chapter 2

The smell of sizzling bacon carried up the stairs as I made my way down to the pub for my first shift. Despite the fact it was only six am, most of the kitchen staff had already arrived and were setting up for a busy breakfast period. I smiled at a few of the staff on my way through to the main dining area, from which Julie's distinctive laugh was carrying. As I walked in, I saw her sitting at one of the tables with Noah.

"Morning Lois! Come, have a seat- I cooked you some breakfast." She said, pulling out the chair beside her.

"Hey, Lois," said Noah. I ignored the charming smile he shot my way, instead sending him a brief nod as I sat down. Despite my display of disinterest, my heart was racing as I noticed his dazzling blue eyes staring intensely at me, and I quickly turned my attention to the feast that Julie had assembled on my plate.

Food before guys, I thought to myself..

"Wow, Julie, you shouldn't have!" I said in amazement. The plate was piled high with the greatest assortment of breakfast foods I'd ever seen.

Winking, she brushed it off, "It's nothing! I promised your dad I'd keep you well fed and I'm a woman of my word. Plus you'll need it; it's going to be a busy shift."

I eagerly reached for a piece of toast as Julie began explaining some of the basic tasks for the job. I had done some waitressing back home, and the woman could talk for England, so I didn't pay much attention to her. I instead focussed on devouring my enormous breakfast and trying to avoid eye contact with Noah from across the table.

".. most of the customers are alright, we have our regulars." Julie continued. "But some can get a little rowdy, especially if the football's on.".

"If the customers give you any trouble, let me know, I can sort it." My head shot up to Noah, who had uttered the sentence between mouthfuls of baked beans.

I shot him a cold smile. "I think I can handle myself, thank you very much."

He raised one of his thick, dark eyebrows. "Alright, if you say so," he said, eyes flickering condescendingly down to my skinny arms.

I bit back the childish urge to challenge him to an arm wrestle that would inevitably just prove his point. I instead settled for picking up another slice of toast and furiously ripping the crust off.

"Any questions then, Lois?" Julie said, completely oblivious to the exchange that had just taken place.

I turned and gave her a smile, "No, I think I'm ready."

***

An hour into the shift and it was going fairly well. Despite a slow start, a steady stream of customers were coming in through the door. For such a popular place, the pub operated with very few staff. Only Julie, Noah, and I were serving this morning, although Julie said that more staff come in later in the day as it gets busier.

"Lois, dear, do you mind fetching me a new bottle of ketchup from the back? Table three has run out." Julie said, not waiting for a response as she rushed part me on her way to serve a different table.

As I opened the door to the back room, I saw that the task would not be as straightforward as I had hoped. Eyes quickly scanning the large, full room, a sense of dread settled in my stomach as I realised that I had no idea where to even begin my search for the ketchup. Seeking help, I stuck my head out into the main restaurant and saw that Julie was busy with a customer.

Looks like I'm going to have to find it on my own then.

Letting out a slow sigh, I opened the cupboard closest to me and started rummaging around. Julie, for all her merits, was not the most organised woman, and the cupboard contained a wide variety of objects including birthday candles, large boxes of rock salt and bulk packets of hand soap. After a few seconds I decided the ketchup was not in this cupboard and moved on to the next.

The sound of footsteps behind me made me jump. I whipped my head around to see Noah, a smirk playing on his lips as he took in my startled appearance.

"Boo," he said lazily. I rolled my eyes in response and turned back to the second cupboard I was searching. "What are you looking for?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it," I muttered, moving an ancient, dust-coated till from the forefront of the cupboard to have a look behind it.

Auntie Julie really needs to clear out these cupboards.

"It's getting quite busy out there, we need you out front," he said, "Come on, what are you looking for?"

I breathed a sigh of defeat and reluctantly turned around, refusing to meet his eyes "I can't find the ketchup.".

I knew as soon as I saw the twinkle in his eyes that this was a mistake.

"Too bad you said you could handle yourself," he said, leaning against the counter beside me. I narrowed my eyes and stood up, pushing past him to open the third cupboard.

"You're a dick"

He clutched his chest and staggered backwards. "Ouch," he said, "that hurt."

"Bite me," I said, moving to the next cupboard to have a look.

"Just tell me where, sweetheart."

Ew. "Thought you said we were busy out front," I said, deciding that this conversation was getting me no closer to finding the elusive ketchup, "maybe you should go and help.".

"You're right," he said, starting to walk out of the room, "try the fifth cupboard from the right.". He stopped in the doorframe and turned around, giving me a wink, "Nice talking to you, Louise.".

"It's LOIS," I shouted, but if he heard me his retreating figure did not acknowledge it. I angrily pulled open the cupboard he mentioned which, sure enough, contained rows upon rows of ketchup bottles. Pulling one out, I ran it to table three, my head still spinning from the encounter.

I had met guys like Noah; it was clear by his demeanour that he had a massively overinflated ego. I mean, yes he wasn't bad looking but he was no Zac Efron...

But those eyes... and those arms... and that smile...

No, the boy was completely deluded. And rude. And I had a whole summer working with him every day.

Fan-fucking-tabulous.

***

"Well done today, you did so well!" Julie said, smiling as I took off my apron, "let us handle closing up the place, you go and get showered and changed!"

I had enjoyed the shift, but after serving the seemingly endless stream of customers and battling Noah's relentless teasing remarks I was tired and a shower sounded absolutely heavenly.

"Are you sure?" I asked, looking around. There was still quite a lot to tidy up, and Julie had very few staff working. "I don't mind staying to help."

"No, no, no," Julie waved me off. "We're almost done. Go clean yourself up!"

As my shift finished early, Julie had offered to take me out for a nice dinner to celebrate my first day of work. I hesitantly made my way upstairs to the shower, feeling guilty about the mess I was leaving for Julie and the team to tidy up downstairs.

I've had the habit for years of being unable to shower without music. Connecting my phone to my bluetooth speaker, I laughed when the opening beats of Lily Allen's Fuck You rang out. Scrubbing the grease and grime from the long day's work off of my body, I belted out the lyrics while picturing a certain someone's stupid, annoying, sexy face.

After turning off the shower and wrapping myself in the fluffy white towel that Julie had left out for me, I walked back along the hallway to my bedroom, still humming the last notes of the song.

It was only when I opened my bedroom door that I realised that my bedroom was not empty.

I screamed.

Noah was sitting on my bed.