I was screwed. That was what he was saying. “I should’ve gone to college in Panama.”

He looked around. “I don’t know why you picked this school. This was where he wanted to go, right?”

Because I wanted to go here. It wasn’t just because Kian wanted to go here or because the media wouldn’t think to look in the most obvious place, but now, I realized how stupid it was for me to come here.

I didn’t say any of that to Snark. All I did was ask, “Will you give me a ride back to my place? I took the bus here.”

And he answered with, “I can’t, kid. The less we talk, the better it is for you.”

There was that then.

I nodded, hearing myself thank him for half a cup of coffee, before I walked out of that diner.

Kian was going to find me and there was nothing I could do about it. I felt it in my gut.

“Being optimistic is the worst attitude in the world to have.”

Escape was an exclusive restaurant that I’d been working at every summer since becoming Joslyn Keen. This morning was the first time I was being trained at the same job I always had as a hostess. The trainer, who looked two years younger, decided to bestow his infinite wisdom onto me.

I scratched behind my ear and leaned in, making a show of reading his nametag. “Really, Henry?”

He clipped his head in a nod. “Yes. Be realistic. Don’t be optimistic. That way, you’ll always exceed everyone’s expectations.”

That made no sense to me, but I wasn’t going to argue. Henry looked ready to bite my head off if I dared to smile. With a fierce expression, he towered over me at six feet two. His hair was brushed to the side, and he was a gangly guy.

He was also new to Escape.

Even though I’d picked up hours during college breaks, today was the first day I started back full-time again, and I didn’t recognize any of the staff. I called Paul last week to double check that I could still work for the summer, and my manager assured me that it was fine.

When I came in and found that I would be training for my usual job, I couldn’t find anyone who remembered me to make sure it was correct. Paul was out for a few days, and the assistant manager was new. When I dared to broach the topic, thinking maybe I should be training the new guy instead, the assistant manager braced herself for a battle. Recognizing the signs, I held up my hands and backed away from that fight. I would train. That was fine. So, here I was, being told where the menus went, the layout for the tables, and how to roll silverware during downtime.

Not that we would get a lot of downtime.

Escape was a popular high-end restaurant. If people dropped in to get a seat, they usually couldn’t. It was one of those restaurants where a customer needed to make a reservation a day ahead, and that was one of the reasons I was surprised by all the new employees. Escape was good to their employees. There wasn’t a big turnover rate. As Henry snapped his fingers to get my attention, I didn’t think I could ask him about that question.

Oh well. Time to go with the flow and learn my old job again.

“Okay.” My host trainer touched the Bluetooth in his ear, nodding, and then said, “On it. It’s ready in the back?” A pause. “Got it. Thank you, Tamara.” He said to me, “I know we’re slammed right now.”

There was one couple waiting for a table.

He continued, “But Tamara is coming up to help host for us. A special order came in, so we need to deliver some food to the newspaper.”

My eyebrows went up at that. “We do delivery now?”

He bent down to stuff some menus into the back of our hosting stand but paused. “When have we not?”

Touché.

I almost saluted him. “Got it.”

After loading the food into his car, he explained, “Every delivery is handled with special care. We don’t deliver to many places, but the newspaper is one of those that we need to wine and dine, so to speak, for obvious reasons.”

Yes, for obvious reasons—that I couldn’t think of at that moment.

“Amazing publicity.” He gave me the reason.

Another item that I didn’t know Escape cared about because they never had. I frowned. “There seems to have been a lot of changes with the restaurant since I worked last.”

“Really?” My trainer didn’t sound too interested as he turned the car into traffic.

I knew we were only a few blocks away, so I didn’t answer.

As he parked, he paused and frowned at me. “Did you say something before?”

“Nope.”

“Oh.” He unclipped his seat belt.

I flashed him a grin. “Where do we go, boss?”

“Uh…” He got out, shut his door, and opened the trunk.

The food was loaded up in our arms, and he led the way to a side door. After his foot tapped the bottom, the door was pushed open from the inside…and I looked up to the smiling face of my roommate’s archenemy.

“Susan…” My voice died.

Her smile vanished, and she straightened back from the doorway. “Jo.”

My trainer looked between the two of us, readjusting the food trays in his arms so that he would have a better grip. “You two know each other?”

Susan’s smile returned, but it was forced. She moved back, holding the door so that we could get through. “I didn’t know you were working at Escape.”

I said as I passed her, “Only every summer.”

But Susan didn’t care. She didn’t respond as she let the door close, and then she went before us, leading the way down a hallway. “We have a meeting tonight, so we wanted to order some food. You guys can bring it this way.”

We were led into a conference room where people were sitting around a bunch of tables. Susan had us unload the food on a back table. I assumed Erica would be somewhere else since Susan was promoted above her so when I heard my name, I was surprised.

Erica came over from one of the tables.

I said, “Hey.”

Erica frowned as she skimmed me up and down. “I forgot you were working at Escape again this summer. You started today?”

I nodded and patted some of the food containers, grinning. “I’ve been promoted to delivery now.”

Susan had been standing by, waiting for us. She let out a sigh when Erica came over, too, but leaned forward and studied all the food. Seemingly appeased, she cleared her throat now. “Excuse me for a minute. I need to grab the money.”

As she disappeared, Erica stepped closer and said to my trainer, “Go away. I want to talk to my friend.”

His pale cheeks reddened, but he smoothed a hand over his hair. He was trying to make it look casual, but he was failing.

I added, “I’d listen to her. She might be short, but she can be a big bully when she wants to be. I’d run, run far, my friend.”

He threw me another frown but moved backward a few steps. When he was far enough so that he couldn’t overhear, he made a point of stopping, leaning against the wall, and folding his arms over his chest.

Erica laughed to me. “I think he’d keel over if he realized I ate boys like him for breakfast.”

I gave him a look. “Yeah. Come to think of it, he does look like a younger version of Wanker, but he’s more cutthroat. I can already tell, but forget him. You’re still working with Susan? I thought you two went your separate ways at work.”

“God,” she muttered under her breath.

Susan came back, digging out money from a black bag. She went to Henry.

Erica lowered her voice. “I wish. No. I can’t escape her just yet. I’m still just part-time, but her full-time promotion has gone to her head. She offered to pay for all this food, and she’s acting like she’s the boss of everyone.” She perused the group waiting by some tables. “But I can’t really fault her. It’s because of her that I was even included on this project. For the next few weeks, we’re all working on an interview.”