device in his hand, then looked at me. “Of course, you abandoned her too.”
CONTINUE READING
THE SOUND OF SILENCE
A Black Rose Collection Novel
by Dakota Willink
CHAPTER 1
Gianna
Cincinnati, Ohio
I slid my palms over my black apron, smearing the sticky remnants of vermouth over the gold embroidered Teddy’s Tavern logo. I surveyed the long row of customers sitting at the polished mahogany bar of the upscale restaurant in Hyde Park. Most were dressed in business attire, having just come from work to hit happy hour. They chatted away with their colleagues, all seemingly satisfied—for now. It wouldn’t be long before I was flagged down to make another martini.
“Gia!” Theodore Reeves, also known as Teddy, called out to me from the door leading to the kitchen. “Nat is swamped since the new girl called in. Can you do a sweep of the tables over in section A?”
I glanced over at Natalia, my co-worker and best friend. She definitely looked frazzled.
“On it, Teddy,” I replied with a little salute.
“Thanks, doll. It’s impossible to find good help these days.”
I moved around to the end of the bar and waved him off.
“Come on now. You know they all can’t be perfect like me,” I joked as I headed over to my friend. When Natalia saw me, I watched her shoulders visibly sag with relief. “What can I help you with?”
“Table seven and nine need drink refills. Table five’s food should be ready in the kitchen. Take your pick. Grab the drinks or get the food,” she said in a rush. A strand of jet-black hair fell loose from her ponytail and she hastily tucked it behind her ear.
“I’ll get the drinks. That way I can keep an eye on the bar customers too,” I suggested.
“Good idea. I can’t believe how slammed we are today! With the Danbury Musical Festival going on, I thought it would be slower.”
I cocked one eyebrow and leaned in closer to her so I wasn’t overheard by any of the patrons.
“Seriously, Nat? What you see here is Cincinnati’s most prestigious yuppie crowd. Do you honestly think any of them would be going to see Fall Out Boy or Sublime?”
She smirked, then pinched up her face as though she was trying to picture it.
“No, I suppose you’re right. I can’t imagine this swanky bunch anywhere near a mosh pit.”
I laughed, patting her shoulder, then headed in the direction of the tables needing drink refills.
Five hours later, the restaurant had cleared out and there were only a few stragglers left at the bar. I leaned on the back counter watching Natalia as she counted our tips for the night. She handed me a stack of cash totaling six hundred dollars.
“Good night for tips,” I mused, grabbing my purse from under the bar. Separating the money, I put half in my wallet and the rest into a worn, tattered white envelope. After I put my purse back under the counter, I glanced up to see Natalia staring at me with a sad look on her face.
“What?” I asked.
“Just thinking, toots. That’s all.”
“Thinking about what?”
“About how long it’s going to be before your mom’s bills are paid off,” she quietly replied.
Emotion scorched my throat and I tried to ignore the stab of pain I felt whenever I was reminded of my mother. Natalia was referring to the credit card debt I racked up trying to help my mother pay for the prescription drugs she needed to survive the death grip cancer had ensnared her in. She’d had decent health insurance, but sometimes it wasn’t enough. At the end of the day, nothing I did mattered. No amount of money spent was enough to save her. I lost her to ovarian cancer nearly a year ago and I still missed her something fierce. Unfortunately, the small life insurance policy she had was only enough to cover the burial expenses and I was stuck paying off the mountain of credit card debt.
“I only owe another few thousand,” I said with a shrug.
Four thousand two hundred ninety-eight to be exact, but who’s counting?
“After they’re paid, what comes next?”
I pursed my lips and contemplated her question. I knew what she was asking. Both of us frequently talked about our bucket lists and all the things we wanted to accomplish before we turned thirty. The only thing holding me back from scratching things off my list was the credit card debt. Once that was paid, I could begin to really live my life for the first time.