Open Your Eyes

“Hun, you hold the plates like this,” Kindle said, taking the plate I was holding into his hands and demonstrating the proper way to hold it. “That way you can hold more of them. These belong to table six, right? I can tell because they always order the same thing every time. Just make sure you give the salmon to the uptight-looking blonde – her name’s Julie, but we like to call her Satan’s bitch. And -”

“Kindle!” I said cutting him off and giving him an outrageous look. “You’re going to get me fired just from talking to you!” I had been at work for almost four hours now and the lunch time rush was just beginning. I hardly knew what I was doing but I was making a decent amount of tips so I must have been doing something right. Either way, it was nerve-racking and my feet were killing me from all of the hustle and bustle. I wasn’t introduced to any of the staff either, instead I arrived and was just thrown into the mix, expected to perform my duties to the best of my abilities. This place was so fancy that it was hard not to feel out of place, which was probably why the nerves never really went away, hence, the reason why I had already dropped around ten plates. All of which were just the ones that needed to be cleaned and not the ones that needed to be served.

“Oh, you’re just nervous. You can see it written all over you. Don’t worry; you’re doing great for your first day! Just remember salmon equals blonde, salad equals brunette, and the steak belongs to the bald man. Got it?” It must have taken him forever to get all of this down pat when he first started working here. It made me wonder if I was ever going to get used to it and be able to memorize people’s orders like that; it seemed highly unlikely.

“Got it,” I said nodding, “I think.” He wished me luck as he handed back over my plate and walked away. I stood there for a second repeating the order of the plates in my head so that I would be confident that I wouldn’t mess up. Unfortunately, as soon as I reached them, the only thing that ended up running through my head was “Oh my god, Satan’s bitch is going to get me fired.” Damn Kindle for putting that in my head. I just stood there staring at the plates trying to remember which one belonged to who.

“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to serve us?” A woman’s voice said and I looked up to see the blonde one staring at me like she was picturing throwing a dagger at my head. Why couldn’t Kindle be a nice person and take this table from me? I couldn’t help but think of how much I hated him for leaving me alone with these people. Just breathe, I thought to myself. Waiting tables isn’t supposed to be a team effort. I just wish I could remember which dish to give her. I smiled and mumbled a quick “sorry” before confidently placing the salmon down in front of her. She seemed pleased with it and so I took that as a sign that I had gotten it right.

“Thank you,” She said, refusing to offer me even a hint of a smile. I thought about how great it would feel dumping her food over her head. She wasn’t the worst customer I had gotten but she definitely wasn’t my favourite one. My favourite had been a tall slender man who wore a black hat and sat by himself. He had requested the table near the far back of the restaurant which at first had me thinking that he was going to be severely picky, but he wasn’t. Instead he was super nice and even joked with me about things. He seemed like a very happy man and it was refreshing being able to serve him. I hope he ends up being a regular, even if all he orders is a glass of wine.

“You’re very welcome,” I said trying to sound cheerful. I placed the salad in front of the brunette who looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here in this dining room. She didn’t even look like she liked the people around her. It was almost as if she was living in a routine and hated every second of it. I felt bad for her for having to put up with these people. The bald man gladly accepted his steak when I handed it to him and I felt relief wash over me as I realized that I had gotten their order right. “Would you like anything else?” I hated having to ask people this after already giving them their food, but I was told that I had to, even though people usually just got annoyed.

“You can go now.” Satan’s bitch said waving me off with her hand. I turned around and stocked back to the kitchen so that I could let out an angry breath. If you took away the obnoxious and arrogant people that liked to pop in, the place wasn’t such a bad place to be working at. The kitchen staff was nice for the most part and Kindle was usually nearby to help me out. The customers could even be super nice if you got the right tables. I just needed practice and some training and I would be set. I saw Kindle standing in the corner of the kitchen, nibbling on a piece of chicken.

“I should probably apologize,” I said walking up to him and crossing my arms, “my thoughts weren’t being very kind to you while serving that table.” I huffed and pushed my hair back which I knew bothered him and tried to let myself relax.

“Oh come on,” He said laughing, “I warned you and I even told which dish belonged to who. I’m hardly someone who you should be thinking badly about.” I sighed and smiled half-heartedly at him knowing that he was actually trying his best to make this day bearable for me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and squeezed for comfort which surprisingly worked. “So was she deserving of the nickname or did she charm you with her haunting eyes and pinched mouth?”

“I think the nickname suited her well,” I said letting myself laugh. “Just four more hours to go.” I looked around the kitchen and noticed that some of the staff were leaving and being replaced by new members. It was seriously going to take me forever to remember every single one of them. It was weird to see how once they were replaced, the kitchen looked white again. Apart from the opening where the main chefs stood – which always had to look presentable- the rest of the chefs had been dirty from spills and wiping their hands on their uniforms.

“Positive thoughts!” Kindle said clasping his hands together. “You will never make it through a shift here if you’re always thinking negatively.”

“But you just called that woman, Jazmen or whatever, Satan’s bitch!” I said throwing my hands in the air and rolling my eyes. “Plus, thinking in terms of how long I have left is positive thinking. I have four more hours less to work than I did at the beginning of my shift.”

“I think you mean, Julie.” A husky voice said from behind me. It sounded familiar and when I turned around to see who it was, I knew why. There stood the guy from the other day wearing his most charming smile and holding a spatula in his hand. “Will, remember?” He said as if he was reading my thoughts.

“I remember your name,” I said casually, not wanting to admit to the fact that I had forgotten it. Couldn’t I just get through this day without any more distractions and having to see people I really didn’t feel like seeing. Kindle was looking over at us with half a smile and his eyes lit up. I shook my head at him to signal him to stop, but he was very bad sign-reader. From the short time that I had to get to know Kindle so far, I had already figured out that he loves drama and any form of gossip he can find. I really liked working with him though, despite all of that.

“I thought you didn’t start until eight tonight?” Kindle said questioningly to Will. He didn’t sound rude when he said it, mostly just curious. He also seemed to be glad that Will was there. You could tell just from the vibe in the air that they were probably good friends. I guess this sort of meant that Will was a decent guy. I have a feeling that Kindle wouldn’t just be friends with anyone.

“Melinda called and asked me to watch Cass tonight so I switched my shift with Greg. Looks like shit has already begun to hit the fan here.” He said looking through the opening in the kitchen out towards the crowds of people in the dining room. Great, thanks for reminding me. I was not ready to go back out there and face all of those people when I hardly knew what I was doing. At this rate, I really don’t think I’m going to be working here by the end of the week. This place needed skill, not somebody who didn’t know what they were doing.

“Yeah, Brooke’s been a bit nervous.” I glared over at Kindle who was now fumbling with strands of my hair attempting to fix it. I stood there annoyed but patiently as he molded each piece into perfection and then took a step back to admire his work. Why was he working at a restaurant when he so clearly wanted to be the owner of some fancy hair salon? “By the way, Brooke, she may be a bitch but does she ever tip well. It’s hell serving her, but then you think about that nice big number extended at the end of the bill and everything is okay again.”

“Don’t worry, I got your back.” Will said winking at me. He picked up a dish from the counter where all the meals were placed when ready and looked back over at Kindle. “I’m assuming table eight?” Kindle nodded and off Will went into the fast-paced environment called the dining room. I picked up the three plates that had been next to the one’s he had grabbed and headed out of the kitchen and over to table four to serve another batch of people.

“Ladies and Gents, you all look dashing today.” Will said pulling out the chairs for each of the women in the group and extending a hand out to each of the chairs the men were to sit on. I had just finished serving my table and was now watching Will intently as he swayed around the room talking to almost everyone and planting smiles on all of their faces. “Could I start you off with a beverage?” His smile never left his face as he served them.

The rest of my shift went by fairly quick and I had made almost two hundred bucks in tips. I owed Will for the most part since he was always saving me whenever I was in the middle of messing up an order or spilling a plate of food. I had to come back tomorrow and I was not looking forward to it. Though, my shift started at four in the afternoon and I didn’t have to wake up to an annoying alarm clock. That was what sucked about having a job; school may have been finished but you still had to wake up early. I changed into my regular clothes which just consisted of shorts and a black t-shirt and headed for the door, desperate to escape the place.

The air outside felt warm, it was the part of the day where the heat was starting to die down but not too much. It was, after all, only four in the afternoon, so the heat wasn’t ready to disappear just yet. I started down the route that would lead me to my house and stopped to look behind me when I heard a pair of running footsteps.

“Hey, do you mind if I show you something later?” Will said catching up to me. I looked at him confused, wondering why on Earth he would want to show someone he barely even knew anything. Plus, he was in his work clothes but still proceeding to chase me down the street. I guess chase wasn’t really the right word, but he was running after me.

“Shouldn’t you be inside working?” I asked, a hint of smile showing on my face. He cocked his head to the side and gave me a very convincing set of puppy dog eyes and I had no choice but to answer his original question. “What did you want to show me?” A smile spread across his face and I wanted to hit him for not spitting it out.

“You’ll see!” He said turning around and heading back towards the doors. That’s it? That was all I got? After he ran all the way over to me he leaves me with no answers but a million questions? He had to be trouble; nobody can charm their way through a crowd of people the way he can and not be trouble. My guard was already up when it came to him. “Eight o’clock, be here.” He shouted before walking into the restaurant again, leaving me to continue my walk home.