
I'm coming over.

With my stomach in knots, I swiped each message off of the screen. Everyone I knew had been worried about me and sending messages, but my phone had died the night before. My head was too preoccupied to think to charge it. Then, with the sudden drive to the farm, it was left in my room back at the duplex. That night seemed like a lifetime ago; not a day. As I opened the door to Mulligan's, the phone vibrated once more with another text.

New Message: Ava Linden:
We're going out tonight to celebrate the end of the semester. Want to come?

Hard pass.

Tonight's schedule included a shift I'd been dreading ever since coming home with Ollie. After our very brief conversation in the barn, Ollie became the quiet, brooding type. Just when I'd thought I had seen all of his personalities; this one was new. The man didn't want to argue. He didn't want to yell; he didn't want to cry anymore. Ollie turned himself off completely. By doing this, that apparently meant ignoring me the entire way home—making even Hallie feel awkward for being in the vehicle. Hallie, of course, knew nothing of what had been said in the barn, and when she attempted to start any sort of conversation, Ollie would turn up the radio volume to end it. Hope he had sent a text since dropping me off at home was now diminished. Hopefully, tonight would be back to normal.

The restaurant already appeared busier than usual as I made my way to the kitchen. I sent off a text to Ava, passing on tonight's end of semester celebration. Partying over the tanking of my grades didn't sound like a good time. I was dreading the email of my non-existent scores.

"He's in a mood!" Mikah called out to me just before I pushed through the swinging door of the kitchen. A vodka bottle was being held high in the air, upside down, with a stream of clear liquid pouring into a mixed drink. "You've been warned."

I sighed, wondering just how bad this mood could be. Curiosity was answered with Ollie's heated tone booming from inside the kitchen. It was heard over the sound of the patrons in the restaurant and the music meant to accompany their dining experience. I'd witnessed him get testy in the kitchen before, but this seemed more like irate. Then there was a clatter that sounded like a metal pan being slammed into the countertop. More shouting followed.

"Told you," Mikah said with an eye roll.

I pushed my way into the kitchen, immediately swarmed by the tension between the staff. People moved frantically, panicked. The servers couldn't get themselves and their trays out of the room fast enough, nearly taking me out. I ducked, pivoted, and squeezed my way through to the opposite side of the room to get at the time clock and my jacket.