Page 10 of Spellbound & Speechless
“We’re sorry,” one says. “This isn’t what we ordered. She’s a vegetarian.”
The blood rushes from my face, and I let out a burst of laughter—a feeble attempt at recovery. “I’m so sorry!” I pickup the plates. “I’ll be out with your order soon… my mistake… this is my first day.”
“That’s okay!” the other woman says.
I don’t stick around to hear what happens next. I probably should. It’s rude to run off the way I do, and it’s even ruder when I set the plates on the correct table without a word.
If that were my first and last mistake of the night, it would be easier to handle. Of course, the rest of the shift goes just as badly. That’s my luck these days. I trip over my feet, apologize a thousand times, and spill a drink on a poor customer.
At least it’s only water.
Oh, who am I kidding? There’s no silver lining. They don’t want me in the industry Ilove, and I’m bad at the only job I can get.
I can’t take this anymore.
“I’m taking a break!” I shout to Juniper when I’m seconds from ripping my hair out.
It’s late in the evening, and the dinner crowd has slowed enough for me to catch my breath.
I duck into the alley behind the tavern, sighing as I press my back to the brick wall. Tears fall down my cheeks, and I close my eyes, letting out a shaky exhale. “Aphrodite, bless me.” I snap my fingers.
I won’t use her blessing to charm the customers, but I can prevent my makeup from smearing. It’s a small act of magic, and after a stressful first night, I think I deserve some help. I rub my fingers over the tears; they disappear—no mascara trails. I don’t even need to check a mirror. I know Aphrodite supports me. She always does.
“Tough night?” someone asks.
I jump and turn to look at Laurel with wide eyes. “Don’t scare me like that!”
“Sorry.” She chuckles. “I didn’t mean to! Honest.” Smoke curls from her lips.
I glare. “You smoke now?”
There’s no room for me to judge, considering I tried and failed to start my rebellious smoker phase days earlier. Laurel is my little sister… and she’s an athlete. She shouldn’t risk her lung health.
Maybe she’s not an athlete anymore; I wouldn’t know. I know nothing about her or any of my sisters.
“Sometimes,” she says. “Especially when I’m drinking. What? You never have a cigarette with a beer?”
“Ew. No.” I wrinkle my nose. “I never have abeer.”
We dissolve into laughter, and it feels… not quite like when we were young, but something more. Something new, like an understanding, settles between us.
“You’ll be fine,” Laurel says. “You need to stop freaking out. It’s not like the boss will fire you.”
I push my sticky, sweaty bangs away from my face. “Yeah, well, maybe she should.”
“Come the fuck on. It’s your first day on the job, and Juniper barely trained you. I spent weeks training before we ever opened.”
“Lucky you.”
“It was different then.” She takes a drag of her cigarette. “We had more time to figure it all out.”
If it were another sister, I would give her the benefit of the doubt. They wouldn’t mean to make me feel bad. Knowing Laurel? She probably does.
“Right.” I smile wryly. “I should have been here. Is that what you’re saying?”
“No.” She cocks her head. “Why should you? You had your own shit going on.”
The red tip of her cigarette is like a night light under the pitch-black sky. Starbrook is so much darker than the city.
