Page 435 of His Virgin Romance Series

“It’s nice,” he said. “It’s nice to see someone who takes such an interest in the people around her.”

“The hospitality industry is built on the backs of people like Nakoa,” I said. “They’re the unsung heroes in many ways. They do a lot of the grunt work for not much money, and very often they get treated the worst. I was a waitress once, so I understand what it means to serve people who don’t treat you very well.”

“You waitressed?”

“I did,” I nodded. “For two years before I started college, and in that time, I learned a lot about the world. I learned a lot about people, too. And sometimes, it feels as though they forget that waiters and servers and managers are people, too. They’re owed respect as much as the next person.”

“I agree,” Gregory nodded. He looked thoughtful for a moment.

“What?” I asked, sensing that he wanted to ask me a question, but wasn’t sure if he should or not.

“Well… You’re from a rich family,” he said.

“I am,” I nodded, suppressing my smile for a moment.

“I guess I’m wondering why you chose to get a job in the first place?”

“Because of that precise mentality.”

“What mentality?” Gregory asked.

“The kind of mentality that assumes because I was born into a privileged home, I don’t know how to work hard. Or perhaps that I won’t do certain jobs because I feel like it was beneath me. My father used to say to Jason and me all the time when we were growing up: no job is beneath me. A job is a job, and there is dignity in working hard, no matter what it is. We all have a part to play.”

“Your father sounds like the kind of man who would have raised a woman like you.”

I smiled. “What kind of woman is that?”

“Intelligent, hard-working, strong, and ambitious,” Gregory told me. “With the ability to still be humble, empathetic, and kind.”

I smiled, touched by his words. “Thank you,” I said. “That’s nice of you to say.”

“I’m not trying to be nice,” he said. “I’m just being honest.”

“I saw my father and mother work hard my whole life,” I said. “And, a part of me knew that even if I never became as successful as the two of them, I still wanted to do something all on my own, without contacts or help or support from anyone. That’s the reason I started working part-time jobs from the age of thirteen.”

“Sounds like you’ve had quite a few jobs.”

“Oh tons,” I said. “I waitressed, I had a paper route, I sold shoes in this huge department store close to home, I did grunt work at the local zoo, I worked in an old folks’ home for two summers in a row, and I worked in a couple of publication houses in the city.”

“What was your favorite job?” Gregory asked.

“Surprisingly, it was working at the old folks’ home.”

“No way.”

“Honestly,” I said. “They were all just so sweet… I made some friends while I was there. But working at the zoo was a close second.”

“Wow,” he said, and he looked impressed. “Worst job?”

I thought about it for a moment. “Waitressing, probably,” I said. “I had good moments, but more often than not you end up getting yelled at by some rude customer who’s taking his bad day out on you.”

“Hence the empathy for waiters?”

“Yes,” I nodded.

I got distracted for a moment when I noticed Seth enter the restaurant. As his head turned in our direction, I looked away quickly so that he wouldn’t catch me staring. I realized after a second that I was actually enjoying talking to Gregory. He was easy to talk to, he was obviously interested in what I had to say, and he was actually wittier than I had expected him to be.

I decided to focus on him and push Seth from my thoughts. Even as I resolved to that, however, I secretly hoped that he would notice and would feel a little jealous.

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