Sugar

43

chapter forty three
florence thompson
song: what a time - julia michaels

Is there anything worse than stale air? Truly, is there anything in this world that is worse than when you sit down with someone or even take a cab, and because either both of you are terrible at small talk, are in a bad mood, or God only knows what reason, you're met with a silence that could whither flowers?

I'm not a person of many pet peeves, but I hate uncomfortable silence more than small talk these days.

We had been sitting here for ten minutes after ordering, talking about a whole lot of nothing other than the current weather outside which we all know is an immediate end to any conversation ever unless you're over the age of forty-five.

"Here you two go! Let me know if you need anything else, I'll be around!" The familiar voice of our waitress met my ears and it was certainly welcome, helping break up the silence between the two of us.

We both simultaneously thanked her before she took back off after leaving us with our food. We'd both ordered burgers after little debate since he'd asked me what was the best here.

"So, Florence," Levi finally spoke up, looking at me from under his lashes after taking a sip of his glass of water through the metal straw the diner provides. "You know the owner?" He asked, picking at the french fries that had come with the meal.

I nodded, chewing on the fry that I'd plopped into my mouth before swallowing it. "Yeah, I work at a diner around here and Andy is best friends with my boss, so I've known Andy for a long time," I informed him, glancing up at him.

He nodded thoughtfully, not offering anything more to the conversation really.

"So, are you in school?" I piped up, dying to get the ball rolling to this conversation before my brain pooled out of my ears.

He nodded, running a hand through his blonde locks.

"Yeah, I'm an English major. My mom and dad wanted me to be a lawyer but I couldn't see myself in a suit before a judge, so I told them I wasn't down. They cut me off for a while, but they finally saw it my way and started paying for my college," he finished, his tone slightly snooty and immediately making my eyebrows shoot up.

"Oh..." I trailed off, trying to find the right words that didn't include anything rude.

"Yeah, it was pretty tough for a while there. I had to get a job as a waiter for a bit, thank god they finally pulled their heads out of th-,"

"A waiter?" I piped up, cutting him off before he said something that surely would've pushed me over the edge. "Where did you work?" I asked, completely uninterested in his answer but I knew that I couldn't sit here quietly and listen to his comment about his parents.

I was more befuddled now than when Aria had waltzed into my room earlier, unwarranted. When I got here this guy seemed shy, quiet, maybe even a little nerdy. The guy sitting in front of me now definitely seemed like a total asshat.

Not to mention if I'm recalling correctly, Aria had called him a total sweetheart.

Have I sat down with the wrong guy?

"Some stupid restaurant, like fifteen minutes away from here. Worst two weeks of my life, honestly," he scoffed, munching away on a fry.

I tried to even my breathing without looking like a complete lunatic.

I'm sure two weeks of working must've been like hell for this poor soul.

"So, Florence, Aria tells me you are looking for like, some long-term stuff. Is that true?" He asked before chomping into his burger, making my appetite completely wither away. I gnawed the inside of my lip, pushing my plate away from me slightly.

"I'm actually not looking for anything right now," I informed him. It wasn't a complete lie, I suppose. "I'm focusing on my school work and my job, so-,"

"What are you going to school for?" He asked, seeming a little too interested in my answer.

"Art, I want to be an art teacher," I answered, watching him closely for any sign of emotion.

His brows rose slightly in an expression I was all too familiar with when I told people what I wanted to do with my life. I swear I heard him scoff, but I couldn't be sure. Partially because my ears could be deceiving me and partially because I had half a mind to reach over this table and smack him already.

"An art teacher?" He repeated flatly, shaking his head.

He began spouting off all kinds of stuff, half of which I wasn't paying attention to as I texted Rico "emergency" under the table as best I could with one hand, and awaited his response.

Levi was in the middle of a rant about how little art teachers make when my phone's ringtone began blaring loudly. I apologized profusely before picking it up, pressing it to my ear.

"Florence!" Rico screeched in a high pitch before I could even greet him, his theatrics really paying off at that moment. "Florence, it's your grandmother. She had an accident, you have to come to the hospital. Hurry mija, quick!" He rushed out, his accent thickening as he put on his best female voice, screeching in my ear as I yanked the phone away slightly.

Levi's confused expression was enough to almost send me into a bout of laughter but I did my best to suppress the giggles.

"Okay, I'm on my way!" I exclaimed, pushing myself out of my seat and quickly yanking a twenty out of my wallet before throwing it on the table and rushing out apologies to Levi before sprinting out the door with my jean jacket slung over my arm, phone still pressed against my ear.

I kept up the show, hurriedly getting into my car and starting it up before peeling out of the parking lot and flying down the vacant road. My phone was on speaker now, sitting in the front seat as I let out a loud bark of laughter, the summer winds whipping through my hair as my windows were rolled down.

"You're welcome, mija," Rico teased through the phone, still using his remarkably feminine tone.

I just grinned, shaking my head as I chased the sunset.

• • •

q: what is your guilty pleasure?

mine is reality tv lmao