CRANK

in the smudged front window. A routine she practices every day and has for the last a year since moving to the

de her long, thick mane of brown hair that she can never seem to tame, sh

waiting for her at the front desk, profusely checking

get you to be her

in, and my uniform is already on. I’m always in the dinin

u aren’t walking in the door at 3PM,

r wanted the role. Not that she wasn’t fit to be a mother, Elena couldn’t be happier with the way she grew up an

knew she was also missing out on the mother-daughter things that most other girls were getting from their mothers; th

tist growing up, Elena inhabited a lot of her mother’s quirky traits, always making dating for her difficult. She w

f an angel but the mouth of a sailor, Elena has always found it hard making or keeping friends, or even pleasing her employers.

r apron and grabs her pen and paper pad before going out, p

hers hasn’t set her mood back too far. With only 3 more hours to go before she can finally clock out

pokes her head out from the office where she was hiding out and resting. “Oh, thank god. Please, I really n

ph, tell me wh

e threw it all over the table and accused me of purposely giving him something he can’t drink. I didn’t hear him properly and I was too scared to ask him to repeat what he said. Oh no, wh

smile. “Sure, I’ll take over, come sit down and have a rest. I’ll take ov

was just napping. Putting her apron back on, she tries to spot out the table b

the table she is talking about. A group of four men sit in a booth, each one of them h

is should

she calmly makes her way over to the table, slamming her paper pad on the table to grab their attention. It’s clear they were just being diff

r than them, or the

for the night. Can I start anyone off

er with a lip ring and pale grey eyes is looking her up and down, not being shy about it ei

urge to run as fast as she can in any direction. He seems to be covered head to toe in blac

l away, and feels almost as if he is silently trying

d breaks whatever trance she has fallen into.

roup as quickly as possible so she can breathe. Once she is behind the bar, she takes a few deep breaths and gets

?” she asks, setting the drinks dow

time all the men looking to the one man in

a smooth, thick Russian accent rolls off h

ight to the kitchen in the back. She takes another few gulps of air and re

line cook, calls out to h

nods her head. “Yeah, I’

ea towel, walking up to her to

’m aware of the customers you have at your table, Sophie told me everything. Are you sure they aren’t g

up his offer. She can’t shake the chill from the look that man was givi

er brain, she tries to think of ever meeting a man like him and she can’

ut there, hoping they are ordering something small an

ith the pretty blue eyes remains. He is looking intently at what seems like a candid

she asks, hating how her voice still tremb

s man make m

a man who would

be confused, he reaches out and grabs hold of her hand, tugging her just enough for her to fall i

dining