Closing Shift

Kayla hated working the closing shift at Scrappe, but at least it was a Tuesday night, which meant it was practically a ghost town.

"Is it always like this?" Kayla asked Fred as they cleaned up the kitchen.

"Usually. Mondays and Tuesdays are the worst." He shook his head, pushing aside the dark curls that had fallen in his line of sight.

Kayla quirked a brow. "The worst?"

"I like staying busy. I'd rather be running around with the chaos than sitting with the silence."

"My boyfriend is like that. He likes to stay busy with his band and music."

"Oh yeah, that guy who came in here last week. How's he doing?" He asked, uninterested.

"He's been good."

"You guys get along good, then?"

Kayla nodded as she stacked the clean dishes in the strainer. Fred threw more dirty dishes in the soapy water and then looked over at Kayla as he scrubbed a deli dish.

"You're nodding your head, but you expression isn't exactly happy-in-love."

She shrugged and took the deli dish from him to rinse it. "We're good. Really."

"Kay?"

"Huh?"

"You sure you're all right?" He nodded at her hand. She clutched the deli dish, her knuckles having gone white.

"Oh." Embarrassment touched her cheeks. She tossed the dish in the hot, clean water. "I'm just... well"-she turned to him, leaning against the sink counter-"remember the conversation we had? About you being old-fashioned?" He nodded. "Well, i just wish Tom could be a little more old-fashioned, too."

The heat in her cheeks grew. Why was she even talking about this?

"Let me guess," Fred said, "he pushed sex, didn't he?"

"No, that's actually not the problem."

Fred rinsed a dish and set it on the strainer. Kayla grabbed a towel to dry.

"Well, whatever it is, don't let it stress you out. You got more important things to worry about, you know?"

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Well...like, work. And you have those classes at the collage now, don't you?"

"Yeah, but that has nothing to do with my problem. I can be stressed out about my relationship and about work and school, you know."

Fred handed Kayla another dish and then said, "Okay, yeah. You can. What is your problem, anyway?"

Kayla avoided eye contact with him as she ran the towel over the dish and scrubbed the sides. "It's nothing. Really. Cheyenne says i'm just being dramatic. But, i met his family the other week. And i knew from the moment his mom opened the door that she didn't quite approve of me. You know?"

He nodded his head and grabbed a towel to help Kayla dry the dishes. She continued, "Well, she called my house a few nights later and asked me to lunch. So, i went. And she only had really mean things to say to me. Saying that Tom was going to break up with me because he was still in love with some chick named Emily." She paused and looked to see if Fred was still listening. "I haven't told him about what his mother said. I'm sort of scared to know if it's really true..."

"Kayla," He said, laying down the towel and turning to face her. His eyes were set on her and his tone was serious. "you need to talk to him."