The Boss Lady

The Diner

My uncle had left me two hotels, one that I lived near, and one that was a little farther out. I obviously was mostly at the one that was closer, but today I decided it was a good time to visit the other one.

I was almost there when memories started to flood back of my uncle and how he was always there for me. He was the father figure I never had, he got married then divorced, but had no kids. So he decided it was between my mother and me to leave his hotels to. My mother passed away months before he did, so it was down to me. I think he said he was gambling one night and drunk. That's really all I had to hear in how he acquired something like that.

I sighed and got out of my car, it was wet everywhere, and I had worn heels. Clearly, I hadn't planned this one out. It seemed that common sense was something I occasionally lacked. I slammed the car door shut and tried my best to walk around the puddles full of water heading towards the entrance.

Once I was inside I inspected the floor, always gotta look at the floor, otherwise, you know nothing else had been done. It was the first impression you got aside from the seats here, the small decor items, and the front desk.

I walked to the front desk and sat my bag down on the counter in front of me. Why was there no one here? I mean I know it's not super busy, but I'm fairly certain the manager here Callie hired a girl to be at the front desk.

I rung the bell and when no one had come I rung it over an over. "How can I help you?" A voice said. Where was that coming from? I looked at the door next to the desk and then at the staircase on the left side of me. It's when I leaned in to look at what was sitting on the reception desk that I saw her.

A young girl maybe seventeen or eighteen was sitting on the ground, her legs crossed, and reading a book. I was gonna call her out when the door behind the desk opened and out came Callie.

Her eyes went wide "Katherine, we weren't expecting you," She said giving me a warm smile. She had made herself a bleach blond, it suited her face.

"Katherine as in our boss? She's like never here though" The girl asked looking over at Callie. Callie motioned for the girl to stand up, which she should've been doing anyway. "Yes," She said turning towards her.

"Yeah, that's gonna be changing," I said smiling.

"This is Avery," Callie said and looked at the girl awkwardly holding a book. I held my hand out to shake hers and she smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Avery," I said. The more I looked at her, the more she reminded me of myself at her age. Awkward, bored most of the time, and usually had my nose in a book or textbook. I couldn't find it in myself to get mad at her.

I spent a couple of hours there asking Callie about any concerns she had. Anything I should change. I looked up how busy we were and it wasn't insane, which I expected considering the location.

I had mentioned that I'd come by more often and that I wanted to help out with some things. She looked at me like I was crazy and said how my uncle was never anywhere to be found when he owned the place. Which I made sure to tell her was normal for him.

Patrick had called while I was there and wanted to meet. I told him I was busy but that I could meet him later that day at that diner I had seen. I was hungry and if he needed to talk, we could talk, while I shoved pancakes in my mouth. I hadn't had anything to eat today.

I rubbed my head as I entered the diner, yeah I'd probably need a cup of coffee too. He was already there with his own drink and waved to me once I had entered his sight.

"Patrick, what did you want to meet about?" I asked slipping my coat off and looking at the menu. French toast suddenly sounded better.

"I'd like to take you on a date," He said sipping his drink.

"You called me because you want to take me on a date?" I asked raising an eyebrow and wondering if I heard him correctly. "What can I get you, hun?" The waitress that just came to our table asked me.

"I'll have the french toast and coffee, please," I said politely and handed her the menu.

"We could chalk this up to be a date," I said laughing. Doubt he'd want to date me if he knew I slept with his brother.

"No, I want to take you on a date at night, nice restaurant, the works," He said smiling at me and I raised an eyebrow at him. "It wouldn't have been right of me to call and tell you this," he added grinning. He was a sweet guy.

"I'm not really looking for anything right now," I said coming up with an excuse to avoid this hole I'd gotten myself into.

If I never would've gone to the bank that day, I wouldn't be in this situation. It was like one thing after another and this family was suddenly slowly taking over every aspect of my life.

My food had come and I ended up eating everything on the plate. I really was hungry. Patrick and I chatted for a bit longer as I finished my coffee. He was really trying to convince me to give him a chance. I just knew it wouldn't end well.

"Fine," I said finally giving in after he said that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

I felt terrible about it too because I knew my heart would never lie with Patrick. The worst part was that he's such a nice guy. I would've even been happy with him if the circumstances were different.