Another Day in the Week

“Alright, so the tables are split into two groups: those who stay the night, and those who head out early. We have five waitresses, including me, you, and Kayla tonight. They are Eve,” I pointed to the short haired red head, “and Vicky T.” with this I pointed to the tall blonde. “The cook is Lafayette here,” Now pointing to the large muscular black man with long dreadlocks. “And the bartender is Brendon Urie.” Lastly I pointed to the nerdish but strong brown haired guy. “They are your new team mates. Team mates, please wave.”

Everybody waved.

“Good. Now we’ll keep it simple. You two are following me?”

Sookie and Sam nodded.

“There are four table areas and one door. Sookie, I want you to man the door for about half the night and greet, the other half waitressing. We’ll all help you out on what to do if a drunken customer comes your way. Sam, you mingle with the guests and begin to memorize faces. Like who your high spenders are, frequent customers, quick customers, business men, you know, the basics. Now set out!”

Like soldiers, everyone returned to their bases.

Kayla came up to me.

“It’s not going to be the same without Sam. Do you know if he’s coming back?”

“Yes,” I paused and thought about it. “Probably. Okay, maybe not. But he might call. He is the more responsible of the two. And he said he’s coming back to check on us. In a day or five.”

“If you say so. Hey, first customer of the night came and it’s only 7:30.”

“Yep. That’s my table, be right back.”

I walked away from the bar and led my new customer to a den.

“What will you be having today, sir?”

“One Whisky on the Rocks, to start. I’m expecting a group of two more or so. You’re Thursday, aren’t you?’

I looked down to see if my name tag was there. Yep.

“Yes I am. Is there anything you need?”

“No, no. I’m okay.”

The man was tall, brown haired and skinny. He wore a purple cap with some logo on it and a matching purple sweater. He looked no more that 21.
Even though this is all average, I got a weird feeling about him. Like that spider thing…

I walked back to the bar and asked Brendon if he had seen this guy before.

“Yeah, only once or twice. He usually gets served by Vicky-T though.”

I looked over again. The guy was wiping his nose and looking around. I followed his line of sight and found Vicky-T serving another customer. Nothing too odd there.

“Do you know his name?”

“Yeah. Gabe, I think. Gabe Sporta.”

“Guys, over here!” I went over and asked for everyone’s new orders. Gabe ordered another Whiskey on the Rocks and the other three guys ordered beers.

“Sorry man, whiskey’s for chicks and grandfathers.” The kid giggled. Or at least he reminded me of one. He was short, brown haired and cute, like a mini guy or something.

“Shut up Ryan.” Awe. Little name to go with little body.

Out of the other two, one was dirty blond and wearing glasses in doors and the other had brown hair that went down to his shoulders. The three were wearing regular tee shirts with a different style of jeans.

Now that his friends were there, I didn’t get the spider-feeling again. I just got the normal “I’m so going to get trashed tonight” vibe.

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The end of my shift is a beautiful thing.

I like to lay on the baseball field a few blocks down and look at the stars for a bit, not be bothered by anything. No Kayla, no manager, and no damn people. Kayla already drove off towards the apartment, so there should be pizza when I get there. I wonder if I should call and ask to pick it up for them… eh, they all have a car. Or at least I hope they still do.

Finishing my walk, I went to my car and unlocked the doors. I was about to get in when Sookie came up to me.

“Anything wrong?” I asked.

She looked nervous, like she shouldn’t be doing this.

“It’s okay, you can tell me.” I said in a softer voice, not wanting to scare her off.

She cleared her throat and began, “Hey Thursday, you seem like a really nice girl, and I don’t want anyone to hurt you,” she took a deep breath. “But please don’t go to the concert on Tuesday. Don’t ask why, but you’re going to get hurt. Or if you do go, stay in a group. Please.”

She looked at me with large eyes.

Large, adorable puppy eyes. Damn.

I smiled.

“Alright, alright. How about a group of four, including me, Gabe Smith, Kayla, and my other friend, Soap? And after the concert we hang out with the band.”

She looked relieved, like she was Atlas and the world was lifted from her shoulders.

“Please, don’t stray too far from the group. We really need you here at Hot Mess to help us out. Tonight was crazy!” Suddenly all the tension was gone from the air and we switched to normal conversation.

“It’s a Saturday, these kinds of nights usually start Friday and end sometime Monday. Other than that, it’s smooth sailing.”

Sam popped from out of nowhere.

“Thanks again, Thursday. See you tomorrow and be careful on the road.”

I got in my car and waved good bye as I drove off. They looked as if they were arguing about something important. They kept gesturing at where my car was. Ah well.

Once I got back in front of the apartment/house I shared with my friends, I smelled something…burning?

Oh shit.