CHAPTER 10

School was one thing and work was another, of course I was still mad at Malcom for totally behaving like he hadn't met me before and we hadn't almost kissed once but then what could I do? The best I could do was ignore him totally and I just knew that I couldn't do that, at all. What I had for him was huge already, I had let myself beleive over the years that not seeing him would wear out the feelings but apparently it wasn't Out of sight, out of mind in my case...it was Absence makes the heart grow fonder. I used to catch a glimpse of his pictures on the covers of magazines when I still worked in the mall but I tried to close my eyes to it but then seeing him in person yesterday made me realize how much I missed him and how it wasn't a good idea that he was in my classroom... And was snubbing me. I know I won't be able to function well.

Anyways I had work to do right now and I had to concentrate on that. I would probably go to meet Malcom tomorrow in school myself, whether he snubs me or not. I know that I can't just help it and so I'll focus on work right now.

Sharon had done a good job for me by helping me schedule the way I work properly, she had gone out of her way to meet with the chef to make sure my with doesn't disturb my schooling neither did the difference in the shift affect my paycheck.

"Miss Chantel, you are assigned to that table over there. The one beneath the window" he said as he pointed to a guy on black shiny shirt. His back was towards me anyways. "Please this one is a serious client and just a bad comment from him could shut us down. I wouldn't normally allow a newbie serve him but so far you haven't attracted any bad review from him. All you need is serve him, no greetings even, and leave immediately. Curtsey when you need to please. Just make sure you do this right" He concluded and I was more than curious. Now who was this personality that was so important? I gotta do my job and I would. Not greeting whomever it was sounded a bit rude to me but I'll take to instructions.i wasn't ready to loose my job just yet.

He was sitting beneath a window, sure, but then so we're three other stylishly dressed guys. But while the other men were talking into cell phones or tapping away on their tablets, this guy was simply staring straight at the view. His build looked like he was quite young to me. Probably even 20? But then I couldn't conclude, I haven't seen his face yet. Maybe he just works out well and keeps fit.

I can only see the back of his head, but that manages to grip my attention. The slant of the sunlight hits dark and glossy hair and lights up the silky, wavy strands that caress the collar of his shiny black shirt. Whoever he was, he could easily be a top contender for a shampoo ad with that hair. I allow my gaze drop to broad, well-muscled shoulders and well built arms. It's clear, even from across the room where I was that this man takes care of his physique. His seated position meant I couldn't see the rest of him, but as I watched him, I realized what had absorbed my attention.

He was deathly still.

Despite the hum of activity round him,he hadn't moved a muscle. It was disarming enough to send a shiver down my spine.

"Remember my instructions, Miss Chantel?"

The chef called out to me

I turn around, and look at the tray I'm supposed to take to him. Everything is laid out in pristine condition. China and silver that I'm sure costs more than anything I've ever owned all put together sat at angles from each other. "Yes."

"Lay it out precisely as it is on the tray. And then come back here, no pleasantries remember..no small talk either. You'll wait until he's done, and then clear his table. Understood?"

I nod.

I wonder what kind of man ate the same thing for lunch everyday that he need not order again. That was terrific. He hands the tray to me and I take a step forward and realize my legs are shaking. I pause, take a deep breath.

It's just food Chantel, It's just a damn tray of food...an expensive one though. I'm almost at the table when I realized that I should have at least asked for the name of the person I was about to se

I made my way to where he was sitting. The table next to his is unoccupied. I set the tray down on it and take the time to work out the angles and distances I was instructed to serve the food on.

I pick up the gold-rimmed porcelain plate with the distinctive Tiffany blue pattern, and turn around and then my breath dissolves to nothing.

Holy heaven above.

It's Malcom....Malcom Blackwood.

He's...beautiful. Easily, the most hauntingly captivating guy I've ever seen.

He doesn't acknowledge me. He just keeps staring at the view, although his gaze is narrowed and lowered, stopping me from seeing the exact expression on his face. But the square jaw,  the sculptured curvature of his cheekbones, the dimple in his chin, all align into a face that is so visually and powerfully stunning. The main reason why I always find myself falling for him all over again. My limbs slack in shock at the thought of being so close to him, who knows when I'm serving him, our hands might even brush. I've missed him so greatly and I just realized that. Why is he looking so beautiful? My blood pumps then fully bored through my veins.He blinked, still without looking at or acknowledging me, but the tiny movement of his eyes draws my attention to his lashes. They were long, curved. In fact they were perfect, it's always been that way.

And his mouth...

Good gracious. The one I had so much fantasized to kiss the last time we were together.

For a second, I wonder if I'm hallucinating? Malcom?? Just centemetres away from me? And I would be serving him? Okay... serving him wasn't a good thing but at least I would be close to him. But him not acknowledging me was a terrible thing though.

I allow my gaze drop to his hands, They are so manly and full of life, they adore the magnificent package that was Malcom.

As I stand there, caught in a web of what I can only term as my relieving my one and only crush and crushing on him over and over again, his chest continues to rise and fall in even and not hurried exhalations, but then I feel like he can now see me.

Perhaps it was just another dimension of this weird hallucination. But whatever it was, it grabbed me, and then fired through my body to the very soles of my feet and backed up again. My mouth immediately went dry and I firmly refused my body's urge to blink. I didn't want him to disappear, I didn't want to realize that he was just a figment of my imagination.

For a little while, I desperately want the feeling of his utmost presence to blanket me.

I can't say how long I remained there.

His forefinger taps the table once. Twice.

This movement jumpstarts my spatial awareness and my fingers tighten on the plate when I felt it slip in my clammy grip. I took a hurried step forward and set it down before him. I instinctively knew better than to step into his light, so I just arranged the place setting from the side of his table, his profile a constant threat to my equilibrium but then I managed to finish laying the table. He still didn't say a word. Neither did he behave like he knew me at all.

I don't forget the instructions and so I follow them about his coffee and when I'm done, I stepped back reluctantly as I was enjoying the essence of his strong male smell with a hint of cologne.

"Thank you," he murmurs. His voice is low and coarse, as if he hadn't used it in a while. He doesn't mention my name or even look at me to recognize familiarity.

Nevertheless, the sexy tenor of his voice shivers over my skin and I was stuck in a vivid loop of imagining how it would sound if he were to murmur something hot and incredibly inappropriate in my ear. Only my ears.

From the corner of my eye, I could see the cheif  chef and some servers looking my way. It was clear that I was at a risk of crossing some sacred server to employee line which could cost me my job. Fighting everything inside me to avoid another torrid glance at him and probably a jab to his chest asking him why he was pretending not to know me even though he was dripping maleness,  I grab the tray, clutch it to my chest and then say to him. "You're welcome," I already replied before I remembered that I was not supposed to talk to him at all talk more address him.

I risk a glance at him, gauging to see if he would tell on me or give a bad recommendation about our restaurant.

But his gaze doesn't stray from the view, whatever it was he was so interested in looking at than my face, he reaches for the pristine napkin and unfolds it with a viciously sexy snap, he then drapes it over his lap. There is total grace in that movement that almost halts the step I was about to take.

But as I notice the chef is rounding the counter and headed my way already, I quickly unfreeze myself and hurry away from his table.

He intercepts me halfway across the room and seethes through his teeth. "Serve him and return to the kitchen. That was the instruction!" he hisses at me. I've never seen him this angry, he had never been angry with me actually.

"And that was what I did," I squeaked

"No, it was certainly not what I saw you do. You were just standing there, gaping at him like a decapitated fish," he snarled

The heat that rose up my face was unavoidable. I blushed beet red. "I just... I just.. " I paused, because what was I supposed to say? That the young man out there is a visually arresting masterpiece? That he's the first ever member of the opposite sex to make me have wild thoughts since I was just fourteen even, and even now, the urge to turn around, go to ask him why he was behaving like he didn't know him and also feast my eyes on him again is feeling very hard to resist? I cleared my throat. "It won't happen again."

"Of course it won't" he muttered. "I'll just assign you elsewhere" he said and i flushed again.

I immediately headed to the bathroom. Something sure changed about Malcom, not necessarily his looks but the fact that he behaved like I was a total stranger was definitely strange. I know our families had a lot of issues but Malcom used to be very friendly, now he seemed so cold ans distant. I should even be the one snubbing him in this scenario because his father ultimately rendered our family penniless and even sent my father to jail but I couldn't help what I still felt greatly for him. I just needed to ask Sharon about him. I had to change school in my second year in junior high but Sharon should know more right.

I really need to know what happened with Malcom. I miss the former him greatly and it was gonna be very hard keeping my job if he kept appearing in our restaurant looking like that. But then I had to keep the job right? I haven't got any other option.