Sugar

36

chapter thirty six
florence thompson
song: be my baby - the ronettes

"So...model bitch was there?" Rico asked from behind the counter, bent over as he was picking something up.

I rolled my eyes, leaning my forearms onto the counter and clasping my hands together.

"She's not a bitch, she hasn't even done anything!" I exclaimed, eyes wide as I looked over to Ben, who was putting clean mugs into the cabinet, for support.

Ben shrugged, making an I don't know face.

"Don't look at me, she seemed like a bitch when I met her," he commented, turning back to face the cabinet as he slid the mugs further back to accommodate more.

Rico stood up so quick that I jumped back, surprised that he popped up all of a sudden. "You met her?!" He seethed sassily, glaring at Ben.

Ben looked at him over his shoulder, shrugging once more, much more dismissive this time.

"Well yeah, we ran into her last week, shit was weird," Ben informed Rico who had his mouth agape, looking as if he was told there was a birthday party he hadn't been invited to.

"She did not seem like a bitch!" I groaned, pushing myself up away from the counter.

"Eh," Ben commented, placing one last cup into the cabinet before closing the door.

"She barely even talked." I reasoned, watching him as he stood up.

"That's exactly my point." He made a face as if I was silly for using that as an argument.

"I can't believe you guys ran into her and didn't tell me - better yet! I can't believe you hung out without me!" He exclaimed, glaring between Ben and I.

I chuckled, rolling my eyes as the bell on the door to the diner rang, signaling that someone new had entered the building. It had been slow for the past few hours, only three people coming in to get food, two of which took it to go.

Thankfully we were closing within the half hour so the new customer wouldn't be long.

When I turned on my heel to look who it was, my stomach immediately dropped. There in his handsome, douchey glory was Alex.

Alex that decided it was appropriate to comment on my future salary. Ring a bell?

"Oh shit," I muttered under my breath, my heart thudding in my chest.

"Welcome! How are you tonight?" Ben, the clueless, adorable man that he is, chirped pleasantly.

"I'm good! What abou-,"

The familiar voice replied before it immediately halted, his gaze falling on my frozen frame.

"Florence!" He exclaimed, his reaction much more pleasant than I'd anticipated, honestly, but I can't say that I was feeling similarly.

He came towards me, a big grin on his face. His hair was neatly styled, his face fresh of any facial hair but his large glasses still sat atop his nose.

"Alex," I mirrored his words, my voice almost feeling like it was stuck in my throat.

"I didn't know you work here," he noted, motioning to Glenn's around us.

"Yeah, a small world, huh?" I chuckled sheepishly, glancing to a confused Rico for support.

Rico shrugged, giving me a look that said what?!

"Sure is!" He exclaimed. "Hey, I'm sorry I never apologized for what happened that uh, night. I didn't mean to come off so abrasive, I was just trying to be helpful, give you a heads up, you know?"

I raised my brows, blinking for a few moments. This guy really just said he was trying to give me a heads up? About my future salary?

"That's uh...well, I mean...okay? I guess?" I stumbled over my words, trying to weasel my way straight out of the awkward tension.

"I didn't, I didn't mean-," He began, seeming to backtrack before an abrupt car honking jumped all of us. He glared over his shoulder through the glass, into the dark night with a sigh. "I should get going. Can I just get two doughnuts? Glazed?" He asked, turning his attention back to Ben behind the counter.

Ben nodded curtly, slipping on disposable gloves before grabbing a paper bag and opening the glass fixture of doughnuts on the counter. He gingerly placed two glazed doughnuts into the bag before rolling the top of it and handing it over the counter to my Alex.

"On the house, buddy," Ben spoke with that boyish charm, flashing a broad smile.

I rolled my eyes subtly.

"Thank you so much, man. I really appreciate it," he held his hand up to Ben as he backed away towards the door. "Nice to see you again, Florence." He smiled gently, glancing back over to where I was leaning against the counter.

I sent him a small smile, waving, as he exited through the door, the loud bells noting his departure.

As soon as he was out of earshot, I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, slumping back onto the counter.

"What was that all about?" Ben asked curiously, peeling his gloves off and tossing them into the waste bin as he glanced between Rico and myself.

"Let's just say it's a long story..." I mumbled, pushing myself away from the counter and shaking my head at the thought.

I sauntered towards the door, clicking the locks into place and flipping over the 'open' sign so everyone would know that we're closed.

"I have all the time in the world," Ben teased, throwing his dishrag over his shoulder and grinning playfully at me.

I rolled my eyes, leaning over the counter and grabbing the broom that Ben had earlier been using before starting to sweep the floor when a different song began loudly playing through the speakers of the diner.

I furrowed my brows, glancing around with my hand still on the broom as Rico sauntered our from the back of the diner, a cheeky grin on his lips.

It took me a few moments before I realized it was Be My Baby from Dirty Dancing, a grin spreading across my lips at the realization. Rico and I loved Dirty Dancing, it was our favorite movie.

Ben grabbed the mop, beginning to dance with it like they do in the movie, making me throw my head back as laughter left my mouth.

The rest of the night we danced our troubles away as we cleaned, Alex's sad excuse of an apology not even on my mind. That night we left Glenn's more spotless than we ever had.

• • •

q: all time favorite show and/or movie?