disregard // paul lahote

01

MARLEY OWENS HAD PRACTICALLY LIVED at the Carver Cafe since she applied for the job in her sophomore year of high school. She adjusted to the warm, welcoming environment, and the amount of tacky stuffed animals that decorated the walls.

"I smell like french fries," Lorena- Marley's co-worker and long time friend- pointed out as she wiped down the counter. "And ketchup." Marley added in, causing Lorena to bump shoulders with her as she tossed her head back in laughter.

"You girls are good locking up?" Caesar asked as he pulled on a raincoat to protect himself from the storm outside the diner doors. "Yes," they chimed in unison. "Go drink a glass of wine and take a hot bath," Lorena wiggles her eyebrows.

Caesar rolls his eyes and wishes the girls a good night before stepping outside into the night. "You take booth one, two and three. I'll take the rest." Marley tosses a rag at Lorena, wiping down a booth before placing the condiments back in their proper places. She repeated those actions for another three booths and triple checked everything was shut down, and locked up before she could send Lorena off and officially lock the doors.

"Goodnight my love," Lorena squeezed Marley's bicep. "Drive safe," Marley jokingly blew a kiss and waved her off as she pulled from the parking lot. Marley shut the lights off and pulled the doors shut behind her, reaching for the key to lock the doors.

"Marley," Her heart jumped and she nearly dropped the keys, twigs snapped as Seth walked out of the forest next to the Cafe- shirtless. "Seth? It's nearly midnight on a school night, what are you doing in the forest-" She started before a familiar group of shirtless men followed behind him. "We like to run in the woods, it's a bit cooler at night too. Sweat less," He joked as he threw an arm around her shoulders.

"This is Marley Owens," Seth introduced to the strange men. "Quil, Embry, and Jared. We're missing a few." Marley tried to remember their names but Seth spoke so quickly and excitedly that she couldn't follow.

"Hi," She addressed them before turning to Seth. "Go home and get some sleep, kid. Don't you have school in the morning?" She teased as she approached the driver's side of her car. "Do you and your friends need a ride?" She offered Seth, who peered back at his friends before shaking his head. "We're good, g'night Marley."

"Goodnight Seth." She nodded towards his friends before she hopped into the driver's seat and put her key in the ignition.

Marley could hear the guys laughing, mentioning someone named Paul as they shoved each other jokingly as they jogged back into the trees and disappeared from her sight.

----

"Can I grab you anything, Nina?" Marley questioned the older woman who sat at the bar, finishing off her plate of chicken and potatoes. "Just another water, sweets." Nina held the glass out as Marley grabbed a jug of ice water and gracefully filled the glass to the top. "Thank you, my dear." Marley adjusted the apron around her waist as she walked out from behind the bar.

"Mind cleaning up booth two for me?" Lorena begged, balancing trays in her hands as she approached the kitchen. Marley nodded and grabbed a rag along with some disinfectant cleaning solution. She piled the final cutlery that was spread across the table and placed it on a tray she sat on the cushioned seats before she spray the table and wiped it down until it practically sparkled.

She brought the tray of dirty dishes to the kitchen where Suri was on dish washing duty, who slapped Marley's behind with a dirty towel as Marley hurried to grab clean cutlery for booth two.

The bell of the front door chimed, hearing Lorena greet the customers as Marley returned to the bar to wipe down the counter and sort out a customer's bill when she felt a tap on her shoulder. "You've been requested at booth six," Lorena wiggled her brows gesturing over to the booth filled with rowdy boys. "Okay?" She grabbed a pen and her pad before walking up to the booth, immediately recognizing Seth Clearwater and his strange group of friends- who had muscle shirts on, but shirts nonetheless.

"Welcome to Carver Cafe," She felt uncomfortable as the boys nudged each other to be quiet as they giggled like there was an inside joke she wasn't aware of. "Marley, what a coincidence!" One of the boys she didn't know the name of exclaimed. "Right, Paul?" He shoved another guy who sat in the booth with an angry look etched on his face and his arms crossed against his chest- not looking in her direction.

Marley didn't bring up the fact that she was aware of them requesting her as a waitress, instead she ignored their childish actions and asked them what they wanted. She wrote down three double cheeseburgers, two extra orders of fries, a steak with a substitute of mashed potatoes instead of a salad. "And for you?" She shifted on her feet as she looked towards 'Paul' who was yet to look at her or shift from his position, Marley was half convinced he was a statue. "Double cheeseburger," He muttered- still keeping his eyes off of her.

"And to drink?" She asked, writing down his order. "Coke." He barked, re-crossing his arms over his chest as she collected their menus. She brought the order back to the kitchen, huffing as she leant against the door frame, looking over at Caesar. "What's wrong, Mar?" The older man questioned, noticing the look of frustration on his employees face as he flipped hamburgers on the grill.

"Just this particular booth giving me a hard time," she shrugged, clipping the order on the line. "Want me to speak to them? I'll go out there and straighten 'em out." Caesar spoke as he laid down his spatula and reached to untie his apron. "No, no, no. It's fine C, really." Marley held her hands out to stop him. "Back to work," Suri hip bumped her as she walked by with a clean stack of dishes in her hands.

Marley laughed and grabbed five cups and filled them up with the desired drinks and set them on a tray before she took a deep breath and carried them to booth six. She placed the tray down and handed out each drink- realizing they were missing a member as she held an extra coke in her hand. "Uh, Paul left. But I'll take his drink." Seth assured her, a guilty look washing over his face. "And cancel the double cheeseburger order?" She asked, but Seth shook his head. "If you don't mind just wrapping it up, I can take it to him after. If it's not a huge trouble for you." He stumbled over his words apologetically, but she smiled softly and assured him it wasn't a big deal.

The next hour went by quickly as she balanced the Friday night storm of customers that poured in. "Separate bills please," one of Seth's friends asked as she walked up to them and found their plates wiped clean just a mere ten minutes after she had served it to them. Lorena helped her take their plates as Marley went to fetch the debit machine to print them each a bill. Before she could bid them a farewell and finish cleaning their booth, Seth stood up and asked what she was doing next Friday night.

"Probably working? I'm not sure." She stated, tilting her head in confusion. "There's this bonfire we have down at La Push, it'd be cool if you came. My mom asked if I would extend the invite, plus you could meet my sister Leah."

Marley was caught off-guard but she told him she'd think about it, which brightened his contagious smile. He wrote down a time and an address on her note pad before wishing her a goodnight and tugging his buddies out the door with him.