The Marriage Contract by Natasha Black (best novels for teenagers TXT) 📕

Not to mention the first spill had gone right down my shirt. I felt sticky and wet for a good long while and had just started to feel less gross when a small child tipped a drink over onto my back. Then a third drink spilled on me when I tried to grab a beer off the bar to bring to a patron, getting all down my arm. Now this one, soaking my left leg and part of my hip.

I went and got a second drink, bringing it behind Hannah and dropping it off at the table. I grabbed her by the arm before she could go anywhere else and leaned in close.

“I think I need a little break,” I said. “I’m going to go out back and just take a second.”

“Okay, you’re good,” Hannah said.

I stomped away, heading to the back and exiting through the back door. The cool air hit me, and I exhaled deeply. I didn’t even realize I had been holding my breath, desperate to get outside and take a minute. I had been out there for only a few seconds, long enough to sit on the top step, when Matt came through the door behind me. I hopped up, surprising him enough that he leaned back a bit.

“I’m so sorry,” I blurted out. “I know, I get it. I’ve never worked anywhere before, and this isn’t working out. If you just want to fire me, I get it.”

“Hey, hey, what? Whoa. Slow down,” he said. “I was just coming out for a breather. Kitchens are hot. What’s going on? Is this about the spilled drinks?”

I sighed. “Yes, I figured Hannah told you I spilled another drink or you saw it or something.”

“Don’t worry about that,” he said. “It’s your first day. It’s okay. You’ll get the hang of it.”

Looking down at my shoes, I blushed. He didn’t need to be that nice to me, but I appreciated it.

“Thanks,” I said. “You’ve been very nice to me.”

He grinned and looked away for a moment before taking a sip from his bottle of water.

“Do you remember much of what you were talking about the other night when you were drunk?” he asked.

“Oh God,” I said. “You mean about the guy my parents wanted me to marry and the fight I had with them?”

“Yeah.”

I sighed. “My parents are just very stuck on themselves and their image. They wanted to be socialites and elite power brokers in LA and beyond. They raised me to be like a tiny Paris Hilton. So, naturally, they wanted me to marry someone that reflected well on them, and they chose the son of one of Dad’s business partners. This guy named Adam.”

“They just chose your husband? Like in olden times?” he joked.

“Oh, but they did,” I said, getting a laugh from him. “He was an absolute sleazeball too. Cheated on every girlfriend he ever had, was already divorced with two kids and everything. He never saw his kids unless there were cameras there to document it, too. Then he put on the Super Dad act. It was disgusting. But everyone thinks his wife is the terrible one because he hired a PR group to smear her and make him sound great. It’s such bullshit.”

“That guy sounds like a real piece of work,” Matt said.

“He is. And I wanted absolutely nothing to do with him, but my parents insisted and insisted. They kept talking about how good it was for the family. How well our children would turn out. It was like I was being offered up as a breeding horse. So, I had a big fight with them and realized in the middle of one of the sentences that nothing was going to change. They were going to be that way forever. I could either run away like Hannah did, or stay there and marry Adam and be miserable. So, I waited until they left for some function or another, and I packed up my shit and left.”

“Wow,” he said. “That is insane. Like legitimately insane. I know I don’t know you all that well yet, but trust me, you deserve better than that.”

“Thanks,” I said. “It’s good to hear that once in a while. Most people would look at the life I had and the life I could have had with Adam and say I was the one who was crazy.”

“No way,” Matt said. “Money isn’t worth misery. At all. I, for one, am glad you’re here.” He turned to look into the restaurant through the screen door. His brows furrowed, and he turned back to me. “You’ll have to excuse me, though—my line cook seems to have gone missing. I guess my break is about over.”

“No worries,” I said. “I’ll head back in, too, in just a second.”

Matt offered a smile and opened the door, heading back in with a purposeful pace. I turned and sat again, looking at the street as I took in the fresh air. I felt a little less nervous now, and a little more like I might be able to handle the job. If Matt was as supportive as he just was, and everyone else seemed to be, too, then they might be willing to put up with my learning curve.

Heading back inside, I found Hannah and joined her on her round again, carrying trays for her and copying everything she wrote down in my own pad so I could get used to how to do it. As the shift progressed, I started to pick it up, and by the end of the night, I was pretty comfortable at it. Comfortable enough that Hannah had me handle a couple of tables while she watched me and gave advice.

Getting the story of my parents and Adam off my chest seemed to make me better and more focused. I had Matt to thank for that. As I finished up some of the last tables of the night, I started to think about how he had helped me since