Our Love Story

Chapter Nine

Katherine's house was the typical family home you would see in a movie: a light yellow two-story home with a white picket fence and a two door garage. Her and Peter also had a small, cream colored Pomeranian dog, which was sun-bathing outside on the lawn as I walked up to the home.

"Hey, Fluffy!" I greeted the dog, bending down to pet him. He barked back, his tail wagging wildly. "I'm just here to give your mom some food our mom made."

Walking up the steps of the porch and into the front door which was open, Fluffy followed me into the kitchen. It was empty, but I could hear the voices of Katherine and her friends from outside in the backyard. I left the tupperware of food on the kitchen island and stepped out to the backyard, Fluffy skittering past my legs and down the porch steps, onto the green grass, running in circles.

Katherine was wearing a light yellow floral-printed sundress and was laughing at something a friend of hers said when she noticed me. "Hey, Nova!" she greeted.

"Hey," I said, waving to a few of the people here who knew me. "Mom asked me to drop off some food to you guys. It's on the counter."

"Thanks," she said as Peter waved at me from the grill, where he was barbecuing stuff that smelled amazing.

"Nova, hey!" he said. "Stay a bit and eat. The food is almost ready."

"Thanks for the offer, but I have to go meet Ava," I told him.

"That's a shame," A new, deeper voice said from behind me. I turned my head to see Levi looking down at me, the corner of his mouth lifted in a slight smile. "I thought we would be able to talk a bit."

I blinked at him. "What are you doing here?"

He chuckled. "Remember I told you Peter is one of my best friends? I'm here for the cookout." Lifting his right arm, he gestured to the box of beer he was carrying.

"Oh, right," I said. "I forgot about our meeting at the beach. Thanks again for that," I told him, referring to the incident with the creep.

"Don't mention it." He handed the case of beer to someone else before leaning against the wall. I noticed he had a bandage wrapped around his right forearm.

"What happened?" I asked, pointing to the bandage.

He glanced down at it. "Oh, this? I got burned at work; I'm the owner as well as the head chef at my restaurant called, Taste of Levi."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? You're so young with a restaurant of your own, that's cool."

Staring at me a bit, he laughed. "You think I'm young?"

"Well, I figured you're the same age as Peter. Twenty-nine, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it's just my little nieces and nephews like to call me 'old.' So, it was a change to be called young."

I laughed. "They'll realize your age isn't 'old' when they grow up."

"So, what do you do?" he asked me. "Are you in college?"

I shook my head. "Nope, I decided not to go. I felt like a didn't need to. So, right now, I'm just a barista at this coffee shop, where I get all the shitty people in the morning."

Watching me, it seemed like a thought crossed his mind before he opened his mouth. "Actually, a waitress just quit on me. Have you ever waitressed before? If you're interested, I'll hire you."

I chuckled. "You're not being serious, are you?"

He shrugged. "Why not? I need someone and you hate your current job. Also, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'd like to say I'm kind of an awesome boss to work for."