The Knight in Leather Armor

ch. 9 Drive Me

The restaurant was packed tonight. It seemed like everyone in town was eating out.

Uncle Carlo would give me thumbs up signs every now and then when he saw me flirting with customers. I hated it. I hated every second of it. But Carlo was supervising and I hadn’t gotten hurt, so I continued begrudgingly.

“If I had known you worked here, I would come more often,” a soft voice commented from my left.

I turned to see Liam sitting on one of the stools.

I smiled at him shyly, guiltily. That’s exactly what Carlo wanted.

“Yeah? Well as long as you’re a paying customer, you can come every night,” I smiled. I felt my throat burning at basically having said Carlo’s words.

Liam laughed.

“So is this place always this crowded?” he asked as he took in the entire room.

“Well, only recently,” I said honestly. I looked down at the floor before looking into Liam’s eyes. I could tell Liam was not the lying type. His brown eyes were honest and sincere. An image of Harry’s dark green eyes came to mind. Harry’s eyes were almost always harsh. The silver streaks were hard as ice and the green penetrated through me, leaving me raw and exposed. 

 “So when do you get off work?” Liam asked with a hopeful smile.

 I looked at my watch.

“Pretty late tonight,” I replied. Liam looked slightly hurt and disappointed.

“I can wait,” he offered. “I just don’t want you to walk home alone,” he explained. Images of that night of that party came to mind and I felt my hands start to shake.

“Are you ok?” he asked as he put his hand over mine, quickly calming it.

I looked up into his deep brown eyes, which were so close to mine that I nearly jumped back at the warmth and security they seemed to emit.

I took in even breaths before smiling at Liam.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” I brushed off.

He looked at me worriedly for a moment, then decided to leave it at that.

I finished serving other tables and saw that Liam was still on the stool, sticking tight to his offer of a ride home. I looked at the darkness that had befallen the sky. I knew I wasn’t about to walk alone again.

Liam paid his bill and left me a weighty tip, along with his number.

It was just after 10 when the last customers left. I went to the cash register and Carlo grinned at me as he saw all the money I had made for the night.

Liam jumped off his stool and started to walk toward me.  I took my jacket off the hanger and he helped me into it.

Just then, the restaurant door slammed open.

“We’re closed,” my uncle said without bothering to look up.

“Angela,” a deep, raspy voice called.

“Harry?”   

“Are you ready to go?” he asked, completely ignoring Liam.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him. What was he doing here? Wasn’t he supposed to be at a movie or something?

“I’m here to pick you up” he answered evenly, without hesitation.

“That’s ok, man. I’m giving her a ride” Liam chimed in.