Divine (22 page)

“
You must really
like Jonah; you blush every time you think about him.”

“
Yes, Mom, if you
must know . . . I'm crazy about him.”

She sat back against
the kitchen chair and clutched her coffee in her hands. “I
know. And you know what? I'm okay with that. I like him.”

I smiled into the table
and pulled myself back up in my chair. “He really likes salt,
that’s why I got the salt shaker.”

“
Oh, okay. I
think that's a great gift, then. I know he'll love it.”

I held my smile and
looked back at my fingernails. “Only two more months until he
takes me fishing.”

“
I
know. And the two weeks that we're gone will cut into that time;
maybe it will
go
by quicker because of it.”

“
Ugh, two weeks,”
I sighed. “I'm going to have to talk to Fox at work today and
see if he will let me take those days off.”

“
I'm sure he
will, you never ask for any time off.”

I nodded quietly and
reached my hands up over my head in a long stretch. “Yeah,
we'll see.”

* * *

When I walked into the
restaurant it was dead quiet. Brittany was off for the week to take
her finals and prepare for her senior graduation, so I didn't have
her bubbly chatter thrown my way when I walked in like usual.

The sound of clanking
dishes made me gravitate back to the kitchen to see my other friend.
When I pushed through the door I saw Steve bent over the large metal
sink with soapy water up to his elbows.

“
Hi Steve,”
I blurted out, trying my best to startle him.

“
Hi Summer,”
he answered back, keeping his eyes on the bubbles without even a
single flinch.

I giggled and threw my
purse on the floor in the corner of the room. “I'll get you one
of these days.”

“
I don't think
so,” he laughed deeply as he pulled the plug out of the drain,
sending the dirty water spiraling down the old pipes.

I leaned gently against
the cold wall and watched him pull out some condiments from the
fridge and stock the food line. “It's going to suck without
Brittany this week,” I pointed out.

“
Yeah, but once
she graduates she'll be here more often, so that'll be good.”

“
Yeah,” I
nodded. “Oh, I wanted to tell you, we're leaving next week to
go to Arizona for two weeks.”

Steve's
head shot up from his task. “What? What am I going to do
without you
for
two whole weeks?”

“
I know,” I
chuckled. “But like you said, Brittany will be here to fill in
since she will be done with school. And actually, so will Kevin
because he'll be on summer break. So I guess it's going to work out
perfectly.”

“
Oh yeah, easy
for you to say. We'll have to be around Sarah for two weeks
straight!”

My eyes widened as I
brought my finger up to my smiling lips, shushing him from across the
room. “Fox will hear you!” I whispered.

“
Oh, he doesn't
care. He doesn't even like her; I can tell.”

I brought my finger
down and crossed my arms in front of me, nodding in agreement at what
he said. “Speaking of Fox, is he here?”

“
Yeah, he's
locked in his office.”

“
Okay,” I
sighed as I walked over and rested my hand against the kitchen door.
“I'm going to ask for that time off. Here goes nothing.”

I pushed through the
exit and stepped in front of Fox's office, tapping lightly against
the fake wooden door.

“
Just a minute,”
his deep voice breathed inside of the small room.

I stood there patiently
and waited for him, trying to discern the hushed whispers that were
making their way out.
Sarah must be in there with him.
A few
more whisper-filled seconds passed, along with the sound of papers
shuffling around in a hurry.
What the heck is going on in there?
Wait, I don't even want to know . . .

A moment later the lock
opened and Sarah was standing in front of me in the doorway. “Hi,”
she bubbled out as she scooted past me. It didn't take much to notice
that her shirt was inside out and her ponytail was more disheveled
than usual.

“
Uh, hi,” I
said back as I watched her walk away. I took a breath and stepped
into his office, embarrassed that I had basically walked in on
something private going on between the two of them.

When I saw Fox he was
sitting at his desk pretending to read a piece of paper that was in
his hand. His hair was messy and the top button of his navy blue
shirt was undone, revealing a small area of his broad, tanned chest.

He glanced up with a
look of surprise. “Oh, hi Summer. Come in and have a seat.”

I sat down in the
yellow padded chair on the other side of his desk and worked hard to
avoid eye contact with him in the awkwardly silent room, looking
everywhere but at his face.

“
What can I do
for you?” he asked as he cleared his throat.

Thank god he's
getting right to business . . .

“
Um, well, I hate
to ask you this but my family is going on vacation next week. We'll
be gone for two weeks, and I was wondering if you will let me go.”

He sat back in his
chair and swiveled from side to side, piercing me with his green
eyes. It was nerve-wracking, sitting there being studied by him,
oblivious to what he was thinking.

I sighed a heavy breath
of defeat and slid to the edge of my chair to get up. “Okay,
it's too short of notice. No problem.”

“
Now hold on a
minute,” he stopped me, putting his hand out in my direction.
“I didn't say no.”

“
Yeah, but I know
it's a lot to ask. I figured you wouldn't allow it.”

He brought his hands
above him and interlaced his fingers, placing them comfortably behind
his head. “Yes, you can have it off.”

“
Oh,” I
said with surprise, “well, thank you. I'll make sure that I get
everything in order before I go.”

He smiled at me with
his hands still clasped behind him. “You're welcome. We'll miss
you when you're gone.”

I stood up from the
chair with a shy smile and left his office without looking back,
thankful to finally be out of the claustrophobic room.

* * *

Later that day Jonah
showed up right on time for lunch. I observed his fluid steps as he
came in and approached the counter where I was standing, exuding an
intense masculinity in his tight, white t-shirt and greased up jeans,
making it hard for me to tear my eyes away from him.

“
Hey Ashy,”
he beamed happily at me.

It didn’t matter
how many times I had seen that same smile; every time he flashed it I
melted.

“
Hi Jonah. I'll
go get our lunch and meet you at a table.”

“
Okay, sounds
good.” Our usual table was taken, so he sat down at a corner
booth next to a window.

I spun on my heels and
went back to the kitchen to get our food from Steve. The restaurant
was starting to pick up since it was lunch, so I had to wait a few
extra minutes for him to finish our order. Once I got our food I
walked hastily back to Jonah's table.

“
Here
you go, hot off the grill,” I announced as I sat our plates
down and took a
seat
across from him.

“
It looks great.
Thank you.”

“
You're welcome.”

He pulled the sesame
seed bun off of the top of his burger and sat it on top of his pile
of fries. “Are you having a good day?” he asked, grabbing
the salt shaker from the table and spreading a thin layer over the
greasy beef patty.

“
Yeah,” I
laughed.

He put the bun back and
shook the salt over his fries. “Is that funny?” he
chuckled.

“
I'll never get
used to your salt fetish.”

His hand quickly moved
over my plate and he vigorously shook the salt onto my fries, staring
at me with a wide, open smile.

“
Hey, stop that!”
I laughed as I shooed his hand away. “I don't need all that
extra salt like you.”

He sat the shaker back
on the table and picked up his burger. “You look really nice
today,” he complimented before taking a bite.

I smiled shyly at him
from across the table. “Thank you.”

“
I was talking to
the burger . . .”

“
Oh, shut up,”
I blurted out with laughter.

His deep laugh radiated
through the air. “You know I'm joking; I was talking about
you.”

“
Well, you look
really nice today, too.”

He smiled and shook his
head in disagreement, fully aware that he was covered in grease from
working under cars all day.

I took a few bites of
my food before deciding to break the news about our family trip to
Arizona. I really didn't want to tell him at all; I felt that if I
talked to him about it then I would get more depressed about going.
Being without him for those two weeks was going to be brutal.

“
So,” I
hesitantly began, “I wanted to tell you something. My parents
saved up some money and we're leaving next week to go to Arizona for
two weeks.”

Jonah stopped halfway
between taking a bite and pulled the burger away from his face. “Oh,
really?” he asked softly. “Well, that's cool. I bet
you're excited.”

“
Yeah,” I
shrugged, “I am. But I'm going to miss our lunches.” I
grabbed a french fry and popped it into my mouth, smiling at him
between chews.

He smiled back and
looked down at the half-eaten burger in his hands. “I'll miss
them too,” he agreed.

We didn't talk much
while we finished our food, which was not normal for us. The news of
my departure from the city was apparently weighing heavy on us both.

“
I think I found
a car for you,” he said, being the first one to break our
silence.

I grabbed a napkin from
the dispenser and wiped the grease away from my mouth. “Oh,
really? That's awesome! How much is it?”

“
Three thousand.
Is that too much for you?”

I shook my head. “No,
not at all. I have almost four thousand saved, so that will help me
with insurance and all that other stuff. What kind of car is it?”

“
A Honda. It's a
friend of Tommy's. I've been asking around for a car that would be
good for you and Tommy told me about it. I took a look at it the
other day and I think it's a pretty good car. There's a few things I
need to fix on it first before you can drive it though; I want to
make sure it's safe.”

I smiled at him from
across the table and leaned forward, propping my hands underneath my
chin. “Thank you Jonah, I really appreciate it.”

“
You're welcome.
I'm going to fix it up really nice for you, you'll see.” He sat
back against the seat and winked at me as he crossed his arms in
front of him.

The corner of my mouth
raised shyly; I loved it when he winked at me. I let out a light sigh
and stared at him with an apologetic look. “I'm sorry that I'm
gonna miss your birthday while I'm gone. I already got you your
present, though. I'm going to give it to you before I leave.”

He twisted his wrist
toward him and glanced at his watch, making the masculine veins in
his arms protrude out. “That's okay. It's no big deal, really.”

“
Yes it is. I
feel really bad.”

“
Really, Ash,
it's fine,” he said as he gathered his napkin into a ball and
sat it on his plate. “I'll survive. Just give me my present and
I'll be happy. Oh, and call me twice on my birthday when you're in
Arizona.”

“
I'll call you
every day,” I promised.