“The kind of guys that wear thousand-dollar suits in the middle of Brooklyn.”
She laughs. “You won’t be able to avoid them forever.”
“No, but I can try to.”
She doesn’t understand why I go out of my way to avoid the mafia boys. Truth is, my Uncle scared the hell out of me when he warned me from them. Now, I keep my eyes straight and get from point A to B. I don’t need any extra attention or drama.
“Well, they do come here every so often. You will run into them eventually.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Now let’s get to work before Uncle Tony fires us both.”
“Oh, come on! He wouldn’t fire his Bella.” Mia laughs out.
“You say that now. Now go.”
I shoo her away as I check in with Izzy.
“You ok?”
She asks.
“Yep.”
“I expect an explanation later. I just seated you at table 12 and 14.”
“Thanks, Iz.”
That’s the beauty of my two friends. Izzy is no nonsense. She will tell me what she thinks and throttle me if she thinks I need it. She understands that there is a time and place for everything. She doesn’t try and get me to open up about my past. She takes me for who I am now. Mia is the gentle soul. She sees the good in everyone. She asks questions about my past, but knows when to lay off. She is the chatty of the two and more likely to cuddle than throttle me.
They are like the ying and yang in my life. The balance I never had and always needed.
I head off and take care of my tables. Hours after I am finally able to take a break. The lunch rush hit us fast and hard. We have a small lull until the dinner rush will start.
“Eddie. Can I get 3 side orders of alfredo noodles for myself and the girls when you get a second?” I yell to our cook.
“Sure thing, Doll.” He gives me a wink that I laugh off.
Eddie is a big flirt. He flirts with every one of us girls, but he is never serious. Truth is, he has a romantic heart and is waiting for the one. Or so he told me one drunken night after shift.
I refill my water cup and grab two breadsticks as he calls me order up. I smile when I see he added some chicken into the noodles.
“You need protein.”
“Thanks, Eddie.” I blow him a kiss as I find an empty table in the back to eat quickly. Minutes later, Mia and Izzy plop down in front of their own food.
“Finally, a break. Gina is covering me, but I we need to be quick.”
I snort. Gina is my uncles long term girlfriend. She has a bitchy attitude, but she has been nice enough. Especially considering my Uncle moved me in without asking her. She made sure to tell me she didn’t want me there the first full day, but after that, I made myself scarce and she hasn’t said another word since.
“So why were you late?” Izzy asks as I take a bite of my pasta.
I am chewing to answer, but Mia beats me to it.
“She was avoiding the boys again.”
Izzy shakes her head. “You are being ridiculous. As long as you don’t offend them or purposely get in their way, they won’t even look at you.”
“Well if I avoid them, I give them no reason to look at me.”
