Chapter 8 A Sweet Spot
A SWEET SPOT
“You’re back,” Anya said to Matt the next day. She had thirty minutes left on her shift at Fierce. She’d taken it last minute again since she had little planned for the night.
She had an open house on Sunday and two showings with another client tomorrow afternoon and nothing more.
There were very few houses on the market and everyone was scrambling to grab what they could.
She’d never been great at fighting her way out of things.
“I am,” he said. “I didn’t even call my brother to come get me to butt in line.”
“Impressive,” she said. “What can I get you?”
He wouldn’t be able to stay long. There was a two-drink minimum with the purchase of a tour.
“I’ll take a number four.”
She moved to pour it and handed it over. He sat in an empty seat. People could sit on the side, but orders were filled in the front and others moved to seating on the floor or places they could stand and rest their drinks on ledges and have a snack that was also served here.
Nothing she had to cook, prepared food that was kept warm and brought over by the restaurant and replenished when needed.
She moved to another customer and was filling orders, but Matt was close by on the corner.
“Are you working until closing?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “Just a short shift I covered last minute. How come you’re here and not at the pub?”
“You know why,” he said, smirking at her.
Because he wanted to see her. “How did you know I was working?”
“I met with your parents yesterday.”
Her mother would have said something.
Dang it.
Her mother always had a sweet spot for Matt.
Could be because she’d had a young crush on her best friend’s older brother for years and would talk to her mother about it.
That was before Matt pushed his luck with her one too many times.
She replaced any feelings she had for him with annoyance or distrust by the time she turned sixteen.
What a horrible feeling.
It broke her heart.
No, he broke her heart by not being who she hoped he’d be and making her time in the Kelly household not so enjoyable anymore.
When he went away to college, she was both relieved and frustrated.
She was thrilled she didn’t have to worry what might fall on her head when she walked in a door but then missed the anticipation of seeing his handsome face and the fluttering he brought out in her belly.
It was horrible having those conflicting thoughts for years.
“I see you’re still pushy.”
She was filling orders and handing them over, the tips were left each time.
She loved this.
The beers were paid for with the price of the tour. So the cash dropped on the counter was purely for the bartenders.
When the shift ended, they’d split what was there. All shift changes split what was collected and then it started over when new people came in.
It was the only fair way to do it since customers returned for their second drink and could get someone else, then drop their tip down then.
“I’m having a drink, nothing more.”
“It’s always something more,” she said.
He frowned and said nothing else.
His beer was down toward the bottom of the glass when her shift ended.
Matt almost looked like a lost puppy sitting there and it surprised her.
She wanted to stay annoyed with him but was having a hard time after talking to her mother last night.
“You’re all set, Anya,” Justin said. “Why don’t you count the jar?”
“Got it,” she said. Her replacement popped behind the bar.
Matt quickly put a twenty on the bar and pushed it toward her.
She smiled and would add it with the other tips.
“Are you staying for another?”
“No. No reason to.”
She rolled her eyes and went to throw the twenty into the jar, then picked it up from behind the bar and went to a space in back to count out the tips.
No way she was going to walk out from behind the bar with the money.
When she was done, she had close to four hundred dollars. Not bad for five hours of work. Fridays were big days. The afternoon shift was much better than the night one, she was finding.
She returned to the bar and put the jar down, then nodded Justin over.
“Three hundred and eighty-seven each.”
“Sweet,” Justin said. “Good day.”
Justin put the money in his apron.
She knew the salary wouldn’t be high if she worked full time here, but the tips would more than make up for it.
She’d get medical insurance on top of it rather than paying for it herself.
It was something to consider for the short term once she got her parents’ business sold.
No, she thought to herself.
There she was always thinking short term and not her future.
That was how she ended up not doing what was sustainable long term.
“Are you leaving now?” she asked Matt when he moved off the bar.
“As I said, no reason to stay.”
He looked so out of place sitting there in his work wear.
No tie or suit jacket. She’d bet he’d left them in his car.
But his pink button-down shirt made him look like a man who was confident in himself enough to wear a toga to Sunday mass.
He didn’t seem to care if he stood out.
Or that he was letting her know the reason he stopped in for a beer.
She had her purse on her, her money stuffed in there while she clutched it tight in front of her.
Just a habit more than anything.
Matt ended up next to her walking out. When they cleared the noise of the people, she said, “Thank you for being so good with my father.”
“You’re welcome,” he said. “I can’t imagine how hard it is to see him like that.”
“You have no idea. He was having a good day too.”
“I always liked your mother,” he said. “She was nice to me.”
“She liked you,” she said.
“More than her daughter did, I’m sure.”
It was the dry tone he used. His smile was gone.
His shine too.
Wounded Matt was tugging at her heartstrings.
“I told you why,” she said.
“And I said I’m sorry.”
“I believe you are. What’s going on? You seem down. It can’t be because I’m not giving you what you want.”
She didn’t believe for one minute it bothered him that much.
He smiled this time. “I wouldn’t say that. Let’s say the past few days I’ve had my ass handed to me.”
“Oh, bad court days?”
“No,” he said. “Bad parent days.”
She put her tongue between her teeth to stop from giggling. “Did you get grounded for not playing nice in the office?”
He laughed. “See. Now you’re making a joke at my expense.”
Her partial grin dropped. He was right. “Sorry. That was wrong of me.”
“No,” he said. “It wasn’t. It just proved it’s hard not to cross that line. As a kid it’s even harder when you don’t know the line you’re even crossing. Or you’re doing it to get attention because you like someone more than they might like you.”
Her jaw dropped as he said that. They’d gotten outside and no one was around to hear it.
No one that knew her or Matt.
“What?”
“You heard me. I thought you were cute. It’s not unheard of to have a crush on your sister’s best friend.”
“That’s why you did it?” she asked. Talk about getting a kick to the ass.
“I’m being honest. I enjoyed making people laugh. I had fun. I targeted you more than the rest and for that I’m sorry. But that is my reason.”
Could it have been that all along?
She wasn’t buying it.
“I don’t know. It sounds off to me.”
“It’s the truth. I’ve never lied to you. You want to trust me, so I’m being honest. I’m not sure what more I can do.”
“I don’t know why you’re trying so hard,” she said.
“Because it matters,” he said. “And maybe too many things in my life that mattered I threw away.”
He turned and walked to his car.
“Wait,” she said going after him. “You know how to make someone feel like shit.”
“Exactly what I didn’t want to do. You said I did that enough when you were a kid.”
“This is different. This is more like guilt.”
“I know that feeling well,” he said. He had his hands in his pockets, his shoulders not as straight as they normally were.
She didn’t know why she was doing this. Why was she setting herself up for frustration?
“How about dinner? We can talk more about it. I’m not promising anything else.”
He stood up to his full height. “I’d like that.”
She pointed her finger. “That smirk right there makes me think you won. Or you think you won.”
He reached for her finger and held it in his. Softly. Gently. Tenderly.
“No. I’m just ecstatic you’re giving me a chance. You’re calling the shots here.”
“Really?”
“Yep. You name the place and time.”
“Okay. I need to go home, shower and change. I’ll text you soon.”
“You’re not going to change your mind?” he asked.
“You’ll have to trust me too.”