Waiting Tables

Chapter 17 - Happy!

*Ch 16 synopsis: Ashton is r*ped by his boss and tries to comfort himself. After finally getting the energy to try to sleep, Ashton hears a text come in from Luke but he feels too dirty and disgusting and unworthy of talking to Luke after what happened to him so he ignores the text and cries himself to sleep 💔*

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Another day, another shift.

    Ashton made his way around the restaurant swiftly, humming a small tune as he went about his day.

    "Ash, order for 14 is up," Kevin called through the window. He walked to the back to get the tray, smiling at the man who pushed it through the window. Kevin winked at him as he took it to the customers. He was glad Ashton was back to his usual self now. He'd been acting off for a little while, but the cheery, friendly man was back.

    "Here you are," he set the plates down in front of the couple. "You guys are super cute, by the way, if you need anything, let me know."

    "Thanks," the girl grinned, reaching across the table and taking the other girls hand.

    He walked away, smiling at everyone he walked past. He was always friendly, and there was no reason not to keep that image up.

    The day dragged on, and he was looking forward to going home to a clean house when he finished at work. He couldn't sleep last night for some reason, so around 6 am he got up and deep cleaned his entire flat. It had been a while since he washed his blankets and scrubbed the floors. Since he couldn't sleep anyway, he figured it was about time.

    Unfortunately by the time all that was finished, he had to leave. Even though he was finally tired and he'd just made his bed with the warm blankets fresh from the dryer, he couldn't do more than cuddle in them for a few moments before he changed to leave.

    Oh well, something to look forward to later on.

    Ashton had one table to close out, and then he could finally go home. It wasn't closing time, he was only working from 10-6, and the bar didn't close till 11, so all he was waiting for was the one family to leave.

    They were rude, though. Ashton had been nothing but good to them, going above and beyond like he always did, but he knew he couldn't please everyone. He also knew he wasn't everyone's cup of tea. After one joke fell flat, he knew to keep it professional and courteous with this group.

    Luke had texted him that morning, and he answered the message when he finished cleaning. It had been "too long" since they'd seen each other (but in Ashton's opinion they were seeing too much of each other) so Luke said he was going to stop by the bar at the end of his shift. Ashton had forgotten that until the man, in all of his curly haired glory, stepped inside and out of the cold evening wind.

    Ashton walked up to him with a smile.

    "Hi!"

    "Hey, Ash, what's going on?"

    He shrugged.

    "'S not too busy, I just have one table almost finished, and once I cash them out I'm free to go! Finished all my side work already," he informed him proudly.

    Luke smiled down at him.

    "That's good, I'm gonna go see Louis, I see him over there."

    "Sounds good. Is Harry here?" he looked behind him like it was a valid possibility he'd show up.

    Luke smirked and nodded.

    "He's going to park the car, I already told him to come inside." Ashton chuckled.