The Great Hendowski

It was rush hour. My brother's patience was on it's last straw. It was weird to hear him yell so loudly and viciously back in the kitchen. Out of us three siblings, he was usually the most patient. My legs felt like jello as I walked around to each booth, making sure our customers were satisfied with their meals. Our cooks weren't doing very well tonight.
But who could blame them? On top of our usual customers, in came a whole Girl Scout troop. That was plus twelve, hungry girls. Along with their three troop leaders, who looked like they could eat us out of house and home.
"Waitress, excuse me, waitress." An older woman tapping the bar. "Can I get another Diet Coke?"
"Sure thing."
I already tried busting my ass and the only thing it got me was sore ankles, and a large scrape across my arm from our wooden tables. It stung as I filled up the woman's glass.
"Fuck," I cursed under my breath. I filled the glass with regular Coke instead of Diet.
"How's it going, kid? You look exhausted," my co-worker, Alice, whizzed by me, carrying a tray full of our main dish. Baked fish and chips.
"Losing my mind," I mouthed to her, and she laughed, careful not to tip over her entrees. I took my time to pour the woman the right drink, since it gave me a few more seconds to catch my breath. Alice and I were the only main waitresses at Rino's Place. I suggested to my brother a million times to put up a hiring sign outside our front door, but he refused. Told me he liked paying us less, without having to deal with the complaining. Alice was like our second mother, and she knew how tough it was to run a business, so she never asked for a raise. I never asked for one either, since he was my brother. I was trying to be his favorite sister, and so far it had been working.
Our other sibling was the oldest out of the three of us, and she had been long gone since she hit eighteen. Since then, we've only received cards in the mail from her, on holidays of course, and maybe a few letters giving us an update on her life. I could care less. Tyler could certainly care less. It was ten years this month, since she disappeared, and we could not have been happier.
I received a scowl from the woman, no doubt I kept her waiting too long. She snatched the Coke from my hand, not even giving me enough time to place it in front of her. I knew right then, my tips were going to go down the drain from this hour forth.
I didn't see a hand or an eager look from a customer, so I booked it to the back, to check on Tyler. He was a year older than me, but I liked babying him.
The expeditor, calling out the food and watching it leave the line. He was red faced, sweaty, and... upset? By the look of it.
"Hey, Tyler, how are we doing with the Girl Scouts?"
"We're done those. They should be finishing up now. Take these ham and cheese sandwiches out for me, will you? Table four."
I grabbed a tray from the corner and Tyler placed the plates on top, in a neat and fine way. They weren't as heavy as I thought. I just wanted the night to end, but I wasn't going to get cocky while bringing them out to the customers. I wanted the night to end, not to start all over. The tray wobbled as I made it to the door, but I straightened out, quit the wobbling, and hustled to table four. Three teenage girls, ah great.
"Hey guys, here's your meal," I faked a smile, surrounded by sudden silence as all three stopped talking when I came over. No thank you, nothing. But that was okay, I dealt with that a lot. As I placed each plate down, the only thing I could listen to was their conversation. Which picked up again since I was no longer important.
"Kylie, it's Of Mice & Men."
"Where? Oh my god, you're joking."
"Turn around, holy shit. They came to this place, out of all places?"
I peeked up from the table to look in their directions, and saw five men, looking way out of place here. Mostly covered in black clothing and tattoos, they took a seat at the bar and goofed off. The friendly shoves, the expensive phones. It was a weird site to see. I expected them to scare off my customers, but they kept quiet, and to themselves. Thank god.
I picked up the tray and walked away from the starstruck girls, only to have Alice grab onto my elbow.
"Do me a favor and get those five guys at the bar? I'm swamped in my corner. Mrs. Henderson and her six kids won't stop ordering, and it's driving me nuts," she rolled her eyes. I laughed at her annoyance, loving the fact that I didn't have the Henderson's tonight. I took out my pad of paper and quickly walked over with ease.
"Hi guys, welcome to Rino's. Any drinks to start?"
All at once, they looked up at me, each of them holding on tightly to a menu. Except for one, who was looking onto a red head's.
"Erm, I'll have a vodka tonic."
"Yeah, that sounds good, me too."
"I'll have a Heineken."
"Just a Coke for me."
"I'll take a Coke, too."
Whenever somebody ordered alcohol, I called in Tyler to serve it. I had bad experiences in high school involving alcohol, which made me despise all of it's appeals.
I grabbed two short glasses below me, setting them up for my brother, and asked, "you're all over twenty, right? I don't need to ID you?"
I smirked, leaning on the bar with my elbow. Tips, tips, tips.
They looked older to me anyway. Working in a diner that served alcohol for over five years, you started to learn mannerisms, appearances. When someone seemed nervous, that was when you carded 'em. When someone looked a little too young too, but that one was obviously so easy.
"Ha," the one sporting the longest hair rolled his eyes at me, but then ended it with a bright, friendly smile. Maybe my tips wouldn't be so bad tonight...
"Be right back with the Cokes," I winked and walked off, back to the kitchen, and noticed Tyler right where I left him. "A group of men ordered alcohol, you're up."
He groaned and took the lead, while when I walked out the door, I went right to the soda machine. As I filled up the first glass, I glanced over at the guys, moving down the row and taking in what I saw. A heart warming face, long hair, piercing, ginger and attractive. That was how I was differentiating them from now on. What I would call them when I walked back over to take their orders. Yeah right, they'd be totally confused, and I'd be in for a laugh. I began filling up the next glass and my heart skipped.
The one seated on the right end, he made eye contact with me, and I nearly dropped the Coke all over the carpet. He happened to be the one I called attractive, of course. I swore off romantic relationships, and I'd keep swearing them off, even for a cute face.
I looked away quickly, staring down at the carbonation, wondering if this was going to be awkward or not. I heard Tyler's fake, roaring laugh behind me, it getting louder and louder until he was up to my side.
"You're good, they're probably ready to order now."
I nodded and gripped the two Cokes, heaving a sigh and moving right along.
"Which two ordered the Cokes?" I asked, trying in all my might, to sound serious.
"Uh, you can't tell? Well, the rest of us already have our drinks," piercing looked around, avoiding eye contact with me.
I snorted and said, "I know. I was only kidding. Been doing this for five years, and I'm only to ask that question in emergencies."
"I think the emergency is your sense of humor," ginger said quietly, all of the guys ooh-ing right behind him.
"Oh yeah, true," I smiled sweetly, placing the two Cokes in front of ginger and attractive. "I think the real emergency here, is the color of your hair."
Ginger rolled his eyes, while the other guys stifled their laughter with their hands. "Like I haven't heard that one before. I'm Alan."
I pointed to myself. "I'm Zoey."
And then we went down the line. "Tino."
"Phil."
"Shayley."
"Austin."
And then I took down their orders, keeping an eye on attractive, who kept grinning as I jotted down each meal.