Chapter 5

Cindy’s Pov.

The ride to work was comfortable, and to be honest, it’s been a while since I felt such comfort. My neighbor, Mrs. McLean, gave me a lift in her new car. I got to work fifteen minutes earlier, so I had enough time to change into my work clothes.

M&T Restaurant wasn’t a big restaurant, but sometimes we barely got customers. I guessed the owner was a really consistent person because despite the low sales, he still manages to pay the staff and maintain the place.

I got into the work quarters; thankfully, the people who are working with me on this shift were yet to come.

I was to work the evening shift. I quickly took my work clothes from the closet: a light blue plain shirt with M&T’s logo on it and blue pants. I picked up my name tag from my bag and pinned it to the shirt. As I was about to leave the quarters, I felt someone's presence behind me.

I picked up a long stick that was placed on the wall, just in case anything was there to harm me. The room was dimly lit, so I could not see anything at the end of the small room.

“Who’s there?" I asked with a shaky breath, clutching the stick in my hands.

I tiptoed towards the end of the worker’s mini closet, and in a split second, a feminine voice yelled, “Boo!”

On seeing who it was, I let out an exhale and said, “Gosh! You scared the sh*t out of me, Mabel,”

I dropped the stick, then stood akimbo, looking at her.

“Did Cindy Berman just cuss now?” She asked, grinning.

“What do you mean?” I asked with a confused look.

“You know what I mean. You just cussed right now. You know, the holy pastor’s daughter,” she said with a chuckle, then walked to the closet to change into her work clothes.

“How come you’re so early? Miss latecomer,” I said with a grin.

She was a perpetual latecomer, and I don’t know how Mr. Sam, our manager, keeps believing her lies, but seeing her come early was like an achievement for her.

“I see what you did there, Cindy. Anyway, my dad dropped me off on his way out, so voila! I’m here,” she said with a sarcastic smile that disappeared within a second.

I looked at the time on the leather on my wrists and said, “It’s already 7:10 pm. Shall we?”

“Sure, let’s move,” she said as we stepped out of the room.

We exchanged pleasantries with the workers from whom we were taking over the shifts, then sat in our respective positions.

There weren't any customers, so I moved over to Mabel to talk to her; the boredom was getting too much from where I was seated.

Plus, my phone developed some issues, and I’d have to wait until my payday before I could repair it.

“Hey Mabel, what’s up with you?” I asked, adjusting my seat close to hers.

“Nothing at all; I’m just sitting here waiting for a customer, that's all,”

“To be honest, I really don’t know why the owner hasn’t sold this place or maybe turned it into a club or something,” I said.

“I don’t know why either. He hasn’t even shown up once, and yet he’s still investing in this place even though the turnover is pretty low, ” she said it with an expression that was hard to understand.

"Well, it’s his business, and it doesn’t really concern us, right? After all, he pays us as and when due, so I don’t think we should have a problem with this place,”

“That’s true. I guess he must be a rich man.”

“Bet...” As I was about to say something else, a young man walked in. I took the menu list and then walked up to him where he was seated. As he was looking at the menu, I had the time to appreciate his looks.

Gosh! Those eyes! They were so cute! He was a muscular man who should have been older than me by a few years. His masculine beauty was out of this world, and he is the kind of man I’d love to have a thing with. The only problem I saw with him was the big tattoo on his arm that extended to his wrists.

Being a typical church girl, I couldn’t end up with such a man unless I wanted to be disowned by my father.

“I’d have a glass of martini, extra dirty, and tacos.” He said it in a dreamy, gusty voice.

“Coming right up,” I said, taking the menu list and flashing a timid smile at him.

I felt my cheeks burning, and if there was a mirror around here, I’d have checked how embarrassing I must be looking.

My face must have definitely turned pink. I gave his order to Mabel, who placed it on a tray in no time, so I gave it to him in turn.

I watched him as he ate gracefully without looking left or right; his eyes were fixed on his phone.

His short brown hair was to die for, and I instantly wished I could run my fingers through it.

Too bad, I might not be the kind of woman he'd want; it wouldn't hurt to have sinful fantasies.

He suddenly looked towards me; maybe he must have noticed I had my eyes on him all along. Immediately after he locked eyes with mine, I looked elsewhere, pretending to look for something that wasn’t missing.

I could tell he gave a faint smile but kept sipping his drink slowly as he was gazing at his phone.

He gave a signal to come and get his bill, and I walked gracefully to him. I could feel the heat between my thighs as I walked toward him.

God! I wish he could just take me to bed and have his muscular arms do justice to my body. Oops! I was a church girl and shouldn’t be thinking of things like that.

“You should take a picture of me; it will last longer,” he spoke in a baritone voice with a calm demeanor, looking at me with those dreamy eyes.

Was this love at first sight?