Chapter 141: Let Us Speak
Maybe there was something that was wrong with her, or perhaps it was something in the air of the diner. But either way, whatever it was that turned Emily into a smiling idiot whenever Derek Haven walked into Bee’s diner, it had to stop. He had come in right after she had ridden the wave of an anxiety attack.
And just the sight of him had been enough to make her smile again, feeling as though everything would be right in the world after enduring those horrible few moments of feeling nothing but doom, gloom and fear. That should not have been happening. Derek was the main cause of most of her stress.
The sight of him should have skyrocketed her stress again. Or made her so mad that she could not see straight. But instead of attacking him, just one look at him and Emily felt all of the tension leave her. When he smiled and asked for muffins and some tea, she could do nothing but return the smile, and go make sure that he was taken care of.
Things were just the way they always were between the two of them, like nothing had changed. Like the previous night had just been some misunderstanding that they had cleared up, and were now on good terms. Their familiar routine fell on her like a soft blanket. Emily wrapped it around herself, and burrowed deep, enjoying the comfort that Derek made her feel.
And when she brought him his tea, she did not even think of spitting in it, not even once. Teenage Emily, who had been very vengeful and petty, would have been very disappointed in the way that adult Emily was acting.
And she was disappointed in herself too. She should just come right out and demand an apology from him. Just like she had been telling herself that she would do all along. She had spent hours in a rage because of his words. But now that she was facing him, that all just seemed like water under the bridge. Like something so insignificant, it was not worth bringing up again.
But she wanted answers, wanted an explanation. She needed to know why it was that he had thought he could just ask her to sleep with him and she would not be offended by that. That thought was enough to spark just the tiniest bit of rage in her. And Emily used it to center herself.
She turned to Derek, intent on asking him flat out why he had done what he had done the previous night. But once again, her horrible luck struck.
The door jingled, a customer walking in, and from then on there was no moment of rest. They just kept coming, one after the other. Unintentionally testing Emily’s patience as she struggled to keep up her professional demeanor, and make sure that all of them were served appropriately.
And just as the last of the current wave of customers left, and Emily thought that she could finally confront Derek. Her worst nightmare came to be. The door jingled, she looked up, and there they were... police officers. And not just one or two, but a whole group of them.
With the way that she was just a jumbled mess on the inside. Serving cops was the last thing that she needed to be doing. But Emily had no choice. They were customers and they had come in. So she put on her most waitress smile and looked over at them.