Page 59 of Bean

Two hours into the lunch orders, I was lost. For some reason, my brain was not braining, and I kept messing up orders. Jordan didn’t say anything, but he had to be frustrated with me. He was nice enough not to point it out, which only made it worse. I wanted to get it right, but nothing was cooperating. Finally, Jordan tapped the laminated instructions he’d made for me that first week. “Follow the checklist, Bean. Don’t rely on your memory or your brain right now. Follow the list.”

He was right. I hated it with all my might, but he was right. Grumbling, I put the instructions next to me on the counter and started at the top.

I lost all sense of time as I worked down the list again and again. My head hurt, but the rest of me was strangely numb, as if I’d somehow managed to step outside my body and operate like a robot. It was oddly comforting because I wasn’t fully aware.

By the time my shift ended, I was exhausted. When I checked my phone, Nash had texted me.

Worried about you, kid. Please take good care of yourself. Make smart decisions.

Make smart decisions. I smiled despite everything. Wasn’t that a classic Nash approach? He didn’t tell me what to do—probably didn’t want to risk me blowing up again—so he’d found another way of subtly reminding me to prioritize my health.

But smart decisions about what? Did I have anything going on?

Oh right. Jarek. I was meeting Jarek. We were going to…

I had to check, my brain coming up empty.

Cooking lesson. We were doing another cooking lesson.

The headache that had been brewing all day intensified, and I popped two more Ibuprofen, swallowing them down with a bit of milk. Even with all the meds I was taking, I still struggled sometimes when taking them with water.

Okay, a cooking lesson. With Jarek. Rhymes with Derek.

So Nash had been subtly pushing for me to cancel that or reschedule. That was not happening. It was a miracle that someone like…like Jarek would want to be with me, what with all my issues, so I was going to enjoy every minute of it for as long as it lasted. Even if I was so tired I couldn’t remember what we were supposed to do a minute later.

“Once upon a time,” I whispered through clenched teeth as I willed the headache away. “Once upon a time…there was a cute young man who worked as a cook in a bar. His name was Bean.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

JAREK

“Why are you rushing out of here?”

I looked over at the sound of Ivy’s voice to find her hovering in my doorway with a cup of coffee in her hand and a smirk on her lips. I was definitely busted. “I have plans.”

“Mm. Adorable, former Army man plans? The one you can’t stop talking about and can’t stop thinking about, but definitely isn’t your boyfriend?”

My cheeks heated as I turned away from her and finished shoving my laptop into my carrying case. “He’snotmy boyfriend. We’re…”

“If you say friends, I’m going to fire you.”

I clamped my jaw shut.

“Good boy,” she said, walking over and giving my cheek a pat. “So, it is him, right?”

“Maybe.” I hesitated, then sank back into my chair as she propped her backside against my desk and stared down at me. “He’s teaching me to cook.”

Unfortunately, she’d just taken a sip of her coffee, but I managed to roll back and avoid the spray as she spit the mouthful out. “You?”

I swiped a tissue over the edge of my desk to mop up the mess. “Yeah, me.”

“Did you warn him that your one skill is not in the kitchen?”

I scowled. “I have more than one skill, thank you. And he believes in me.”

She stared for a long beat, then let out a short breath. “Ohshit.”

“What?” I looked behind me quickly to see what had startled her.