8. Eleanora
eleanora
. . .
T he money I earned in tips tonight is piled by denomination on my bed. If I were a cartoon character, my eyes would bug out right about now. It’s no surprise the ones have the most in their pile. Actually, it’s a huge surprise. I had never waited on a table before and tonight was trial by fire.
Sitting on the edge of my bed, I pull my earnings together in a stack and start counting. The bigger bills are from the credit card transactions, and I noticed rather quickly that people tip more when they’re using a card, or they’ve had three or more drinks.
It’s two in the morning and I’m wide awake. I hear Kellie come in, trying to be as quiet as possible. She knocks on my door. “Eleanora, are you awake?”
“I am.”
She enters, and her mouth drops open. “What did you do?” she asks. I wave the wad of cash and smile. “Don’t tell me you were so desperate you decided to Pretty Woman yourself?”
I gasp and it’s not the good kind, the one that comes with the perfect kiss or most amazing present. The one comes with utter shock and disbelief that my friend thinks I’d sell my body after being here for a few days.
“Um, no. I worked a night at this place called the Bean Song. They’re hiring and gave me a test run.”
Kellie rushes toward me, tackling me in a sumo hug. “You scared the daylights out of me,” she says as she rights herself. I look at my hand, still clutching my tips and laugh. Not even an assault like that would make me let go. I worked hard for this.
“I would never,” I tell her. “I’m here on vacation. I didn’t come here to find a dream or make a life, ya know. I have to go home eventually.”
She pulls the desk chair out and sits down. “Do you ever want to say ‘f’ it and run away?”
“From my parents?” She nods. “All the time. But life is different there with their unwritten expectations. Disappointing my parents and going against their wishes isn’t high on my priority list.”
“Do you love Roy?”
I shrug and set my cash down beside me. You’d think that I’ve never held money before by the way I’m acting with it. “At one point, yes. I was madly in love with him, but then came college… see that’s why I have to do what my parents want. It was the tradeoff of going to Idaho. Get my degree, become a teacher and marry Roy.”
“Your family is odd.”
I’m nodding right along with her. “My family has deep southern roots. They’re like weeds, they never go away.”
“Right, change of subject. Let’s go out.”
“Tonight? Where?”
“There’s a local hot spot down the street. Be ready in five.” She gets up and goes to the door.
“Wait, what?” I call out. Kellie pauses at the door and looks back at me.
“What?”
“Five minutes? It’s like half past two in the morning.”
“And the nightlife is just coming alive. Get dressed.” She doesn’t give me a chance to say anything and really leaves me no choice but to do as she suggests. I change quickly and put some of my tip money into my pocket along with my driver’s license. I learned early, there’s no need to take a purse with you when you’re clubbing because you can never set it down.
My roommate is waiting for me in the living room when I come out. She tells me she’s called for a ride share and it should be here any second. We walk down to the front of our building, which is deep within the complex, to wait.
“Tell me about the job.”
“Like I said, it was a trial run. He’s going to call me later to let me know if I’m hired. Want to hear something odd?”
“Odd in Cali, you don’t say.” She laughs as soon as she looks over at me. “Shoot.”
“I think I met, well sort of met, Sofia’s brother.”
Now Kellie is really laughing. Not sure what’s so funny though. Did I miss a joke? A car comes around the corner, she pulls her phone out to verify the plate number and we get in. The driver, clearly in a hurry, speeds down our road, hitting each speed bump like it’s in his way, before pulling out in front of traffic. I’m going to freaking die.
“I know you and Sofia are close, but I’ve never bought the brother story.”
“Why not?”
Kellie shrugs. “It’s odd. She has a brother who never visits. Like ever. He doesn’t even call.” She turns in her seat, facing me. “We all have siblings. We’ve met each other’s siblings and cousins, yet not her brother and when her mom came to visit, she never mentioned them.”
“They have different dads.”
“So, does Kizzy and her sister, but her mom talks non-stop about both of them. Any mother would, but Sofia’s mom…” Kellie pauses and shakes her head. “I don’t know. He seems made up.”
“But he exists. I mean, I’m pretty sure I met him. He did the open mic night. His name is Quinn, right? Even though she always called him Q, she said his name’s Quinn.”
The driver pulls up in front of the club, effectively ending our conversation. I see the line and groan. It’s around the block. We’ll be lucky to get in before the sun rises. I follow Kellie right to the door. She says something to the bouncer and we’re let in.
“What? How?” I yell over the music.
“My brother is the bartender. Come on.” She drags me to the bar. As soon as her brother spots her, he leaves the customer he’s with and comes to us.
“Ladies, glad you could make it out. How’s California treating you, Eleanora?” Carson Macauley, one of the hottest guys I’ve ever met, asks as he winks at me. My knees knock together as I try to form a coherent sentence. However, it’s too late. He does this grin combined with laughter, making everything about him scream ‘take me in the back room,’ as he places two glasses on the bar. I’m not even paying attention to whatever drink he made when Kellie is thrusting it into my hand.
“Get over it,” she says, knowing full well that I’m thinking about her brother.
“How do you stand it?
“What, my friends fawning over my brother? Eh, I know he’ll never date one, so it doesn’t really matter.”
“Really, because we could be like sisters,” I tell her, taking a sip of the concoction. It’s strong, fruity and right up my alley.
“Ain’t gonna happen. Besides, he’s in love with his girlfriend. It’s sickening, yet sweet.”
Figures.
As soon as we finish our drinks, we hit the dance floor. It’s where we stay until about five in the morning when the club starts to shut down. Instead of going home, Kellie and I decide to go to breakfast. Nothing like greasy hash browns to soak up the liquor.
“I’m going to have a hangover.”
“Yeah, we probably shouldn’t have drunk so much,” she says, laying her head down on the table. “Do you think they’d care if we slept here.”
“Yes, and I would care. First, you asked me if I decided to make Pretty Woman a reality and now you want me to sleep in a grease infested diner? Get up and let’s go home where we have a shower and bed.”
“Ugh, fine.”
Back in school, our suite partied. We hosted, attended, and crashed our fair share. Hangovers are nothing. The problem is, the sun’s up and we’re just now finishing up our night. I should’ve seen this coming, but I was blinded by the idea of going out. Tomorrow… I mean today is going to suck rotten eggs.
No sooner do we open the door and head to our respective rooms, does my phone ring. It’s an unknown number and I’m tempted to send it to voicemail. “Hello?”
“This Nola?”
“Yeah.” My heart jumps. Only one person calls me this. “Zeke?”
“Yeah. You’re on. Start tonight at five.” He hangs up before I can thank him or even ask him what my rate of pay is, although with the tips I made last night, I don’t really care because it’s enough to last me through the week.
I try to sleep, but each time I close my eyes and I’m on the cusp of falling asleep, I dream that I’m falling, and startle awake. Reaching for my phone, I call Sofia, hoping she’s not at work yet or if she is, she’s on a break. Since I arrived here, and she’s started her job, we haven’t been able to talk every day and our text message marathons are short and sweet.
“Hello,” she answers, sounding like she’s out of breath.
“How’s the working life?”
“Hey. It’s great. I love my job. How’re things?”
“Good. I got a job waiting tables. It’ll give me some pocket cash while I’m here.”
“Do your parents know yet?”
“Nope. I texted them and said we’re sight-seeing, taking our time and just enjoying the road trip.”
“And they bought it?”
“I hope they did. Guess what?”
“What? Did you meet someone? What about Roy?” She’s giggling, making me miss her even more.
“No, and Roy’s still Roy. But…” I pause for dramatic effect. “Last night at work, there was this singer. Wicked cute, wearing a beanie. I kept staring at him because he looks so familiar. Well, he gets on stage and says his name is Quinn!” I’m over the top excited to tell her. I mean, what are the chances that I run into her brother while I’m here.
“Oh.”
“Oh? Aren’t you excited? I tried to talk to him, but his girlfriend got butthurt and pushed me out of the way.”
“What’d you say to him?” The peppiness in her voice is gone and I don’t understand why.
“My exact words were, ‘I know your sister.’”
“Listen, El. Quinn likes his privacy so it’s probably best that you keep your distance.”
“Okay…”
“We’ll talk more later. I gotta run.” She’s gone, in a flash, without any explanation as to why I can’t converse with her brother. Surely, if we’re working the same shift, we should be able to talk.
I decide to try and get some sleep. I’m back on the cusp, that spot between coherent and total darkness when my phone rings. I don’t open my eyes when I answer. As soon as I hear my brother’s voice, I wish like hell I didn’t pick up the phone.
“Good, you’re alive. I’ve started thinking you’re dead and someone has taken your phone, leading us on a wild goose chase.”
“What do you want, Rhett?”
“I want to know what’s going on. You may have our parents fooled, however, I am not. You’re not posting any pictures on social media, your story is nonexistent, and I smell a rat.”
“Change your socks.”
“Funny. Where are you?”
I sigh. “I don’t know, somewhere between Idaho and South Carolina. Sofia and I don’t have a destination in mind.”
“Hmm… Something’s up. Mom and Dad are beside themselves here, Eleanora. You should’ve been home days ago.”
He’s right. I don’t know how much longer I can put off the charade. Eventually, I have to either tell them or head home. Neither one sounds appealing right now. I like it here and want to stay longer.
“I’m fine, Rhett. I’m enjoying my new car and traveling the country with my bestie. You’d do the same thing if the only thing waiting for you back home was a guy you didn’t want to marry.”
“Roy? What’s wrong with him?”
I close my eyes and kick the covers with my feet. I shouldn’t have said anything about Roy because they’re friends. “Nothing. I’m just tired. Can we talk later?”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine, Rhett. Go back to making the women at the estate swoon. It’s what you do best.” I disconnect the call as panic sets in. If Rhett is suspicious, so are my parents. It seems that my time here is more limited than I thought.