MIDSUMMER CRUSH

Chapter 1 Giselle straightened her fringes as she listened to her favorite radio anchor ushering in the day with a peppy song. "Derek...you're just awesome..." She dreamily thought about him and ended up burning her temples with the hot iron. She winced and frowned at the mirror before rushing to check on her pancakes. As expected she had burnt them again, the only difference was that she had arrived before the smoke could alert her land lady, Mrs. Partridge. A cynical old widow who never ceased to hallucinate, that Giselle brought men into her room. She lived below with her pesky cat and rented out apartments only to single girls or families. "Crusher!" Giselle whistled and called her lazy pit-bull, which had been sleeping like a drunkard in his fancy bed. Inspired by a DIY video on Youtube, she made the bed out of a beer carton she'd picked from the restaurant. "Good boy, Crusher! Come here, mamma's got your breakfast ready," she cautiously picked the two burnt pancakes and placed one in his bowl before Mrs. Partridge rang her door bell. "Jeez...I'm sure she's come here to complain about me and the mystery guy in my room," She sighed and rolled her eyes in exasperation. Giselle had no clue why the lady believed she lived with a guy in her apartment, though the thought of having one always excited her. Alas, she was a twenty five years old virgin who was still single and spent Valentine's day every year binge watching romcoms on Netflix. Mrs. Partridge rang the door bell again and this time startled Crusher as he bit into his share. Hurrying towards the door, Giselle wondered how to explain that she wasn't rooming with a dude. "Maybe it's because I keep talking to Derek like a maniac when he is on air," she grumbled and opened the door. "Good morning Mrs. Partridge, I swear I didn't bring in anyone last..." "No...I'm not here to complain about him, though I know he escapes from your balcony every morning," She interrupted before Giselle could finish. Standing in her night robe, the land lady adjusted her hair rollers and studied Giselle's attire. Exposing her long toned legs in a pair of shorts and a crop top that exposed her tiny bird tattoo, Giselle stood there praying she would leave sooner. "I've come to collect the rent," she added and craned her neck to see if she could spot her mystery guy. "Uh...Erm...the rent...ya right...Uhm...about that...You see I'll be getting my pay cheque today...so..." Giselle paused and faked a smile in nervousness while the lady narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You said the same thing the day before," she complained and crossed her arms while Giselle thought of something witty to get rid of her. "Uhmm....Mrs. Partridge, I noticed your car needs a wash...I could wash it for you if you want..." She blurted. Reading her sour expression, Giselle realized it wasn't going to work and she would have to think of something better. "And maybe bring some leftovers from the restaurant...today's special dessert is Double Dutch Truffle," She stressed on the dessert and noticed the change in Mrs. Partridge's expression. "Hmmm....okay...five days more, if you fail then you and your boyfriend are moving out," she warned and turned to leave. "Oh, and about the dessert...ensure you get more quantity since I'll be inviting few guests over this evening," she grinned and retreated to her apartment. Heaving a sigh of relief, Giselle shut the door and looked at Crusher as he peed over the cactus in the corner. "Bad dog, that's not the place to litter!" She snapped when all of a sudden she glanced at the clock and realised she was running late. "O.M.G! I'm going to be late!" She panicked and finished her chores in haste and so did Derek as he signed out and bid goodbye to his listeners. "Good bye, Crusher and goodbye my love," She blew a flying kiss to her stereo and rushed out to catch the first subway she spotted. "Excuse me...Ouch ,sorry...Excuse me...thank you..." She squeezed her way in and took a breather after spotting an unoccupied seat. Pulling out her phone, she quickly snapped a picture of her new pixie cut and posted it on f*******:. "Dang! Someone photo bombed my selfie," She muttered and looked at the old man before receiving a notification. "Mom..." She cringed seeing that her mother was the first to like her picture and comment. Giselle missed living with her family back in New Jersey, though it was her decision to move out after graduating from the university. Being the independent woman she always bragged about, Giselle now lived alone in the city and worked as a waitress at her aunt's restaurant. When she arrived at her stop, she sprint out like a deer and headed straight towards Oh, Maria. Though the pay barely covered her expenses, she found it convenient to work at her aunt's place. Being related to her aunt Maria, Giselle was entrusted with the responsibility of opening the restaurant for business every morning and cleaning it up. Changing into her uniform, she haphazardly mopped the floor, dusted the chairs and spread white sheets over every table before flipping the open sign board for business. While she placed a rose on each table, aunt Maria and rest of the staff gradually walked in. "Good morning, Maria!" She sounded extra sweet so she could convince her aunt into leaving her early that day as she had promised Mrs. Partridge to clean her car and bring home some leftovers. "Good morning, Giselle...whose shift have you taken now?" she sensed something fishy in her tone and enquired with a sullen face at the cash counter. "Nobody's...everyone is fairly present here today though I don' know about tomorrow, but uhmm...I was wondering if I could leave early today..." She crossed her fingers crossed and looked at her eagerly when all of a sudden Janice came over. "Hey you can't back stab me like this!" she whisked her to a corner and complained. "Wait, what are you doing here so early? Your shift is in the evening, right?" "I just came to pick up my laundry from the store next door when I thought of dropping by. Anyway, you promised to take my shift in the evening, remember?" she reminded and stared at her questioningly. "I did?...oh...yeah...I did," Giselle's voice wavered as she remembered what she had agreed to the day before. "Then why were you asking Maria to leave you early? Who will take my shift? You know how I depend on you, Giselle...you're my only best friend here who truly understands me," she blabbered and ran her fingers through her long hair. Much to her dismay, all the excitement of leaving early fizzled out. Sighing, Giselle lowered her gaze and mulled over why she couldn't lead a normal life like the rest. Giselle was practically everyone's best friend because she never shied away from doing favours for them. She was also their agony aunt, though none took her advices and ended up doing what they pleased. "Uhm..Janice, but I was planning on leaving early today..." Giselle blurted and avoided eye contact. "Can't you do this much for me? I only asked you to take my shift so I could spend an evening with Harry," she widened her eyes like a puppy and made her feel guilty. "Besides...why do you want to leave early? You don't have any boyfriends or social gatherings to attend to....you'll just head home and sleep all day with Crusher," she commented with a straight face and rubbed her the wrong way. Giselle agreed there was some truth in what she said, but that didn't imply she had no life of her own, even if it meant spending her evenings with Crusher. She suppressed her urge to snap back at her and laughed. "Relax, I'm not going anywhere...you have fun with Harry and don't bother about your shift, I'll take it," she smiled unwillingly and shifted her gaze over Maria who was busy counting her dollars as customers walked in. "Awwe you're such a doll! I knew you would understand, thanks a bunch," she squealed in relief and left while Giselle sighed in disappointment. "Giselle, you're needed at table three," Louise the head waiter announced and pulled her out of her thoughts. "Cheque please," a random customer screamed. "Giselle, can you serve this at table six, thanks!" Marine, her co worker passed on the tray to her. "Will someone take my order for Christ sake!" an angry customer yelled and grabbed everyone's attention. "Giselle, what are you doing? Hurry up and clean that table," Maria hysterically screamed her lungs out. Welcome to Oh Maria, this was how popular Giselle was with her co-workers and customers...well not exactly, but she did manage to create a record for the most sought after waitress in the restaurant. Be it working overtime, taking her co-workers shift so they could enjoy their weekend out or doing all the dirty work including washing dishes since her aunt was too stingy to keep extra help. Yup, she was an urban Cinderella with no step sisters thankfully, but she did have two lovely cousins who were freshman at St' George University. Giselle often thought about them and wondered if they were getting used to the University, after all she was an ex student. "Giselle, will you stop daydreaming and tend to table three," Aunt Maria screamed amidst the noisy customers and caught her attention. "Just a minute, Maria," Today was the weekend, a time when Oh! Maria got awfully crowded with customers throughout the day. Good thing aunt Maria refused to give the other waitresses an off or Giselle would have had a nervous breakdown. Apparently she could never say no to anything, no matter how much she disliked it. She was the girl everyone could rely on; hence they treated her like dirt. And this was precisely what Giselle hated about herself, but couldn't change. Passing on the dirty dishes over the counter, she rushed towards the kitchen to break for some refreshing orange soda. "Giselle, Maria is looking for you, the guy at table three has been waiting there since ages," Katie exclaimed while Giselle stood by the vending machine and watched the two chefs shuttling between their work stations. "Relax, he won't starve to death if I reach a minute late. Besides, I need a breather...my feet hurts running around in these heels," she protested before hearing her aunt scream her name. "Giselle!" Rushing back to the floor, Giselle sensed Maria's nasty gaze following her as she approached the table. "Sorry to keep you waiting, can I have your order, please?" She pulled out her notepad and sighed. "I would like to have some shawarma and fries." "Sorry, but we don't serve...." Giselle paused abruptly when her gaze fell on the young customer. Her hands turned cold as she froze in utter disbelief and dropped the notepad. Engulfed with a train of memories, she stared at the young man who was none other than her long time crush, Aariz. "Hey...I think I know you..."Aariz tilted his head and pondered for her name while she stared at him in bewilderment. "Giselle...right?" he snapped his finger and smiled revealing his sexy dimple. Hearing him say her name brought back memories of her University days that had faded over the years. "You're from St' George, right?" he pulled her out of her thoughts and waited for her response. "Sorry...I didn't get you! I mean yes I'm from St. George...we both studied in the same class," She stuttered and went breathless in his presence. Giselle, couldn't believe her eyes. It was really him and he was sitting in her restaurant. "Damn why don't we serve shawarma?" She cussed in her mind while they shared an awkward silence. "This belongs to you..." he handed over the notepad and observed how she trembled while receiving it. "Are you alright?" he enquired and noticed her anxiety. Hell no she wasn't alright. Her long time crush was sitting right before her, the man who never ceased to make her go weak in the knees back then and now. "Yeah, I'm okay...I just wasn't expecting to see you here." "Neither did I, you've changed a lot though," he gave a warm smiled and folded his hands on the table. "So you work here, eh?" Giselle nodded her head in response and unknowingly sat across the table. She studied him minutely and realized that Aariz hadn't changed a bit, though he still had that boyish charm in him even after five years of leaving the University. Dressed in a pair of jeans, a white turtleneck and a scarf around his neck, Aariz looked as handsome as an Arab Prince. Lost in admiration, she merely stared into his eyes when all of a sudden he got up to leave. "Erm...I better get going. I'm running late," he seemed in a rush. It wasn't long before she realized he was walking away and hurriedly caught up with him. "Hey...won't you have anything? We don't serve what you asked for, but you can try out other stuff?" She blurted and wished he hadn't left so soon. "Hmm...maybe next time" he paused and gazed outside as if he were expecting someone. "It was nice meeting you, Giselle...catch you around sometime.' "He was hot!" Katie exclaimed as she came over and startled her. "Do you know him? Maria was very pissed when she caught you chatting with her customer..." "Let her be..." Giselle said it with an absentminded expression and watched him leave till he merged with the crowd. Katie shook her from her daze and coxed her for more details. "He's an old friend of mine..." She whispered as her voice trailed off thinking about the past. "Oh, nice...I never knew you had such good looking friends, do you have his number?" she asked when all of a sudden it dawned on her that she was the biggest i***t in the world. "Nope..." She frowned and felt really stupid for not asking him for his number, but on second thoughts, Giselle felt it would have looked odd asking a guy his number. Aariz was her friend, but not the type of friend a friend was supposed to be. He was from a different circle of friends she had. A circle that she hardly interacted with in St' George. "Try finding him on f*******:, I'm sure you'll get his details," Katie suggested and sounded more interested in him. Much to her surprise, Giselle just laughed it off and returned to serve other customers. Though Katie's suggestion sounded tempting, Giselle had grown over the madness of hunting ex flames or crushes on f*******:. She recalled the day he first sent her a friend request and made her feel on top of the world. The day seemed like it would never end as Giselle kept switching between taking orders and cleaning tables. When night fell and everyone left, she picked the leftovers and closed the restaurant. Hoping to unwind and take a hot shower, she first handed over the desserts to Mrs. Partridge, and failed to impress her since her guests had left. "What am I to do with all of these? Beside I couldn't even drive my guests home in that muddy car," She taunted and dropped hints to wash her car. Having no other option, instead of eating the leftovers with Crusher in her apartment, Giselle spent the night washing the land lady's car outside in the cold. When she was done, she went upstairs and let Crusher greet her with wet sloppy kisses. She felt nice to know that someone eagerly waited for her at home, even if it were a mere four legged creature, after all life in the city was really lonely. Giselle wished she had a man, whose arms she could run into and feel safe knowing that amidst all the lemons that life gave her there would always be that one guy who would love her unconditionally.