Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 104: Roberta

Chapter 104: Roberta

After delivering a cup of hot coffee to a customer, Emily made her way to the counter and leaned against it, just a few days at the diner and she was already getting the hang of things. Her accuracy when it came to things like taking orders had increased, and though she often made a few mistakes here and there, thanks to her not getting as much sleep as she needed, it was never anything that could not be easily corrected. She also moved faster now, whether she was carrying plates laden with food or not, her speed had greatly improved.

While it was not something that she saw herself doing long term, Emily enjoyed the job, even if she had to wear a truly awful looking purple uniform. Not only were the tasks mostly dependent on muscle memory, she actually enjoyed serving people. And not just any random people either, but the people who she had come to realize would now be her regulars, since they came in quite a lot. She and the regular patrons never really talked about anything in particular, but the little that she knew about them was more than enough in her book. They had a special bond that only people who only ever saw each other outside of normal hours could.

There was the single dad who came in almost every night like clock work, his name was Ethan, and he used the free Wi-Fi at the diner to study while being sure that his baby was relatively safe in the baby chair that the diner provided. He had shared with her that the change in scenery helped him study, and also kept his sweet little girl, Ella, occupied while he was busy. Sometimes when Emily was just going about her work, she would look up to find Ella looking at her, the baby sending her a sweet mega watt smile before turning back to her toys. The tiny gesture making Emily want to coo.

There was also Marcus, the elderly gentleman who came in to read his books. He never really said much, he would just give his order. Then once it came he would eat it slowly while reading, and then when he was done, he would close his book and go. He never forgot to say thank you, and he was also a big tipper. Marcus gave Emily the impression of someone who was not really outgoing, but still enjoyed being among people, she liked that about him.

Then of course, there was miss Beth, Beth was the exact opposite of Marcus, she talked a mile and minute. From the moment she walked in, to the moment she left, the woman was never silent. Somehow she managed to even keep talking with her mouth shut while she chewed. It was a skill that Emily had never seen before, and she often had to remind herself not to stare no matter how curious she was.

And just as she knew a little something about the regulars, even though they did not share their personal lives with her. Emily had also shared something with them. The name tag that she had been given had been made for someone named Roberta, and rather than let them think that it was her name, she had told them her real one. It was worth it, seeing the way the regulars would share a smile with her whenever those who were not regulars called her Roberta. Plus having some people know her real name made her feel seen.

But as much as she enjoyed certain parts of the job. When it came to dealing with certain types of people, she did not enjoy the job at all. And Emily had quickly come to realize that, despite all the good that they did in keeping the community safe, police officers were her least favourite customers.

The older detectives were grouchy, and were constantly looking around like something was about to jump out from the shadows and attack them. It was like they were either waiting for a fight, or waiting to start one, sometimes even looking at Emily, and the food she had brought with suspicion in their gazes. Those who were around her age often tried to ask her out, and were often visibly offended when she said no. They thought very highly of themselves, almost as though administering the law gave them immunity from having to follow it. But there were never any unwanted touches, so she could deal with them, besides, they never really stayed long so she did not have to keep faking a smile for them, for more than a few minutes at a time.

Speaking of which, Emily watched as the older detectives who had come in earlier that night finished off their meals. One of them slapped a few bills on the table, and they got up and left, not even bothering to acknowledge her, now that they were full. When they finally made it out of the door, Emily let her smile drop. Moving over to their table she began clearing it up with practiced ease.

She grabbed the plates, holding one of them in the crook of her elbow and then taking the cups with her hands. The awkward hold making sure that she would not have to make multiple trips for the cutlery. Coming back for the last of the dishes, Emily realized that one of the officers had spilled their drink.

"And they did not even bother to say anything," She muttered under her breath, blowing out a frustrated sigh. She carried the last of the dishes to the kitchen and grabbed the mop.

"I am going to clean up a mess up front," She told Ben, the stone faced cook at Bee’s, he merely shrugged and went back to kneading dough. Luckily for her, there were no other customers, not even the regulars, so when she got to work cleaning the sticky mess she was not interrupted. After that was done, she began wiping down the table making sure that it was as neat as it had been before the officers had come in. She was just doing a second wipe down when she began to feel strange.

The hairs at the back of her neck stood up and she felt eyes on her. She turned around quickly her hands balled into fists, ready to defend herself if needed. Instead of danger, Emily was met with an empty diner. She looked outside, trying to see if someone had been at the window. There was no one there, just the darkness of the night. Going to the door, Emily opened it and peeked outside.

There was still no one there, just the lights of a car disappearing around the corner.

Deciding that she was just being paranoid, Emily went back to her task. This time when she looked up, it was because of the sound of the door bell. She was greeted by the sight of what looked to be a family on a road trip. Pushing aside the strange feeling from earlier, Emily greeted them, showed them their table and handed them the menus. They took a bit of time to look them over, and once they had made their choice they called her back over. She took in all of their orders, wrote them down along with the little details of something extra they wanted on the side, and what they did not want. With that done she headed to the kitchen and gave the order to the cook. Once the meal was done, and she was taking it out.She could not stop throwing looks outside the diner.

What was that? She kept wondering, had she imagined the feeling of someone watching her? Was she being paranoid? Was the little sleep that she got each night finally getting to her. With the family eating their meal, she went to the table closest to the window. Pretending like she was cleaning there while she was really looking outside. There was no one there, and there didn’t seem to have been at all. It was unnerving, she had never been one to doubt her instincts, and she had never been one to imagine things either, which made the whole thing strange. Deciding to put it aside since she could not solve the mystery, Emily went back to focusing on her duties. But the feel of eyes on her persisted, and she could not help but feel as though whoever it was who had been watching her, was someone she knew.

But who could it have been?