“Mm,” Enzo said, his mouth full after taking a bite of grilled cheese. “This is good… Thanks for the recommendation.”
“You’re… welcome,” I replied when I looked over to see Phil glaring at me from the register. While Enzo ate, I busied myself with pouring coffee for other customers and clearing tables. I always felt Enzo’s eyes on me as I worked, but whenever I turned around, he only seemed to be looking at his phone and his food. It was unsettling to feel like I was being watched, only to find out that I wasn’t being watched at all. I chalked it up to Enzo making me nervous, but it felt like there was something else at play here.
When Enzo was finished, he waved me over.
Thank god, I thought to myself. He’s leaving.
Enzo handed me a wad of cash, which I took to the register to get his change. Much to my dismay, he followed me to the register; not that that was out of the ordinary for customers, but I guess that I hoped he would keep his distance.
As I counted it, something fell out.
It was a VIP ticket to a hockey game.
“What’s thi-“
“Hey, Nina!” Jessica’s voice suddenly rang through the restaurant. I had completely forgotten that we had planned to meet up at the end of my shift, which was almost over. I nervously clutched the ticket in my hand as she approached the counter and sat down.
When she sat down and looked over, she nearly jumped out of her skin as she finally noticed that none other than Enzo was standing across from me at the register.
“Oh, Enzo!” she exclaimed, jumping up and primping her hair. “What are you doing here?”
“Just visiting,” Enzo replied. I crumpled the ticket tighter into my hand, my face going red with a mixture of embarrassment and rage.
Jessica looked at me, then at my hand, then back at Enzo.
“Actually,” Enzo said, reaching into his pocket, “I have another VIP ticket. Here. Now you can both come to the game and get the best seats.” He held out the ticket for Jessica, whose eyes lit up. She snatched the piece of paper gratefully with a grin on her face.
I had had enough. I threw the ticket down on the counter and folded my arms. “No thank you,” I said. “I won’t be showing up to your game.”
Both Jessica and Enzo looked disappointed.
“Alright,” Enzo said with a sigh. I handed him his change and he shook his head. “Keep the change. And keep the ticket just in case you change your mind.”
Before I could protest, Enzo turned around and walked out of the restaurant. I could see him get on his motorcycle through the window and drive away.
Jessica ran up to me with an angry look on her face, clutching the ticket like her life depended on it. “Are you crazy?” she half-whispered. “The Enzo Rivers gave us VIP tickets to his game and you decline?”
I shrugged and closed the register, sticking the tip Enzo gave me in my apron — and leaving the ticket on the counter — before walking away to clear off the counter. Jessica grabbed my ticket and followed me.
“Nina, you have to tell me what’s going on,” she said. “I feel like you’re hiding something.”
My body stiffened at Jessica’s words. There was no way I could tell her the truth; for starters, she would never forgive me for sleeping with her biggest crush. Second, I didn’t exactly want to broadcast the fact that Enzo and I had a one night stand. I wasn’t that type of girl.
“Nothing’s going on,” I lied, grabbing the dirty plate and cup off the counter.
“Oh, so Enzo Rivers is just inviting you to his team training match for no reason?” Jessica pried. “You seriously don’t think he likes you?”
I shook my head vehemently. “No way,” I replied. “How could he like me? I’m totally not his type. He’s just being nice after what Justin did, so the reputation of the team doesn’t get sullied.”
“You really have nothing to do with him?” Jessica asked.
“Absolutely nothing,” I said. “I promise.”
Jessica surprisingly seemed satisfied with this response. She let out a sigh of relief and sat back down at the counter while I took the dirty dishes into the kitchen.
While I was cleaning up the dishes, Phil entered the kitchen. I could hear his cane tapping on the floor before I heard anything else. The tapping came closer, and soon he was standing beside me.
“Nina, you know I love having you here,” he said. “But your behavior tonight with Mr. Rivers was unacceptable. His patronage here could be useful for business, so I don’t want you driving him away. Understand?”
I nodded, biting my lip. Did that mean that I’d have to see Enzo at the diner more often?
When I was finished up and my shift ended, I grabbed my jacket and my bookbag from the back and went back out front to meet Jessica.
She was beaming, but not only because of the tickets.
“The internship assignments were posted!” she said, holding out her phone. I perked up and jogged over to her, taking her phone from her hand.
“Jessica Valdez, children’s hospital,” I read. Jessica squealed.
My heart caught in my throat when I scrolled to my name and saw my assignment.
Nina
“Well? What’s your assignment?” Jessica asked.
“Um… sports medicine,” I replied, handing the phone back.
Jessica looked confused. “I thought you wanted-“
“Surgery, yeah,” I said, grabbing my bag and heading for the door with Jessica on my heels. First thing in the morning, I would go to the dean of the medical school and ask for a reassignment.
“And why do you want to be reassigned?” the dean asked as I stood in front of her desk the next day. She was a curly-haired woman with glasses and a hard face.
I swallowed and tried to calm my nerves. “It’s just… not the direction I was hoping to take,” I replied. “I don’t like sports medicine.”
“You can’t just ask to be reassigned because you don’t like the internship,” the dean said. “And besides, you haven’t even tried it yet. How do you know you won’t like it?”
She was right — I couldn’t just ask for a new internship simply because I didn’t like my assignment, and there was no way I could explain the real situation to the dean. How could I tell the dean that I didn’t want to be assigned to the sports medicine internship because I didn’t want to be around Justin and Enzo?
The dean must have seen my pained expression, because she sighed and pulled out a form. “Just go to the first few sessions,” she said as she filled in a portion of the form. “If you still really hate it by then, come to me and we’ll see about a reassignment. Sound good?”
I nodded gratefully. I was still a bit disappointed that I’d have to go to a few sessions where I’d likely have to deal with the hockey team, seeing as how they were the most likely sports team to be injured, but at least I could get out after that. Not to mention that sports medicine was totally not even close to the field I actually wanted to work in.
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