An Unexpected Serving

Chapter Three: A Day of Firsts

“Well, Hayley, what are you doing here?” he asks. She holds up her book. Derek looks at me. So does the beautiful woman.

“There’s no one available to take care of her right now. I was wondering if she could stay here for the day?” My request sounds so uncertain even I would refuse it.

Derek scratches his chin and glances at the woman. “What do you think, Belle? Can she stay?” Belle studies Hayley intently for a minute.

“As long as she can manage not to disrupt any of our work, I suppose she can stay for the day. Don’t let it become a habit.” The last sentence is directed at me.

“I’m right here, you know. You don’t need to talk about me like I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Hayley mutters. I freeze. Why did teenagers have to think of themselves as the center of the world? I read the expressions of the two coworkers whom I’ve just met.

Derek smiles down at Hayley. He doesn’t seem to be offended. Thankfully, neither does Belle. “So, can I sit over there?” asks Hayley. She points at a table in the corner. Belle nods.

“That’s fine,” she answers. Hayley makes her way to the table. I feel exposed now. Belle’s focus is now completely on me.

I’d been so worried about the job aspect of working here, that I’d forgotten about the other employees. Would they accept me or was I taking away some of the tables from which they got their income?

“Is she here?” a loud woman calls out. She hustles out of a door at the end of the restaurant. I mentally remind myself to figure out the layout as soon as possible.

“Yup. She just got in,” Derek informs her. The woman comes up to me gives me the once over.

“We are overworked here, newbie, and we could use your help.” She is shorter than I’d expect from such an overflowing personality. “I’m Paige the manager. Pleased to meet you, but we don’t have time for chit-chat.” She claps her hands twice. “Chop chop! Let’s start the training.”

I can see Hayley stare at Paige from the corner of my eyes. She seems to be in awe of the short manager. When she catches me watching her, Hayley buries her head in my book again.

“Hello? We have some serious work to do. If you can’t work, I don’t care if Sharpe recommended you. You will be out of here.”

“Her name is Melanie, Paige,” says Derek. He grins at me. I guess to tell me that Paige is always like this.

“Alright, Melanie, where did you work before here?” Paige asks as she walks over to a table in the center of the restaurant.

“Sweet Concoctions. It was a diner,” I answer.

“A self-serve diner?” she asks.

“No. I used to take orders and bring them to our customers.”

“Alright, then. You have some experience.” Paige nods and gestures to the table. There is a piece of paper lying on the table that shows the layout of the restaurant.

The room Paige had come in from was indeed the kitchen. The diagram also has lines separating the restaurant into sections.

“Now that you’re here, we have seven sections. The others will have five tables or ten people to take care of maximum. We’ll give you three tables for now.” I nod. That sounds about as much as I could handle right now. Not as much opportunity for tips, though. I’d have work on that.

“Here is our main menu. Today, you have to go through each of the items. I’ve added notes on the best drinks that go with each dish, so you should check those out as well. You won’t be waiting on anyone tonight. Tomorrow you can stay back there and observe.” Paige points to the door to the kitchen. It is slightly obscured from the rest of the dining area due to a wooden divider.