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  Amber

  What should have been an awesome night turned into the speediest sex session from hell. It all started well; a little bit of foreplay, but before I knew it, it’s over and done with. Two fucking pumps, a squirt, and it’s over. He left me so high and dry, that I kicked that motherfucker’s ass out of my apartment and turned to my trusty vibrator. It’s a shame, because that guy was like some damn model. Everything about him was perfect. Maybe too perfect. I roll over in bed, stretching out; the vibrator from lasts night’s self-loving falls to the floor. Fuck. My head bangs – the alcohol taking its toll on me this morning. Holding my hand against my painful head, I blink rapidly, trying to get my blurry vision to clear. My eyes glide over the dresser, locating the digital clock. My eyes go wide.

  10:00AM!

  “Fuck.” I jump up so fast out of bed, rushing toward the door to get showered. My hazy head sends me spinning and I fall into the doorframe, bouncing off and knocking my sorry ass to the ground.

  “Jesus Christ,” I yell as I rub my hip, the most painful part of my fall. I drop my head against the wall, trying to steady my breathing. Not to mention letting my brain catch up with my erratic body. I suck in a labored breath as I rub my bruised hip. I should have gone steady last night. I don’t want to be late for my first shift at the café. I could already tell that Corrine would not be impressed with me showing up late. Luckily, I was on the late shift and not due there until eleven. But right now, I was running late. I quickly pull myself up, giving my head a few seconds to clear before heading in the shower.

  I’m done and dried off in record time. I dry my hair swiftly, tying it up in a high pony before applying a little bit of concealer under my dark, alcohol induced circles. I brush my teeth, not just once, but twice, ensuring there is not a trace of alcohol left on my breath. I douse myself in perfume and give myself one last check in the mirror, before grabbing my purse and keys to race out of the door. I check my phone – 10:45AM. Okay, I should make it there in time, it’s not far. I head down the stairwell, making a mental note to tell the building maintenance about the elevator.

  I race over to my car, flustered by the time and desperate to get there and make a good impression on my first day. I throw my purse inside, jump in, and start the engine. Just as I check the coast is clear to emerge, I notice the guy I accidently hit with the door walking toward my car. I stop, my eyes glued to him, wondering whether he is going to approach me. As he gets closer, I lower the window, leaning my head out a little as he nears the car door. I see the reflection of the lights on the car parked next to mine flash and realize he isn’t approaching me. He’s getting in his car. I hastily close the window and sink down in my seat, feeling a little stupid. I pull the car out of the parking space, checking my mirrors as I pull forward. I double take as I catch his reflection. He’s watching me as I leave and I’m pretty sure he’s smiling.

  I make it to Espresso Café a few minutes before eleven. Cars are lined up outside and the Sunday morning rush is most definitely on. As I enter, I’m immediately hit by the buzz of voices. The whole place is alive.

  I walk up to the counter where Corrine is rushing around, her hands flapping in the air like a headless chicken. When she turns and notices me standing there, her eyes widen.

  “Oh thank the lord and the stars. You’re here.” She grabs an apron, shoves it into my hands, and points to the tables behind me.

  “Tables three, seven, and twelve are all waiting to place their orders. Be a love.” She smiles widely, holding out her hand to take my purse. “I’ll put it in the back room,” she offers. I tie the apron around my waist, grab the pad and paper, and head over to the tables to take orders.

  I quickly jot down the food and drink requests and walk behind the counter.

  “I have the orders. You want me to get the drinks?” I ask with a smile.

  “You know how to work the machine?” she asks, a little surprised.

  “Sure,” I answer. “I worked part time in a little coffee shop before I moved here.”

  “Well, young lady, that would be most helpful. As soon as you’ve done that, take any food orders to Bob in the kitchen.”

  I nod, making the drinks for the three tables. When I finish, I head over and serve the customers. Without losing my flow, I fly through the swinging doors that lead to the kitchen.

  “Where do you want these, Bob?” I ask, smiling at the chubby bald headed guy.

  “Who the fuck are you?” he snaps.

  “I’m the new help around here,” I answer, matter of fact, a little stunned by his abrasive manner.

  “Well, fuck. Aren’t you a pretty little thing?”

  I swallow down the lump in my throat, pissed at how forward this guy is being. “Let’s get one thing straight,” I say, walking closer to him. “I’m here for the money, not the compliments. So get back to making the food, so I can get back to bringing in the orders.”

  His eyes go wide, his mouth dropping open a little. “Damn, girl. You’re a feisty one. I like you already,” he says with a wink. “I’m glad we got that straight, but make no mistake, I’m a happily married guy. I just say things as I fucking find them.” He pauses for a second, his hand resting against his mouth. “Probably why Corrine doesn’t let me out of the fucking kitchen.”

  “With all the cursing you’re doing, no wonder.” I laugh and watch as his smile spreads ear to ear. I push the tickets toward him, turn around, and walk back out to clear some tables.

  “How did you find him?” Corrine questions tentatively, the corner of her eyes creasing as she screws her face up a little.

  “Curses a lot, but he’s nice enough,” I whisper to her. “I thought he was trying to hit on me at first, but I set him straight.” I look at her, giving her a little wink. “I hope you don’t mind, I’m just not good with the sleazy older guys.”

  “Well, that’s a new one for me.” She chuckles to herself.

  “What?” I ask, narrowing my eyebrows.

  “My husband being called a sleaze.”

  I feel the color drain from my face at the realization that Bob is Corrine’s husband.

  I let my head drop. “Shit, I’m so sorry,” I offer, my words trailing off. Jeez, I just want the ground to swallow me up. Me and my big mouth…fuck. I look up at her. Her face completely contorts as she laughs uncontrollably.

  “What’s so funny?” a squeaky voice asks.

  I look up to see Rose standing beside me, hands on her hips, looking pointedly between me and Corrine.

  “Well?” she asks, a little shittier than I’d expected.

  “Amy,” Corrine tries to speak between laughter. “She met Bob.”

  “Ohhh. He’s a charmer, isn’t he?”

  “Amy? Who’s Amy?” I ask, confused. My eyes flit between the two of them.

  “Me,” Rose states holding up her hand.

  “But you told me your name’s Rose.”

  “Well, my real name is Amy, but I prefer to be called Rose.” Her voice squeaks as her words come tumbling out so fast I can hardly make out what she’s saying. “Rose is my middle name and since Amy is so…well blah, I decided I prefer Rose. Got it?”

  I shake my head, trying to clear the confusion.

  “Well, okay,” I answer, knowing this quirky character is going to be hard work.

  I get back to clearing the tables and taking more orders. As the day goes on, Amy, also known as Rose, shows me the ropes, and where everything is kept. I’m confused to fuck whether I call her Amy or Rose. For now I’ll go with Rose until I’m corrected.

  “So, you’re new around here, right?” she asks.

  “Sure am,” I answer with a smile. “Moved here to be closer to my friend. I enrolled at the college she attends.” That was all she needed to know. I’m not one for telling everyone about my shitty life; moving from foster home to foster home.

  “But it’s part way through the year…” she trails off.

  “Yeah, it kinda didn’t work out at my las
t college. I stuck it out for as long as I could, but in the end, I felt this move was the best thing all around.”

  Her eyes widen and her mouth twitches. I know she wants to ask why, but I don’t intend on telling her anything I don’t want her to know. I turn and go to clear some more tables. The buzz of earlier is now dying down.

  By six, I’m beat. There has been a constant flow of customers and I’ve barely stopped for a breath. The hangover didn’t help either.

  “Girls,” Corrine shouts, waving at us to walk over to her. I quickly finish stacking the last of the chairs on the tables, and swiftly walk over to Corrine who is standing behind the counter. I watch as she flicks through the bills, counting and separating them into two neat piles.

  “Well, it looks like this little beauty is good for tips.” She looks at me with a smile.

  “I did good?” I ask with a shrug, unsure whether that’s what she means.

  “Girl, these are the best tips we’ve had in a long time.” I look over to Rose. She’s bouncing a little on her tip toes, straining to look at the piles on the counter. Corrine pushes one toward me, and the other to Rose.

  “We usually count the tips at the end of the week, but since we had so many today it made no sense to wait.”

  I reach my hand forward to collect the dollar bills. Running my hand down the edge, I try to roughly estimate the amount. I look at Corrine and back to the money.

  “There must be well over a hundred dollars here,” I declare, shocked by the large amount of ten and twenty dollar bills.

  “One hundred and forty fucking dollars to be precise. And you earned that, doll. You were a big hit with our customers.”

  I look between Rose and Corrine, a little shocked that a small café like this could make so much in tips, and this was just half of it!

  “Thank you so much.”

  “Don’t thank me. It was all your hard work.”

  I shriek a little, running around the counter to hug Corrine before walking into the back to grab my bag. Rose is not far behind me.

  “I need to work all of the shifts with you, Amber.” She winks.

  “I had no idea we would get so much. At my last job I was lucky to make like thirty dollars a shift.”

  “We should stick together. We could make a killing,” she chuckles, hooking her arm through mine as we head toward the door. I look back over to Corrine. She’s still standing behind the counter, her smile so wide I can barely make out her eyes.

  “Bye, Big C,” Rose shouts. I chuckle silently to myself as I wave at her on our way out. As soon as we are through the door, I break her hold on my arm, quickly scurrying to my car.

  “See you Tuesday, Rose.” I walk the short distance across the parking lot, until I reach my old heap of junk. I pull my purse off my shoulder, rifling through for my keys.

  As I look down into my bag, I see I have a flat tire. “Shit!” I yell.

  “You okay?” Rose asks, rushing over to me. Her legs seem to struggle to keep up with the speed her body’s moving.

  “No. Dammit! I got a flat,” I growl, kicking the tire in frustration.

  “You got a spare?” she quizzes.

  “Of course I got a spare,” I snap, a little more than I had intended. “But I’ll be fucked if I know how to change the damn thing.” I quickly open the car door, throwing my handbag onto the passenger seat.

  “My brother will be along to pick me up.” She looks at the watch on her wrist. “In fact, he should be here any minute. I’m pretty sure he can help out.” Her words trail off as she cranes her head to look down the road.

  “He’s here,” she yells. My hands fly to my ears as I try to cope with the sound overload. She turns and gives me an apologetic look.

  “Sorry, doll. Did I scare you?” She giggles a little.

  “Enough with the screeching already.” I laugh, standing as tall as I can to see where this brother of hers is.

  Tires squeal as her brother makes the turn into the parking lot, showing no real sign of slowing down. He speeds toward us. I jump out of the way, fearing that I might actually get run over. He pulls to an eventual stop, his car jerking forward with the force of his breaking.

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” I yell. “I like my life, thank you.” I glare at the guy as he gets out of the car.

  “You were never in any danger, sweetheart…”

  “Huh no you didn’t.”

  “Didn’t what?” Rose asks, her eyebrows drawn with confusion.

  “He didn’t just call me sweetheart.”

  “He so did.” She nudges my arm. “Hey, doofus, you gonna help the damsel in distress?”

  “What’s it worth?” he asks with a wiggle of his eyebrows. I watch as his eyes bore into me. His gaze drifts from my face, taking in every inch of my body.

  “Urgggh,” I growl out in annoyance. “Nothing, absolutely nothing at all.”

  I look up to see Rose’s brother holding out his hand. “I’m Ryan, by the way.”

  I look down at his hand before lifting my head and smiling faintly. “I’d like to say, nice to meet you, but I’d be lying. You know, since you nearly ran me over and all.”

  “Sweetheart, I ride my car like I ride my women. Fast and hard. But never fear, neither one ever comes to any harm.”

  I make a face, scowling at his ridiculous pick up line.

  “Seriously, that’s the best you got? That’s your pick up line?”

  “That ain’t no line, lady. That’s the truth.”

  I scoff. “Well excuse me while I puke.” I mock being sick, my hand to my mouth, as Rose bends over in a fit of laughter. She wraps her arm over her stomach as she tries to control herself.

  “Dammit… stop.” She’s trying to speak through her tears of laughter. “I think I’m gonna pee,” she blurts out. Rose crosses her legs and does a little dance at the side of the car.

  “Now that we’re over the lame attempt to pick me up, is there any chance I can get your help to change this damn tire?” I ask, glaring between the two of them. I’m tired, still feeling drained from the night before. I can’t wait to get home so I can finally crash. My eyes stop on Ryan. He looks a few years older than us and has the perfect cocksure appearance. Not a hair out of place, but with the amount of hair gel it looks that he’s using, there’s no danger of a strand breaking loose.

  He reaches his entwined fingers forward, cracking them as though he’s ready to go to work.

  “Where’s the spare, uh, I didn’t get your name?”

  “It’s Amber,” I answer quickly, trying to force a smile.

  “Ooh, pretty. I like that!”

  I roll my eyes. This guy is a full on douche. “It’s in the back,” I advise, leading him to the trunk.

  “Great. Give me a minute and I’ll have it done.”

  “Thanks,” I say simply with a weak smile, walking back toward Rose. She’s decided to sit herself on the hood of her brother’s car, her fingers tapping away on her phone faster than anything I’ve seen before.

  “You’re gonna get blisters at that rate.” I nod my head toward her erratic fingers as she continues to tap away.

  She lets out an audible sigh and dismisses me with a wave of her hand. “Come sit.”

  “On the hood of your brother’s car?” I shake my head. “I’m good. Thanks.”

  “I think he likes you,” she whispers, nodding toward Ryan who’s using the jack to lift the car.

  “No offense, Rose, but I’m not sure he’s really my type.”

  “Yeah I guess he’s the love ‘em and leave ‘em type.”

  “Well, that makes two of us, but I’m just not into guys so full of themselves, you know?”

  She nods, accepting my reasoning. “He’s never short of female attention. I guess it comes with the territory.” She shrugs.

  “What territory?”

  “You know, working at the college. He’s the IT guy there.”

  “Oh,” I say, realizing this is the guy who must have supplied
Lily with the fake ID.

  “Ry, Amber starts at Edgewood tomorrow, so it looks like you’ll be seeing more of her.”

  His head comes into view, his eyes bugged. “Damn, I’d like to see more of her alright,” he mumbles.

  “You do know how inappropriate that is.” I glare at him. “Now that I’m a student there of course.”

  “Not ‘til tomorrow.” He laughs. I shake my head. This guy is not getting the message. He stops suddenly, his eyes transfixed on my face. “Come to think of it, didn’t I make you a fake ID? I knew I recognized you from somewhere.”

  “So you know my friend Lily?” I ask, trying to change the subject.

  A smirk appears at the corner of his lips and his eyes lighten at the mention of her name.

  “You could say. Lily and I have a history.”

  “She mentioned you.”

  His small smirk turns into a full blown one, creeping from ear to ear.

  “Oh Jesus, get over yourself,” I snap. “She mentioned you because of the ID, that’s all. Nothing more.”

  “Sure,” he almost sings, as he returns back to finish the tire. I look back at Rose, but her eyes are drawn to something. Turning, I look to see what’s caught her attention.

  I jump a little as Rose whistles loudly. My ears ring from the loud sound. My eyes focus on the two bodies and they go wide at the sight of him.

  The guy from the apartment.

  He’s with another guy.

  I quickly look back at Rose, her arms waving in the air.