The sunlight helps distract me from the burning embarrassment that I won't allow myself to feel, Jessica cackling next to me as we walk to work together. "I can't believe he heard you! We were all the way across the diner, it's almost unbelievable." She snickers shoving me lightly when we cross the walkway into the back concrete towards the restaurant.

"It was horrid! And he has the boldness to antagonize me about it. You know I can't back down from a challenge."

She shrugs her shoulders pulling out her key to the back door and we both shuffle into the dim back room, "Look, you already had plans to fuck him, might as well beef up and be the best bitch he's ever been with!"

"You encourage me to do dangerous things."

"Just remember to pull out."

I cough on my water bottle, her laughing just as Gus walks in to start his shift. He works open to close every day, doesn't have much outside the restaurant going for him, "Hewo ladies! How's ya's doing?"

Jessica smiles at him and gives a wave from the apron drawer, "Doing fine Gus, just talking about Vee's latest conquest."

"Conquest?" He gives me the side eye; I attempt to save myself.

"You, Jessica Flounder, cannot be speaking like that in front of the man determined to marry me." I scold. She visibly rolls her eyes, Gus blowing a raspberry before grabbing all the utensils he needs for the day. Jessica finishes her server set up and I start prepping the tables for the new customers. We both hum to the annoying music the owner bast through our speakers, neither needing constant talking during our shift.

As customers start to roll in, both her and I dash through the lunch rush. Apparently, luck is on my side today, and people have deep pockets. Some people that we have never seen before, saliva inducing, come in with small groups, all men, and request me as their server. We found ourselves ice cream bloated well into the morning until we started rushing between the chairs for the morning rush. All these businesses like to have their earlier lunches with their people before they work them to the bone in the corporate office, and it must be one of those days. I have never made as much money as I have today, and Jessica starts to get frustrated with me at her old people tips that barely cover a soda.

"What Facebook post did you share for this? Huh? Huh?" She threatens me with a dirty knife. I snicker at her face. The knife is tossed through the window into the dirty bucket, a young bus boy grabbing it just as it reaches it's capacity.

"Look you can have the next table that comes in. It is a little unfair how many mouth drooling men have sat at my tables today." I mumble and toss some menus at her so she can grab the next trio of men that sit at one of my smaller round ones.

"Thank you." She almost floats across the room to the men, her eyes roaming over them. I watch the man lift his nose taking a deep breath, his eyes turning a bright gold from the deep brown. What in the- Hadn't Ares' eyes done the same thing? Am I losing my mind?

Jessica doesn't notice, just rambling through her recommendations. I shift my hips through the chairs to get closer trying to figure this man out who visibly moves in his chair to get closer to her. I see Jessica lean down, her nice chest on display for the men. It's one of her favorite ways to make tips. Not that they get anything but a good idea. The man that I am watching raises the side of his lip, a rumble seeming to leave him. Is he growling at her?

She leaves the table smiling ear to ear to grab me and drag me into the kitchen, "Did you see that man on the left? That was one of the most attractive men I have ever seen! My heart did this thing, my body doing another..." Seems possessive.

I watch him through the window, a smirk coming over his face. He turns his ear to point it more towards us. His mouth moves talking to the other man, but I can't read his lips to get a read on what he is saying.

"Yeah, but he was also acting weird. Did you see him sniff you? And what was with the growl?"

"I don't know... I'm kind of into it." She gives me a look over her shoulder, "I mean who doesn't love a little animal in a man?"

"Jessica!" I laugh and she shrugs.

"There are worse red flags to have. And I smell like grease and sweat, nothing interesting. He was probably smelling the baby that just puked on his mother anyways." Her large grin falls into a little bit of a sad smile. Her hopes were crushed before she had the chance to play through them. It's weird to see her so down about a man, her being known as a better conqueror between the two of us.

The rest of the shift went on like that. The man that she was serving ended up asking for her number, to which she happily gave it over. Her glee for the rest of the shift was almost suffocating, but it was good to see a friend with a little more pep in her step. When the lunch rush finally ended, we sat around a round table finishing up our money and silverware while the two other idiots working tonight show up half an hour late.

"Excited for your date?" She breaks the weird silence between us. Her phone had been going off all day, something that she was more than pleased with.

"I would be if I didn't have an hour till, he picked me up. I didn't expect it to be so busy today." Talk about weird.

"Me either! It makes absolutely no sense. That guy? Yeah, he tipped me five hundred dollars so I could buy a nice dress for our date. I tried to give it back, but he refused! It was flattering, but then I felt slightly like a hooker. Not that hookers are bad in any sense... just not my style of work. I don't want him to get that impression of me."

My eyes roll into the back of my head, "What if he was just trying to show you how much money he has? Like a flex?"

"I suppose that's the best way to think about it. And it ended up making my day worth the run. I'll buy something nice off the racks of a thrift store and pocket the rest for the rent coming up. It some ways, maybe I should become a sex worker."

"I respect your respect to selling yourself. The work is honorable. Work is work."

"I would do it. If I was pretty enough, catch me outside doing what I have to do to drive my dream car." She mumbles, "And serving is basically the same thing. People pay me to run my body ragged and then spit on me, just not in the good way."

"Your logic makes sense to me." I groan slamming my head on the table. I smell horrid after my busy shift, and I have no time to clean myself up. However, I am nervous to ask the hottie for an extension. How rude is it on a first date to admit to being late because you put work ahead of them? I would be a little upset.

"Just do it. You're a serve, not a nine to five, he has to understand."

"Huh?" I peak over the mound of silverware to see her smile, "Just do what?"

"Make the man wait. Text him what happened and see if he is a decent enough person to wait for you. If not, then his loss. If he has any human understanding of the serving field, he'll know that you're not trying to be rude."

"I love you; you know that?" I tug out my phone and set it between us to text Ares. I wish I could have done it sooner, but now is better than never.

,

Ares 5:05 p.m.: Anything for you. And please, send me your address.

I send it over with a newly restored smile coming over my face, "He said 'anything for you'!" How sweet.

"I can read bitch! Oh, em dick-sicles that is fantastic! Go. Leave now. I can finish your cleaning duties." She pulls my bucket of forks closer to her, and I try to snatch it back. She sets her jaw and gives me a wild look.

"What? No. I can't do that-" I try to yank it back, but her viper grip is strong keeping me from bringing it closer.

"I'm not asking. You can pay me back with ice cream later 'kay? I need the details tomorrow."

With one last tug, she raises her brows and sends me off. I rush out of the restaurant towards my dingy apartment. The asbestos says hello while I rush into the shower scrubbing off a day's work. My curses are loud when I barrel through the bathroom slipping on my own water to hit my ass on the ground.

"Good job you bugging idiot." I mutter to myself and stand up to go through the bedroom. A sore backend is the last thing I need to worry about when only one nice dress exists in the confines of my walled closet, and the last time I wore it was for a ball with James. But he isn't James, Vee. And I must keep reminding myself of that. This isn't a man that plans to flaunt his money for a pretty thing on the side, or at least I hope so. I need to walk into this with a positive mind clean of the trauma that holds me right at the throat.

"Damn it." Talking to myself helps me voice my thoughts, keeps my sanity casual when I run through the room and tug on the silver number. A 'v' front and low back, spaghetti straps to hold it up. It barely gets passed my bum but sits nicely against my legs. I grab the matching heels rushing to the mirror to blow my hair out.

My dark hair dries easily, the brush helping it fall flat against my head. The one time it works with me. Thank you, hair goddess. Or least, whoever is looking over me in these frugal moments. I slip on the shoes and go without makeup, my face tired enough from the sweat that it wore all day. Keeping myself together, I recite compliments to myself in the mirror reminding me not to switch into legging and a hoodie. I have 'you're beautiful' written in expo marker written across the mirror. Self-esteem is at an all-time low and anything I can do to help is important.

"You have the fattest ass-" I grumble to myself, the knock of my front door making me snap my head away from my own reflection, "Oh shit." One foot in front of the other, Veronica.

The front door comes into view, my heart racing inside my chest. My breaths are even when I wrap my hand around the knob yanking it open to Ares is an all-black tuxedo. Oh thanks, I didn't want to breath anyways, "Hello, beautiful. You look ravishing."

"And you look... dressed." Well done, Vee. A strong first thing to come out of your mouth.