Way Forward (GirlxGirl) [E-book available on MEB]

You should have stayed

Emilia puts on the waist apron over her black chef coat as she makes her way out of the kitchen. She should be preparing all the ingredients and herself for another busy dinner rush at the restaurant. However, those have been deprioritized. Something else has come up and taken over the first spot on her list. The overly confident Emilia is tying her shoulder-lengthhair up into a messy bun as usual but what is not so usual is how she suddenly appears insecure and hesitant when she gets closer to her destination. She takes two steps forwards and one step back when the hostess comes into view. This weird action has been repeating a couple of times before the hostess who is reading through the names of tonight's reservation at the stand starts taking notice.

"Chef." The hostess puts the pen down and looks at the chef who can't really run away anymore once she is noticed. "Can I help you with anything? Do you need anything?"

"Hi." Emilia greets awkwardly and wipes her already-clean hand on the apron. She knows exactly what she wants but saying it out loud already sounds so off on her mind. She takes a minute to weigh in how to put her mind out a bit more pleasant to her own ears. "I heard you are from East Haven?"

"Yes." Although the hostess is a bit confused by the question that seems out of the blue, she answers it anyway.

"I have visited East Haven a couple of times." Emilia tells the story that stands true but it comes out nothing like it. "It was nice."

"Yeah." The hostess giggles. She gradually loosens up when she starts to realize what this interaction is leading to. Her free time has been well-spent on social media to know enough to assume. "You have been there with Charlie."

"Charlie?"

"Charlie Adkins." The hostess smiles and can't wait for the tea to be spilled. "She posted a picture from her brother's birthday party. Are you guys together?"

"No. About that." Now that things that Emilia found hard to say are out in the open, she approaches the stand with more confident. She rests her hand on the stand and puts a serious look on her face. She is about to be all business now. "I'm assuming you went to high school with Adkins. Charlie, I mean."

"Yes." The hostess nods.

"Is she a shithead in disguise or is she really this... nice and chill... person?" Emilia asks with the genuine curiosity. She needs to know this. She needs to know if Charlie will turn out to be another shithead liar.

"Well..." The hostess thinks for a second. It has been a huge while since she had any interactions with Charlie. She doesn't want to say things that are presently fault. "Charlie was lovable in high school. She was in the school soccer team and she did backstage for the drama club. She was nice to everyone. I think she is still pretty much like that now. She is super family-oriented but I think you already know that."

"Oh, yeah. Her family is amazing." Emilia couldn't agree more with the last part. The memory from that weekend is the clear evident for that. "Hmm... do you know why she and Nicole broke up?"

"No." The hostess shakes her head and answers whispery as if this is the beginning of some secrecy. "It is a big mystery for everyone, to be honest. They had always looked good together."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Here, I'll show you." The hostess gets her phone from her back pocket and scrolls through this and that before expressing a clear disappointment on her face. "They must have deleted all of their photos together."