Rose Tinted (boyxboy)

Chapter 2: Bang Bang Chicken

"Follow Me..."
☆

Max stands across the street from the place, looking at its facade with a sigh. 'Bang Bang Chicken' ...the place where he was to work, hopefully not for too long, It was just a means to an end. A support for his real passion, to be a famous author.

The place had been recommended to him by his roommate and fellow creative, Donny. He had said he knew the boss, but didn't exactly say how, always being somewhat elusive when Max had asked, but now, here he was, fifteen minutes early, ready to start his first shift.

Max tugs a little on the straps of his blue rucksack and breathes out heavily. "Here goes." He mutters to himself under his breath, before waiting for the green man to allow him to cross the street.

As he pushes open the glass door, he is greeted to a wave of seasoned chicken. It instantly made Max feel hungry, though in the back of his mind, he feared the constance of the aroma may put him off over time. He hoped that wouldn't happen. 

He now stands for a few moments by the door, taking in the surroundings. The place wasn't overly huge, only around sixteen tables, but nearly every single one was full. 

There was a decent sized queue of people waiting to be served. Max looks at the guy behind the counter. A big cheesy smile plastering his face every so often. He seemed unphased by the queue of waiting customers as he casually takes his time pressing a single digit to the keypad before him as if he had never done it before in his life. Maybe he hadn't, but Max suspected he had been working here for a while when he hears two girls next to him squeal with excitement as they say, "Oh my God Micky is serving!" Their smiles soon falter however, when a slightly older guy approaches. He is mouthing hurried words, pointing to the queue, then pointing to some tables which needed some attention. This other guy now replaces the cheesy smile boy at the counter, now causing others in the queue to get rather excited, with the words 'tall and handsome' being muttered. 

The first guy is now cleaning tables, with the same steady, all the time in the world work ethic as when he was behind the counter. 

Max again looks ahead to see a young girl. This kid, looking rather baby faced, was stood over a unit of what Max assumed was frying chicken. He watches with interest as the girl occasionally lifts up the metal mesh container, giving the chicken pieces a toss around like they were a five star meal, before again lowering them into the hot fat. Her mouth was constantly moving, as if she was singing to herself, with a palm occasionally stretching out as her eyes closed, before remembering where she actually was and getting on with her job. Max lets a dry chuckle leave his lips. Another one with dreams! He thinks to himself.

He decides to join the back of the queue, behind the two Micky fans, who were now watching with interest at how he sprayed detergent on the table, before wiping it away with a cloth. Max rolls his eyes at the spectacle. It looked like the guy was oblivious.

The queue, now that someone else is behind the counter, seems to move along much faster, with Max getting closer to the front. He feels a mild surge of adrenaline rush through him, as he always did, when having to engage with new people, but he knew this had to be done. He needed this job to keep his real dream alive.

Max is now at the front, facing a tall and yes, rather handsome guy. The people previously in front of him in the line were in fact correct. "Hi, welcome to Bang Bang chicken. What can I get you today sir?" The guy reels off the repetitive lines, not even looking up at Max.

"Hi...I'm here to start working with you today. I'm Max Adams. Donny recommended me. Donny O'Sullivan." Max manages to muster up a modest smile on his face.

"Oh hi, excuse me... sorry...Micky!" the guy hollers for the previous employee to return post haste which he actually does, putting the cleaning products away en route and hurrying around to the back of the counter. "Take over from me." He instructs, moving along the counter, gesturing for Max to shadow him. 

"Sorry about that. I knew you were starting today, but I didn't know what you looked like. I'm the supervisor here. I'm Jojo." He offers a hand out for Max to shake. Max looks at the hand and lifts his own up to meet the gesture.

"Thanks for this, Donny says Hi by the way." Max says, his smile now a little more relaxed. Max watches the guy's face change slightly by the name, with his cheeks reddening and his eyes creasing slightly as he smiles.

"Tell him hi back." He replies, clearing his throat to try to regain his focus. "Follow me." He adds and Max nods, tailing behind his new boss as they make their way from the bustle of the restaurant. 

They are now stood in a small corridor, painted a mid grey, with a few doors set in the wall and a fire exit situated at the back. "So there's not much to see out here, but this is my office." Max looks to see a 'Manager' plaque stuck rather crudely on the door. 

"This is just a store cupboard". He adds, pushing the next door open just slightly to reveal cleaning supplies and non food items, such as takeaway boxes and napkins. A tiny window at the end, letting out a slight glow into the room. 

"Staff room up here." Jojo says, pushing the third door open to reveal some stairs leading up to another closed door. Max looks at all the doors so far. They all looked the same. 

"One last door." Jojo adds pushing the grey door open and this time beckoning Max to follow. "You can change here and there is a toilet through there." Jojo points to yet another grey door. "What size do you take? I'll grab you a tshirt." He asks as Max takes his backpack from his back and settles it on a bench opposite some lockers. 

"Um...medium." He guesses, not too sure, most of his clothes hung off him anyway. Jojo nods and begins to rummage in a cupboard and pulls out a tshirt, absentmindedly sniffing it before handing it to Max.

"That will do for now. I'll order you a new one after your probation." He adds. 

Max looks at the slightly washed out tshirt, with nasty deodorant marks staining the pits. He tries to hide his distaste at the garment, wondering who had worn it before him and if they were even clean. 

"I'll leave you to get changed, then meet me in my office ok?" Jojo says, now heading out of one of the many grey doors. 

"Thanks." Max replies as he begrudgingly begins to pull his hoodie over his head.