It didn’t take Ben long to realize that Meg had been right, she was a damn good waitress and it didn’t do business any harm that she was really good looking either, although he had to talk to her about clothing, but since it already was busy Ben hadn’t had time to even go get her a The Deep-t-shirt. Around 10.30 it got a bit quiet as most of the guest were dancing “Hey, why don’t you take a break” Ben suggested “Are you sure?” Meg asked “Yes, Roger and me can handle it for a while” “To be honest I’m a bit hungry I never got around to have any dinner” Meg confessed “Let’s change that then, I don’t want you to faint on your first day” he looked at his wristwatch “I’m afraid all I can get you this time is a sandwich is that ok?” Meg smiled, she was quite hungry so anything would do she nodded her answer. “Be right back then” Ben went into the kitchen. “So how do you like Sunset Beach so far?” Roger asked “I love it” Meg answered “I didn’t think I’d miss waiting tables, but it’s so much fun” “And you’re good at it” he filled in as he served two beers to the person next to Meg. “Hi there, I thought you were on your vacation” Meg looked up “Hi Michael” she smiled “I was, am… I’m not sure anymore, but I’m enjoying myself” she said. “Good on you” Michael took the beers and went over to a table where a young dark skinned woman was waiting for him. “Here you are, you can go up those stairs to my office to get away from the crowd a bit” Ben nodded towards the back “I think I’ll take you up on that” Meg said.
The office felt calming to Meg, a place to relax but still get work done. She sat down at the desk and picked her sandwich up. The computer was on so she took the liberty to send S.B another mail “S.B, it’s Dorothy again. I’m sorry you didn’t think us meeting was a good idea. I’m in Sunset Beach now so maybe we’ll run into each other without knowing it. I don’t want to pressure you, but if you like to meet let me know” she sent it and finished eating. She got up from the desk and decided to look around the office a bit. A big window with blinders occupied almost all of one of the walls. She looked thru it and saw the crowd dancing downstairs. Turning around she noticed the little kitchen and walked over to that space, to her surprise it even contained a shower on the side “Someone’s a workaholic” she said out loud. She backed out and bumped into something. It was a foldout bed “Truly workaholic” she sat down on the bed. All the excitement was catching up with her and she felt sleepy “I guess five more minutes break couldn’t hurt” she laid down and instantly fell asleep.
Mark loaded the cd-player with a few slow songs and went to the bar “Where did Meg go?” he asked Ben “I told her to take a break and eat a little” he looked at his watch “Actually I thought she’d be back by now, can you keep an eye here, I’ll just pop up in the office and check so she’s ok” “Of course boss” Mark stood behind the bar. Ben took the stairs two steps a time and entered the office. At first he didn’t see Meg but as he was to call her name he noticed her sleeping on his foldout “Poor thing, she’s totally exhausted” Ben left the office again. He told Mark and Roger so they wouldn’t disturb her. As it was Sunday evening the bar closed at midnight and after locking the door behind his staff Ben went back to his office. He sat down on the side and gently shook Meg awake “Sorry to wake you” Meg looked up at him, he had the bluest eyes she’d ever seen “Oh no, did I fall asleep?” Ben nodded “I’m so sorry” Meg sat up “I better get back to work” Ben just smiled at her “What?” “I went looking for you before and found you asleep. I thought that you probably needed the sleep so I let you sleep. The bar’s closed now” Meg was embarrassed “What an impression I’m making” she said. “You’ve made quite an impression Meg. Everyone loved you, you were correct in all orders and we made a lot of tips” he handed her some notes “This is your cut” Meg took the money “Wow” she said when she counted it “And if you don’t mind I’ll pay you your salary in the end of the week” Meg had gotten out of the bed “Does that mean you want me to come back?” she asked “If you like to” Ben smiled at her “I’d love to, but I better get back to the motel and get a good night’s sleep so I don’t fall asleep again tomorrow” Ben walked over to his desk “Let me just fix two things and I’ll walk you home” “There’s no need” Meg said “Well it’s in the middle of the night and you’re new in town, I wouldn’t feel good if something happened to you” “Ok then, is there anything I can do to help” Ben shook his head.
The next morning Meg showered and went out to get some breakfast. She decided to try the Java Web. To her surprise she found Ben behind the counter “Don’t tell me you own this place too?” she said “Yes I do, thank you for last night” Ben said and took out a cup “Coffee?” he asked and Meg nodded. She sipped it while looking at the menu on the wall, there were so much to choose from “So what do you recommend?” Meg asked Ben “Well if you’ve not grown tired of sandwiches I would have a grilled ham and cheese with a fruit salad on the side” “Mmm, that sounds heavenly, I’ll have that” Meg sat down at the counter “Slow morning?” she asked Ben as he returned from leaving her order to the cook “Not really, it’s Monday and 10am, not exactly morning anymore” “I guess I slept a little late” Meg said “I don’t know when I last did” “To be honest, me neither” Ben confessed “So, if you don’t mind me asking. What brings you to our little town?” Meg smiled “An adventure actually, and a little bit of fate. The plane to California was the first out of Kansas when I left Saturday afternoon” “Kansas?” Ben was called to the kitchen to pick Meg’s food up “Enjoy” he said when he put it down in front of her “I will, I’m starving” Meg said “So what did you do back in Kansas?” Ben asked “I worked in an office with bookkeeping and other paperwork like that. Quite interesting most of the time” “But waiting tables are more fun?” Ben thought about how she had been smiling all evening last night. “Yes it is, but back in Ludlow there aren’t many bars and the tips are bad” Meg finished off her sandwich and took the bowl with her fruit salad “Wow strawberries” was her first reaction “I could get used to living here, strawberries in October” Ben got more and more intrigued by this woman, could it be? He had to try and find out, after all Dorothy had sent the mail last night saying she was in Sunset Beach. “Ben Evans, I want to talk to you” a red haired woman came swooshing into the café “Not now Annie” Ben said “Yes now Ben” Ben went around the counter and pulled Annie to a table “What Annie, I don’t want to hear any lies or well I don’t want to hear anything really because I bet it’s Maria that’s put you up to it” “Of course it isn’t, I just don’t like to see my best friends not living in the same place as they have the last three years. What’s happened?” she asked “I think you know what’s happened Annie, you know all too well since you’ve been with Maria in L.A to cover for her when she’s been on her rendez-vous” “You know?” Annie slipped and Ben just shook his head “As I said, I don’t want to talk about it” “Ben, I put the money on the counter, see you tonight” Meg said as she left and Ben got up from the chair “Meg, wait” but it was too late “I see you’re not wasting any time” Annie got up but before she could leave Ben grabbed her arm “Meg’s new in town and she helped out waiting tables last night. There’s nothing more to it” Ben didn’t know why he was explaining himself to her “You can tell Maria that I’ll come to the house tomorrow to talk about a divorce. She knows me well enough to understand that I don’t take this kind of behavior easily”
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All connections to Sunset Beach and real life characters are purely for your pleasure.
©tinadolphin@comhem.se 2012-
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