The Great Hendowski

The rush had finally slowed about an hour later. Alice and I were not only waitresses, but bussers. Oh yeah, taking down orders and then later, cleaning up after them? We were cyborgs with no stop button.
Surprisingly enough, the band was still at the bar when everyone else was heading out. Tino and Phil had overcome their stay, swaying back and forth to an old country song, drunk or maybe, very very buzzed. I didn't bother asking, knowing I wouldn't get a straight answer from anybody.
"Not a big drinker, huh?" I asked Austin, who had his eyes glued on our television. He shifted them over to me, increasing the size of his smile.
"Yeah, I can be. But not tonight. It's not really a place I'd drink at."
"I get it. We're not cool enough for you, right?" I chuckled, shifting the bucket of dishes on my hip.
"Well," he leaned back in his seat, "it's a diner."
I took a hard look at him, realizing how ridiculous it must have looked to see alcohol in a place like this. We were a cozy restaurant, family oriented. And yet, the bar was packed with wines, and vodkas, and things to mix martini's with. The bar Tyler never got rid of when he bought the place. I bet it was to make more money... and it made sense. We made quite a bit from the bar itself. So why would you get rid of a money maker anyway?
"Huh," I nodded, agreeing with him. He turned back to the television, and I took that as my cue to give up my dishes. When I reached the kitchen, I saw Stan, our dishwasher, taking his time going through what Alice had given him.
"You're not done yet," I said. "I've got more for you right here." And I dumped them in the sink, as carefully as I could.
Stan, around fifty years, scratched his silver mustache with some thought. As far as I knew, he'd been working here since the Dark Ages.
"Your brother," he shook a sudsy spatula in my face, "needs to hire more people. We're only human, not robots."
"I know, I know." I began walking out backwards, attempting to avoid a long discussion about my brother's needs.
"I keep telling my wife, kids should not run a business until they've had kids of their own. That's some real responsibility. Keeps ya in line, taking care of young ones. Then you get started on a business, like my great grandfather..."
It was awful. He spoke like this most nights, but unlike my rude co-workers, I didn't usually leave without saying something.
"All right Stan, I'll see you tomorrow," I waved to his back, inching my way toward the door as he kept rambling. "Have a... good night."
I walked out to the site of Tyler huddled closely with Alice, looking like they were sharing a secret. How odd. They hushed up when I made my way over to them.
"What?" I asked. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Okay, okay," Tyler took a deep breath. "I'm starting to think it wouldn't be a bad thing to hire extra hands around here."
My face lit up. "Yes! About time."
"Alice basically convinced me."
"Alice?" I glared at her playfully. "I've been telling you for the past year that we need more people. Especially bussers."
"If you waitress and do bussing, you make more money," he rubbed my head. I swatted his hand away, irritated.
"Double the work though. I'd like to go home and not pass out from exhaustion for once."
"What fun is that?" Alice laughed, bumping my arm with hers.
"Ha-ha. You know, I haven't read a book in like, two years," I wiped a fake tear from my eye, and my brother rolled his. As soon as I finished my gesture, I heard a huge crash behind me. Glass breaking. We all looked over at the bar just to see Tino flipping out at Phil, who had his body draped across the bar.
"Hey! Hey," Tyler ran over, inspecting the situation as Alice and I watched on in amusement. "This isn't a place to mess around. We're a family restaurant."
"Sorry," Phil hiccuped. "I don't see family here."
Alan raised his glass of Coke and yelled, "but the Of Mice & Men family!"
The rest of the band joined in, and I couldn't help but face palm. Tino dropping alcohol from the shakiness of his hand. Austin huddled near Alan, holding up his own Coke. Shayley swaying along with Phil. It was unusual. We never had anything like this in our diner.
"When I come back, I want them out." Tyler's stressed face was back on, and we were so close to closing. They had to leave soon anyway. We weren't twenty four hours.
I nodded, and turned to Alice, telling her to go grab a towel from the back to clean up the mess. I made my way over to the men, stopping at Austin because he seemed like the only one who could herd them all out of here.
"Yeah, you guys gotta leave. My boss isn't very happy, obviously."
"Kicking us out?" Austin gasped, holding a tattooed hand to his chest.
"So dramatic," I smiled. "You got yourselves into this mess, now you must pay the price. By leaving."
"Don't you guys close soon anyway?" Alan asked, peeking his head around Austin. I nodded. The two boys exchanged glances, knocking each other's shoulders. Which made me wonder.
"So..." I started, "are you two dating?"
"We get that a lot, don't we?" Alan whispered, directed at Austin, who nodded, but then wrapped an arm around the ginger's shoulders.
"I wish we were dating, but Alan likes his cat more than me."
"Oh, that's too bad," I laughed. "I just assumed because you guys sort of, radiate this chemistry."
"Well, funny you say that because he and I have been best friends for a while. We were actually thinking of starting our own musical project, before heading back into Of Mice & Men." Austin took a sip of his Coke.
"So weird, but I've never heard of your band. I remember--" But I was cut off.
"You remember reading the book in high school? Yep. We get that a lot too," Alan mumbled, finishing off his Coke. "Well, it's been fun. Neat place you got here. We'll stop in another time, maybe if your boss lets us."
They both stood up, and I felt like I had shrunk in just the matter of a second. Sitting down, Austin looked like a big guy, but standing up, he towered over me.
"Holy crap," I blurted out, covering my mouth up. He looked down at me, confused. "I'm uh, I'm sorry. It's just, you're really tall."
"I'm like 6'4"," he yawned. "Is it scary or something? You look scared."
I shook my head slowly, watching the concern leave his face. I had never been around anyone that tall before. I guess I was a little surprised, being average height for a woman and all.
He grabbed his hoodie off of the back of the seat, and put it on as he watched Alan try to rush Phil and Tino out the door. Shayley wasn't totally drunk, who still had the ability to use his legs in an okay fashion. He set down some money underneath his half empty Heineken, the fifth bottle tonight, and followed Alan.
"Hey listen, I'm sorry for the behavior. And leaving extra shit for you guys to clean up," Austin looked behind me and nodded at Alice, who rushed out with a white cloth. He dropped a twenty on the bar and stuck his hands in his jean pockets. "Shayley probably left enough to cover the rest, plus tip."
"All right, thanks for stopping in. It's been interesting," I acknowledged.
"You know," he leaned against the stool. "You should come out for one of our shows. We're playing again in a few days, after we record here in Boston."
"That sounds like fun." Why not?
"Cool, cool. I'll give you my number," he grabbed a napkin nearest to his empty glass and searched his person for a pen. I giggled at his frustration, wondering how many people actually carried around pens in their pockets. I shoved my hand into my apron, fishing out the pen I used to take orders. I poked his chest, and he looked up, relieved that I saved him from further searching.
As he was scratching down the seven digits, he said, "you guys should have pens on the bar."
"What for?" I questioned.
"How else do you think old men pick up their chicks? They need something to write their numbers with," he grinned, handing me back my pen, along with the contaminated napkin. I bit my lip, debating on asking...
"I have a question."
"Shoot."
"You're not trying to pick me up, right? Or you know, sorry, um, this isn't like, a way to ask me out? Because I'm not into dating... at the moment..." I felt my face burn up as I finished my sentence, most likely making a fool of myself in front of him. I was twenty five for god's sake, this was just embarrassing.
Austin crossed his arms, and leaned down toward me. I could make out the freckles now, that spread themselves across his nose. It added to his features. I was such a sucker for freckles.
"I'm not asking you out, but is there an important reason you're against dating, or are you just afraid?"
I took a deep breath, a bit marveled at his words because I never gave it much thought. I thought about how I felt school and working was more important than a relationship, but being mid twenties, I did feel rather lonely, on more than one occasion. Holidays, family reunions, my relatives with their significant others while I sat by my grandmother, her Alzheimer's getting the best of her. Watching her deteriorate, and watching myself deteriorate at such a young age, all because I wasn't spending my time with a man. I was trying so hard to make a name for myself, but what happened whenever I came home to my one bedroom apartment? I'd sit by myself, make a cup of coffee or something. Watch a bit of television before bed. I knew I was missing out, and Tyler could see it too. Every once and while, he'd bring up dating, but it wasn't something I would ever dwell on.
"You don't want to turn out like our Aunt Cecile," he'd remind me. She was never married, no children, lived alone with four cats, and no one ever reached out to her. Thinking about it depressed me, but I understood how easy it was to turn out that way. And it certainly wasn't something I was in a rush for.
Before I could babble out an answer to Austin's question, Alan popped his head back into the diner.
"Come on, Austin! You and I need our bedroom time," he joked, waving at his best mate. Austin snorted, walking out backwards, waving to Alice and I.
"See you guys later!" And they were gone.
"Well, well, well," she said, hands on her hips. "You and that guy getting a little cozy?"
"Nope," I looked at her. "Told him I wasn't into dating."
"Didn't look like he felt the same way," she picked up a few pieces of the broken glass, wiping underneath. "It's time you get back into it! You're not getting any younger, what's the worst that could happen?"
"Alice," I groaned. "He's in a band, not exactly my type."
"You never give anything a try. You're going to be stuck here, taking orders from your brother until he's on his death bed." She tsked and walked to the back room, hands covered in alcohol and shards.
I stood alone, lit by the dim lighting of Rino's Place, wondering whether it was a good time to cry or not. I decided against it, agreeing with myself that tears were best saved for the apartment. I'd be alone, and no one would be there to watch.