Treat You Better

Chapter Thirty-nine: A Little Reunion.

Chapter Thirty-nine: A Little Reunion.

Dad was just absolutely ridiculous sometimes. He knew I was meant to have a big moment tonight but he still made me come to work in the restaurant!

My perfect day was crashing even more before my eyes; almost all the girls from the school were here, the heat from the kitchen was seriously frizzing my hair, I was trying hard to not look like a wreck in front of the customers and that was hard because Angelo wasn't replying my texts which was weird because he said he always had his phone on ring for me and all the tension mixed together was really making me want to find the nearest bucket and...vomit!

"I'm going to text him to cancel it!" I cried out in front of the bathroom mirror and made a grab for my phone. But Annie was quicker.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa no!" She said, holding it away. "Calm down."

"Yeah, he's going to reply any second now." Susan assured me.

"It's not just that, everything's just going wrong... please, just..." I sighed, feeling more nervous churning in my stomach. "Those girls are still asking for photos with my dad, aren't they?"

"I keep reminding myself that it's for the good of the restaurant." Susan said factually.

"Yeah, let's focus on other things, one at a time." Annie soothed, rubbing my back.

"Yeah," I nodded, "this is silly, it's just a date."

"Hey, maybe it is!" Susan shrugged, throwing her hands up. "Come on, back into the ring!"

Dad walked out the men's room just as we walked out of ours and I wondered how he passed his crazed fans unscathed.

"This is your fifth five minute break, Violet." He reminded me before doing a double take at Susan who looked like she was about to explode with happiness. "Stop... doing that."

"He talked to me." Susan sighed, grabbing my arm as Dad hurried away. "Can I please work here with you?"

"No." I replied instantly.

After ten more minutes of serving these girls (cough, Hattie Jensen and her friends, cough) who just kept hanging around and ordering the cheapest meals we had just in case they could see the chef, I was ready for another break and nearly dead inside.

"Table fourteen needs attention kid!" One of my coworkers said, and before I could tell him to do it himself, he was gone.

So I dragged myself over with my pen and notepad. "Good evening, may I have your...?"

It was three girls in identical black hoodies and sunshades which did nothing to hide them from me since I already saw too much of them today. "Cassandra?"

This had to be a nightmare.

"Ugh, why's it have to be you?" Tina Duke asked.

"I'm sorry, if you didn't want to see me then maybe you shouldn't have come to the restaurant my Dad owns!" I said.

"Oh please, I'm here for this, being a waitress suits you." Cassandra gestured at my appearance before peering at me over her sunshades.