Wit-Pro (Jenlisa)

7. The First Day

Lisa ~Pranpriya

Monday came around faster than I would have liked and it was already the day that Jen and I started at our jobs. Fortunately our new workplaces were only a block or two around the corner from each other, and we both had to be there by 10am, so we left together. I think I was more nervous than Jennie was, if not, then she's good at concealing her emotions. It's a little harder for me to hide my sweaty palms and anxious nail biting.

"Hey, you good?" We'd left the apartment a couple minutes ago and I already had the urge to turn and run back.

"Mmmhmm, yeah I'm fine." Nevertheless, she grabbed my wrists, halting our movements.

"Lisa, look at me. You're scared right? Me too. I've never done anything like this, not to mention it's gonna be our first time properly interacting with others as Ruby and Priya, I get it, we can't screw up and there's a lot at stake. But you have to remember to breathe as well yeah?" She rubbed her hands up and down my arms and combed through my bangs gently with her fingers. "There. Feeling better?"

I nodded and she gave my hand a quick squeeze in reassurance.

"Come on the poopoo, the quicker we start, the quicker we can get back to the flat, sat in front of the TV, with hot chocolate in our hands."

----

We passed Jen's cafe first, so after a quick goodbye, I was left alone to complete the short walk to PlanetRadio, which was the name of the new video store I was starting at. The outside looked kind of dark and small, but cool, with neon patterns painted on the glass, and all sorts of vintage electronics on show in the display window. I walked in and went up to the front desk, ringing the little bell to alert them that I was here.

"Just a second!" A voice came from the back, but before long, a girl emerged, dressed in cuffed jeans and a navy 'PlanetRadio' shirt. She had thick black eyeliner, a nose ring and dark hair with green highlights, that was tied into two low ponytails. I concluded that she couldn't be that much older than me. Eyeing me up and down from behind the counter, she dumped a pile of cassette tapes onto the desk.

"And how may I help you?"

"Hi. I'm P-Pranpriya." I scrambled to pull some papers out of my bag, before handing them to her. "I'm due to start working here today? Here are my documents of recommendation, oh, and my ID."

The girl scanned quickly over the papers, uninterested, before holding them back out to me.

"Oh yeah, Johnny mentioned someone new might be starting soon. Okay, follow me." I stuffed my things back in my bag before following her to the back room. Quite frankly, I'm shocked that she didn't ask more questions. I was expecting an interview of sorts, but I'm not complaining.

"This is where we clock in and out, you'll come in through the back door before every shift. In here also doubles as the break room, only like, 5 of us work here, you included, so thats why it's pretty small." She gestured for me to follow her again as she led me through another door. She may have been shorter than me, but she sure could walk fast, I struggled to keep up.

"This is the girls changing room,well, we're the only two girls here anyway so I guess, our changing room. You can dump your coat and bag in this locker here." She paused for a minute as she looked at me through squinted eyes.

"How tall are you?"

"Ermm, 166cm or 5'6-ish, I think.."

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "I hate you already." Reaching on her tiptoes, she retrieved a shirt wrapped in plastic. "This size ought to fit you I hope, and one of the boys will have your name tag printed by the end of the week. I believe thats everything, so you can change into your uniform in here, before meeting me out front. I'll teach you how the register and stuff works. Any questions?" She leant against the wall as she nibbled on her nails, halfheartedly waiting for me to respond.

"No, but thank you Jisoo."

She looked me in the eye, bewildered, before realising that I was pointing at-

"Your name tag, thats, how I know."

"Oh, yeah of course, right. You had me there for a second Pranpriya, thought I was dealing with a stalker or some shit." She chuckled gently to herself as she walked out the room, leaving me to change in private.

Jisoo may not be dealing with a stalker, but she is kinda dealing with a runaway.

Jen ~ Ruby

"Hey lady, I ordered a macchiato, not a latte. Come on get it together!"

"My deepest apologies Sir, I will get that fixed for you right away." I put on my fakest smile as I sent the order back to the kitchen.

"Another one newbie, seriously?" I banged my head on the wall behind me as I stuffed my hands into the pocket of my apron, looking for the cigarette I hid in there earlier.

"I know, I know, I fucked up again, I'm sorry Rosie." I took the plates she handed me and dumped them in the sink. "I guess I'm not cut out for this job, you might have to let me go." I pouted as I scrubbed at a dish, trying my best to look heartbroken.

"Ha, you're not getting off that easily Ruby." Rosie tightened her apron before heading to the coffee machine. "Now what did the customer at table 7 actually want?"

Shit. "Ummm, I think it was an espresso, no, a frappe, no, no a latte. Definitely a latte. But don't take my full word for it."

Rosie stifled a giggle as she fired up the machine. "Just make sure you at least make those cups and plates shine, okay newbie?"

"Yes chef!" I saluted sharply, spraying murky dishwater all over the left side of my face in the process.

Lisa ~ Pranpriya

I kicked my shoes off at the door before slumping onto the sofa. It was only half 6 and I was tired. I'm used to working whenever I want in short bursts of 2-3 hours, depending on the shoot, so working 8 hour shifts is gonna take some adjusting.

I re-read the text Jen sent me letting me know that she'd be home 'sometime before 8', so I chose to just heat up some ramen for dinner. After watching some Netflix, I got into the shower, but didn't hear the front door open when Jennie came in,welding a lumpy looking bag.

"Hey Lise, I'm home-"

She paused in the hallway taking in my appearance as I stood wrapped in a small towel, soaking wet, bangs askew with skin the color of salmon.

"Hi Jen, welcome back. Sorry I'll just go change real quick." Scurrying into my room, I got changed at lightning speed and towel dried my hair. I almost went without the roller in my bangs before deciding that, if Jennie's gonna see me everyday, she might as well get used to an occasionally bangless Lisa.

"What you got there?" I asked her as I took my seat next to her on the sofa. The lumpy looking plastic bag was now sat on the coffee table and I was dying to see the contents inside.

"Oh, it's just some bits from the bakery, you know, cookies, muffins, pastries, shit that didn't sell. Rosie insists on baking everything fresh in the morning so it would have just gone to waste otherwise, help yourself."
She had her eyes closed as she placed her head on a throw pillow and sighed deeply. She must have had a tiring first day.I badly wanted to ask her how it went, who 'Rosie' was, if anything funny happened, but I sensed her exhaustion and left it alone. I could see that her bun had come undone and she had a little smear of flour on her forehead, just above her right eyebrow. I was itching to brush a hair behind her ear, to lick my thumb and rub off the smudge, but I kept my hands to myself, instead reaching for the bag.

"Thanks Jen." I bit into a chocolate donut that tasted heavenly. "By the way, I already ate dinner, but I left some ramen for you on the stove, might need heating up though."

"Thanks, Lis.." She muttered, but before I knew it, she'd fallen asleep.

Jennie napped for 40 minutes before I woke her up and forced her to at least eat something small and have a quick shower. After she was done, we cuddled up in blankets on the sofa (we're not at the stage where we're literally cuddling yet, but we were sat close enough) and binge-watched a couple episodes of 'Unsolved Mysteries'.

All in all, it was an okay day in my book. I shouldn't have worried at all.