Down to Business (Business Series) (12 page)

“You mean with your ex, Vivian?” I asked without thinking.

He looked over at me in surprise. “Uh…yeah. How did you know about her?”

“Lindy mentioned it.”

“Oh…right. I keep forgetting you live with them.”

Not for much longer hopefully.

Once we stopped at the red light, he turned to me. “There’s another diner up here on Red Grove Avenue called Streamliner’s. It has better service.”

I had no idea where that was, but I nodded anyway. “Okay.”

A few minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot of
Streamliner’s. This place looked a lot better, even from the outside. It had a rotating door, which I always liked. It was seat yourself and most of the tables were occupied, but Vinny spotted one in the back corner and we hurried to take it.

A middle-aged woman with a blond bun hurried over to bring our menus and take our drink order.  We ordered the same as before, water with lemon for him and orange juice for me.

“Busy place,” I called over the constant chatter around us.

“Yeah, it’s always busy.”

“What’s good to eat here?” I asked, looking over the menu.

“The pancakes are good, but I usually just get the three egg breakfast. It comes with sausage or bacon and a side of toast and
home-fries
.”

I laughed at his exaggeration of home fries. The waitress returned with our drinks, then pulled her order pad from her red apron.

“What can I ‘getcha?” she asked me, stabbing an extra pen through her bun to hold it in place better.

“I’ll have the three egg breakfast, scrambled with sausage and white toast.” I answered.

“Home fries or hash browns?”

“Home fries,” I answered, grinning, “please.”

“And for you?” she asked, her intense blue eyes swiveling to Vinny.

“Uh...give me the same but can I get the fruit instead of home fries?”

“Sure.” She scribbled on her pad then turned and walked away.

“So, I gotta ask,” he squeezed his lemon wedge into his water, “why was Lindy so pissed off at you last night? It seemed more than just you leaving without telling her.”

I picked up the spoon laid out on my napkin and fidgeted with it. “I had a bad experience at a party once, back in high school.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked and sipped his water.

“Yeah,” I answered, looking down and turning the spoon between my fingers. I paused before I concluded, “A guy forced himself on me and she was afraid that happened again.”

He coughed into his fist and drew my gaze to his face.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting that answer.” he said, drinking more water and setting it aside. “I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable last night…”

“No, you didn’t, I had a nice time,” I assured him. “It happened a long time ago, in my freshman year of high school.”

“
Freshman
year?” his eyes widened.

“Yeah when I was fourteen,” I answered feeling heat creep over my face. I looked down at the spoon again to avoid his scrupulous stare.

“Did you press charges on the kid?”

“I didn’t want to, but my mother made me.”

“Did you know this guy well?”

I looked up and saw sympathy in his eyes. It made me feel like he understood and I felt comfortable enough to elaborate.

“Not well enough to give him my virginity,” I shrugged. “It’s a long story, but he was a star soccer player and I was nobody. I was drunk when it happened so his parents fought the charges. And since we are from such a small town, he got off and got to keep his perfect persona while I was labeled a slut and shunned.”

“That’s fucked up.”

I took a long sip of orange juice, trying to drink away the emotion surfacing inside of me. “Yeah it was.”

“There was no way you could prove it? Did he leave any…evidence?”

I knew what he meant and I blushed harder.

“Well…” I frowned as I drew deeper on the memory. “The reason we pressed charges in the first place is because my mother saw the bruises on my arms where he held me down. She took pictures and used them against him, but it didn’t matter. He was from a prominent family and Hamilton High’s best soccer player, so he could do no wrong.”

Vinny snorted and shook his head. “What a little asshole.”

“Lindy felt bad because she was at the party, but she wasn’t there when it happened. She didn’t check her phone all night and when she finally found me, I was passed out in the bathroom. It wasn’t her responsibility to protect me though. I shouldn’t have went to the party…I was high…I was stupid.”

“Bullshit. It’s not your fault. That little prick forced himself on you. He knew what he was doing.”

My eyes burned with tears and I looked away.

Capturing my hand that had the spoon in a death grip, he drew my attention back to him. “Look, I don’t care what you were told, it wasn’t your fault, Autumn. Stop blaming yourself.”

Hearing him speak so compassionately in my favor crumbled my emotional defenses. I swiped the tears from my eyes and forced a smile. “Thanks.”

“Did he ever apologize to you?”

“No.” I sniffled and wiped my eyes with my napkin.

“What was his name?”

I blinked and sniffled again. “Does it matter?”

“It does to me.”

The thought of him sending some Mafia people to kick his ass flashed through my mind.

He smirked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re worried I might find this guy and beat his ass if you tell me his name.”

I half-smiled. “Well it wasn’t out of the range of my imagination.”

He smirked. “I wouldn’t do that. I have a reputation to uphold.”

“His name was Zack. Zachary Myers.”

“Zack.” He said as if that was the worst name he ever heard. “That’s a dick head name.”

We both quieted as the waitress set our plates of food down before us. I took a moment to salt my eggs and spread some jelly on my toast.

“So, what are you doing after this?” He asked , sprinkling hot sauce on his eggs.

Hot sauce and eggs? Gross!

“Nothing.” I said trying not to grimace at his plate.

“What the hell is that face for?” he asked with a laugh.

“I’ve never seen anyone put hot sauce on their eggs before.”

“Well, when you eat eggs for breakfast almost every day, you tend to get creative.”

“Why don’t you mix it up? There are other kinds of protein.”

“I like eggs.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Well, I like cheeseburgers, but I don’t eat them every day.”

“You should. You’re too skinny,” he said taking a big bite of his saucy eggs.

I rolled my eyes and smiled.

“So you don’t have any plans for the rest of the day?”

“Well, I was planning on doing some more apartment searching since Lindy kicked me out.”

“What?” he bit into his sausage, wide eyed. “She kicked you out?”

“She didn’t technically kick me out,” I admitted, “we got into an argument over the bathroom and she said it was her apartment and if I didn’t like living with her then I could move out…so I’m going to. Tyler isn’t even supposed to be living with us you know. If her mother knew, she’d kill her.”

Vinny smirked. “Do they keep you up all night?”

I smirked and poked at my eggs around with my fork. “I usually blast my music so I can’t hear them.”

He chuckled and shook his head.  “That has to be awkward. Have you found any good places to live yet?”

“A couple. I made a few calls.” I released a sigh and bit into my toast. “I also need to find a job.”

“I bet I could get you that girl’s job at the Penny Lane diner,” he flashed me a playful smile and skewered a few pieces of fruit on his fork.

I giggled. “No, that’s okay. I’ll keep looking.”

I took a bite of my eggs and watched him clean his plate. He was a fast eater. I swallowed my bite of eggs and took another, trying to keep up.

“I’m not sure if you’re interested, but my mother is hiring part-time servers at Mazzolas. I could give her a call and see if she’d give you an interview.”

I stopped chewing and stared at him. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s in Manhattan though. You’d have to take the train into the city. It’s like a forty minute ride.”

I picked up my juice and took a sip. “That’s not a problem.”

“You have experience, right?”

“Yeah, I have served at Malones since I was sixteen.”

“Great, I’ll call her now.”

“Are you sure? You really don’t have to do this.”

“I want to do this. I want to help you out, Autumn.” He looked into my eyes, letting me know he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

I sighed softly and smirked. “Fine.”

He smiled at me, pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, and dialed.

My heart began to thud against my ribs and I filled my mouth with a bite of food. There was a short pause before he spoke.

“Hey, Mom. No, I’m not calling in. I had a question. Are you still hiring part-time servers? I met a girl who would be perfect for us, she’s been working as a server for seven years.”

“Five.” I whispered.

He ignored me. “Yeah, her parents own a restaurant so she knows the ins and outs of every position.”

“Vinny...” I whispered, giving him a soft kick under the table. “I don’t know everything.”

He winked and smiled at me. “Yeah, give me about an hour and a half, I’ll have her there. Sure. Okay. Love you too, Mom. Bye.”

He hung up. “You have an interview.”

My heart skipped. “Thank you so much for this Vinny.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“You didn’t have to lie though.”

“I didn’t lie, I just made the truth sound better.”

I washed my bite down with a sip of juice. “I have to shower and get ready still. We should go.”

“Hey, don’t get indigestion. We don’t have to rush.”

I watched him finish his last bite of food and set his fork down.

“Any suggestions on what I should wear?”

“Yeah, no jeans or anything that shows cleavage. She’s extremely judgmental and will find something to nitpick about, even if she likes you. She considers every girl I come in contact with a tramp that is using me for self-gain, so don’t mind her bitchiness, it comes natural to her.”

“Great. She sounds amazing.” I said feeling like the meal I just ate was about to show back up.

He laughed. “She’s not as bad as she sounds. She just takes her job and her family seriously.”

I finished off my toast as my mind sorted through the interview-worthy outfits I had in my closet. I came up empty and my palms started to sweat. “I hope I can find something to wear. I don’t own a  real dress.”

He chuckled. “You’re kidding me.”

“No,” I said with a smile and swiped some crumbs off my lips with my napkin. “I guess I don’t get out much.”

“Well, we can change that,” he said and crumpled his napkin into a ball on his plate.

“Was that an invitation to go shopping or to get a life?”

“Both,” he said with a smile and stared into my eyes.

My cheeks flared and I looked down at my plate. He let out a quiet laugh and I looked up at him again.“What?”

“You have a little…”he touched the corner of his mouth with his pointer finger. “Jelly.”

Of course I did.

I snatched up my napkin and swiped it away, wondering if my face matched the red color of the jelly.

We both looked when his phone began to vibrate on the table. He picked it up and read the caller ID.

“I need to take this,” he announced and removed his wallet. He left twenty-five dollars between our plates. “Finish up and I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”

“Okay…” I answered when he slid out of the booth.

He left the restaurant with a confident stride and I watched him through the plate glass window. He leaned against the parking meter as a silent monologue spilled from his lips to the person on the end of the line.

When the waitress came by to clear our table, I thanked her and gave her the money to pay the bill. I joined him outside, as he was wrapping up the call. “Sounds like a plan. See you next week. Bye.”

He slid his phone back into his pocket and glanced over at me. “All set?”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“Sorry about that, it was one of my friends from Alpha Tau.  He said my chances were good to get initiated.”

“You’re joining Alpha Tau?”

“Yeah I might be.”

I followed him across the parking lot wondering why he would want to live in that crazy frat house.

His car greeted us with a ‘beep beep’ as he unlocked the doors. I slid in and buckled up.

“So why do you want to join a frat?” I asked.

“All of my friends are there and Alpha Tau is one of the best.” He said as we reversed out of the parking spot.

“Why don’t you just move out of the dorms and in with a roommate?”

He shrugged. “I want to get the college experience before I turn into the most boring guy ever when I have to manage Mazzolas.”

I laughed. “Why would you turn into the most boring guy ever?”

“Owning a restaurant like ours takes a lot of commitment. I won’t be able to party or hang out with my friends. It will be a ton of stress most of the time.”

I considered his words as we drove toward my apartment, never really thinking about how hard it would be to run my own restaurant. He was right about it being stressful and a fun inhibitor. My mother barely had a life outside of Malones and she was always dead on her feet. Would that be my fate too?

Once we got to the apartment parking lot, I gathered my belongings.

“Thanks for breakfast.”

“Anytime. I’ll pick you up in forty-five minutes?”

“Make it an hour,” I said, unbuckling my seat belt and pushing open the car door.

“Sure. I’ll see you then,” he said as I climbed out of the car.

“See ya,” I called back with a smile before I shut the car door and hurried upstairs.