a place where hands can't reach | l.h.

Part 3

The next night, when Anna came in for her shift she was immediately met by the frustrated face of another waitress that she did not recognize. Her blonde hair was swept up into a nest on top of her head and her hands were on her hips as she approached Anna.
"Is that guy your boyfriend or something?" She huffed, her Brooklyn accent very thick as she pointed towards Luke in the corner booth. His usual black leather gloves on his hands as he flipped through pages of yet another novel.
"No, he isn't. But if you're new here, you probably didn't know that he only wants me waiting on him." Anna explained, her cheeks heating just a little.
"Yeah, well he's a real dick. Literally wouldn't even take a glass of water from me." She pops a piece of gum into her mouth and rolls her eyes dramatically. "All yours, honey." She slips past Anna and heads towards the kitchen. Anna can't help but smile as she approaches Luke's table.
"Giving the other waitress a hard time?" She asked.
"She's dreadful." Luke replied, marking his page and setting down the book in his hands.
"You know, everyone that works here is capable of pouring you a cup of coffee." Anna sat down across from him, knowing her shift didn't start for 10 minutes.
"I only want you." Luke said, his hands under the table as he watched Anna's face. When her eyes widened momentarily he thought about his words and backtracked. "I mean, I prefer your service." He clears his throat.
"What do you do when you come in on my days off?" Anna asked.
"I don't come in." Luke shrugs his broad shoulders and leans back against the back of the booth. Anna decided it was probably best to drop this subject when he seemed uncomfortable.
"I'll um...I'll pay you back what I owe you soon, I promise." Anna says.
"I'm not worried." Luke slowly brings his gloved hands up onto the table and links his fingers together.
"I wanted to do something more than just give you the money...like maybe I could take you to get a real cup of coffee? One that doesn't taste awful?" She laughed lightly, looking to Luke for an answer.
Luke wanted to say yes so badly. He wanted to tell her that he would do ungodly things just to know more about her. But getting to know her was dangerous, for both of them. She would never understand the burdens he carried, and Anna did not deserve to carry any of them with her. She was far too smart and far too beautiful for this world.
"I...can't." Luke said nervously.
"Oh. I'm sorry, you probably have a girlfriend or something right? That would be totally inappropriate for me to ask that...god I'm just...sorry." Anna stands up from the booth and Luke does the same.
"No. No girlfriend. It's me" Luke tries to explain, but knows he sounds ridiculous.
"You're really going to use the 'it's not you it's me' gig already?" Anna's eyebrows scrunch together in confusion as she turns to begin walking to the kitchen.
"Are you angry with me?" Luke asks, following her down the row of tables.
"Why would I be angry?" Anna turns to face him quickly, almost making Luke bump into her.
"You seem angry." Luke sighs, hands going into his jeans pockets.
"I'll bring you more coffee soon." Anna spins around and moves swiftly into the kitchen through the swinging door. Luke stands there a moment, not sure what to do. And as he's about to go back to his table, Anna is shoving through the door with plates in her hands, not bothering to even look in Luke's direction.
"You're visibly upset." Luke says quietly as he follows her to another table.
"I'm not." Was all she said as she sat the two plates down on the table in front of the hungry customers. Anna continued to ignore him, moving past Luke and walking towards another table.
"Will you stop for a moment?" Luke asks, stepping in her path.
"I'm not upset with you, I'm upset with myself." Anna says, looking over Luke's shoulder as Gordo throws another order up into the window.
"Why?" Luke moves until her green eyes focus on him again. For a moment, Anna considers telling him the truth. That all she wanted was a few hours outside of this diner where she could talk with him.
"It's nothing, Luke. I have work to do." Anna brushes past him again and Luke sighs in defeat, going back to his table, running his gloved hands through his messy mop of curls.
Luke watches Anna as she hastily moves around the restaurant, she continues to smile for each customer, never forgetting anything they ask for. She grabs a coffee pot from the counter where his eyes follow and land on Ashton, who sits at one of the stools at the front counter, a smile on his face when their eyes meet. Luke tenses, his jaw tightening when Ashton waves Anna over to him. What the fuck did he think he was doing?
Ashton leaned his elbows on the counter when Anna approached him, making sure to smile kindly for the human girl.
"What's good to eat here, darling?" Ashton asked, watching as Anna's cheeks tinged pink when he called her by the endearing name. Pathetic human, he thought.
"Pancakes are always good." She said, taking the coffee cup off the counter and filling it, sitting it in front of Ashton.
"How's the coffee?" Ashton smiled at her a little more.
"Pretty awful." Anna shrugged.
"Should we maybe grab something better then? If you're free that is." Ashton asked, long fingers dancing around the coffee cup on the counter.
"I don't even know your name, and you're asking me out?." Anna laughed, her hand going to her hip. Luke was still watching, but his anger was literally beginning to burn.
"Ashton. And yours?" He asks.
"I'm Anna." She reaches out and shakes his hand and already Luke knows that's something he would never be able to do.
"So what do you say, Anna?" Ashton asks as he straightens the lapels of his long coat. Luke pushes out of the booth and storms across the diner until he reaches the two of them.
"She can't." Luke says, blue eyes meeting Anna's green ones, pleading with her.
"What?" Anna asks, confused and the slightest bit annoyed.
"She can't go with you...because she's going with me." Luke glares at Ashton, knowing he's feeding right into what Ashton wanted to happen. Now he has something to hold over Luke's head.
"How did you even hear what we were..." Anna begins to say but Luke cuts her off.
"Anna, please. I was wrong to turn down your invitation earlier." Luke stands next to Ashton on the opposite of the counter from Anna.
"He turned down your invitation? What a fool you must be." Ashton pats Luke's shoulder much harder than necessary. Anna looks to Luke, who looks desperate for her answer.
"I um...I'm sorry, Ashton. I think Luke and I need to talk." Anna smiles kindly at Ashton. He is unbothered of course, but slides a business card towards her.
"Call me when you're ready, Anna." With a wink, Ashton glides back out the door. But before he does, he makes sure that Luke sees the triumphant smile on his face.
"Fuck." Luke says under his breath, pinching the bridge of nose in frustration.
"What the hell was that?" Anna crosses her arms over her chest and looks at him expectantly.
"I don't like him." Luke sighs.
"Do you even know him?" Anna scoffs.
"We are...old friends." Luke leaves it at that.
"Do you actually want to have coffee with me or was that just some jackass move to make me feel even worse?" Anna's voice is a bit sad, her hand rubbing the back of her arm nervously.
"Where shall we go?" He asks. Anna smiles, a real smile. One that reaches her eyes and lights up her face in the most angelic way Luke had ever witnessed.
"I know a really nice place. It's not too far of a walk from here." Anna leans over the counter, Luke does the same, feeling like a magnet that can't escape her pull. "Will you wait for my shift to be over?" She says quietly.
"Of course." Luke replies, his mouth aching to cover hers, but he really could never let himself. Anna bites into her bottom lip gently.
"Okay. It shouldn't be long." She says.
"Why are you just standing there, Anna? Tables!" Gordo shouts from the pick-up window, his gray hair sticking out in a dozen different places. Luke wishes he could make him talk to Anna the way she deserved.
"On it, Gordo." She smiled anyways, rolling her eyes playfully.
"See you soon." Luke says, walking back down the row of tables until he reached his booth where his things were still sitting.
The rest of her shift, Anna felt nerves bubbling in her stomach. She had been hoping for this moment for such a long time, that now that it was actually happening she had no idea what she was going to do or what she was going to say. Luke didn't seem like the type of person who wanted to make small talk, he was more of the deep conversation type. He was constantly reading or writing things down and Anna just knew that any typical type of conversation just wouldn't do. And all of these thoughts swirling around her mind were making it harder and harder to come up with anything at all.
She slipped into the bathroom at the end of her shift, washing her hands and arms and slipping into some clean clothes in hopes of smelling less like a diner and more like herself. Her hair was a mess, but she pulled it down from the hair tie and tried to run her fingers through it over and over until it looked presentable. She looked at herself in the dirty mirror above the sink wishing she had brought her make along to work so she could cover up the imperfections, but what she saw in the mirror would just have to do, she didn't want to keep him waiting any longer. For all she knew, Luke could have taken off by now.
But he would never. Anna didn't know it, but Luke never wanted anything bad to happen to her. Never wanted her to feel a bit of sadness. She radiated so much goodness. And when she nervously came out of the bathroom, carrying her bag on her shoulder and running her hands over her hair once more, Luke knew he was fucked.
"Are you ready to go?" She asked him when she approached the table. Luke stood up quickly, gathering up his things and throwing his bag onto his shoulder.
"Lead the way." He said with a small smile and motioning for her to walk in front of him. Anna smiled, walking just in front of him as they moved towards the door of the diner. Luke tried not to stare, but Anna's body was something to admired and praised. She was soft and curvy, and Luke was forever day dreaming of all the ways he'd like to touch her. But that's all it could ever be, just day dreams.
They walked side by side, Luke staying just the slightest bit behind Anna as they made their way through the always sidewalks of Vegas. It was ingrained in his DNA to always watch his back, and he was feeling particularly protective of the beautiful girl he was with. Their walk was mostly silent, neither of them feeling the need to say much at this point in time. It wasn't necessary or uncomfortable.
"Here we are." Anna's sweet voice broke Luke from his thoughts and he quickly moved to the door to hold it open for her. She smiled saying a quiet thank you as she stepped through the door. The sweet smell of baked goods and the strong smell of good coffee wafted into both of their noses as soon as the door closed behind them.
Anna ordered her drink, opting for Chai tea over coffee. After Luke ordered his drink, he reached for his wallet in his back pocket but Anna's hand gently touching his forearm had him freezing in place. Her soft mossy colored eyes met his and he softened just the slightest bit.
"It's on me, okay?" Anna handed some cash to the barista before Luke could argue with her. Luke nodded once, taking his coffee from the counter and following her to a table. He sat his cup down quickly and moved behind her to help her take off her coat.
"There you go." Luke said next to her ear then placing her coat on the back of her chair. Anna hoped like hell that he couldn't see the goosebumps covering her skin.
"Chivalry isn't dead then, is it?" Anna smiled over the rim of her cup as she sat down in her chair.
"Not for me." Luke replied, removing his own leather coat before sitting down across from her.
"You aren't from around here, are you?" Anna asked, licking her lips after she sat her cup down, watching Luke carefully.
"No, certainly not." He smiles, leaning back in his chair, his long legs opening and taking up practically all the room beneath the table. Anna was fascinated that someone could be as breath taking as Luke and still seem like he was loneliest person on the planet.
"You aren't going to elaborate on that?" Anna knew the answer, but hoped Luke may give away little parts of himself at least. He merely shook his head 'no' as one of his fingers slid across the lip of his coffee cup. Anna sighed. "What will you tell me about yourself?" She didn't want to push, but she needed something.
"I don't think it's a good idea that you know much about me, Anna." Luke didn't meet her eyes, he knew she was looking at him, but he didn't want the temptation of telling her everything.
"How will we be friends if you don't tell me anything about you?" Anna asked.
"Friends?" Luke wasn't sure why that word gave him such a strange feeling. Friend was such an understatement for what he wanted Anna to be.
"I think we've known each other long enough to at least be friends, don't you think?" She leans her elbows onto the table, her face and every little detailed Luke adored coming closer to his. Luke instinctively leaned closer to her, the magnet effect taking over his will power.
"Perhaps." Luke gave her a lop-sided smile that had Anna's stomach flipping it circles.
"How long have you lived in Vegas?" She asked. Fifty years, Luke thought to himself.
"Quite some time." Was all he was willing to give. Anna sighed again.
"Alright, Mr. Cryptic. Maybe less personal questions? What's your favorite book you've read lately?" Anna tried to keep things light without being intrusive.
"I try not to get attached to the novels I read." Luke explains, twisting the silver rings on his fingers.
"That sounds a little tragic, actually." Anna says, surprising Luke with her answer.
"Why is that?" Luke asks.
"All those books I've seen you reading at the diner. None of them good enough to be remembered? Just seems a little sad, maybe discouraging even." Anna sips her tea, her cheeks turning slightly pink.
"Things begin to blur together after you've read so much." Luke says, hoping that it didn't sound too strange. Anna looks at him for a moment and then nods in understanding.
"Maybe you're right." She says. Luke can't help but laugh at her answer. She was the type of person who truly tried to see things from everyone's point of view.
"Tell me more about you, Anna." Luke said.
"What do you want to know?" Her eyes lighting up slightly.
"Everything." Luke smiled, a small laughing passing through his lips when Anna did the same.
She had no problem telling him anything he wanted. She told him about school. About her family. What she wanted to do with her life. All the things and people the inspired her. Things that she feared. The way she considered her friends her family. How she would eternally be staying away from tequila. Where the best pizza in town could be found. How cheesy movies and kit kats were the best way to cheer her up. Listening to her talk was everything Luke had hoped it would be.
He wasn't ready to give up much of himself. He didn't think he ever would be. He mentioned tiny things, enough to make Anna feel as though she was getting to know him as well. Some things that made him seem normal. Human. It was hard to keep things from her when she was so open and accepting. But this was the best thing he could do for her.
"Shit, it's like 3:00 in the morning." Anna laughed after looking down at the time on her phone for the first time in hours.
"You need to rest." Luke said gently, standing up to help her slip her coat back on.
"I actually don't have class tomorrow." She said, sliding her arms into her coat and turning to face Luke. "Do you want to maybe, hang out?" Anna asked, her lip pulling between her teeth.
"Hang out?" He smiled, taking in the way she looked with tired eyes and a happy smile.
"Yeah...I mean we could check out some hidden Vegas gems." Anna said as the two of them made their way out of the 24/7 coffee shop.
"I'd like that." Luke said, another smile spreading across his face. "Even if I think it's a bad idea."
"Do you think it's worth it to find out?" Anna asked, stopping outside as the door closed to look up at Luke.
"It is." He replied, his gloved hands going into the pockets of his jacket. "Goodnight, Anna."
"Night." Anna was hopeful that if she was patient, the mystery of Luke would unfold for her and he would realize he could trust her. He needed all the patience she could muster.