Headaches

A half hour before we were about to close last night Kay, one of the kids that worked up front came back and poked her head into the office, "There's someone up front looking for you." A quick look at the security TV didn't show anyone but staff. "They've already got their food and are seated."

"Ok," I nodded. "I'll be right out."

Once Kay left the office, I turned to stare at the paperwork in from of me. I wasn't feeling it. To tell you the truth, I wasn't even feeling the job anymore. While it was a job in management in the food industry, which is what I wanted, it wasn't exactly my dream job - I wanted to quit so badly. I was even tempted to go back to working nights with Sara and Billy until something I really wanted came up.

But I had made a commitment to the restaurant and Beverly, one I didn't want to break unless I had something else in my chosen field.

Finishing up the remainder of the pre close paperwork that I had in front of me, I pushed away from the desk and walked out of the office, closing the door behind me.

"Tanner!" One of the boys who worked the kitchen came sliding to a stop beside me. "Hey so it's dead and there's three of us and I have this killer date, I'm talking hot - she wears these shirts that -"

"Whoa," I held up my hands. "I don't need to hear about her - just tell me what you want."

"Can I go? Now?"

I glanced around the kitchen, they weren't were they should be with clean up and the other two working - one was supposed to be off already and the other wasn't the fast of a worker. "Carmen, what are you still doing here?"

"Pete asked me to close for him," she said simply.

"Haven't you been here since 1? And aren't all shift changes supposed to go through management?" I looked around the room, neither one of them would even look me in the eye. Sighing, I just shook my head, "Listen I really don't care who closes but this kitchen isn't in the shape it should be at this hour and the three of you know it." Crossing to the table where the task book sat opened, I picked it up and skimmed through the list. "Guys you haven't even completed anything on this list - what have you been doing all night?"

Three of them looked at each other and then stared at the floor.

"Ok," I tossed the book on the table. "Here's the deal guys - half of this list - in twenty minutes or less and Pete can go." I started to walk away when I stopped, "I will be checking so don't think you can just do a rush job and get away with it."

I make it do the door and I looked back towards them. "Clock is ticking guys."

Every single night it was the same thing, some one tried to leave early, they didn't finish what they were supposed too and it always came back on my shoulders. I didn't care that they were just kids, they were there to do a job and I'll be damned if I get reamed out one more time for their lack of work ethic.

Cool air hit me as I walked from the back to the front. Unfortunately the work ethic didn't change. The girls that worked up front were all gathered around one till talking about their plans for the night and the rest of the weekend.

"That's interesting ladies," I leaned in over Kay's shoulder and smiled at their surprised expressions. "You wanna know what my plan is for the weekend?"

"Tanner," Cindy, the skankiest of all my evening crew cracked her gum as she grinned at me. "There's a party tonight, you should come with."

"There won't be any partying for any of you if you don't finish your closing duties."

Stepping closer to me, Cindy reached out her hand as she pouted, "Oh come on Tanner, you look like you could use a good time."

I took a step back, avoiding her hand. "I could use a crew that did what they were supposed to do so I could actually get out of here on time every night."

A soft chuckling came from behind me, I turned to see Sara leaning over the counter with a smile on her face. "Wow you are as grumpy as you are hot tonight."

"Wh-wh-" I stared at her in disbelief, she was supposed to be working.

"We don't work for another hour or so, we thought we'd grab a bite to eat and -" she stopped short and frowned as she looked past me.

I turned to see the girls watching us curiously. "Ladies I'm sure you have something to do, I suggest you do it." With that, I made my way around the counter to Sara. "I have a minute to sit, if you aren't in a hurry to go."

"Are you kidding?" Sara smiled up at me. "Why did you think I came here? For the food?"

I nodded. She laughed.

"No, I came to see you - I missed you."

"Missed me, huh?" Wrapping my arm around her waist, I told her I missed her too. "I needed to see you tonight -"

"Yeah," she glanced over her shoulder. "I heard."

"Don't be jealous," I tugged her close as we walked down to the table where Billy was sitting.

"Jealous? Me?" Sara laughed. "Of those kids?" Shaking her head, she slid into the booth and grabbed her milkshake. Bringing the straw to her mouth, she took a sip and then told me she didn't think I was that interested in being a cradle robber. "I'm sure you aren't that hard up for a 'good time'."

I started to tell her the only 'good time' I was interested in involved her when I noticed the newspaper opened to the classified section - with a moving company circled. "Who's moving?" I felt a nothing but pure panic as Sara looked me straight in the eye and said, "Me."

Show Me The Love

Valentines' Day. A 'taken' guy's worst nightmare. No matter what we do, it's never good enough. I don't understand why women put such emphasis on a manufactured day like that.

"It celebrates love," my ex whined last year when she showed up at my restaurant in the middle of supper when we were packed to the nuts.

"Nance, I'll gladly show you love any day of the year but I'll be damned if Hallmark is going to tell me that one day is more important than the other. Now," I steered her towards the doors. "I have a lot of work to do - see you tonight."

Of course, that wasn't the way she wanted to spend Valentine's Day, she expected me to shut down the restaurant for the day and have a romantic dinner, just the two of us. We fought, she called me an insensitive prick who just cared about the almighty dollar. I told her that she was the reason I worked so hard. "If you weren't such a money grubbing whore -"

Yes, she slapped me - hard - across the face before she ran out crying, wishing a slow and horrible death...but not before a wild grizzly bear with dull teeth chewed my balls off. Oh Nance, she was so loving. I can't say I miss her at all.

This year I wanted to make sure that the day was everything that Sara wanted - even if I hated the whole damn thing, she deserved so much.

And that's why I was awake and standing at the front doors of the store with hot chocolate and a little something special for Sara.

"Tanner!" Judy's eyes widened in surprise as she unlocked the door for lunch. "What are you doing here? Coming back?" She looked so hopeful, I almost hated to tell her 'no'.

"Sorry," I flashed her a smile. "I've just come to see Sara. She's working tonight, right?"

"Oh of course!" She motioned for me to come inside. "I'm just about to call lunch; it's our Valentines potluck tonight."

"Oh?" I raised a brow.

Laughing, she told me that it had more to do with having potluck than Valentine's Day. "The staff love potlucks and we haven't had one in a while." Pulling her phone out of the clip on her belt, she paged that it was lunchtime.

Most of the staff were already back in the staff room when Judy and I walked into the back. Glancing around the room, I smiled when I saw Sara holding a paper plate and plastic cutlery as she stood next to Billy. "Excuse me," I walked into the staff room.

Billy saw me over Sara's shoulder. "Sara, how's Tanner doing? Do you have plans for later today?"

"Billy, I told you, Tanner works evenings now. I don't think I'll see him today but hopefully tomorrow."

"You aren't seeing him on Valentine's Day?" Billy chuckled as he glanced at me. "I know you think that it's a useless made up day but I would've thought that the girl in you would've been excited to know that your boyfriend is awake at 3am and standing right behind you, and..."

Sara glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widened and she dropped her plate. "Tanner!" She squealed as she threw herself right into my arms. "Oh my..." she pressed her face against my neck as she held me tight.

"Hey babygirl," I wrapped my arms around her body, taking a deep breath. "Damn you feel so good."

"Psst," Billy poked us. "You are blocking my way to food!"

"Oh," Sara laughed. "Let's go..."

She didn't have time to finish her sentence, I was pulling her away from the line and out the staffroom door. I led her down to the training room and once inside, I closed the door, pressing her up against it. "Did I tell you that you are looking hot tonight?"

Blushing, Sara looked away from me. "You don't have to say that Tanner, I've been working, I know I'm not looking -"

"So hot," I pressed my hips against hers.

"Tanner," she gasped. "How...? I didn't do anything!"

"You know you don't have to do anything baby." Tilting her face upwards, I told her she drove me crazier than anyone else ever had.

"Is that so?" She grinned.

"Yes," I kissed her. "I have something for you."

"I know," she chuckled. "I can feel your...present."

"Ha ha," I kissed her again. "That 'present' I'll give you later - when you come over after work."

"Today?"

I nodded.

"Count me in," she exclaimed excitedly. "I can't wait to unwrap that 'present'." Licking her lips, she gave me the sexiest look ever as her hand travelled down over my chest.

"Hey...hey," I jumped back. "Let's save that for after work."

"Oh?" She pouted.

"But I do have some thing you can open right now," I held up the bag in my hand and showed it to her. "Happy Valentine's Day babygirl."

"Tanner...." she looked like she didn't know what to do. She looked away.

"Hey," I tilted my head, trying to see what was wrong. "Everything ok?"

"You didn't have to get me anything Tanner - I didn't get you anything."

"Yes I did." She gave me a questioning look. "Just open this and you'll see."

"Ok," she took the bag from me but she was a little weary.

I walked with her as she made her way to the table in the middle of the room, she sat down but instead of opening the bag, she waited for me to join her. "Before I open this, I have a question."

"Ok," I shrugged. "Shoot."

"This is very important to me Tanner - are you giving me this because it's Valentine's Day or because you want me to have it?"

"Well..."

"Please be honest."

"Ok," I took her hand in mine. "To be honest Sara, I think Valentine's Day is bullshit. I don't need Hallmark to tell me how and when I should tell you how I feel."

"But yet you decided to give me this today?"

"Sara..." Closing my eyes, I groaned, this wasn't going the way I wanted it. And then I had an idea. "It's not the 14th yet," I pointed out.

"What?" She laughed, "It is Tanner."

"Maybe to other people but not for you."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"What day will you write on the skid tags when you bring overstock into the back at the end of your shift Sara?"

"February 13th..." she trailed off and then started to laugh. "Ok," she shook her head. "Point taken, it's not the 14th for me yet."

"Not until you go to sleep, isn't that what you always told me?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "That's what I told you." She pulled the bag to her and opened it up. "This is exciting," she giggled. "I've never been given something 'just because' before."

"It's not 'just because'," I informed her. "It's...oh just open it and see."

I watched nervously as she reached in and pulled out the box that held her present. It was even more nerve wrecking to watch her slowly open the box. But the worst part was after she opened the box, saw what was in there and just stopped. No words, no sounds - nothing. She just stared into the opened box.

"You....you don't like it?" I felt stupid all of a sudden, like it was way too early or she thought it was dumb.

"I...." she blinked a few times as her brow ceased in the middle. "Is this..." she reached into the box and pulled out the ring. "It is!" She exclaimed as her face relaxed and she turned to me. "It's your grad ring!"

"Yeah," I ran my hand through my hair sheepishly. "It's stupid, I know but I wanted...I mean, I thought..."

"Oh Tanner!" She leapt from her chair and landed on my lap. "It's perfect!"

"Think so?" I wasn't so sure, even with her in my lap, it seemed so high schoolish and lame.

"Yes," she kissed me. "I love it!" Her eyes sparkled as she asked me if I was asking her to 'go steady'.

Laughing, I told her that's exactly what I was asking her.

"I thought you'd never ask," she told me right before she kissed me again.

Switching Shifts

"Have a seat," Beverly pushed a wheeled desk chair my way when I walked into the office. Laid out on the desk in front of her was the daily sales logbook and the receipts from the night before, her attention was on those as I dropped down into the chair. "How are you finding everything Tanner?" She asked, flipping through till receipts. "Do you feel that you have the hang of what it takes to work the kitchen in the mornings?"

"Well, I haven't messed up too many orders and Hazel has only given me the evil eye once this morning," I joked.

"Right, right," she nodded but she didn't seem happy.

Shifting uncomfortably in my seat, I tried to think of something to say to make up for the stupid joke I just made. "I -"

"Look at these numbers," she turned towards me suddenly, pushing the till report she held in her hand, under my nose. "Does that look like a '6' or an '8' to you?" She pulled it back, glanced at it and then shoved it at me again. "I don't know how many times I tell those girls to make sure to change the ink when it's this dull; my eyes aren't as good as they used to be!"

"It looks like a '6'," I replied a little hesitantly because I didn't find it that hard to read at all.

"Yeah?" She tilted her head back a little and peered at the paper through the bottom of her glasses. "Hmm," she tapped the pencil she held in her hand against the receipts. "You know, I believe you are right -" she pointed to a couple numbers further down the paper, "2 and 4 equal 6." With a snort, she put the pencil to the logbook but didn't write anything down as she flipped to another spot in the report. "I just like to double check the numbers," she informed me without looking up.

I asked her if she was going to show me what she was doing but she told me that I would get plenty of practice at it when I started working evenings on Monday. "I'm going to evenings?" It was the first I heard about it. It wasn't like I had a problem with it, I just didn't realize that I would be switching to evenings yet when there was still the whole 'management' side of the morning that I didn't even touch yet.

Beverly looked up at me like I said something wrong. "Of course you have to work evenings Tanner; we have to manage the kids as well as the adults."

"Yes," I nodded. "I understand that. I just thought that..."

She raised a brow, "What did you think Tanner?"

I took a minute to think about what I wanted to say and how; I didn't want to come across as a rude little shit. "I guess I just thought that I would learn a little more of the administration stuff for mornings before switching to nights." Then I had a thought, something that never crossed my mind before that moment. "Am I going to be working mostly evenings?"

The fact that Beverly didn't reply right away make me nervous. I had hoped that once I knew what I was doing, I would have time to focus on Sara and our relationship - working all evenings meant that I wouldn't see her much at all.

"Tanner," Beverly removed her glasses with a sigh. "Right now, I would like for you to concentrate on evenings. We are short supervisors and I think that it would be the best way to have you learn the way we do things around here."

"Oh," I tried really hard not to look disappointed but fuck it, I was. I wanted to know why the hell she didn't tell me this in the interview? She told me that I would have to work some evenings but she would also be working some.

"Most nights you should be out of here just after 10," she told me. "You can still do something with your girlfriend."

"My girlfriend?" I gave her a funny look.

She pointed up at the security TV sitting in the cupboard in the corner. "I assume that you don't go around hugging and kissing all women that walk into this restaurant Tanner."

"No, God no! Sara, that's her name, she's my girlfriend." I was blushing, I could feel it. "I didn't...I mean I don't..." Fuck I felt like an idiot as I stumbled over my words. "She works nights," I finally managed to get out. "I haven't seen her much since I left my last job; we met at work."

Beverly didn't look happy when I said that. "Tanner we frown upon dating co-workers here -"

I damn near jumped out of my chair. "I'm not looking for a new girlfriend," I informed her. "I'm very happy with Sara; she's very important to me." I was a little surprised just how much I missed her once I stopped working nights - dreams with her had become more frequent and I couldn't get her out of my head - every little thing seemed to remind me of something she said or did.

"That's good," she gave me a small smile. "It's a good idea for you to keep your relationship with the staff to a working one, especially when you are working with the kids on the evening shift; you are here to be their boss, not their friend."

"I understand."

"Good," she turned back to the paperwork. "I had problems with the last assistant manager because she tried to be their buddy."

"You don't have to worry about me," I told her. "I'm not here to be any one's 'buddy'."

News

I have decided to suspend this blog for the remainder of this month. During this time I will be making the decision of whether or not I can really continue it, or if it's time to stick a fork in it and call it done. I will be doing the same with Janie's blog as well because, as you all know, I've been slacking with these blogs because I've been having issues 'feeling' them. By March 1st I'll let you all know what I've decided to do.

Thank you for all your support since this blog began.

Angela

Working It

I still can't believe how difficult it is for me to get back into the groove of shift work. How is it possible that after only six months working nights, my body totally refuses to understand that it sleeps when the moon is shining? I can't tell you the number of times I've caught myself nodding off in the office while I was supposed to be reading all the training material for the restaurant. Fuck! You want to talk about boring stuff; the training manuals certainly make that grade!

My first couple days weren't focused on the management role of my new job, I was actually standing side by side with the ladies in the kitchen, learning how we make everything on our menu. Not that it's really difficult to learn or anything, it's fast food, the most complicated stuff was the many different ways to fry eggs - sunny side up and over easy seem to be my undoing at the moment; it's just one of the reasons I prefer to run a restaurant rather than cook.

For the most part the women who work in the morning are a good group but fuck, are they bitchy! Backstabbing and bitching seem to be how they survive! In just a couple hours I knew the life story of most of the crew and half of the customers!

It was on my shift Friday morning, the 8th I believe, when they finally put their foot in their mouths. It had been pretty steady since we had opened the doors at 5:30 but as it neared 7, it slowed down a little. With this little window of time before it would pick up again, we started on the prep work for the day.

"Tanner?" Beverly came back from the front. "After you make the order that's coming up, I would like you to take your break. When you are done, come see me." She disappeared into the office as the first 'beeps' from the monitor over the chutes sounded, alerting us to an order.

We were in the middle of making the order when Hazel, one of the oldest ladies that worked in the kitchen, happened to glace through the chutes. "Augh," she shook her head in disgust. "I don't know who they think they are kidding, everyone knows he's gay."

A couple of the women looked out as well, all adding their own comments to Hazel's. "They should be ashamed of themselves, it's not right," Hazel stated as I glanced out to see what the hell they were talking about. "What woman pretends to be with a gay man?"

"Ummm," I straightened up, turned towards the grill where my breakfast was waiting to be served.

"Don't you think its immortal Tanner?"

"Ah," I shook my head, "No, I don't." I stared Hazel right in the eye. "I think it's wrong that you are standing back here passing judgment on a guy who happens to be my friend and the woman I'm dating."

There were gasps of surprise from the room as I made my way to the front with my food. The women didn't miss a beat though; the door didn't have a chance to shut behind me before the air was a buzz with this new news.

Out front, I spotted Sara and Billy at the condiment stand, grabbing straws and napkins. Smiling, I walked over to them, placed my tray on the stand next to Sara's. She was talking to Billy, not really paying attention to anything else so I was able to get really close to her as I reached around to grab a straw. She jumped, turned towards me, perfect position for a kiss. Which is what I did.

Sara's hands came to push against my chest. "Tanner!" She gasped when she saw me. "What -” She stopped, giggled and then wrapped her arms around me. "Hey, I was hoping to run into you."

I laughed, "Checking in on me, were ya?"

"No," she tried to turn towards Billy as her cheeks turned a light shade of red. "We thought having breakfast here instead of -"

"Who are you trying to kid Sara?" Billy chuckled. "You were dying to see him this morning." He turned to look me in the eye. "She was useless at work last night, all the nervous energy about showing up here - worrying that you wouldn't want her to come here and all that bull."

"Not want..." I gazed down at her. "Sara trust me, I'm happy to see you and I-" I paused as a customer came up beside me. With a smile, the elderly gentleman nodded to us and went about getting cream and sugar for his coffee. It was a little bit of a surprise, remembering that I was at work and out in front of all the customers and staff with my arms around Sara. I wasn't ashamed at all, I wasn't embarrassed either but I knew that it wasn't something Beverly would appreciate if she were to see me. "Maybe we should sit down," I motioned towards the nearest booth.

My break wasn't long enough. It seemed like I had just sat down with them when my watch beeped. I didn't want to get up and go back to work at all. I wanted to leave with Sara, take her back to my parents' place and get her naked.

"I'll talk to you tonight?" Sara asked when I told her my time was up. "Did you want me to call when I wake up?" When I told her I was supposed to go to my grandparents' place for dinner and I didn't know what time I would be home, she nodded slowly. "Well I guess it's a good thing we stopped by this morning!" She glanced around and then grinned up at me. "So...ummm...can I hug before you go?"

"Sure," I replied. "Come and get it."

Normally she would hesitate and change the subject, so it was a little bit of a surprise when she damn near leapt out of the booth, almost knocking me over as she wrapped her arms around my waist.

"Control yourself," I joked, squeezing her tight before kissing her cheek. "I'll call you when I get home from my grandparents' place, ok?" She nodded, telling me that it sounded good. "Ok then. Billy take care of her for me."

It used to be that I would hate it if a chick I was seeing showed up unannounced at work. In fact, when I was living in the city and working at my restaurant, I told Nance not to come by work at all unless someone was dying. And even then, I told her to call first. It would throw me off, having people visit me while I was working but it was different with Sara, seeing her just made me want to work harder. It's difficult to explain the reasoning behind it, so I won't even try.

With a smile on my face, I pushed the kitchen door opened and walked into a sea of curious women waiting to ask me everything about Sara and my relationship with her. "I'd love to tell you," I told them after Hazel fired off the first question - how long I've been seeing Sara. "Unfortunately Beverly is waiting for me."

They looked so disappointed when I headed for the office but their disappointment didn't do anything to their curiosity levels. "We always find out!" Hazel called after me.

Stand Up

It will come as no surprise to anyone reading that once again Sara and I didn't go all the way that day but for once, it wasn't Sara who stopped it. It was me. I really wanted her, to be lost in her but something in the back of my head, a voice I only heard once, kept repeating, 'Maybe you should get Tanner to help you with that little 'problem' we were talking about earlier, he looks like he would be more than willing!'

"Sara..." I hated to stop her, she was all over me. Her lips were on my neck, her hands ran up and down my bare back and her legs had wrapped around mine as she held me tight against her heat. God it was so fucking hot! "Baby please...stop..."

"Huh?" She pulled back, her eyes still clouded over as she stared up at me, unsure of what was going on.

I dropped my head down beside hers and groaned.

"Tanner?" She tried to push me back. "What's going on? Did I do something wrong?" I shook my head as I felt her body tense beneath mine. "Then what is it? Do you not want me?"

"God Sara!" I pressed my pelvis against hers. "Does it feel like I don't want you?

"Mmmm," she moved under me, driving me further insane. "No, it feels gooood Tanner."

I buried my face in her pillow, her scent surrounding my further. "I can't do this," I manage to mumble.

"What?" She tried to push me back again but I wouldn't let her, I didn't think I could look at her and still do what I knew what right. Then she said something I'll never forget. "Did you want me from behind?"

I shot up to stare down at her, pretty certain I misunderstood what she said, only to find her giggling. "Don't look so shocked Tanner," she reached up to run her fingers along my cheek. "I don't know how you like to do this...to do me."

"First time, this would be great. Second time, you'll have to do all the work."

She smiled, truly smiled, her eyes lit up and everything. "That sounds good to me but..." she glanced down before frowning up at me. “Why did you stop when we were heading towards the first time?"

With a huge sigh, I untangled myself from her and rolled onto my side next to her. "Sara, I don't think this is the right time."

"What?" She turned to me, her hand landing on my bare chest. "Why not? We both want too. Right?"

"Yes!" I pulled her to me. "You know damn well how badly I want you."

"Then why did you stop? I don't understand Tanner, please tell me."

I felt stupid as I told her about remembering what her friend said that day I thought she was back with the Bastard but even thinking that she's never gotten off during sex got to me and it made me want it to be 'special'. "And now that I say it out loud, I feel like a pussy."

Sara laughed at that. "No don't feel that way," she told me, her eyes glistening in the low light coming from her bedside lamp. "It's sweet that you would care but Tanner," her eyes went wide as she pressed her body against mine. "I really, really want you now."

I may be a fool but I stood my ground, I told her she would have to wait. "Our first time will be something you'll never forget Sara, I promise you that."

I guess it's a little understandable that she was pouty and tried to convince me that just being with me would be memorable no matter if it happened later or at that moment. "I think now would be good," she told me as her hand slipped down between us. "Don't you want to know how...?”

Cutting her off with a kiss only intensified the pleasure her hand was giving me. It was agonizing to stop her, I swear I almost fucking cried when I forced her hand from my throbbing cock. "Sara this isn't easy for me to do..."

"I know," she sighed. "And I do understand why but I've been wondering what it would be like with you since the moment I saw you. And that night in the bar with Claire? God! I wished that was me for the longest time."

I raised a brow, the idea of taking Sara over the sink in the bathroom of a bar didn't seem right and I told her that. "No baby you'd be more the bathroom stall kinda girl."

"Whatever!" She laughed. "You'd be surprised what I would do for you Tanner."

"Tell me what you would do," I challenged her. "Whisper them in my ear."

"Nah," she waved me off with a teasing grin. "If you don't plan on letting me seduce you today, we should get some sleep." She turned from me, reached for her alarm clock and set it so that I would have enough time to get up and leave for my interview with Chester.

We were curled up under a sheet; her back was against my chest. I was nowhere near being ready to fall asleep even though I was really tired. I was thinking about my job opinions and the possibility of Sara leaving when she turned slightly and said my name. "I just wanted to say thanks for wanting our first time to be something special for us," she slipped her hand over mine. "I know I may not have seemed like it earlier but I am glad that you are considerate and caring." She chuckled, "And I don't think you are a pussy at all."

Laughing, I told her to go to sleep or I'll forget all about being a thoughtful man.

Since that day I've worked out my final two weeks with Sara and Billy. It was difficult the last night, I had come to enjoy working with everyone and I liked my job but as Sara said, I needed to do something that would make me happy. Although it wasn't my dream job of running my own restaurant again, working as an assistant manager in a fast food joint and answering to a woman old enough to be my grandmother had its benefits.

On the personal side of life, my relationship with Sara had taken a slight turn since that day. No longer was she shutting me out and pushing me away. Those walls were gone and we spoke openly every chance we got. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to see her as much as I hoped. It's been three days since I started at the restaurant full time - I go into work at 5am and haven't been leaving before 3pm - Sara is normally asleep by the time I get home and I hate waking her.

I'm starting to plan a night or two away from this town for the both of us, I haven't told her about it yet, I'm looking to surprise her.