The bell above the door of Le Petit Bistro chimed, signaling another customer. Karen, dressed in her crisp white apron and black skirt, didn't look up from her order pad.
"Welcome! A table for one?" she asked, her voice practiced and polite.
"Actually, I'm pretty hungry. Make it a table for two in case my dignity decides to show up."
Karen’s pen skidded across the paper, leaving a long, jagged ink mark. She looked up, her heart doing a frantic somersault. Standing there, looking entirely too smug for his own good, was Josh.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed, leaning over the counter. "You’re supposed to be at home doing that math homework you were whining about."
"I got hungry," Josh said, sliding onto a stool at the counter directly in front of her. "And I heard the service here is particularly... feisty."
Karen felt the heat from earlier returning to her face. Every time she looked at him, she saw the flower garden. She heard his voice saying, 'I thought you were going to confess to me.' "I’m working, Josh. Be serious," she muttered, shoving a menu toward him.
The Clumsy Heart
For the next hour, Karen was a disaster.
She was usually the most efficient server on the floor, but Josh’s presence felt like a physical weight. Every time she walked past him, she felt his eyes on her. When she poured water for a nearby table, her hand shook so much she nearly soaked a businessman’s tie.
"You're acting strange, Karen," Josh noted, leaning his chin on his hand as he watched her struggle with a tray of drinks. "Is it the heat in the kitchen, or are you still thinking about our walk home?"
"I am not thinking about anything!" she snapped, perhaps a bit too loudly. Two elderly ladies at a corner table jumped. Karen winced, bowing an apology before turning back to Josh with a glare. "I’m just tired. Now, do you want the daily special or are you just here to ruin my tips?"
"Daily special. And a glass of iced tea," Josh said, his expression softening just a fraction.
As Karen walked away to place the order, she caught her reflection in the stainless steel of the kitchen pass-through. Her cheeks were bright pink, and her eyes looked wider than usual.
Why am I like this? she thought, clutching the order slip. It’s just Josh. The same Josh who once got a Lego stuck up his nose when we were seven. The same Josh who fails at math. Why does he suddenly feel like... someone else?
A Quiet Realization
By the time Josh finished his meal, the dinner rush had died down. He paid his bill, leaving a generous tip that Karen tried to refuse but he insisted on.
"I'll wait for you outside," Josh said. "It’s dark. You shouldn't walk to the station alone."
"I do it every night, Josh," she argued, but her heart wasn't in it.
"Well, tonight you don't have to."
Twenty minutes later, Karen clocked out. She found Josh leaning against a lamppost outside, watching the light snow begin to fall again. He looked quiet, his breath blooming in little white clouds.
As they walked together toward the station, the snarky comments that usually defined their relationship felt forced. Every time their shoulders brushed, Karen felt a jolt of electricity. She found herself stealing glances at his profile—the way his hair fell over his forehead, the way his hands were shoved deep into his pockets.
Oh no, she realized, her stomach dropping in a way that had nothing to do with hunger. I’m not annoyed because he’s teasing me. I’m annoyed because he’s right.
The realization hit her like a physical blow. She didn't just like Josh as a childhood friend. She had started to develop feelings for him.
"Karen? You okay? You've been quiet for a whole block. That's a world record," Josh joked.
"I'm fine!" she said, her voice an octave too high. "I just... I forgot I have an early shift tomorrow. I’m going to run ahead! See you at school!"
She didn't wait for him to respond. She turned and sprinted toward the station entrance, her heart racing faster than her feet.
Josh stood on the sidewalk, blinking in confusion as she disappeared into the crowd. He reached up, scratching the back of his head. "What did I say this time?"
He turned to continue his walk home, but he couldn't shake the image of Karen’s face in the lamplight—flustered, beautiful, and completely different from the girl he thought he knew.
The Denial
Back in her bedroom, Karen buried her face in her pillow and groaned.
"It's just a phase," she told the darkness. "It’s just because he was nice to me at the restaurant. By tomorrow, he’ll say something stupid about my hair and I’ll be back to normal. There is absolutely no way I’m in love with Josh."
But as she drifted off to sleep, she didn't dream of school or her job. She dreamed of a flower garden, and a confession that hadn't happened... yet.
ns216.73.216.141da2
and then Add to home screen.