Color Blind
By Vivian Ward
Chapter One
“I’m so worried about my baby girl,” I said to Rachel as we bussed the table.
“Oh God, what weird thing has she done now? She hasn’t tried bungee jumping from the tree with her jump rope again, has she?” Rachel laughed, recalling the story as she’d heard it a few months back.
“No, no. It’s nothing like that, but I’m worried about her. At first she complained how much her knees hurt her, but she can be so goofy. After a few days, I took a peek and they were both swollen.”
My coworker nodded, “What do you think happened to her?”
“I have no clue. It started off with her knees and then she began complaining that her back was also sore, so I thought she fell and must have injured herself, but I think it’s something else.”
“How come?” she asked.
“Because she ran a fever two days ago, but it’s been intermittent. There’s nothing wrong with her, she’s not ‘sick’. She doesn’t have a sore throat, runny nose, cough or other cold-like symptoms.” I said, placing a tub of dishes near the dishwasher. “Let me grab that table. Sherry just seated a customer in my section; I’ll take his drink order real fast.”
I headed toward the Caucasian gentleman placed in my area. I couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was. His piercing green eyes stood out against his tanned skin. I approached the man smiling as she did with all of my customers.
“Good afternoon. What would you like to drink?” I asked as he looked over the menu.
His glance turned to me and returned a warm smile, “I’ll have a Dr. Pepper, please.”
“I’ll go grab that for you.”
I headed into the kitchen and motioned Rachel over to me.
“Do you see that guy in my section?”
“Yeah! Talk about a hunk! You should so get his number!”
“No way! I don’t want another relationship. I don’t have time for that. Plus he’s a white guy, my family would flip the hell out on me.” I said, rolling my eyes.
“If you didn’t work so much, you’d have the opportunity! Think of little Nevaeh, doesn’t she deserve a daddy?” Rachel joked.
“No, she needs her momma,” I stated as I left the kitchen with his drink.
“Here you go, sir. Are you ready to order or would you like to look over the menu longer?”
“Yes, I’ll have a grilled chicken salad,” he remarked as he returned the menu.
“You got it, and my name’s Kimberly. I’ll be your server today. Just call if you need anything else.”
After I had served the gorgeous stranger his lunch, Rachel and I spoke near the counter, where we couldn’t be heard.
“What are you going to do about Nevaeh?” her co-worker asked.
“I have no clue. I think that maybe she fell, but it’s hard to tell with her. She does the strangest things.”
“Yeah, she does.”
“When I go on break, I’ll call to schedule her a doctor’s appointment. It sucks because ever since we had to get healthcare coverage, my paychecks have been next to nothing.”
“I know what you mean,” Rachel agreed.
“Well, after paying insurance on both of us, my last check was a whopping $18 after all of my deductions and taxes. It hurts we’ve been so slow.”
“Tell me about it!”
“Oh, be right back again. I think he needs another drink.”
I walked over to the table. It was impossible take my eyes off of the man sitting in my section. He was so well dressed. I wondered why he was sitting alone. He had to have a girlfriend or wife—didn’t he?
“Hi sir, would you like a refill?”
“Yes, please. It’s been so hot outside, I was dying of thirst. Tell me your name again?” he inquired.
“Kimberly,” I smiled at him. “And I’ll return with your soda. Dr. Pepper, right?”
He nodded his head. A few moments later, I returned with his beverage and headed to the counter to continue chatting with Rachel.
“Okay, where were we?” I asked as we rolled silverware inside of napkins.
“Oh, we were just bitching about how we work for peanuts.”
“Right. You better hope that kid of yours doesn’t pop out soon. He needs to stay put until business picks up!” I teased my friend.
“Well, he’s still got eight more weeks,” Rachel commented as she rubbed her belly. “I can’t wait to meet him. I hope he doesn’t have his dad’s big ears,” she laughed.