The CEO's bridge

Alicia blinked her eyes again as she watched the group of men who had just entered the diner where she worked. They stood in complete contrast to the faded walls of the diner and the small wooden tables covered with checkered tablecloths. The expensive suits they wore told her they belonged on the other side of the block, in a restaurant that served dishes more expensive than the salary she received as a waitress.

But it was not the contrast between the simplicity of the cafeteria and the splendor of the men that kept her feet glued to the floor.

No. It was him. The confident, absurdly handsome man who dominated the group's conversation. The guy with the forest green eyes that reminded her of lush green leaves. Crap. She'd recognize those eyes anywhere.

"These guys are amazing...” Beth’s voice rang out somewhere in the distance as Alicia’s heart raced in a strange way, “but you have to stop looking at them like that or John will take it out on you. Your paycheck.”

The comment made Alicia blink again before she took her eyes off the counter.

Was she staring? Oh, damn, she was staring. What if he had seen her? Where was her head as she stood there looking at him as if...?

“I think John's going to take a deduction from your pay too if he doesn’t help you soon,” Beth remarked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

She was right. John, Alicia’s boss, loved to dock his employees’ pay. His greatest hobby was watching the steps of the cafeteria workers, waiting for the first opportunity to complain to them and further reduce the amount he paid.

The problem was that not even the threat of John taking a few more dollars from her would get Alicia to go to the table and serve the customers.

"Are you okay?" Beth asked, the amusement draining from her voice and her eyebrows furrowing. “Alicia?” “

"I can’t wait for the table,” she muttered, turning her back to the room filled with tables and chairs. She couldn’t let him see her. Not after everything that had happened. After everything she had done for him. After everything he had not done for her.

What if he humiliated her? What if he laughed at her because she had become exactly what he had predicted when he had made it clear to her that he would do anything to become popular?

You will end up in a shitty job, without a home of your own, in bad relationships and not knowing what to do with your life.

That's what he said before he left. It was the only time she'd ever heard him say it so aggressively. And it was her fault that the cool kid she'd known since she was three was rebelling and saying those things. He also said that he would leave and that he would show her how far he would go.

She didn’t take him seriously. I mean, he was just stressed and in the end he would come back and they would get along like they always did...

But that wasn’t the case back then. For a week he ignored Alicia, and when she finally found the courage to approach him and try to sort things out, he was simply gone. No goodbyes, no idea where he was.

In the end, he was right. Alicia had become exactly what he'd predicted, and he, well, judging by the expensive suit and gold watch he wore to the diner, she could imagine he’d come a long way.

How had he changed so much? What had happened since they had last seen each other?

She hadn’t thought he would really leave. Not even when she went to his house and could not find him, or when her mother said that his grandfather had taken him to another country. Alicia thought he'd come back after the vacations or something. That they would make peace again. I mean, they fought all the time when they got to high school and realized they were complete opposites. She was desperate to fit in, and he, well, he had made a mockery of himself on the first day of school.

Alicia knew she was a bad person when she turned her back on him without hesitation when she realized she would stay by his side to avoid being popular. She was cruel to him. The only problem is that she only realized this after he left. She never had the chance to apologize, at least not in person, and the only time she contacted him was because she felt like her heart would explode if he didn’t forgive her, and because she needed him by her side more than anything. He ignored her. It's very simple. She had written him messages for days, begging his forgiveness and telling him how much she needed him, and he had ignored her.

And now she was supposed to serve his table and show that he was right when he predicted her future.

She wouldn’t do that. Not even that. She might no longer be the stuck-up girl who did anything to be accepted by the popular group at school, but she was still as proud as ever, and the idea of hearing him brag about being right was unacceptable. If John could cut off her entire monthly salary, she would not be waiting at this table.

“Alicia?” Beth called out, unsure. Alicia kept her back to the tables, but glanced out of the corner of her eye at her friend standing on the other side of the counter.

“I’m not going to answer them,” she repeated, even more firmly.

“But you are the only waitress here!” Beth’s tone was exasperated, “What’s wrong with you? Do you know them?”

Alicia shook her head and thought about how she could get out of this situation. If only Mary, the other waitress, was there, she could persuade her to take their orders. But it was Wednesday and the diner was usually empty, so John always dismissed one of the waitresses, knowing that only one of them would be able to do the job for the day. “I don’t want to rush you or anything,” Beth said again, with such caution that it worried Alicia even more than before “But they’re waving here, I think... I think they really want to be served,"“ said Alicia and quickly discarded the idea of going to the kitchen and leaving the restaurant through the back door. Unfortunately, I couldn’t lose the job.

"Me what?" Beth countered in a high-pitched tone. Great, she was nervous too. Her voice always got louder when she was nervous. “What’s wrong?" “I’ll explain later, but please take her order. I swear I’ll reward you, I can… ... i can… watch all those terrible movies you love so much, how about that?” “

"Are you really that desperate?” Beth joked, but to her relief she picked up the notepad from the counter and walked towards the table without asking any more questions, mumbling something that sounded something like “I’m never coming here to see you again” before walking away from the counter. Alicia didn’t care, she didn't care about anything except the momentary relief that she didn't have to go to that table.

Not that she really thought he would recognize her if she answered him. Ten years had passed since they had last seen each other. Since they had shouted at each other before he stomped off and disappeared a week later...

The memory made her stomach rumble. Part of you never forgave yourself for being such a bitch to him. Not that she thought she was a bitch then, but the more the days passed after he left, the more she missed... what they were when they were together. Of the conversations she hid from everyone like a stupid person and which only took place at her house or his house, where no one but her parents could hear them. I missed all the times he made her laugh with a completely silly joke. And the movies they watched together at night. And all the times he'd held her up when things were not going well in her house...

“Here’s the order,” Beth informed her, handing her the notebook. Alicia was still standing with her back to the counter, her friend and the tables. “Are you okay?" Beth asked again. “Does your heart hurt? Should I call a doctor?" Before Alicia could ask what she was talking about, she realized she was pressing her hand to her chest.

Yes, her heart was hurting, but not for the reasons her friend suspected. And certainly not for reasons she would admit out loud.

“I’ll prepare the order, you stay here. I still need you to bring it to the table.”

Beth sighed, but Alicia didn’t give her friend enough time to protest and hurried into the kitchen.

When he glanced at the notebook, he knew immediately which of the orders was his. Ten years had passed, but he was obviously still ordering the same thing: a triple burger, minus all the greens. How could he have such a perfect body if he was still eating as badly as he had in the past? Not that he used to be ugly. But he was so thin that he was ridiculed for it. And now, now, she could see the muscles tensing under the shirt he was wearing. And that was only because she was looking from the kitchen, almost ten meters away.

Alicia made Beth take the order from the kitchen because she did not want to risk him seeing her as she brought the tray to the counter. That would be too humiliating. He looked very charming in an expensive formal blouse, while she wore jeans and a T-shirt, covered with an old apron from the cafeteria.

She was lucky that her boss was too busy upstairs in the office and was not paying attention to the activities in the cafeteria that day. He would surely freak out if he saw her hiding in the kitchen as long as the men in suits were eating.

But that’s exactly what she did, hiding and watching the table through the glass of the kitchen door. I do not return to the counter until the group of customers have left, while Beth waves and smiles at them. Her friend returned to the counter, beaming with joy.

“You lost a great tip,” she admonished, placing the bill and the appropriate amount on the counter before slipping a hundred which Alicia thought was the tip into her pocket.

Alicia didn’t care about the tip, the important thing was that she had received it. It went unnoticed by both her past and her boss...

“Ah,” Beth continued, still excited, “the handsome guy praised the burger, he even wanted to meet the chef behind the good food, he said it tasted like home. But I made up an excuse because you were talking to your boss.”

Alicia knew who “the handsome one” was before she had even asked.