Expected ("Unexpected" Book #2)- ON HOLD

Chapter Nineteen: Marissa

I went looking for work on that first day where Jake would be in school. I dropped Ben and Alissa off at my dad's apartment before I drove around the streets looking for the places I circled in the newspaper. I wanted something with flexible hours and that was close to home. The drive was exhausting considering that I was driving slow and people kept honking at me. I needed to see if I was in the right place.
  I eventually decided to just park the car in a nearby lot and wander through town on foot. Walking instead of driving was truthfully much easier. I got a good look at the places and wondered if I could see myself working at the said place.
  I stopped in front of a coffee house that had a sign saying NOW HIRING with a little note underneath saying "Ask for the manager." Maybe I will check it out. They played very good music in there and people were enjoying themselves.
  I walked in and went straight for the counter where a barista was in the middle of putting caramel in a latte. "Hello, are you still hiring?"
  She stopped mid-spritz to look at me. "Yes, we are." She handed the latte to a customer before looking back at me. "I'll go grab the manager." Before she left, she asked another barista behind the counter to take over for her for a couple of minutes.
  It wasn't long until a middle-aged guy who had some muscle on him with slicked-back grey hair entered from the back wearing an apron with a tag that read manager.
  "May I help you?" he asked once he was pointed out to me. He seemed nice enough. He talked almost the same way Paul does.
  "Yes, I am interested in the job."
  He nodded and motioned his hand towards a table nearby. "Take a seat and we'll talk."
  I did as he asked and took one of the seats at a two-person round table close to the counter. He sat across from me, his hands interlocked together on the top of the table.
  "Hi, I'm Kyle and I am the manager here," he introduced himself.
  "I'm Marissa Thomas-Murray," I introduced back.
  "By any chance, do you have a resume?" he asked calmly.
  I nodded and pulled it out of my purse, handing it to him. I've been working on it for days. Luckily, Jake was good at making this type of stuff. He informed me of everything I needed to write on it and even filled some out for me from what he remembers.
  He took it from me and read over it carefully, nodding his head at times. "Everything looks good. Lucky for you, we don't really require any experience because this is a beginner job. But I would love to have you working here. We're very low staff right now so what's the chances of you being able to start today?"
  My eyes grew wide. Well, that was fast. "That'd be fine."
  He nodded and stood up. "I'll go grab you an apron from the back and Kelley will walk you through everything."
  He left and walked over to the counter, talking to a girl who was around my age before heading to the back of the coffee house.
  As I was standing up, the girl he was talking to rounded the counter and walked over in my direction. "Hi, I'm Kelley," the girl said once she approached me. She also seemed very nice. "Welcome. I guess I'm walking you through everything. It's not that hard once you get the hang of it."
  I smiled and extended my hand to her. "Thank you. I'm Marissa by the way."
  She shook my hand gently. "It's very nice to meet you, Marissa. I'm Kelley." She motioned her head to the counter. "I'll have you start off by cleaning tables and then I'll have you assist me in making the coffees."
  I nodded and followed her towards the counter. "Sounds like a plan."
  As soon as we got to the counter, Kyle returned holding a green apron, holding it out to me. 
  "Thank you," I said and took the apron from him, putting it on over my head and tying it around my waist.
  He gave me a kind smile as he pointed out what he wanted me to do. "Since it's your first day, I want you to start off busting tables. College students are pigs. And then I'll have Kelley show you the ways of the coffee machines."
  Kelley held up a hand. "I already informed her about this. I'm sure she'll do great."
  "I'm sure she will too." He gave me a friendly nod. "Good luck." And with that, he turned around and headed back to his office.
  I was suddenly met with a rectangular bucket with cleaning supplies in it placed in my hands. Kelley had placed them there. "Any dirty table gets a cleaning."
  I nodded and wandered out into the dining area. I placed the bucket on a chair at a messy table where coffee cups and napkins were scattered on it. Crumbs littered almost every inch of the table.
  I sighed and started clearing the trash off the table when my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I stopped what I was doing and took my phone out, staring at the screen. It was Jake requesting a facetime chat. I can continue to clean the table and tell him about the job at the same time. I pressed accept and watched his face come into focus. It looked like he was outside. The sun shining behind him. 
  "Hey, babe," he greeted first. He seemed in a cheery mood.
  I could barely hear him over the noise of the coffee house. I held up a finger to let him know I needed a moment as I pulled my earbuds out of my pocket. Having to put my phone down for a moment so I could untangle them. Once they were situated in the phone jack, I picked my phone back up and smiled at my husband. "Hey, sorry, it's noisy here."
  He nodded and shifted his head around as if he was trying to see my surroundings. "Where are you?" he asked. His voice was definitely more clear now.
  "I got a job. They were short staff and basically hired me on the spot."
  "That's amazing, Mar. Where are you working?"
  "This coffee house a couple of blocks away from the apartment. It pays more than the autobody shop, that's for sure."
  Jake let out a laugh. He stopped laughing when someone started talking from beside him. He was nodding his head at the person until he finally turned back to me with a wide smile. "Hey, I would like you to meet someone." He shifted his phone so another person's face came into view beside him. It was a boy who looked a little younger than Jake and I. His hair was dark brown and tousled on the top of his head. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a single dog tag hanging from his neck. When he waved at me I noticed he had several tattoos lining his arms. "This is Jace. He's in my Bio class," Jake introduced him.
  I gave this Jace guy a friendly wave. "Hey, Jace. You being good to my boy?" 
  He nodded and threw his arm over Jake's shoulder. I stifled a laugh. Jace had to be about four, maybe six inches taller than Jake. I've never seen someone who could tower over Jake like that. Except for Shawn but this kid had to also be taller than Shawn. 
  "Don't worry. He's in good hands," Jace said and ruffled Jake's hair. The same way an older brother would with his younger brother.
  I pouted out my bottom lip, looking at Jake as if he were seventeen years younger. "Aw. Jake, you made new friends on your first day? I'm so proud of you."
  He rolled his eyes at me but I could see the smile forming on his face. Jake pointed a thumb at Jace once his eyes were back on me. "He didn't give me a choice. He wouldn't shut up."
  I turned my eyes to Jace and gave him a playful look, a look of a mother who just caught her child doing something they weren't supposed to. "Jace, did you talk during class?"
  He waved his hand at the camera and let out a scoff. "That teacher's uptight anyway. I was doing him a favor."
  I nodded. Obviously, this kid had to be the jokester in high school. "Class clown?"
  Jace shrugged one of his shoulders, high enough that it reached his cheek. "Eh. More like an executive badass."
  I covered my mouth as a laugh escaped my mouth. This guy's pretty cool. I stopped and looked away from the camera to see Kyle motioning at me to get back to work. I assured him I would right away and turned back to the phone. "You two behave yourselves. I have to get back to work."
  Jake grinned. "Okay. I love you, Mar."
  I brought my fingertips to my lips and blew him a small kiss. "Love you too, Jake." I gave Jace a kind smile. "It was really nice meeting you, Jace."
  Jace tilted his chin up at me. "You too."
  I was the first to say "bye" and hung up my phone, putting it back in my packet. I picked up the cleaning solution from the bucket and got back to cleaning the table.