Keith crossed his arms. "Oh yeah? Well from what I heard, you were all over him the other night in our parking lot."
"I was not!"
"Oh really? Well Jordon said he saw you on the guy's shoulders, making a regular spectacle of yourself. Got anything to say about that?"
"I was taking video," I said. "And it wasn't even my idea."
"Just so you know," Keith said, "if he comes in here again, I'm writing you up."
"You can't write me up," I said. "It's not my fault if he comes in here."
Keith pointed to his name tag and cleared his throat. "What does this say?"
I gave him a look. "You don't know your own name?"
"Very funny," Keith said. "Go on, read what it saysbelowmy name."
I rolled my eyes. "Manager."
"Exactly. I'm the manager, and if I say you're getting written up, you're gonna get written up. End of story."
"Okay, fine write me up. Whatever. Are we done here?"
He pointed his thumb at his name tag. "We're done whenIsay we're done."
I looked at him expectantly.
He glanced at the clock, and then toward the dining area. "Alright, we're done. Now get out there, and remember what I said."
About Brittney? About Shaggy? About his name tag? Honestly, I had no idea what the guy was referring to. But I was used to that. I headed out toward the waitress station, just glad for the chance to make up for lost ground.
Without Brittney, I had a decent chance of making some money tonight, and I wasn't going to let the opportunity slide just because Keith was up to his old tricks.
By midnight, I'd actually made some progress when I heard someone at the bar call my name. I turned, and there he was, Shaggy, his cell phone in one hand and a beer in the other.
I stalked over. "What do you want?" I said.
He frowned. "Why do you gotta be so mean about it? Or, uh, is this part of your waitressing act?"
"No," I said, "I actually meant to be mean."
"Jeez, what'd I ever do to you?"
"Well for one thing," I said, "you're lying about being my boyfriend."
"You're one to talk," he said. "You gave me a fake name." His gaze narrowed. "Betty."
"Look," I said, "I'm really busy. Just tell me what you want, so then you can leave."
"When I tell you," he said, "you're gonna feel really bad."
"Oh yeah? Why?"
"Because the only reason I'm here is to doyoua favor."
My gaze narrowed. "What kind of favor?"
"Here's the thing." He glanced around. "I saw you with Lawton Rastor."
