Virtually Mine: a love story Read Online Free PDF

mean, the disposal looks really...good,
now, and I better go.” With that, Charlie hurried out.
    It’s not that he wanted to leave Kate. He
craved every moment of any and every excuse to be in her presence. But there
was something about this conversation that had escaped his control. It had been
more challenging to his constitution than he’d ever before experienced with
Kate.
    So, as much as Charlie wanted to stay, he
knew he should go, before he said or did anything to overstep his self-imposed
bounds or to embarrass himself more thoroughly than he already had. He needed a
bathroom, his bathroom, and he needed it just as soon as was physically
possible.
    ♥   
♥    ♥
    Kate
poured coffee for regulars at her day job at the Doo-Wop Dinette. It was a
kitschy kind of “Mom and Pop” eatery that had been part of the Santa Monica
landscape for generations. Petitions had saved it as a landmark when it was
threatened for demolition. Fifties music and throw-back uniforms completed the
theme.
    Kate had been grateful to Dustin for
getting her hired to work alongside him there, but given their exchange from
the previous night, she felt unsure just how to behave. She wondered if she
should try to act normal, as if nothing had happened, but that didn’t feel
right to Kate. Something had definitely shifted between them and she had no
idea what more to say than what she already had. What she knew for sure was
that she needed her job to pay her bills, Dustin or no Dustin.
    Mercifully, Kate was on the sunrise team
that week. She’d been up before dawn, at it for hours before Dustin coasted in
for second shift. Careful to avoid his notice, Kate watched Dustin as he
trailed the head waitress. At forty-five, Reesa Davis was a straight shooter
with a heart of gold, very at home in her plus-sized body.
    “I promise, Reesa,” she heard Dustin
plead. “I’ll be gone an hour, ninety minutes tops.”
    Reesa studied Dustin with a skeptical
look on her face. “Didn’t you just get here? Kate’s off in ten and I’ve been
slinging hash since the birds woke up.”
    “I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t, okay, the
absolute biggest break so far in my entire career,” Dustin justified.
    Reesa chuckled. “Uh-huh. And just what is
this commercial for?”
    Filling sugar jars nearby, Kate bent an
ear toward the conversation
    Dustin’s shoulders bobbed. “Some kind of
cold stuff.”
    Reesa drew back in her inimitable style.
“Sneeze medicine? Baby, if this is as good as you got, then far be it from me
to stand in your way.”
    Overjoyed, Dustin planted a wet one on
Reesa’s cheek. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
    Reesa chortled with a nod toward Kate.
“Best stop that kissin’ on me, now. You’re gonna make that girl of yours
jealous.”
    Kate averted her eyes as Dustin glanced
over at her, but she overheard his reply to Reesa.
    “Yeah, we sort of, well...” Dustin
shuffled. “She brought it up that we should see other people.”
    Dinette cook, Andre, rang a bell and
placed a steaming plate of spaghetti and meatballs on the pickup counter. He
called to his wife. “Order up!”
    Reesa whirled to Andre congenially. “I
got ya, Cup Cake. No need to go mashin’ that bell.”
    Gathering her courage, Kate approached
Dustin, who was already removing his apron. “Hi,” she managed. Awkwardly, he
returned the greeting.
    Kate struggled for a way to break the
ice. She followed Dustin toward the staff locker room. “So, I’m sorry I
interrupted your...rehearsal.”
    Dustin opened his locker, oblivious to
the elephant in the room. “No problem.”
    “You going somewhere?” Kate already knew
the answer, but she still had to ask. It was the only way to keep the
conversation going.
    Dustin bubbled over with excitement.
“Okay. Try to remain calm. Wissy called me this morning and she said she’s
already getting me in on a national commercial.”
    Kate didn’t know whether to be thrilled
or devastated. “Really?”
    “I’m not