Valentine’s Day

Shasta learned to have zero expectations of Valentine’s Day. It was a day when girls gave gifts, namely chocolates, to men. Anita had never given him chocolates before for a holiday, and he saw no reason why she would start today. Sierra sometimes gave him a chocolate square in the past couple of years she had worked at the diner. It was Ramona and Leigha’s first year, but he wasn’t close to either of them. And Shasta didn’t have a date or friends to spend the evening with. So he didn’t expect much to happen on Valentine’s Day this year.

“Happy Valentine’s!” announced Leigha as she slammed open the back door. Anita followed behind with bags of chocolate goodies. Shasta had finished changing for work and was heading to the kitchen as the girls marched inside.

“Sonata, stop slamming the door this early in the morning,” grumbled Cyrus as he opened the door to his office.

“Thank you for being our manager,” offered Anita as she handed the tall man a bag of chocolates. Cyrus opened the bag, took a bite of one of the pieces then dropped it into his coffee before taking a sip.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Shasta,” greeted Anita, handing him a bag. He could hear Leigha yelling at the hatch in the breakroom for Oliver to wake up. But he focused on the chocolate in his hand. He couldn’t recall a time when someone had given him chocolate. High school? Junior High?

“Thank you for the hard work this year,” encouraged Anita with a smile. “I look forward to continuing as floor chief.”

Shasta was puzzled by her statement but didn’t show it as he returned the smile.

“Thanks, I’ll be sure to eat it on my break.”

Anita gasped, looking elated.

“You do smile! Leigha, see Shasta can smile.”

Shasta immediately frowned before Leigha came over, looking between Shasta and Anita.

“He’s not smiling anymore.”

Anita looked back up to Shasta. “Come on, smile for Leigha. She helped make your chocolate too.”

Shasta sighed, forcing a smile at Leigha, Anita pushing up the corners of his mouth to make it bigger.

“There, that’s what his smile was like,” explained Anita. Leigha forced a smile of her own before retreating to the breakroom to change.

“Have a wonderful day and thank Ramona too. She also helped,” Anita added. She left for the breakroom, leaving Shasta in the hallway. Shasta looked down at the chocolate squares with a small heart in the center. All his chocolates were shaped like that.

“Nice,” commented Oliver as he came over, still dressed in pajamas, but loaded up with things to get ready for the day. Shasta looked at the chocolate he was nibbling on to see if they were regular squares. He immediately began turning pink.

“You alright, man? It’s just chocolate,” commented Oliver. The waiter looked between Shasta and Cyrus, who was mixing his coffee with a piece of chocolate.

“It’s from Anita,” Cyrus clarified, then turned to Shasta. “Take a picture; it will last longer.” Cyrus shut the door to his office as Oliver retreated to the bathroom to get ready. Shasta nodded as he went back inside the breakroom to put his chocolate away. When Shasta was safe inside the confines of the men’s changing room, he took out a piece. Shasta ate it slowly, savoring every bite. Sure, his may not have been made especially for him by Anita, but it felt like it was.

---

There was no guarantee that Norman would show up today. It was probable that he would eat lunch elsewhere. Or eat lunch with a female co-worker who was sweet on him. But Anita kept watching the door as customers came in for lunch. She had made a particular batch of chocolates for Norman. She hoped to hand him the chocolates herself so she could finally see if his hand had the right soulmate mark. If not, he was kind to her and deserved the dessert either way.

“Anita, you ready for a break?” asked Oliver, entering the restaurant.

Anita took a panicked look around the room; still no sign of Norman.

“We’ll let you know when he comes in,” Leigha assured before sending Anita to the back.

Anita was about to pass the side door to the kitchen when a plate stopped her path. She looked up to see Shasta holding a plate of omurice while doing everything to avoid her gaze.

“Thanks for the chocolates. They were good,” Shasta muttered.

Anita took the plate, then smiled at him.

“You’re welcome.”

She shuffled over to the breakroom to eat while Shasta returned to the kitchen, thankful that Sierra wasn’t in yet. But Oliver was giving him looks through the window. A few minutes after Anita had left the floor, Norman arrived, searching the room. Anita was nowhere in sight.

He took a seat at the bar as Oliver was walking over to him.

“You here for lunch?” Oliver asked, noticing Leigha running to the back.

“Um, yeah, is, uh, Anita here?”

“Yeah, she’s on break right now, though. Maybe come back later.”

“Oliver, you should go to help the people who are coming in,” urged Leigha, pushing Oliver out of the bar.

“Anita will be here in a bit; she started her break moments ago.”

“Oh, is she in the breakroom?”

“Yes, you can go see her if you want.” Leigha gestured to the back and Norman was taking the invitation.

“Do you want your usual lunch?” Leigha asked as he passed.

“Yes, please.”

Leigha smiled, turning to Shasta.

“One beef curry mild,” Leigha called out, stepping back in fear as Shasta’s dark aura filled the kitchen.

“Leigha, go help the customers.” Oliver shoved Leigha out from behind the bar.

“What’s his problem?” asked Leigha as Oliver shoved her.

“You mostly.”

Norman sighed with relief when he saw Anita hurrying through her lunch. She stopped when she noticed him, her cheeks full of omurice.

“Hey,” he smiled, holding in a chuckle as she swallowed her food then took a drink of water.

“Hi.”

They waited there, neither moving for a moment.

“Is this seat taken?” he asked, pointing to the seat opposite of her.

“Yes, I mean, no, no one is sitting in it. You can sit there.”

Norman took a seat as Leigha entered with his beef curry and a glass of water.

“Can’t guarantee the spiciness of the curry,” she whispered before moving to the girls’ changing room.

Norman frowned but proceeded to mix the curry and rice. Leigha came back, walking next to Anita, dropping her gift for Norman in her lap, before leaving the room. Norman took a bite out of the curry, immediately gasping and coughing as he tried to swallow.

“Oh, dear.” Anita was up in a hurry, setting the gift on the table as she helped Norman reach the glass of water.

“Too spicy,” he whispered.

Anita looked around for something to give him, her eyes landing on the chocolate.

“Here,” She pulled the chocolate over, unwrapping it and shoving it into his mouth. He took a bite, breaking it away from the rest as he took it from Anita. the chocolate was calming his taste buds.

“What’s this?”

“H-Happy Valentine’s Day,” she offered with a weak smile. Norman took another bite, smiling as he chewed

“Do you like it? It’s homemade.”

Norman nodded, shoving the spicy curry away.

“It’s perfect.”

Leigha smiled from the doorway as she watched, then skipped back to the bar to gloat.

“Your plan to spice up his food failed. They are one step closer to being in love.”

“Alright, Leigha, go serve some tables now; your break is later.” Oliver shoved Leigha out of the bar area before Shasta could threaten her with an intimidating glare and kitchen utensils.

---

Ramona alternated putting her weight on one foot to the other. She looked to the back door for Leigha and Anita to leave the restaurant. They agreed to meet Ramona when their shift was over and give her the chocolates, so she could give them to Miles. But no one had left the back of the restaurant.

Figuring they were still inside; Ramona knew the only way to get her chocolates before Miles came was to walk across the backlot. She took a deep breath and stepped onto the asphalt, wet from the melting snow. She let go of the railing as she followed with her other foot and shuffled across the lot.

“Ramona!”

Ramona looked up to see Anita and Leigha waving at her from the door. As a result, she missed the small patch of ice, causing her to slip.

“Ramona!” The girls called out again as she began to fall, their voices more panicked. She caught a glimpse of them rushing down the stairs before they left her line of sight. She tried to brace herself for a hard impact, but instead, she landed on something soft. It made a slight “oof,” when she hit it and she found arms wrapping around her. She looked down to see the familiar uniform sleeves of Miles’ school.

“Well, that’s a new position,” teased Leigha as she extended a hand to Ramona, pulling the embarrassed girl up. She turned to face her savior. Miles stood and began wiping the wet gravel off his uniform.

“Let me help,” Ramona whispered. Miles’ hands were wiping the loose bits off his rear when he heard her.

“With your jacket,” she amended. Miles nodded, turning so Ramona could dust the loose bits of gravel off his jacket.

“Sorry,” she murmured, quiet enough for Miles to hear.

“No worries. I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

Ramona felt warmed from head to toe at that statement. And would have remained warm if not for Miles’ stern voice, “Don’t you have somewhere else you need to be?”

“Not especially, but alas,” lamented Leigha, “Anita and I will drown ourselves in the remains of our homemade chocolate due to her unfortunate predicament.” Ramona peered around to see the older girl grab Anita by the shoulders.

“Did you not find your soulmate today?” asked Miles, a bit more gently since he was directing the question to Anita.

“No, and I forgot to check Norman’s hand again. Even after I gave him chocolate,” the girl whined. Leigha patted her friend’s shoulder, concerned. Ramona also patted Anita’s arm in pity, hearing yesterday how important this was to her. Ramona looked up at Miles, who was smiling in sympathy.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Better luck next time.”

Anita nodded as Leigha led her out of the parking lot.

“Don’t wait up for me, little bro,” called Leigha, with a wave of her hand.

Ramona heard Miles grumble something under his breath before he took her arm in his and lead her to Tormino’s.

“About time you both showed up. Hurry and get on the floor because we need to plan,” rambled Sierra. She left the storage closet, dragging out a sleeping Oliver with one hand and carrying a can of food in her other.

Miles nodded, letting Ramona change. It was then that Ramona realized the other girls forgot to give her the chocolate for Miles. They were probably gone from the parking lot, and it was too late to run to the convenience store. Maybe she could make him a chocolate parfait when he stepped out for a break. Deciding on her course of action, Ramona went into the locker room. She opened her locker to find inside the chocolates she had made for Miles. Underneath them was a note with encouraging messages.

“Go get your soulmate!” from Anita.

“I heartily approve of you dating my brother” was from Leigha.

“I believe in you” came from Sierra.

“Good luck!” How did Oliver get a chance to write the note? His signature had a quick doodle of a thumbs up.

“If you are going to date, please keep things professional” was from Cyrus.

“Don’t stress out. You’ll be fine” from Shasta.

Ramona took a breath at the last one because all the other notes were freaking her out. She hadn’t thought as far as dating him. Ramona was still getting used to the idea that she had a crush, maybe even more feelings for him. With the encouragement of the last note, Ramona took a deep breath. She took out the chocolates while shoving her backpack into the locker.

Ramona stepped back into the central area of the breakroom but no one was in sight. Miles must still be getting ready so she marched over to the men’s locker room before she could chicken out. She opened the door and saw a shocked Miles in his uniform shirt and underwear, about to undo the top button of the shirt. They both stood there in shock, turning red as they processed what was going on. Miles pulled his pants to cover his underwear, as Ramona readied her arm to throw the chocolates.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” She chucked the chocolate at Miles before slamming the door shut and running away Miles looked up as the door was about to close and the chocolate approached his face. He didn’t have time to dodge before it hit him square in the forehead. It didn’t hurt much, although he could feel a slight indent from where the corner of the chocolate hit his head. He picked up the crumbled remains of the pieces still sealed within their plastic bag.

Miles sighed, uncertain if he should feel guilty because of the destroyed chocolate. Ramona didn’t mean to peek; he knew that much. She did tend to get flustered and nervous, so it made sense that she would try to do it when she had the most confidence. But where that confidence had come from and why would she give him chocolates was beyond him. He put the bag in his locker and finished getting ready for work.

Ramona sank to the floor of the girls’ locker room, upset with herself at how was handling things. Ramona should have waited. Now he would think she’s a pervert. Ramona waited until she heard the other door in the breakroom open and shut before getting ready. She couldn’t let him know how this had affected her or allow anyone else to know she had failed. She would have to act as natural as possible.

Ramona stepped outside into the break room only to come face to face with Miles. He looked like he had been waiting there for her.

“Hey…” he started, his face slightly pink while his eyes glanced between her and the side of the room.

“Hey,” she returned, barely able to keep her eyes on him for more than a second. She had seen him in his underwear, but he was now covered by his work pants.

“Thank you for the chocolates. I’ll have them at break tonight.”

Ramona sighed with relief; glad he received the chocolates. “You’re welcome.”

The teens continued their awkward glancing, neither sure what to say.

“Meeting now,” urged Sierra, as she peeked around the corner. They followed her out, Miles behind Ramona, both still laden with unspoken questions.