Chapter 8 : Working Girl

Sara

Out of the three jobs I had, I liked my diner one the most. Weekdays, I'd be working a morning shift at the mall in one of the clothing departments, followed up by an evening shift at the diner—sometimes coming in for the weekend.

My last job was working at the bar, where I often had late shifts, three or four days a week. My feet were always tired after working the diner and then the bar.

Last night, they'd been killing me.... And then, my father had nearly put the last nail in the coffin.

Maybe Mabel's Diner left me with the most hours, but it was still the best job I had in my opinion. Although it required maximum effort, it was the best pay of the three, with good tips and decent company… most of the time.

I was relieved that Jaxon hadn't stopped me that morning when I headed out for a double shift at the diner.

I'm positive he knew I had never worked both a morning and evening shift before, but I had texted Mabel last night to take on any extra hours that I could, not just to stay out of the mansion but to see just how much freedom I had.

It was stupid to do of course; Jaxon was kind enough to even let me leave the mansion, but I couldn't just… sit around like I was some well-behaved pet.

I wasn't going to let myself be that, even if it meant I had to test the waters and see just where I stood… where we stood now.

Jaxon owned me. Oh, he made that very clear. But how? In what way? What did HE mean when he said that, because he hadn't been trying too hard to make me obey.

Not yet at least.

Besides, right now the extra hours couldn't hurt. I needed every cent I could get if I was going to have even the hopes of buying back my freedom and independence.

"Well, good morning, Sara. It's a rare day when I get to see you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed," laughed Mabel good-naturedly as she greeted me when I walked in.

Mable was a middle-aged, heavy-set woman with dark curly hair with streaks of gray and warm brown eyes. She also made the best milkshakes in the city, at least in my biased opinion.

"Morning, Mable. I just missed your company too much," I swooned playfully, making her chuckle.

"Oh you. Well, if you're ready, could you start on a fresh pot of coffee and make some rounds? We're not too busy but it's getting around to that brunch hour."

"You got it, Mabel."

Mabel's Diner was a 24-hour restaurant, open seven days a week. We cleaned in the odd hours and had a minimum of two people on staff at all times.

I loved the funky little joint and the owner was just as quirky.

Between refilling coffee cups and bringing out plates of food, mostly burgers and fries, I was busy, barely having any time to say a word to my coworkers, let alone get a moment to myself.

That might've been for the best, though; all of my thoughts recently had been stressful. A bit of mind-numbing work taking orders and making rounds was exactly what I needed.

It felt great when the lunch rush finally ended, letting me kick my feet up as Ben, one of the kitchen chefs, made food for the workers to eat.

A double bacon cheeseburger with a side of fries and a strawberry milkshake… it was probably a heart attack or food coma waiting to happen, but I needed one at this point.

"Geez, Sara, the depression meal? What happened?" asked Lauren, one of my coworkers.

She was a sweet thing, blonde with blue eyes, a hard worker who did this as a summer job to help pay for college.

I was a bit jealous of her, really. Her dad was a single parent, but he was good to her and encouraged her. She was only a few years younger than me. I considered her to be a friend.

"I would've ordered TWO milkshakes if it was a depression meal," I corrected teasingly. "This is me stress-eating."

"My mistake, but the day's still young. You could easily make that two."

"Or three," added Mark, one of the line cooks as he slid Lauren's meal to her. "What's your record, five?"

"I was in a bad place at the time, and I still stand by the fact Mabel has the best milkshakes in town."

It had been my first birthday without Mom, and Dad had been getting drunk, so I drank my sorrows away with milkshakes. This was around the same time that Mabel offered me a job, and I said yes.

"Thanks, Mark, delicious as always," Lauren complimented as she ate her tuna melt.

"Think Ben will let me take a shift as head chef soon then?"

"Not on your life, boy!" boomed a voice from the kitchen.

We all laughed.

"D*mn, so close. I think I'm starting to wear him down when I do all the prep work and he can't angrily chop anything," he whispered, making me snort while Lauran tried to hide her giggles.

"I know you're saying sh*t, Mark. Now chop chop, you're still on the clock," called Mabel.

"I'm coming!"

"Well, Mark and Ben are in a good mood," I said with a grin.

"Which brings me right back to asking how you are," Lauren said, taking a sip of her own milkshake.

I sighed heavily. "Let's just chalk it up to family trouble and leave it at that." I was definitely in this situation because of my family. My friends here were always willing to lend me a hand or an ear. Everyone in Mabel's was really great, and their families were 'clean'... no debts, no bad backgrounds, no illegal stuff going on. Out of all of them, I actually had the worst street cred with Dad always owing money. I wasn't going to drag them into any of my own sh*t.

How the hell was I even supposed to explain that an old family friend now owed me and controlled my life because my father sold me and that this man was my first crush?

I could still barely comprehend it, let alone explain it. Besides, there wasn't anything they could do. There was no need for me to bring everyone else's mood down too.

"I'm sorry, Sara. That must suck," Lauren said with a frown.

"Ha! Yeah, it does, but don't worry, I'm dealing," I insisted.

Thankfully Lauren didn't try to give me any advice or whatnot, just some goodwill and sympathy.

The dinner shift was even busier than the breakfast shift. It would slow down at around 9:00, but sometimes it pushed till 10:00 like it did tonight.

Thank goodness I wasn't working at the bar tonight or it would be busy nonstop.

For a moment, I hesitated about texting and informing Ron that I'd be working overtime. Could I press my luck? Could I see how much Jaxon would take before he snapped? I decided against it though.

Unfortunately for me, I would have plenty of opportunities to test my luck while I was in his care.

My feet were tired from working and standing all day, but the tips had been good tonight. We'd each be taking home at least a hundred and fifty dollars.

It was finally past 10:00 with only a few stragglers left, meaning it was going to be heading into the night shift where there'd be one cook and one server.

I would've been the one to work those shifts if Mabel hadn't made it mandatory for me to go home at some point during the day so I could rest instead of working myself to death.

Those were her words, not mine, and I had reluctantly agreed to do so. But then, I often worked a shift at the bar after leaving the diner. Not tonight, though.

I was just waiting for Ron to come to get me as I stood outside with Lauren and another coworker of ours who worked the evening shift, Ben.

Ben was taking a smoke break, claiming it was a nasty habit he couldn't kick, but he was polite enough to stand downwind. I never liked the smell, but I was here more for moral support than anything. Ben and I weren't the closest, but Lauren had a big stupid crush on him.

"So, you ate the depression meal today, huh?" Ben said.

"D*mn, is everyone just coming at me today?" I complained.

"Sorry Sara, but it's not every day you indulge like that," giggled Lauren.

"What if something nice was happening, hmm? What then?"

"Then you would've eaten a fried chicken sandwich with onion rings and a double chocolate milkshake, and we wouldn't be having this conversation," she clarified.

"If you're having some trouble, I wouldn't mind helping you out," Ben offered, tapping his cigarette.

I shook my head. "Thanks, but I got it; always do. So, Lauren, any plans?"

"Maybe. There's this new restaurant that's opening up soon, and it might be nice to go with someone to try it out…" she hinted.

"Really? What's it called?" Ben asked curiously and Lauren smiled.

"Oh! It's called Symphony's. They have an online page, and all of their food looks really good so I—" a car horn honked, cutting her off, but she turned, waving to the driver. "That's me! I'll text you about it later if you're interested, alright? Bye guys!"

"Bye Lauren."

That was terrible timing, and she was so close, too. We waved them off and then it was just me and Ben.

"So, do you have any plans, Sara?" he asked.

"Just work, like usual, though I've taken a few more shifts at Mabel's."

His eyes lit up at that. "Oh, really? Maybe we'll see each other more often then."

"Maybe," I agreed. "Lauren sounds excited about the café. Maybe you should go with her if you have the time." I tried. Lauren was a pretty girl; honestly, if she wasn't so shy they probably would've been together by now. That, or—

"Actually, I was wondering if you had the time to go out with me."

That or he had his eyes on someone else.

Motherf*cker!

"I barely have time to go to the bathroom," I joked, acting like I didn't notice the subtle attempts to ask me out. When in doubt, play dumb. "What a shame, too. That restaurnt Lauren was talking about sounded good. Maybe next time."

Ben leaned closer to me and unconsciously I couldn't help but lean away, the burning nicotine heavy on his breath, pungent and choking.

All he needed was some booze and a stench of greed and desperation, and he'd smell exactly like the gambling dens Dad liked to frequent.

"Sara, we've worked together for a long time, and we're good friends, but I was hoping that we could be—"

The sound of screeching tires cut Ben off, and I thanked God for the interruption until a sexy black car pulled up to the side of the street, and out stepped the devil in a silk suit. D*mnit, God!

Seems Jaxon had come to pick me up personally… and he didn't bother to warn me.

I was stuck either turning down Benjamin's awkward confession or dealing with the sexual tension between me and the guy who owned me.

So many choices—and all of them were f*cking made for me!

Before I could even say anything, Jaxon had speed-walked over to me and grabbed my wrist.

"Hey—what do you think you're-!" began Ben.

"It's fine," I cut off quickly before Ben could try to play hero and get the sh*t beat out of him.

From the look in Jaxon's eyes, he wasn't set on playing nice for anything, the grip around my wrist tight and unrelenting.

"I've told you about Jaxon before, right?" I said, making it sound like I actually had when I'd never said anything about anyone who has even a hint of underworld dealings. "He's a family friend. Dad probably did something stupid again. I'll see you later though, okay?"

Funny how easy it was to lie after I'd been lied to so often. Maybe I did inherit something else from Dad other than just his debt.

"Yeah…" Ben hesitated as Jaxon kept silent, dragging me to the car while I just smiled and waved goodbye like nothing was wrong, even though his grip was like a shackle.

The moment he drove away from Mabel's, though, I flipped a switch. "What the absolute hell Jaxon?!"

I didn't get a response; I didn't get anything. Instead, Jaxon was completely silent.

Slowly, the anger faded to nerves, and we were both silent, the tension building.

At some point though, it was going to blow.