“Sure,” the woman said. “Twelve dollars.”
He pulled out a wad of notes from his pocket and handed her a hundred-dollar bill. “Please keep the change,” he said.
The woman looked at him, and her eyes lit up. “You sure?”
“Yes, if you can tell me where Sara Nolles is.”
Her countenance changed, and she pushed the money back to him. “I’m not selling Sara out for ninety dollars. What do you want with her?” she asked suspiciously.
Nick contemplated the best way to tell the woman about Sara without making a big deal of it or embarrassing Sara. “Oh, no, nothing like that. I met her a few days ago. Here. I just wanted to catch up with her.”
She leaned in close. “You know, she’s a lovely girl, Sara is. And her boyfriend just left her.”
“Yes,” Nick replied, not sure why her words would be important to him, but he let her keep talking. He already knew about the boyfriend who had cheated on her.
“If you like her, please don’t hurt her,” she said, then pulled away from him.
“No, nothing like that. I just want to say hello to her.”
The woman looked at the clock on the wall. “She should be here any minute, probably before your chicken is done. I’ll send her to bring your food to you. Just to let you know, she’s like a daughter to me, so I’ll be watching you.”
“Of course. Thank you so much,” Nick said to the woman, but she had gone back to her work.
He moved to a chair next to a window. Like the woman predicted, Sara arrived soon after. He saw her walk in wearing her black and white uniform. Only a woman with Sara’s curves and eyes could make a simple waitress uniform look sexy. She didn’t see him, which worked best for him, but he couldn’t hide for too long.
“Hello, Sara,” he said.
She looked like she was going to ask him how he knew her name, but she looked at her tag and smiled ever so slightly. Nick was glad she hadn’t asked because he would have had to lie to her again. He wasn’t going to admit to her that he had someone check out her entire life and that he knew everything there was to know about her, even the fact that she had a cat named Pussy Bow when she was a kid. That would freak her out and destroy whatever chances he had of getting close to her. Even being in her presence before the ball was probably a bad idea. She would most likely recoil when she saw him at the ball if he left her with a bad experience.
“I’ve seen you recently,” she said as she put the plate on the table.
Oh good, Nick thought. She was being nicer today, but he didn’t push it. “Coffee? Dark and strong?” Nick suggested, smiling.
“Oh yeah, the Rolex guy,” she said, smiling in return. She looked at his wrist.
“Not today,” he told her as he pulled up his sleeve and showed her the watch he wore today, which was equally expensive but one he could bet she didn’t know. His gamble paid off; she did not recognize the watch.
“I see you’re keeping it simple today.”
“Yes,” Nick said with a smile. “Simple can be best.”
“Unless you’re riding in the limo parked across the street.” She pointed outside the window and Nick had no choice but to look at the limo. Thankfully, it was a regular black limo and the windows were dark. She wouldn’t be able to recognize David unless he chose to step out of the limo at that instant.
“Work.”
“What sort of work do you do that requires a limo and a Rolex?” she asked curiously.
“Real estate,” Nick said, hoping she wouldn’t ask any more questions. He didn’t lie about his work, but he didn’t want to reveal too much. This visit was not going according to his plan. He had planned to come in and say hello to her just to see her, then leave. He didn’t want her to ask questions that could lead her to suspect the card he sent her was not a mistake. He needed to gain control of the situation. “Investment real estate.”
“That sounds interesting. Would you like some ketchup with your sandwich?” And just like that she had lost interest in him.
“No, this is fine,” Nick replied, cursing himself for showing up at her work place. Now he had given her something else to hold against him. Clearly she didn’t care about his money, or maybe she just didn’t like him. There was no way for him to know, and he didn’t want to hang around any longer and make things worse. And actually, he did like ketchup on his sandwich, but he wasn’t going to ask her for anything, except maybe a way to get out of there really fast.