Page 10 of Agent Zero
He already knew he wasn’t going to listen.
EIGHT
Workingthe Friday middle shift always gave her a headache.Antony was not making it any better, because he was getting desperate and kept following her around.“You can close up.Help me out here.”
“You’re not paying me overtime, Tony.”Her feet ached, too.That fifty under the register could buy a decent pair of shoes.Either that or a hammer to fix her headache.She hadn’t been able to eat this morning, either.A beautiful salad, gone to waste.Not even oranges tasted good anymore.“No dice.”
“Like you’ve got something to do after work?Come on, Holly!I’ve got courtside seats!”
She shook her head, four plates in her arms and a fresh ketchup for table eight tucked in her apron.He’d been after her ever since she arrived.It wasn’t his fault Angie had come down with the flu and they were already one short.Nobody else was due in until eight, and it was going to be one thing after another until then.Maybe she should be flattered that he trusted her to close up, but he probably would sign the diner over to the devil himself for a stand-in at this point.
“Anything else I can get you?”she asked every table, and of course there always was.Some days were like that—none of your tables were outright awful, but they all changed their minds a million times or they thought of some extra thing they justhadto have.
At least when she was running through the dinner rush Tony couldn’t really put the screws to her.Even the counter was full, each stool taken, and she didn’t notice the guy on the far end in the familiar canvas jacket, a blue baseball cap pulled low over his dark eyes.Working the counter was Tony’s job, with Brenda doing backup, and Brenda had enough trouble taking half Angie’s tables as well.
The crowning event of the night was a piss-soaked drunk passing out in the men’s room, but Juan the night cook took care of that, heading right back into the kitchen to crank out special after special.Bart was in there too, furiously chopping and prepping, and the busser tonight was dreamy Eduardo, who wasexcruciatinglyslow but at least never stopped shuffling while he stared into each tub of dishes like it held the Holy Grail.
Her calves and lower back were solid bars of nauseating pain by the time she looked up and noticed it was seven thirty and the rush was clearing.Two minutes in the ladies’—her first break since she’d walked in—got her face splashed with cold water and her hair pulled back again, this time just in a ponytail.She barely managed to haul herself upright after sitting on the toilet, scrubbed up, and headed back out to get her last tables sent off with a smile even though she’d dry-heaved over the sink a bit.The nausea just wouldn’t quit.
At least the tips were good.
Tony started in again as she was bent over a table, mopping up the last of a toddler’s birthday ice cream.Cute kid, chubby-cheeked and flaxen-haired, but he’d spread the damn dessert everywhere and probably eaten the cheap stick candle too.
Tony’s tie was a little askew and his cheeks were flushed, his proud beak of a nose dotted with sweat.“Come on, Holly.I’m dying here.I can make the second half if you close up for me.”
“No, Tony.I can’t.”
“What you got that’s so important?”He waved both hands, his gold pinkie ring flashing.There was a diamond embedded in its flat face, a microscopic gem he was inordinately proud of.
Her temper almost snapped.None of your goddamn business.The rag went into the plastic tub; she hefted it and stepped back, almost colliding with him.Even with the weight she’d lost recently she could knock him over, having a head’s worth of height on him.“Laura and Benny are due in at eight.Maybe one of them can help you out.”
“You’re killing me!”Tony moaned, and she was startled into a laugh.She set off for the counter, hissing an exhale as her back cramped.
“You’re the boss, Tony.With great power, you know.Great responsibility.”She cut the corner too close and almost bumped into a customer.“Whoops, sorry.”
“No worries.”The voice was familiar, and she stopped dead.
It was the mystery man, and he’d actually eaten, for once.Looked like a short stack and over-easy, four stripes on the side.And orange juice.Breakfast for dinner.Well, some people liked that.The thought of over-easy eggs made her even more queasy, though.
They had been Phillip’s favorite.I want a divorce, Holl.She’d sat at the kitchen table for a long time that day, then gotten up and hadn’t stopped moving since.
“Oh.”All the breath ran out of her.“Hi.Reese, right?”
“Yeah.Hi.”That nice smile, and he looked just fine.Not pale or anything, and she could have sworn he was bruised the other day but he didn’t seem to be now.Maybe he’d just been jet-lagged.Nobody ever looked good coming off an airplane.He gazed at her face as if she had something growing on it, dark eyes narrowing just a little.“No coffee this time.”
“Did you want some?”She was suddenly, acutely aware of the sweat soaking through her uniform, her sloppy ponytail, and thatsheprobably looked like hell right now.Certainly not worth the once-over he was giving her.
Why do I care?Sooner or later her body was going to just give out.Until then, she was simply marking time, getting along with the least amount of mess possible.If she vanished tomorrow someone would grouse about how she didn’t show up for her shift, but nobody would feel any wrenching pain.Tony would hire a new waitress, maybe one even younger and even more brassy than Ginny, and that would be that.
At least, that was the plan, and Holly intended to stick to it.
A ghost of a smile showed up on Reese’s face.“Only if you’re pouring.”
Did it taste better when she poured, or was it just this guy being weird all over again?It didn’t matter, she decided.He probably cleaned up very well.Imagining him in a suit didn’t hurt anything, and it even made her feel a tickle of amusement.“I can, sure.Just give me a minute.”
Tony muttered as he worked the cash register down at the other end of the counter, running off the after-rush numbers.He really did love his basketball.She almost felt charitable enough to agree to close up for him.
Almost.
