Page 8 of Trophy

On Friday morning Allison knew for sure that she’d never been so tired in her life.

She hadn’t been a lazy slug while she was married. Her days had usually been fairly busy, and she’d always worked out a lot since Arthur would complain if she started gaining weight.

But after three days of waiting tables at Dora’s, she could barely manage to roll out of bed.

This kind of exhaustion was different, and it was compounded by the knowledge of an endless succession of more days on her feet, pretending to be polite when she felt like wringing someone’s neck, trying to juggle about twenty tasks at once and very often failing miserably.

Each day was the same, and they would continue to be the same for the foreseeable future.

She tried to encourage herself by remembering that she was no longer under Arthur’s thumb. Once she’d gotten used to the work and saved some money, she could take more classes and finish her degree. This was merely a transition period. Not the rest of her life.

It only helped a little, but at least she was able to get out of bed.

A half hour later she was walking into Dora’s.

She’d stopped going through her full dressing routine in the mornings.

She just pulled her hair back in a low ponytail and applied only the bare minimum of makeup.

It simply wasn’t worth taking the time to make herself pretty when she could be sleeping instead.

She glanced in the mirror in the bathroom and barely recognized herself.

The realization was startling and a bit frightening, but she told herself she was learning to be independent. She was doing life on her own for the very first time. Of course she looked different. She wasn’t young and gorgeous and vulnerable and completely dependent anymore. That was a good thing.

She greeted Trey and Chelle and Gus, the morning cook, and she tried to prepare herself to face customers. She could be this person. It wasn’t going to be forever.

Fortunately, it was a slower morning than usual, and she’d only served three tables when Rob came into the restaurant, as he had every morning.

Except this morning he was with a teenage girl.

She and Chelle took turns taking tables, since customers seated themselves, and Chelle was up now, so she got to serve Rob and the girl.

Allison pretended not to be disappointed as she smiled and took a menu over to an elderly man who had come in by himself after Rob.

Rob glanced over at her and smiled, and she found herself smiling back.

She wasn’t sure how it was possible, but he got cuter every time she saw him. Today he looked more casual than normal—in jeans and a black T-shirt—and her eyes lingered on his very fine biceps, which were visible beneath the sleeves of his shirt.

She wondered who the girl was.

The girl was cute enough, although her hair was too brassy a blond and her expression appeared to be perpetually pouty. She mostly stared down at her phone, which Allison recognized wasn’t unusual for a teenager. But Rob was trying to talk to her, and the girl was barely paying attention.

Allison experienced a surge of pity for Rob when she saw an unmistakable look of frustration on his face.

When she saw Chelle back in the kitchen, picking up an order, she asked, “Who’s the girl with Rob?”

Chelle was nice enough, once you got to know her, although her manner was always slightly brusque. She glanced toward the door as if trying to remember who had come in with him this morning. “Oh yeah. That’s his ex’s daughter.”

Of course. That made perfect sense. The girl even looked like that rude woman she’d seen on Tuesday.

Chelle gave her a curious look. “Do you and Rob have a thing going on?”

Allison’s eyes widened. “What? No, of course not. I was just wondering, since I didn’t think he had kids.”

“He doesn’t. He was always good to that girl, though. Not that it did much good. She’s a handful.”

“Is she?” Allison was tempted to ask more questions, but she realized it would just give Chelle more reason to think she was interested in Rob.

She was interested. He was the most interesting part of her week here, but she knew nothing would ever happen between them. Despite what Vicki teased her about, she wasn’t really interested in a fling.

She felt out of sorts as she left the kitchen with a completed order. When she served Rob, he always chatted with her, asked her how she was doing and if she needed any help around her house. She always told him no, of course, but she couldn’t resent his asking. He acted like he genuinely meant it.

But this morning she had to keep smiling as this old man told her about all of his grandkids, keeping her from getting to the other tables. She occasionally glanced over to Rob at the counter, and he was still trying to talk to the girl.

She wished she knew what he was saying.

A half hour later he and the girl were leaving, and Allison tried not to feel disappointed. Rob caught her eye as he walked past a table she still needed to clear. He dropped a folded napkin onto the table with a little half smile.

She gave him a very foolish smile in response, her heart jumping up in her chest. As soon as he’d walked out, she went over to the table and picked up the napkin.

She’d thought she wasn’t going to get a note from him today, since she hadn’t served him. He’d left her a note with his tip every day this week.

She read the note quickly and then stuck it into her pocket as she piled up the dishes and carried them to the back. Once she’d dumped them in the sink, she read the note again.

I missed you this morning. You look tired today. You should sleep in tomorrow. R.

Allison was planning to sleep in tomorrow.

She didn’t work weekends because Trey had regular weekend staff, and she couldn’t wait for a couple of days off.

She was going to meet Vicki for lunch in the city and then they were going shopping.

All Allison was planning to let herself buy was a comfortable pair of shoes, but still…

she was excited about seeing Vicki, about doing something she loved again.

She tucked Rob’s note in her pocket. She would put it with his other notes in the little box on her dresser when she got home.