Chapter 3

‘What’s it like out there?’ Benji asked, putting the sandwich down on the line and looking towards Roseanne on the other side of it.

She sighed, picking the sandwich up and reaching for the side of ranch. ‘Dead slow. I’m the only one on the floor because Delilah’s on her break, and that’s the first table I’ve had in forty-five minutes. Hang on, I’m just going to bring this out.’ She delivered the sandwich briskly, smiling at a patron as she set it down, and went directly back to the kitchen.

As she came around to the side of the line, she pulled a cherry candy out of the pocket of her apron, twisted it open, and popped it into her mouth absently. She looked a little tired.

‘I don’t know if we’ll have a busy night at this rate. I’ll probably get cut earlier than expected.’ She swirled the red candy around in her mouth with her tongue. It was beautiful the way she moved it with her lips. They were glistening and red with the dye from the cherry sweet, and he longed to lean forward and kiss the sugar off her lips. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her mouth. ‘Who’s on the line with you today?’ ‘Oh—well, James, and Gord. Who’s the closer?’ ‘Oh, I am. It’s me. What about you guys—who’s closing?’ ‘Me,’ Benji said, flashing her a quick smile.

‘Okay.’ Her heart beat a little quicker—he hardly ever closed, very rarely. ‘Well, hopefully it picks up a bit. We’re both gonna be here a while.’ ‘Hm,’ he said, and turned back to the flat-top. ‘Yeah.’ Roseanne went back to the other side of the line and began refilling dressings close to the line just so she could be closer to him so they could talk if they wanted to.

She’d thought about kissing him several times that day—imagined it, that is. Every time she’d imagined it her lips had tingled as if she didn’t receive his kiss then her lips would yearn untouched forever for his blessing. It made her giddy. She felt if he ever actually did kiss her, she might just explode. Unfortunately, he probably never would, so she needn’t worry.

‘Do you need a ride today?’ ‘Oh—what?’ She said. She’d been too busy imagining him kissing her again that she’d completely missed what he’d been saying.

‘I said, ‘Do you need a ride today?’’ ‘Oh.’ She thought about it. ‘Well, if you’re really okay with it, I’d really appreciate that, yes, please.’ ‘Sure. For you, it’s no problem.’

She smiled shyly at him, thinking that he probably meant it was no problem for HER because he thought of her like a little sister. He felt obligated to her; not attracted, and while that was very sweet in its own right, it wasn’t quite what she craved.

‘Well, I better go check the front,’ she said, and left the kitchen.

By the end of her shift, Roseanne was sore. It HAD gotten busy, and she’d hurried around, trying not to feel overwhelmed but kept-together, efficient. She was rubbing the small of her back as she went back into the kitchen to fill up the ketchup bottles.

‘Roseanne! Is your back bothering you?’ Benji called from behind the line, his brow furrowed. He came around to the server side and went up to her where she stood filling the bottles.

She gave a weak smile and waved it off. ‘Oh, it’s nothing. You know how it gets. I’m just sore at the end of a shift.’

‘Yes, I know that. Why didn’t you just ask me to crack your back again?’

‘Oh—well—’ She DID have a reason; she’d found out he was attracted to her (or so Delilah claimed), and she was attracted to him, too; what would it feel like now to have his hands on her? Would she blush?

‘—I’m not sure. Thank you, that would be great. You’re just already so generous. I didn’t want to irritate you.’

‘Okay.’ Benji was business-like, waving his hands in a ‘get-it-together’ sort of gesture. ‘Come on. I’ll do it for you now.’

‘Now? Oh, uh—’ Roseanne hurried to set the ketchup bottle down and laced her fingers together over the back of her neck, bending her elbows down so they were closer to her body.

‘Down. Down,’ he said, so she’d bend lower so her elbows were lower down. ‘Good. Now—’ he reached around her, wrapping his arms around her elbows, and picked her up and bent back, so Roseanne’s feet were off the ground, and sort of shook her. He was warm, his chest was firm, and it felt good to have his arms around her. She felt her back crack, and heard it. It seemed like by rights that sort of sound should mean imminent death, but she felt such relief she whooped a little. Benji put her down.