Kristina sighed as she glanced at her car, broken down. Summer break was going so well, but now she found herself stranded in the parking lot of Sonic, where she worked part time home college.
She'd worked almost every day all summer to make enough money to buy her first car and now with a few days left before classes she wasn't sure how she was going to get back for her sophomore year.
At five feet tall, with her blonde hair tied up in playful pigtails, Kristina roller-skated her way to her next order, trying to push away the frustration.
"Uhhg another terrible tip" Kristina exclaimed to her coworker Amanda after receiving mere spare change from a $30 order.
"It's been rough today".. said Amanda, "but I know what you need"
Amanda gestured to a cup tucked away below their work station. It was a cup of lemonade mixed with a heavy pour of vodka from a bottle Amanda's boyfriend got her.
"Well I guess I may as well since I'm not driving anyway" Kristina said as she took a long drink like she was at a fraternity party back at school.
"Damn girl, you thought about how you'll get back to school now?" Amanda asked.
"I'm trying not to think about it.. James and I are fighting or I'd ask him" Kristina replied.
James was Kristina's boyfriend who she met in the spring semester of Freshman year. They started as friends as Kristina was dating someone else but after she became single Kristina made a move on James. He was much more inexperienced than her sexually but she tried to get him up to speed anytime they had a free dorm room. Things were generally good with them but whenever Kristina went to fraternity parties James would get extremely jealous even though she never cheated on him. It drove Kristina crazy and with them moving into an apartment together soon it seemed to be getting worse and worse while they were apart for summer break.
Kristina kept running out orders returning to sips of vodka lemonade with Amanda until she was starting to forget her car troubles just a bit. The vodka helping her become more friendly with the customers, who were constantly hitting on her, to get better tips.
A sleek Mercedes SUV pulled up to the drive-thru. Kristina threw the order on the tray and glided over to bring the customer's order. But in her haste and tipsy state, she accidentally spilled some of the customers drink as she spun to the window.
"I'm so sorry," Kristina apologized, feeling herself blush hot red as she looked up to see a large handsome black man in his 50s with some of his drink now on his shirt.
The man in the SUV, Mr. Johnson, chuckled softly. "No worries, accidents happen. How's your day going?..Kristina" seeing her name tag.
Kristina now blushing even more said "it's been tough one, car trouble" nodding to her car in the parking lot.
"I'd be happy to help, I love to work on cars.. for pretty little things" the man added.
Kristina nervously laughed and gave him his change back and said "I'll be ok thanks, I have a boyfriend" even though James was hundreds of miles away.
"My apologies on being forward, I'm Mr. Johnson, if you change your mind let me know, the offer is still there"
Kristina felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment as Mr. Johnson's words lingered in the air while she returned for her next orders. Despite getting hit on constantly Kristina was caught off guard by being hit on by someone she found attractive and black. She'd never been with a black man before but had seen some thumbnails on the internet while her and James watched porn together one time.. but they didn't click on them.
As she continued running orders to other cars she would try to take glances at Mr Johnson still parked outside.
When she got a chance to look at her phone she was pleased to see James had texted her, unfortunately it didn't last long. James had sent a screenshot of a Facebook post of Kristina's and asked who the frat bro was and why he was liking her posts. She couldn't understand why James couldn't trust her, especially when she had never given him a reason to doubt her loyalty. Kristina was furious and texted him back a lengthy response about how tired she was over the jealous behavior.
Mr. Johnson's offer to help fix her car resurfaced in her mind, Kristina hesitated. Despite her initial discomfort, she couldn't deny the practicality of accepting his assistance plus her boyfriend didn't trust her no matter what she did.
With a newfound resolve, Kristina skated over to Mr. Johnson just before he left. "Actually, Mr Johnson" she began, her voice steady, "I appreciate your offer. If you're still willing to help, I could use a hand with my car."
A warm smile spread across Mr. Johnson's face. "I'll be happy to help you. When are you off work"
"Im off at at 9"
"Ok I'll take a look now and see if I can get it running before you're off"
