Full Circle

Samantha reads an order attached to a tray that holds 2 plates of food. “Table 5”, she repeats in her head so she doesn’t forget. She steadies the tray in one hand and grabs a bottle of syrup with the other. She puts on a smile as she approaches table five.

“Ok, who has the stuffed French toast with a side of scrabbled eggs and bacon?”

A little boy raises his hand.

Samantha smiles, “Here ya go, sweetie.”

She quickly gathers the other plate of food and sets it in front of the man who must be the dad.

“And a stack of blueberry pancakes for you, sir.”

The man smiles and thanks her. She sets the bottle of syrup on the table and picks up the $5 tip.

“There’s another waitress coming in to take over. But is there anything else I can get you two before she arrives?”

“Nope. We’re good. Thank You, Ma’m.”

Samantha nods and quickly heads back to the kitchen. Her shift ends in five minutes and Claire, another waitress, will take over her tables. Sam has been working at Sugar Shack for two days now. She works from 6am to 3pm, three days a week. Today wasn’t as busy as the previous day and she was thankful for that.

“I’m here, Samantha,” says Claire, briskly taking off her jacket and putting on her work hat.

“Hey, Claire. It’s not super busy today,” replies Sam.

Claire nods and gets to work. Samantha goes to the back room and retrieves her backpack. She has a good 30 minutes to get changed before she heads to Zacky’s house for his birthday party. She slips into a bathroom stall and pulls a black dress and a pair of heels out of her backpack. She then sheds her uniform and quickly puts on the form fitting dress and heels. Once her uniform and work shoes are packed away, she goes to the mirror and combs her fingers through her hair. With 15 minutes left, she leaves the restaurant, gets in her car and pulls up Zack’s house address on her phone.


Samantha was a bit nervous when she parked outside the house. With a sigh, she got out of her car and manually locked it. She could hear NOFX playing as she approached the door. She rang the doorbell and waited a few seconds before a girl with purple hair greeted her.

“Hi, you must be Samantha. I’m Ciara, Zacky’s girlfriend.”

Samantha smiled, “Yep! Nice to meet you.”

Ciara locked arms with Samantha and guided her to the living room where everyone else resided.

“Help yourself to the alcohol. I’ll set out the food in a bit,” said Ciara before going to the kitchen.

Samantha looked around the living room. She spotted Becca talking with two other girls on the couch. She grabbed a beer before making her way over there.

“Hey, Sammy,” greeted Becca.

“Hi."

She sat down on the soft couch, crossing her legs.

“So, you’re probably wondering who these two are,” said Becca.

Samantha took a sip of her beer and nodded.

“I’m Andrea. Brian’s girlfriend,” said the girl with chocolate brown
hair.

“And I’m Christy, Johnny’s girl,” introduced the red head.

Samantha took another gulp of beer, “Hi, it’s nice to meet you two.”

The girls smiled and nodded before continuing their conversation with Becca. Samantha didn't know what they were talking about. So she looked around the room again. The guys were standing in a circle, laughing at something Johnny was doing.

Zacky noticed her and called out, “Hey, Sammy. Get over here.”

Samantha got up reluctantly and walked over to the group of guys.

“Happy Birthday, Zack,” Samantha greeted.

“Thanks, hun,” Zack replied as he pulled her into a hug.

“Hi, Sammy. You look nice today,” said Jimmy, winking.

Samantha laughed, “Thanks, Jim.”

“Is that your car out front?” asked Johnny.

“Yeah, that’s my baby.”

"Badass!" replied Johnny.

“Yeah, Sexy ride,” says Brian, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Thanks, Gates,” she replied, laughing.

“You listen to our music?” asked Brian.

All the guys were staring at her now, waiting for her answer.

“Duh! I’ve liked your band since the very beginning.”

They all smiled broadly.

“We figured you didn’t listen. You know..because of what happened,” said Jimmy, cautiously.

Samantha just simply nodded. She didn’t want things to get awkward.

Meanwhile, Matt couldn’t stop staring at her. He noticed how she tried hard to not look at him. He had been waiting patiently for a chance to talk to her privately. The guys noticed him staring at her and took the hint.

“Let’s go grab a plate of food,” said Brian.

Samantha was about to follow but Matt spoke up.

“Sammy, you can’t avoid me forever.”

Samantha turned around and found him sitting on a chair. He patted the chair next to him. She quirked an eyebrow at him and sat down.

“I’m not avoiding you, Matt,” she lied.

Matt took a big sip of his beer before replying, “Well it feels like you are.”

Samantha looked down at her feet. She didn’t know what to say. After a moment of silence, he sighed and began conversation.

“Sammy, I’m really sorry about the other night. Anna gets jealous very easily, and what she said was a lie.”

When are you going to apologize for what you did years ago? Samantha thought before finally looking at him. She clearly saw the sorrow in his hazel eyes. Her tough girl attitude immediately vanished.

“It’s fine, Matt. I’m letting it go.”

Matt smiled, showing his signature dimples.

“Where is the she-devil, anyway?” asked Sam, smirking.

Matt laughed out loud, “She’s at some book club with her friends.”

Samantha felt relief wash over her. She didn’t want to ruin Zacky’s birthday by fighting with Anna.

“Ah. She didn’t care about Zack’s party?”

Matt grunted and rolled his eyes, “Apparently her meeting was more important. She’s there every Saturday at this time.”

Samantha sensed the irritation in his voice and decided not to push the subject.

“I really missed you, Samantha,” Matt confessed.

Samantha could tell he was being honest.

“I missed you too, Matt.”

As much as she told herself she didn’t miss him, she did..

“Did you read the note I left?”

Samantha finished her last bit of beer and set the empty bottle on the floor.

“Yeah. Sorry I didn’t get home until after 8 that night.”

Matt nodded.

“Where were you, anyway?” he asked.

Samantha shifted in her chair. Should she tell Matt about Corey? They were getting along so well at the moment, she didn’t want to ruin it. But then again, he has no right to get upset.

“I was having dinner with my boyfriend." She might as well call Corey her boyfriend.

Matt felt as if someone punched him in the gut. He knew she would date other people but he felt better not knowing about it. Then he thought back to the other night.

“I thought you said you were single?”

“I met Corey that night. We’ve been getting to know each other since then.”

Matt didn’t get a chance to respond when Becca and Andrea rushed over and pulled Sam away to dance with them. He sank down into the chair and leaned his head against the wall behind him. He couldn’t help but feel like his most prized possession was being taken away...again. That's when Matt decided he was going to get back what was once his.

Notes

Hope this chapter is ok. Any thoughts? :)