An hour before closing, the door to The Southern Queen chimed. The young man that entered was becoming a familiar face. He first started coming around shortly after the owner catered an event at the local private school, Claremont Academy. Asking for the older woman by name there had been obvious teasing from the staff at first, but with subsequent visits they had gotten used to him.
It wasn’t the first time Leon had arrived late at night, obviously flaunting the school’s curfew. But, it was the first time he came around looking quite so depressed. One of the staff pointed him towards an empty booth and brought him something to drink while he waited for Queenie to be free. A moment later, a piece of pie joined the glass and Leon glanced up at the woman, giving her a thankful smile.
“Thanks, Amy.”
“Everything okay?”
Amelia asked.
“Ya, just school drama.”
He half lied. But the best lies were grounded in truth.
“Don’t let me keep you from cleaning.”
The server nodded understandingly and moved on to finish her own work, leaving Leon to nudge what he knew without a doubt was very delicious pie around with his spoon as he waited patiently.