Chapter 54: Chapter Fifty-Four

Taking a deep breath I try to calm the worms crawling around in my stomach. I place my hand on the door, take in one more breath for good measure, and walk into the diner. I’m only two steps inside when someone scares the daylights out of me by screaming my name.

“LANI!”

I’m immediately wrapped in a bear hug by Bernadette, who I haven’t seen in ages. She squeezes me tight, rocking me back and forth as her thick wavey brown hair gets all up in my mouth.

“I can’t believe you’re back. I was worried we’d never see you again,” she whines in her thick German accent.

I smile, hugging her in return and giving her a tight squeeze. “You know me, I’m a workaholic, I was bound to come back eventually,” I say playfully.

“Are you just visiting or are you back back?”

“I’m back back, I just need to go talk to Gary.”

“He’s in his office,” she informs me, beaming.

“You’re the best,” I smile, giving her a kiss on the cheek and making my way to Gary’s office.

As I’m about to knock on the door, I get an uneasy feeling in the pit of my gut and quickly glance over my shoulder. I look around the diner, expecting to find someone staring at me, but they’re all happily enjoying their food. I shake the thought mind and knock on the door.

“Come in!” Gary calls out.

I open the door and let myself in, closing the door behind me, “Hey, Gary,” I greet him warmly.

“Nalani,” he says brightly, getting up from behind his desk and coming over to hug me. “It’s so good to see you!”

I smile, returning his heartfelt hug. “It’s good to see you too. You look good, have you lost weight?” I compliment him, pulling back to look at him.

“Ten pounds,” he announces proudly. “Thank you for noticing.”

“Good for you!” I cheer proudly.

“I stopped stress eating when I finally fired that deadbeat nephew of mine,” he explains, rolling his eyes as he leans against his desk.

“I heard Dylan got fired,” I say with a kind smile, not that I’m sad that I’ll never have to deal with that asshole ever again.

“I should have done it a long time ago. I was a shitty boss not doing better by you and the others by letting him stay as long as I did. It’s not an excuse, but my sister has just always had this way of making me feel like I owe her because she gave me a kidney as a kid. So whenever she needs something or wants something for her precious little delinquent, she plays the kidney card and like a coward, I cave. I’m sorry that it took having the cops show up to make me grow a spine,” he says apologetically.

“Better late than never, right?” I reassure him.

“I guess you’re right,” he says with a kind smile, before taking a slow breath. “I'm sorry if this is sensitive, but I have to know...was my nephew the one who attacked you?” he gently asks with a concerned look on his face.

I sigh and shrug, “I honestly don’t know. The police say he had an alibi, so I guess not. So I’m pretty much at square one.”

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. You don’t deserve any of this. If there is anything I can do, anything at all, you just say the word,” he states emphatically.

“You can give me a uniform and put me to work,” I say warmly.

“That I can do,” he grins at me. He walks back to his side of the desk, opens a large drawer and pulls out a fresh uniform. He must have gotten it ready when I called him, which was kind of him. He hands it to me with an avuncular smile on his face. “It’s great having you back.”

I smile, feeling warm and fuzzy to know I’ve been this missed as I take the uniform from him, “Thanks for having me back.”

With that, I take my uniform and head into the bathrooms to change, shoving my casual clothes into my bag and placing my bag in a safe place outback. I tie my hair up, grab my dupe pad and start to head out to the diner when a freckled face with bright emerald eyes and fiery red hair steps through the kitchen door beaming ear to ear.

“Lani! You’re here! You’re here! You’re really here!” Áine sings out, bouncing as she hugs me tightly.

I chuckle and hug her back just as tightly. “You saw me the other day,” I remind her.

“I know, but I’ve missed having you around at work to chat with. It’s been so lonely here without you,” she sulks with an adorable pout on her cherub face.

“You are the absolute sweetest,” I tell her, giving her a big kiss on the cheek. “Anything I should know before I get started?”

“Estaban is going to cry when he sees you’re back,” she says brightly. “He’s always asking for updates on how you are.”

My heart almost melts hearing that. Estaban has been such a father figure to me while I’ve been in the US. I feel sad that we’ve lost touch by me not being here. I hope he’s doing alright.

“I noticed he’s not at work today. That’s not like him,” I observe with concern, pointing to the new chef.

“His wife twisted her ankle, so he’s been taking care of her for a few days. He’s so sweet,” she says sweetly.

“I hope it’s nothing serious,” I frown, making a note to call him later and check in. My mother would throw her chancla at me for having not thought to do so sooner. Which reminds me, I really need to schedule a Zoom meeting with my family. My face has healed up enough that they shouldn’t ask questions and if my ninja mother notices, I can easily chalk it up to a work-related injury. Anything is possible as a waitress.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did it on purpose just so he’d take a day off,” Áine giggles.

I giggle with her, finding that thought totally plausible. “You might be onto something. If that’s it, I better get out there and try to remember what it’s like to be a working adult again.”

“You got this,” Áine grins confidently.

I brace myself, step out into the diner and get back to work. Within minutes it’s like I never left. Muscle memory kicks in and I’m moving around with ease. So much ease I could probably do this blindfolded.

“Excuse me, miss?” calls a gentleman customer from one of the booths in my station.

“Just one moment,” I inform him, cleaning up another customer’s table and taking the dirty dishes outback before I return. “How can I help you?” I ask.

I start to give him my usual friendly, customer service smile when a sense of panic comes over me and I can hear that officer’s voice in my head, “Sometimes it can be something as innocent as a friendly hello, a smile...” My heart begins to race, and I can feel my hands starting to shake. I find myself staring at the gentleman before me and nervously glancing around at the other customers, paranoia creeping into my mind telling me that any of the men here could be my stalker and I wouldn’t even know it…I’m trying to move on and keep living my life but feeling like I constantly have to look over my shoulder is sucking the life out of me.

“Miss? Miss?” calls the gentleman, trying to get my attention.

I snap out of my thoughts and shake my head straight, “I’m so sorry, could you repeat that?”

“Could I get an extra side of fries with my meal please?” he repeats.

I force out a friendly smile and jot it down on my pad, “Extra side of fries, coming up,” I inform him and walk off to place his order.

I put the ticket in the window and take slow breaths as I repeat over and over in my mind that I can do this. That no matter what, I am going to keep living my life.