Check Please!

Work. The most entertaining part of my day, to everyone’s surprise. I actually quite liked my job as a hostess in a restaurant. I met a lot of interesting people but that might also be because I lived in Orlando. I worked in a TGI Friday’s in a very swanky hotel. My evenings were spent in all black, the way I preferred to dress, and on my feet until they swelled. Sure that sucked but it was worth it. Money is money. This week, my boss had told everyone a very large convention had rented out a huge chunk of the hotel so we would likely be more busy than we were used to. It was weeks like this I felt bad for the waiters. Wednesday was when things started to pick up. I had expected it because it was cheap day at the airports.

“Can we have a table for six,” A voice asked. I looked up to see someone I recognized but didn’t know where from.

“Sure,” I replied easily while grabbing some menus and crossing off a table on the chart with a dry erase marker. “Follow me.”

“You guys are going to have a hectic week huh?” the boy asked.

“I guess,” I laughed lightly. “Conventions aren’t usually so big.”

“Well, YouTube is a big company,” He replied.

“Oh is that what it’s for,” I stopped in front of a table. His friends all slid in first so he sat closest to where I was standing. He was really cute, in a puppy dog kind of way. He had brown hair that was decently short, his green eyes crinkled when he smiled and something about him made me feel comfortable around him. He seemed like just a generally warm, nice person.

“Yeah, this week is Playlist live!” he said enthusiastically. “Did you not know?”

“No I didn’t,” I laughed a little more. “Are you going or?”

“We’re all performing,” He told me.

“Oh, well you guys all have fun with that,” I smiled at him. “You’re waiter will be right over.”

I walked back and saw some more people waiting so I seated them too. I stood up at the podium, doing pretty much nothing. I doodled idly for a few minutes before I looked back at the boy from before. He was laughing with his friends. It was bothering me that I couldn’t think of who he was. He took me by surprise by looking back at me and I quickly turned to my doodle. It was just some swirls and flower petals.

“Connor Franta asked about you,” My friend Mackenzie said from beside me.

“Who?” I asked, confused.

“That brunette at my table that keeps looking over here with like five other guys,” She said. “That’s Connor Franta.”

“I’ll have to look him up tonight,” I said off handedly. “What did he ask?”

“What your name was,” She smiled at me. “You just get all the boys.”

“That is such a lie,” I laughed. “We have jobs you know.”

“Fine, fine,” She went to leave. “But if he asks me for your number, I’m giving it to him.”

“You’re horrible,” I pushed her back towards the kitchen.

The rest of my shift was so crazy. There were people everywhere and I almost never stopped moving. Of course I was the only hostess that night because whoever else was supposed to work called in sick. I barely even had time to put the tips away from the tables that everyone brought to me. Finally it was closing so I got to counting the tips so I could split it up between everyone. I sat down at the bar and everyone left me alone. They were used to it by now. There was one extra dollar at the end so I gave it to Damen since he was working extra hard at the bar. I labeled all the money and let everyone take their shares before leaving. As I was walking through the lobby to my car, a bunch of YouTubers were filming there. I recognized some but not others.

“JASMINE!” Someone yelled, it was Damen. “Here, we saved you some of your favorite chicken. There was leftovers and we know you didn’t eat.”

“Aw thanks Damen,” I said gratefully and hugged him. “You’re the best!”

“Anytime, you were like a hurricane tonight,” he joked.

“Well I have a feeling it’ll be like that for a while,” I laughed. “See you tomorrow man.”

“See ya Jaz,” he answered as I walked across the hotel and to my car.

It was midnight by the time I unlocked the door to my apartment. I dropped my tips in a jar in my kitchen and went through my mail that I’d grabbed on my way up. There were a few bills I’d have to pay on Saturday but nothing unmanageable. I plugged my phone into it’s charger and went to go get ready for bed. I almost fell asleep while I was washing my face. I happily climbed into bed and fell right to sleep for the night.

I was woken up at 10 by my alarm. Being the lazy ass that I am, I laid in bed and checked my phone. Mackenzie had texted to ask if I wanted to go grab lunch. I answered sure and went to change into my running clothes. I put in my headphones and went out for a run on the beach. There were tons of people because kids were on their March breaks from Canada. I probably ran for a half hour because it was harder to run on the sand. It made my butt look good though. When I got back I ate a yogurt cup and took a shower. My extensions came out in the shower so I washed them separately. I blow dried my hair and my extensions and put them back in. I put on a little make up and then went to meet Mack for lunch. We had decided on a little place by her apartment.

“How you get so much done in the morning will always baffle me,” She laughed as I walked in.

“It’s not even that hard,” I replied. “Getting your usual?”

“Duh,” She answered.

We ordered our food and sat down at a table. Mackenzie told me stories of all the crazy people she served last night and the latest stupid thing her boyfriend had done. There wasn’t ever much news on my end but I was happy to hear all about Mack’s. Her boyfriend worked for a Cirque du Soleil show down here and had some pretty crazy stories.

“So what are you going to do if Connor shows up tonight?” Mack asked me suddenly.

“Excuse me?” I choked on my tea.

“You know, the cute one from last night,” She said.

“I haven’t even looked him up yet,” I said. “He probably won’t though. Who goes to the same restaurant twice in a row?”

“Okay fair enough, but I think he’ll be back,” She winked at me.

We finished our lunch and I drove home. I made sure the chicken was safely in my fridge since I’d forgotten about it last night, thank god I’d had the sense to put it in there at least. Then I curled up on my couch and searched Connor Franta on YouTube. Sure enough, his cute little face popped up alongside some people I actually watched, the first being Joey Graceffa. So that’s where I knew him from. I spent the rest of my afternoon watching Connor’s videos on my couch.