The Last Boyfriend (2 page)

“And the onions, too.” The
girl finally spoke, and they both laughed.

“Okay, so a cheeseburger
and fries? Anything else?”

“No, just two waters.” And
then they were back to kissing again. I walked to the fountain to
get them two glasses of water and sighed. There wasn’t going to be
a big tip coming from them, that I was sure of. I tried to
calculate how much money I had made for the night and bit my lip. I
still hadn’t made enough to take my car to a mechanic. My 1991
Toyota Corolla was on its last legs and I was pretty sure that the
head gasket was going to blow again. It was exhibiting the same
signs about a year ago when it had blown, and I knew I couldn’t
afford to be without my car now. I wouldn’t be able to get to
school and work if I didn’t have my car, and I sure couldn’t afford
to buy a new one. But the mechanic wanted $800 to fix my car and I
only had $500. I had been hoping that tonight I would have seen
some spend-happy, hungry customers from South America, but I hadn’t
been so lucky. “I guess maybe tomorrow will be my night,” I mumbled
to myself as I walked the two waters back to the table.

“Here you go,” I said, to
no one in particular and walked back to the kitchen to do some more
mental calculations. Maybe if I asked the landlord if I could pay
the rent a little late, I thought. Maybe I could borrow my rent
money to fix my car. I sighed as I thought about approaching my
mean-faced landlord. I had a feeling she wasn’t going to go to be
happy if I asked her if I could pay my rent slightly
late.

“You okay, Lucky?” Mike
peered at me from his station and I nodded quickly. I didn’t want
to get Mike and Shayla involved with my problems. I knew they would
want to loan me the money, but I also knew that they had two kids
to support and they were barely able to do that
themselves.

“Yeah. Thanks,
Mike.”

“What did Mike do now?”
Shayla came back into the kitchen and looked Mike up and down. “You
bothering my girl?”

“No Shay. Lucky’s just
looking slightly down.”

“Oh, I’m sorry girl, maybe
they won’t be as cheap as they look.” Shayla grinned at me as she
talked about the new couple that had been seated in my area.
Everyone who worked at Lou’s knew from the moment they approached
the table what sort of tip was going to be forthcoming. Anytime a
young couple came in all lovey dovey usually meant a low
tip.

“I’m sure they will be.” I
laughed. “They are sharing their entrée.”

“Oh man.” Shayla shook her
head and patted my shoulder to show her condolences. “But at least
you have Mr. Rich, he should be good for a few dollars,
right?”

“Yeah. He always tips
well.” I smiled and looked out into the dining room to make sure
that none of my customers was looking around for me. I stared
at Zane Beaumont again and I noticed that he kept his hands to his
side of the table. I always saw his dates with their hands
stretched out and inching towards him, but I never saw him holding
hands with them. I wondered if he had slept with them
all? He was certainly good-looking enough to bag any girl that he
wanted. I wondered if he dumped them as soon as they said yes. I
wouldn't have been surprised to find out he was a kick
‘em-out-the-next-morning sort of guy. I shook my head and
grinned to myself, he was a
spend-the-night-at-their-place-and-leave-early-in-the-morning sort
of guy. I was positive of it.

“What’s so funny,
Lucky?”

“Just wondering if Mr. Rich
is as good in bed as he looks,” I said wryly and turned to Shayla
with a grin. “And don’t you dare say a word.”

“Girl, I’m not going to say
anything.” She winked at me and laughed. “But I’m betting that is a
man that can go all night long.”

“Okay, I’m out of here.” I
groaned and ran back into the dining room. I didn’t want to think
about Zane and sex. It had been too long since I’ve dated or had
sex, and just thinking about him was getting me hot and bothered.
But it had been my decision and I needed to remember that. I
couldn’t afford to daydream about a guy like Zane.

“Everything okay, Lucky?”
Zane’s voice was deep and husky, and he looked at me with concern.
“I hope nothing’s burning in the kitchen.”

“Oh no. It’s all good.” I
smiled at him and turned away from his gaze. Every time he said my
name I felt a flush inside. “Do you guys need anything
else?”

“Just the check.” His smile
was gone and his eyes were vacant again. “And quickly
please.”

“Sure.” I turned away,
confused by his sudden change in demeanor. “I’ll get it right
now.”

“So Zane, where are we
going now?” His date preened.

“I thought we could go get
some cocktails on the beach?”

“South Beach?”

“Yeah, we can go to
Washington? I know a cool place.”

“We can go to my
place.”

“Yeah, we can do that.” His
voice was smooth as silk. I peeked behind my shoulder and watched
as he caressed her hand. Asshole! I thought to myself as I printed
out Zane’s check. I wanted to slap myself for thinking that perhaps
he wasn’t the playboy I had thought him to be. He obviously was. He
was not boyfriend material, and I had to keep reminding myself of
that.

“Here you go.” I dropped
the check off at the table and spoke to the girl, ignoring Zane.
“You can pay at the front.” I walked back to the kitchen quickly
and into the bathroom. I locked the door and quickly splashed some
water on my heated face. I was upset, and frustrated. I stared in
the mirror at my dark brown hair and brushed my fingers through my
ponytail. I gazed into my wide, upset eyes through the mirror and
saw the stress lines at the corners and sighed. I looked depressed
and washed out; you couldn’t even compare me to the bevy of girls
that Zane paraded in and out of the restaurant. Sometimes living in
Miami gave me an inferiority complex and I’m not one prone to low
self-esteem. Don’t get me wrong, I have my days like everyone else,
but generally I am happy with my looks and my life. I’m not Miss
America, but I don’t think I’m ugly. I didn’t like the uneasy
feeling in my stomach. I didn’t really understand why I was so
upset at Zane’s dismissiveness. It wasn’t like we were friends or
had anything. And it wasn’t as if I fancied him. I mean, yes,
I’ll admit it, I think he’s cute, but he’s not all that. And he’s a
player and he’s pompous. The typical rich handsome guy who has had
everything handed to him. He wasn’t the type of guy that I wanted
to end up with. No, not at all. I just had to keep reminding myself
of that.

“Lucky, you there?” Shayla
banged on the door.

“Yeah, I’ll be right
out.”

“You better, your young man
is waiting outside for you.”

“What young …” Oh shit, I
thought. He was probably mad that I gave the check to the girl. My
heart started thumping and I felt a little sick. What if he decided
that he wasn’t going to come back to this diner? What if I never
saw him again?

“Thanks, Shayla.” I walked
out of the bathroom and through the kitchen to the front of the
store where Zane was waiting for me with a concerned expression on
his face.

“Hey Lucky, thanks for
coming over to talk before I left.” His blue eyes pierced into mine
and I stared back at him without a smile.

“Sure.”

“I have to go in a second
since she’s waiting in the car.”

“Okay.” I wanted to ask him
why he called her “she” instead of by her name. “So did I get
something wrong on the bill or something?”

“I wanted to apologize if I
said anything to upset you.” He paused. “I just hope I didn’t come
off as rude.”

“Oh no, of course not.” I
was taken aback at his statement.

“I was raised to treat
everyone equally.” He continued and I looked at him in surprise.
What was he talking about? “I hope you don’t think I was
disrespecting you as a waitress?”

“Not at all.” I blushed and
looked away. All he saw when he looked at me was a waitress. I
wanted to laugh. Even if I didn’t have my rules, he wouldn’t be
interested in me.

“Good. Well have a pleasant
evening Lucky.”

“You too.” I smiled at him
weakly.

“Oh, I intend to.” He
grinned at me and then sauntered out the door after rubbing my
shoulder. I went back to his table to collect the cash he had left
on it for my tip. My jaw dropped when I saw the $100 note and a
short “sorry” message on a napkin. I looked back to the front of
the restaurant and sighed. I stuffed the note into my pocket and
walked back to the kitchen with my head starting to pound. I was so
confused and felt almost delirious. I touched the spot on my
shoulder that he had rubbed and I felt a warm flush run through my
body as I remembered his warm touch. I shook my head at the excited
feeling that was running through my veins. “Remember the rules
Lucky,” I muttered to myself as I started on my side work
duties.

Chapter 2

“Lucky, come to this party
with us tonight.” Leeza begged me as I walked into the kitchen,
yawning on Saturday morning.

“I’m working
tonight.”

“Come after
work.”

“I’ll be too
tired.”

“Come on Lucky.” She
pleaded. “You haven’t hung out in ages.”

“Leeza, you know that I’m
not in the mood for partying.” I sighed.

“It’s not a frat party,”
She whined. “This girl I met in Econ is dating a DJ and he has a
hookup on Star Island, and some hot shot actor is holding a
party to celebrate his new movie being number one or
something.”

“What actor?” I asked
curiously.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure
there will be lots of hot guys there.”

“I don’t care about hot
guys.” I sighed.

“You may be a nun now
Lucky, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on every piece of
fun in the universe.” Leeza flung her long blonde hair over her
shoulders and shook her head. “We’re only young once, so let’s have
some fun.”

“I’m not going to meet the
guy I’m looking for at a snooty party.”

“You might.”

“In between the potheads
and the cokeheads?”

“Since when did you become
so judgmental?”

“Since I decided I wanted a
good guy who was going to value me.”

“Yawn.” Leeza drank some
freshly-squeezed orange juice and rolled her eyes. “Just try and
come, please Lucky. You know you, me, and Shannon haven’t hung
out in ages.”

“It’s a girls’ night?” I
squinted at her suspiciously.

“Yes!” She beamed at me
innocently, and I sighed knowing that if I saw her alone for five
minutes, I would be shocked.

“Okay, I will try.” It will
help to stop my dreams of Zane Beaumont, at least. That guy was
seriously doing a number on my head. He intrigued me and I was
starting to have too many naughty dreams of him doing things to me
that I’d only seen in movies.

“Wear something cute
tonight, Lucky.” She grinned at me and ran out of the kitchen.
“Have fun at work today, I’m going to the beach to get my tan
on.”

“Lucky.” I called out to
her enviously, and she laughed.

“No need to say your name
girl.”

“Haha.” I opened the fridge
as she ran to her room and looked for something to eat. I wanted to
make sure I ate something hardy before I got ready for
work. Lou’s Burger Joint gave us a 50% discount on all of our
purchases, but I knew that I had no money to spare until after I
got my car fixed. I looked at the rotting head of lettuce and the
hard looking chicken breasts I had cooked a few days before, and
sighed. I wrinkled my nose and opened the freezer and grabbed the
hot pockets quickly. I knew they weren’t mine, but I also knew that
Leeza wouldn’t mind if I ate one. As soon as the microwave beeped,
I grabbed the hot pocket in a tissue and ran back up to my room to
count my cash. I nearly had enough to get my car fixed now. I
had thought about applying for a credit card to pay for it
until I got the cash. But then I remembered how easy it
was for people to get themselves into credit card debt. I
watched Suze Orman on TV religiously; I knew what bad news credit
cards could be to someone my age. I already had enough financial
issues; I didn’t need to add any more to the mix.

I lay back on my bed and
stretched out. It seemed as if nothing was going right in
my life. Or at least, nothing that I wanted to go right. I hated
being single. I needed to take proactive measures to find a new
guy—one that would fit what I was looking for. I turned on my clock
radio and sang along to the latest Britney song, and wondered how
it was so easy for some people to find a guy to settle down with,
and why it was so hard for me. I was starting to feel like a bit of
a loser. I knew I was pretty and smart, but that didn’t really seem
to be getting me anywhere.

I jumped up as I realized
the time. I had to be at work in about 30 minutes, and I wasn’t
even nearly ready. I felt like my life was already too
monotonous. All I ever seemed to do was work and
school. It was starting to feel tedious and boring, and I was glad
that I had decided to attend the party with Leeza this evening. I
needed something to take me out of my normal routine; I just needed
to remember that I wasn’t there to partake in the craziness, but to
have a little fun.