Free Two Hearts One Love by Savannah Chase Page B

her eyes and politely smiled. "Sorry tonight's menu doesn't
include me getting hit on by a cheesy pick up line."
    The rest
of the guys began to laugh.
    "Burn,"
someone at the table yelled, and the blonde backed off.
    "We'll
take a side of hot barbeque wings and an extra beer," said a
black-haired guy across the table.
    "Anything else?"
    "That's
it."
    "Coming
right up," she turned to make her way toward the front of the
bar.
    The
place continued to fill up with customers. Not a single free table
tonight. A full bar meant more tips.
    Five
minutes later, she was headed back to the guys’ table with five
mugs of cold beer. Someone who hadn’t been there before had joined
them. Probably the person they'd ordered the extra beer for. As she
approached, she could hear them laughing and chatting about the
save that the Toronto Maple Leafs’ goalie just made.
    "Here
are your drinks, gentlemen, and the wings will be here in about
five minutes," she said as she began to remove the mugs from her
tray and place them on the table.
    "Sarah,"
a voice called her from the other side of the table.
    Looking
up, she saw the person who'd joined them. He was dressed in a
v-neck t-shirt and blue jeans. His identity was partially hidden by
a dark blue Toronto Maple Leafs baseball cap, but she recognized
him right away. There was no mistaking it. There, just a few steps
away, stood Rick—her ex. The last person she’d ever expect to run
into at the bar. Last she'd heard, he was living in Los Angeles
pursuing a movie career with some blonde he’d met. But who knew if
that were true since nothing that came out of his mouth was
truthful.
    She
opened her mouth to try to take in a breath but nothing went in.
Her stomach turned and shock set in. "Rick, what a…"
    "What a
surprise," he said and started to make his way toward
her.
    He tried to hug her, but she blocked him by putting the tray
up between them. Surprise was not the word
I was thinking of. More like misfortune, she thought to herself.
    "I'll go
check on those wings for you," she said and hurried away from the
table. She wanted to be as far away from Rick as possible. The man
made her want to gag.
    "Your
order's ready," Bill, the bartender, told her when she got back to
the bar.
    “ Thanks.”
    "Was
that who I think it was?" he asked as he leaned in toward
her.
    "Yeah it
was. How unfortunate." She retrieved her tray and pushed the heavy
black door that led into the kitchen to grab the order of wings.
The place was filled with different smells, from barbeque sauce to
warm cheese. French fries sizzled in the deep fryer and hamburger
patties cooked on the grill. Her stomach rumbled from all the tasty
aromas that were in the air, but after seeing her ex, she’d lost
her appetite.
    Ralf,
the cook in the back, worked feverishly to complete an order. She
watched as he flipped the patties and tossed another order of wings
into the basket before lowering them into the hot oil.
    "Sorry
for the delay, I'm kind of swamped tonight, as you can see," he
said as he wiped his hands on his apron. His black hair, which had
been neatly tucked away, was now a little messy and stuck out from
the side of his hair net.
    He
looked like he could really use her help. She’d done it a few times
before and didn't mind pitching in from time to time. When she
helped out in the back, she got paid what the cooks did, so that
was great for her. Her job at the bar was flexible since she’d
learned everything from bartending, waitressing and helping to
prepare food with the cooks.
    "Anything I can help you with?" Sarah said as she grabbed the
basket of wings from the metal table.
    "No.
I'll manage. Thanks for the offer. Bud should be here any moment.
If he doesn't show, I'll take you up on that offer," he said before
he went over to remove the other order of wings.
    Bud was
another cook who worked part-time at the bar and picked up extra
shifts if someone called off sick.
    With her
order in hand, she grabbed a fistful of