The Phantom Touch

The Trouble with Mages

I spent the next couple of days training at Tuck.  I had to learn how to use the point of sale system, how to properly clean up the store during down times, and, most of all, I had to learn how to not throw up on the merchandise.

After I had to step outside to dry heave for the third time, I started to wonder if Calista was going to fire me before I even got started.  However, she always greeted me upon return with a bored expression on her face and an anxious tap of her foot.  When I was able to properly wrap up a chunk of purplish-blue thigh without gagging on the last day of my training, I finally earned myself a smile from Calista.

Unfortunately, that also meant Calista was ready to turn the intensity up a notch.  At the end of that day, several of the staff showed up to help wrap and prepare the various cuts of human meat to be sold the following day.  The only thing that kept me going, while I handled organs and slices of buttocks, was meeting a few zombies I didn't already know.  I also got the feeling talking to me was helping them too.  Despite the fact Calista and Matias had treated everyone, except me, to a hearty dinner of decaying human flesh, my coworkers still looked longingly at all the product we were handling.  We all needed help keeping our minds off things.

So by the time Monday rolled around I was looking forward to starting my first real day of work at Tuck.  Even more so, since it was also my day to have breakfast with Everett.  I had been so busy with training that I didn't have a chance to properly share my good news with him.  I thought I might even treat him to breakfast for once, since I was going to be getting a paycheck at the end of the week.

"You sure I can't get you anything, hon?"  Hen watched me from the corner of her eye as she cleaned off another table at the Brew and Stew.  Only a handful of patrons lingered from the breakfast rush and most were on their way out.

"It would be rude to start without him.  I don't have to go into work until noon.  That's when we're doing the second round of grand opening festivities!"  Tuck had officially opened at midnight that day, but I wasn't invited for the ribbon cutting since there would be a lot of hungry vampires.  And though zombies don't need to sleep, it didn't mean they stayed up 24/7.  So the night shift enjoyed greeting the vampire crowd before closing up at dawn.  Calista would be straightening up after the party in the morning and then it would open for the zombies at noon with the same fanfare as midnight.

"That sounds like a lot of fun," said Hen with a small smile, though it didn't stop me from noticing how her eyes glanced up to her clock.  It was nine in the morning.  All the laborers were in the fields and the diner would be transitioning from breakfast into lunch in only a couple hours.

"It will be," I said with an optimistic twist of my lips and a small voice.  "It will be fine."

I watched Hen and a couple of her staff finish with cleaning up the restaurant while the kitchen crew took the chance to scrub their pots and wipe down the counters.  I eventually consented to a cup of coffee when Irene walked into the diner.

"Hey Del, missed you at breakfast this morning," the vibrant young woman said as she hopped onto a stool next to me.  "Spencer whipped up some biscuits that were so light and fluffy they had to weigh less than him!"  She laughed at her own joke, her smile wide and radiant.  She then reached out and snagged a menu, her numerous bracelets and rings clinking against the countertop.

"I guess they didn't fill you up if you're ordering food here," I said as I gazed at the menu from over her shoulder, longing for a stack of waffles or a tower of pancakes.

"She never orders anything," sighed Hen, who came over and took a seat at a nearby stool.  It might have been the first time I'd ever seen her rest.  In fact, I wasn't even sure Hen left the diner.