THE GIRL [EPISODE2]

I looked at the tall-clad figure of the man who came in first. He was younger than the other man. He halted at the front door and his eyes scanned the room. He stood there, tall, devilishly handsome, with a beautifully proportioned body.
I froze. My mind stopped working and my body turned numb. Something about his appearance disturbed me. He looked vaguely familiar.
Is he a movie star, a model or a celebrity? He was probably into sports, because of his athletic physique.
His dark glasses hid his eyes. It was impossible to find out where his eyes were focusing on. But I was certain that he was not looking at me. He carried himself with a commanding air of self confidence. He looked very powerful and extremely rich.
He said something to the other man, and then they strode in the room. They took their seats in the center of the room.
I grabbed a pen and the order slip pad. I hurriedly went towards them to take their order.
“Good morning, what’s your order, sir?” I stood in front of the two men and smiled at them. I wrote C#1, shortcut for customer number one in the order slip.
“Good morning. Can we have a cup of espresso and a café latte?” The older man removed his dark glasses and smiled at me. He was probably in his mid forties.
My hands were trembling when I wrote their order. I didn’t know why, perhaps because of the younger man’s appearance. He looked like a very important man. His face was bronzed by wind and sun. The set of his chin suggested a stubborn streak and his lips were firm and sensual.
He made me so edgy and nervous as hell, and he didn’t even seem to notice me. He was very busy talking on the phone. I couldn’t help listening to his voice. It was so deep, with velvet-edge and strong.
“Is there anything else, sir?” My eyes shifted from one man to another.
“That’s all, Miss.” The older man replied, then nodding at me, a sign of dismissal.
I served their coffee within five minutes. I stared at the younger man again. He seemed really familiar. I was sure I’d seen him before. I wished he would take off his dark glasses so I could see his eyes, and figured out where I saw him. Then I noticed, he drank his coffee. The cup of espresso was his.
A few customers came in. I became so busy taking their orders and prepared their coffee. But I couldn’t help glancing at the two men sitting in the center of the room, from time to time. I tried to ignore them and focused on my job.
After a while, I saw two girls approached the two men. The girls were giggling flirtatiously at them. The younger man looked at them and said something that made the faces of the girls turned sour. He probably said something very insulting, since the girls immediately went out of the coffee shop with stony faces. Well, he was rude.
The men left without asking for their bill. I went to the table, they earlier occupied and saw a one hundred dollar bill under the espresso cup.
What! A hundred dollar bill?I couldn’t believe it. I was over the moon! They left too much tip for the coffee.
Later that morning, Suzanne and Kurt called simultaneously that they were sick. So, I was with Mrs. Chang in the coffee shop the whole day. She took my place on the cash register. I did the rest of the job. I tried to serve the customers so fast, so they would stop complaining about the slow service.
Before I went home, I mopped the floor and scrubbed the bathroom. I was so tired, but I didn’t have a choice.
It was already eight thirty when I left the coffee shop. I took a bus to the South Bronx, where my family rented a small one-bedroom apartment. The moment I was seated in the bus, I ate the burger that I grabbed near the bus stop. After eating, I took a power nap.
“Guess what Mom. I got a very big tip today. Two rich-looking men left a hundred dollar bill for their coffee.”
“What? That’s too much.” My mother, Ruby Collins narrowed her eyes.
“Yeah, I couldn’t believe it. I told Mrs. Chang that we could split the tip, but she said that it was all mine.”
“Awe… she’s so sweet.”
“Yeah, very sweet. I’m lucky to have her as my employer.” I took my wig off and pulled the rubber band that held my hair in a bun. My long silky red hair instantly cascaded down to my waist. I took a hairbrush and combed my hair, until it shone.
To be continued