The Corner Diner || Javier
my first time posting something on here so please bare with me…will be multi part
A restaurant you never had the chance of walking into until you were hired by the owner on one faithful night.
Since then you’ve been a full time server. Originally you applied for a kitchen position, but the boss told you that you had a sweet smile and personality that could lure in customers, and earn you more tips.
In reality he never put you in the kitchen because you actually sucked at cooking and no one had the patience to train you.
When interviewing, he asked a series of questions which all resulted in you cringing.
“How do you handle harsh criticism?”
“How often are mistakes made?”
“Can you control yourself under pressure?”
No, definitely not. You remember fidgeting with your hands, searching for answers that would for sure land you a spot. Seeing how anxious you were he drug a hand down his face with a groan, and hired you anyway.
You believe the way you approached him definitely helped with the hiring process.
You’re forever grateful for your position. Especially now after hearing how loud it gets in the kitchen.. you’d definitely be fighting tears if you were back there.
So, working with the customers didn’t bother you, you enjoyed seeing regulars and even quizzed yourself on their usual orders. Exclaiming a silent ‘yes!’ whenever you were correct.
David Garcia was the owner. An ex military soldier, now a full time chef and father. After hearing David in the kitchen, him being in the military made a lot of sense.
Tonight was slow. Winter was creeping in and people weren’t quite use to the cold breezy weather just yet. You dreaded waking up and walking to work in the freezing air but… you had to keep this job.
Maybe you could ask David for a ride home. You’d like to think that the two of you were close, possibly friends but maybe that’s too much to ask for.
You didn’t see anyone walk in. Your eyes shoot up from the menus in your hand that you were daydreaming into.
A man follows behind you to a small table, you gesture and he takes a seat. “How’re you doing tonight? Can I get you any drinks to start with?”
A smirk plays at his face. He peaks up at you with menu in hand. “Are you new?”
You shrink a bit, feeling embarrassed.
“I’ve been here a few months.”
“That’s because I don’t need you harassing my staff, Javi.” Davids voice booms behind you, making you jump at his sudden appearance.
He slaps the back of the man’s head, earning a chuckle out of him. “Hey! We’re just talking. You didn’t tell me you hired a pretty one.”
David stared at him with a flat face.
“And I don’t harass anyone actually, I charm them off their feet.”
The comment earned an eye roll from David. He shifted and turned towards you.
David nods. He takes a good look around the restaurant, gaze flickering to a nearby clock hung neatly on the wall. “You can clock out.”
You shift awkwardly. “Actually.. uh.”
God, why were you so nervous? It’s just a ride…but now there was an audience.
David groans as you stare at the seated costumer. Bold. Real bold. You open your mouth to speak but nothing comes out.
“N-no….?” Your eyebrow raised before turning back towards David. “Could you spare me a ride home?”
He crosses his arms. “Really? I gotta babysit the both of you until midnight?”
You wave your hands, feeling like a bother. “Nevermind- it’s fine, I just-“
“I’m joking. The others can hold down fort for a few minutes.”
Your shoulders relax and you give him a nod. You wave bye to the customer out of habit, while David instructed him not to talk to anyone else until he got back.
Even though you were grateful you didn’t have to walk home, his car was still freezing. You wrapped your arms around yourself, David noticing and blasting the heat a little higher.
“If he comes in again and gives you shit, let me know. I’ll take care of him.”
You tilt your head. “We really were just talking.. well he was at least. No trouble yet.”
David’s eye pry away from the road for a second to look at your face, he squints.
“If you don’t know, then I won’t tell you.”
“Seriously?! That’s not fair.” Your jaw drops.
“You should pay more attention.”
You sink back into the passenger seat, humming deeply.
“Is he actually a regular I don’t know about?”
“Far from it. He only shows up when he wants something.”
“Sounds like a pain in the ass.”
The conversation steers away from the customer and is just small talk until he pulls up to your complex.
You shiver at the thought of even opening the car door to hop out. He notices this and chuckles. “You know, you can call me. Whenever you need a ride.”
“No, I didn’t know. But no take backs!” You nudge his arm, immediately regretting it when you see the flat look on his face. “Thanks.”
“Rest up, I’ll see you Monday.”
With a playful salute you hop out the car and wave your goodbye, sprinting to the front door as quickly as you can to get out of the freezing temperatures.
A small pup tangles itself between your legs as you walk through the door. He attempts to lead you to the back door, looking back curiously when you don’t follow him.
You take a deep breath and prep once again for the cold air to hit you when you approach the back door, opening it just a bit for him to slip outside.
Now it was just you… you and Bentley. Your boring life and your happy dog.
Maybe you should’ve gone to college.
Maybe you’d have more people to be around.
David wasn’t really your friend was he? He’s not someone you could just ask to hang out with, right? I mean, the guys married and has a whole family. The more you thought about it, the more weird it got. He was in fact almost a whole decade older than you.
These thoughts occur while you rummage through cabinets, searching for the last bit of dog food you had left.
Bentley scratches at the door, the noise scaring you half to death before you rush over to save him from the cold, scooping him into your arms for warmth.
“Looks like this is the last of it, bud.”
With a single hand and your teeth, you open up a tiny bag of food. Pouring a portion of it into Bentleys bowl and setting him down right in front of it.
You cringe as you watch him chow down on the hard food. He deserved better than that crap, but he loved it.
Finally you head to your room, skipping out on dinner. You change into comfy clothes and plop down on your bed as interactions from the day start to replay.
This was your daily routine. Not much to it really. Work, eat, pet dog, sleep, some things in between but you get the point.
When your eyes shut, they don’t open again until the next morning.
Bentley was starving and he needed food.
You ate a bowl of cereal before you left for the pet store. The whole time you debated on whether or not you should take Bentley with you to the store, ultimately deciding not to let him suffer the cold walk and freezing paws.
With every step you hug your jacket closer, until eventually a the whiff of warm air hits as you walk into the pet store, letting your shoulders relax and adjust to the heat.
You’ve been here a million times.. probably.
Same isle, same dog food, same guy speaking abnormally loud on the phone.
You peak over into the next isle, seeing a man pointing his phone towards products on the shelf.
“It’s this one right?” He asks, a dumb smile plastered on his face.
“Noo! The one next to it!” A voice yells through the phone.
“Oh, right! This one.” He corrects, but continues to point towards the wrong product.
The voice on the phone was clearly frustrated, and a child at that.
“So it has to be this one.”
“No wonder dad doesn’t let you help with groceries.”
He stands up straight and hums.
“I’ll find it Mari, it’s in here somewhere.” He teases. He starts to look up and down the aisle, pausing when he sees you.
It was the same guy that was in the restaurant yesterday. He perks up, smiling as you turn your heels to get out of there ASAP.
“It’s right in front of you!” The voice booms through his phone.
The man laughs. “Right! This one.”
You quickly pick up a big bag of dog food, one that would last a few weeks for a tiny dog like yours.
You freeze at the voice, a part of you knowing he was going to look for you.
He laughs. “No! I saw you. That’s pretty unprofessional if you ask me.”
“Well lucky for me, I’m not on the clock.”
Adjusting the bag of food in your hand, you push past him. Though something told you to keep conversing.
“What were you even looking for anyway?”
He follows close behind, waving a tiny bottle into view once he’s by your side.
“I already found it before I called her.”
“Oh? So you just like to annoy people?”
He shrugs. “Pretty much.”
He walks with you towards the checkout counter. “My niece sent me here for fish food. I gotta play that cool uncle role y’know?”
“Right.” You glance down at the heavy bag in your hands before mocking: “My dog sent me here for dog food.. gotta play that awesome owner role, you know?”
He grins, eyeing the bag and sucking his teeth. “That bag looks pretty heavy. It’s too bad you don’t have a-“
The yell came from behind you, both turning to find its source. A little boy with a wide smile on his face, legs bouncing similar to Bentleys when he needs to go to the bathroom.
“Uhm- uh.” The boy stutters and looks around urgently for… something.
You could practically see the lightbulb above his head when he takes off his hat and holds it out to the annoying fish food guy.
“Please- your games are awesome!! My mom promised to take me to one in person when my birthday comes around. Can you sign that?” He points to the hat, excitement flowing through him.
You blink at the interaction before realizing you were next in line, leaving the two behind.
The boy thanked him, then made his mother take a picture of them together.
Fish food guy waved his goodbye and was next in line to check out. You thanked the cashier and grabbed your bag as she started to ring up her customer.
“What was that? Did you hire him?”
The thought was ridiculous, but this was your second day in a row seeing this guy and he didn’t at all look familiar to you.
“Clearly that was a little kid.” He smirks.
You give him a flat look, his answer not at all helping. Once he finished paying he slipped the fish food into his pocket with the receipt and motioned towards the exit.
Immediately the both of you shiver. The pet store was so warm you almost forgot it was twenty degrees outside.
“Jesus.” You hiss, adjusting the dog food in your arms to get a comfortable grip.
He tilts his head. “Oh right, as I was saying- that bag looks pretty heavy.”
“Could I offer you a hand with that?”
His face falls. “Why not?”
“You think I’m going to let you, a complete stranger, carry my groceries all the way back to my house?”
He raises his arms up in defense. “Hey! We’ve met before, and second those aren’t groceries, it’s a bag of dog food.”
You shake your head and continue walking, heavy breaths with every step. The cold air knocking you out along with the forty pound bag of dog food Bentley will surely enjoy.
When you notice him still walking close by you speak up. “Who even are you?”
“My friends call me Javi.”
“Well, you can call me Javi.”
Glancing at him again, you took in the clothes he was wearing. A silent oh falling from your lips. “Baseball?”
He smiles. “How’d you know?”
He laughs faintly. “Yup. Been playing professionally for a few years now. Never expected to actually have ‘fans’ though. Crazy feeling.”
“Attractive men tend to have many fans, professional or not.”
Javi looks towards you, and you realize that his stupid smile had to be a permanent expression. You raise an eyebrow.
“Why are you following me. Aren’t you nervous about paparazzi seeing you with some random ass chick?”
He laughs, louder this time. “Seriously? I play baseball not spider-man. Are you sure you don’t want any help?”
Both of you look down at your arms. The walk was going a bit slower because of the conversation. You could either tell him to get lost and deal with the pain in your arms, or continue talking and let the man find out where you live. You cringe at both options.
He takes the bag from your arms and you immediately feel better, rubbing your hands together for warmth. “Thanks.”
“Of course. Can’t have my favorite waitress be sore on the job tomorrow.” Javi nudges your shoulder playfully with his own. Earning an eye-roll from yourself.
The walk continues until you’re at the top of your block. There’s no need for him to walk you to your doorstep, but maybe that was just your anxiety talking. You still consider him a stranger and sirens rang in your head at the fact he even followed you this far.
Taking the food from his hands you offer him a nod. “I uh- appreciate this, really.”
He holds out his hand. “Payment?”
Javi cracks a smile and lets his hands drop into his pockets. “As payment….” He thinks for a moment, letting the sentence drag. “What’s your name?”
Your name falls from your mouth and he repeats it, testing the waters. He then nods. “Yeah, thought so.”
You wanted to ask how he knew but decide not to as the cold starts to bite at your skin once again. You let out an irritated sigh from the weather and thank Javi one last time as you begin the walk to your apartment.
