Always Yours

I owed him. I owed him for last night and I owed him for getting me this job. I couldn’t shake this feeling I had in the pit of my stomach. I so desperately wanted to say, ‘fuck it’ and let him take me out on a date.

But I couldn’t form the words, it’s like my brain wouldn’t let them come out my mouth. A sigh fell from my lips as I continued to stare out the window. The plan was for me to work a few hours tonight and then come back tomorrow afternoon.

Apparently, Sundays were busy, and he wanted me to see what it was like. I didn’t ask how he was so involved in the diner; I didn’t ask if it had anything to do with his family. I didn’t care. I was starting to make money; I was one step closer to getting a car.

“Aubrey?”. He spoke.

“Yeah?”.

He made me nervous; he gave me butterflies. I had never felt this way before, and I still wasn’t sure if I had feelings for him or was genuinely just nervous being around him.

Franko was intimidating, built for his age and very mature. If I didn’t know him, I would say he was older than seventeen.

“You wanna grab a burger when you finish your shift?”.

I chewed the inside of my cheek as I gave him a nod. It was just a burger at my workplace. That didn’t count as a date, right?

The rest of the journey was spent in silence. Me overthinking our burger at the end of my shift and him sat with his eyebrows furrowed. I wish I knew what he was thinking.

As he pulled into the parking lot of the diner my heart sank. All his friends were outside. Parked up, music blaring and probably drinking. My eyes fell onto Tommy and low and behold he had his arm around a girl that wasn’t Alice.

My mouth became dry. Was this a joke? Was he doing this to pull one over on me so they could all get a right good laugh? As he pulled up next to the truck, I swallowed the lump in my throat.

I wouldn’t say I didn’t like the people he surrounded himself with it’s just not people I would want as friends. The girls were mean and god forbid if one of them thought I was trying to steal Franko.

I rolled my eyes at the thought. Gearing myself up for the worst I jumped when he placed his hand on top of mine.

I pulled it away instantly.

“Why are they here?”. I asked.

“Probably just hanging out”.

Oh.

I felt myself relax a little. I always thought the worst in people until they proved me wrong. Probably wasn’t the best way to go about life but it’s the way my brain worked.

My guard was up always.

“Are you okay?”. He asked.

“Yeah fine”. I unclipped my seatbelt and as soon as we stepped out of the car he was surrounded. Me on the other hand I was being pushed to the side and out of the way.

It was just noise. Everyone talking at the once, all trying to talk to him. He wasn’t a fucking god, and I could have sworn some idiot pulled on my hair. So, I did what I always do. I took myself out of the situation and made my way into the diner.

That wasn’t normal. Why were they all so obsessed with him? What was so special about Franko Mendez?

“Hey sweetie”. Jen grinned at me as I took a seat at the lunch counter. “You here to learn the ropes?”.

“Could I get some coffee first if that’s okay?”.

“Sure thing”. She winked. “Anything for Frankos’ old lady”.

I ignored her comment. I was not his old lady, and I would never be. What just happened outside threw me outside of my comfort zone. I couldn’t deal with that every day.

I turned my head around when the door chimed. Still not Franko.

“Oh honey”. Jen gasped.

“What?”. I turned so fast I almost fell from my seat.

“There’s gum in your hair”.

I closed my eyes gritting my teeth. I knew someone was at my hair. Maybe looking for somewhere else to work was for the best. Or maybe I needed to stay away from Franko.

I didn’t fancy getting gum put in my hair every time I came to work.

I wanted to cry; I felt embarrassed.

“I’ll get you an icepack”. Jen spoke.

Girls were bitches and I couldn’t believe someone would do such a thing. I didn’t want to touch it or pull on it in case I made it worse.

I heard them before I saw them. I wish I had never come here with him in the first place. I noticed when he was with his friends, he didn’t always act the same. He thrived off attention. He liked getting his ego stroked and I had no time for him when he tried to act like he was better than everyone.

“Wrap the icepack around it as best you can. Hopefully, we can freeze the gum and it’ll come right out. I’ll deal with the crowd”.

I did what she said but wasn’t sure if I was doing it correctly. I had never had gum put in my hair before. I held it in place as I lifted my coffee with my other hand.

“Where’d you go?”. He leaned against the counter next to me. Smirking as always. I wanted to punch him in the face. See what I mean when I say he acts differently.

“Inside obviously”.

“What happened?”. He went to lift a piece of my hair, but I moved my head away.

“Nothing okay”. I placed my cup down and got to my feet. “I don’t think this is going to work out”. I was so excited before we left my house and now, I felt deflated.

“You ain’t even tried princess. I thought you wanted a job so you could get a car”.

“Yeah, well I’ll find another one”. I put some money on the counter for my coffee and headed for the restroom. At least in there I could cry if I wanted.

“Aubrey wait a minute”. He grabbed a hold of my arm and I let him. “The fuck happened?”.

“Nothing happened. This job just isn’t me”.

“Bullshit princess”.

“Can you let me go please?”.

Our lives were completely different, and I didn’t fit in his world. And that was okay. We would go back to how it used to be.

“Please don’t go”. He frowned.

“Franko get your friends under control, or I’ll get big john to throw them out”. Jen huffed. “Did it work sweetheart is the gum gone?”.

“Gum?”. He made a face.

“One of those girls put gum in Aubrey’s hair. Little bitches”.

“What?”. His demeaner changed, his glare hard.

“It’s fine I’ll get it out”. I spoke.

“That why you don’t want to work here?”.

It wasn’t just that. They clearly didn’t like me because of him. They didn’t like that he talked to me. So, they weren’t going to like that he brought me here.

“Aubrey”. He hissed.

I flinched at his tone. I had never seen him so angry. His nostrils flared; his teeth clenched.

“Stay fucking put. I’ll sort this”.

I didn’t, I went to the restrooms and tried to remove the gum from my hair. Luckily, I managed to pull it out only losing a few stands. Rummaging through my purse I found a hair tie and pulled my hair up into a messy bun on the top of my head.

I stared at myself in the mirror. I wasn’t a bad person. Didn’t have a bad bone in my body and yet bad things still happened to me. I couldn’t believe someone could be so nasty and mean to do such a thing.

A sigh fell from my lips as I headed back into the diner.

They were gone and Franko had left with them. I didn’t like the feeling that rose in my stomach because he had left. I hated that I was in two minds about him. I wanted him but I didn’t want him.

“Did you get it out?”. Jen asked.

“Yeah”. I smiled.

Maybe it was better that Franko had left. It meant I could concentrate on the job and not be distracted by him and his asshole friends.

“Good honey”. She grinned. “Come round the counter and we’ll start with the easy stuff”.

…

I was starving.

Jen was fun to work with and a really big help in showing me the ropes. I had worked a total of 4 hours and planned to do another two. I had already called my mom and asked if she would pick me up at 8.

For once she was excited for me. She wasn’t a bad mom; she gave me everything I ever needed but the one thing I hated was how much time and effort she put into work instead of her family.

My dad wasn’t much better. They loved me dearly I knew that, but they didn’t show it very much.

I felt terrible for even thinking it and it never used to be that way. We always made time for family, spend days together whether it be shopping or movie nights and then suddenly it all stopped.

Work became the priority. My parents were workaholics. We weren’t struggling to my knowledge, but they always liked to be prepared for the worst. I guess that part rubbed off on me a little.

“So, Amber and Emily work the day shift, I work the mid shift with Lily normally but she’s off sick just now and Carla and Ray work through the night”.

I was not going to remember all those names.

“What will I do?”. I asked.

“You’ll work with me, but you’ll finish at 8 instead of 10. You’ll come here after school for 3 days a week”.

I was happy with that. I liked Jen and she was nice to me.

“Sound good?”.

I grinned before giving her a nod. I had only been here 4 hours, but I had a feeling I was going to like it. It wasn’t hard to do the job, taking orders and sending them to the kitchen was fairly simple. I would say I was doing okay just now but still needed to learn a lot until I was up to waitress standards.

“Seeing as it’s quiet go grab something to eat and chill out for a little while”.

Big John who I found out was the cook made me a bacon cheeseburger with loaded fries and topped it off with a strawberry milkshake.

Yeah, I was going to like it here.

I picked a booth way in the back. Out of sight of everyone coming through the door. So, when Franko appeared at my table, I was a little surprised. I didn’t think he’d have come back.

“Treating you good in here already”. He smirked.

“I guess”. I took a bite of my burger as he slid into the booth at the other end. What he did next, I didn’t expect. He placed a large amount of cash next to me.

“That’s for tonight”.

I knew already it was too much and I wouldn’t take money I never earned.

I shook my head as I slid the money back to him. “That’s too much and you know it is”.

“Take the money Aubrey”. He slid it back to me.

I couldn’t. I chewed the inside of my cheek as once again I slid it back to him. I was happy to take the money I was due, but I could see $100 bills and that alone was too much.

“Fuck sake princess I’m trying to help you”.

“You did help you got me this job and that’s enough. I won’t take your money Franko so put it away”.

He muttered something under his breath, but I couldn’t quite make out what. As I continued to eat my food, he sat staring at me. Talk about making someone feel uncomfortable.

“What?”. I sighed.

“I’m guessing you got the gum out”. He nodded towards my head.

“Yeah, tell your friends thanks for that”.

“It won’t happen again”.

It wouldn’t have happened in the first place if I wasn’t with him. I guess it was my own fault. Those girls had never bothered me before but because he’s taken a sudden interest in me, they think it’s acceptable to put gum in my hair.

“I have to get back”.

“Eat your food Aubrey”.

I made a face my eyes landing on his. How did we get here? We weren’t friends, we didn’t socialise and all a sudden we were hanging out? How did that happen?

I pushed my plate to the side making sure never to break eye contact with him. I don’t know who he thought he was trying to tell me what to do. I wasn’t one of his fangirls.

“No”. I took another sip of my milkshake before getting to my feet. “And my mom’s picking me up tonight”. Hopefully, he understood that that meant we couldn’t grab a burger when I finished.

“And what?”. He glared. “Embarrassed to be seen with me? Can’t let mommy know you like hanging around with a Mendez”.

No that wasn’t the reason at all. Yes, my mom would probably skin me alive if she saw us together, but I wasn’t embarrassed to be seen with him. I was getting to the point where I didn’t care what my parents thought anymore.

And yeah, maybe I did like hanging around with him, but I would never tell him that.

My glare matched his. “You’re a fucking asshole”. I walked away from him and went straight through the back.

He frustrated the life out of me.