The Jealousy Game

Five - Ruby's

"Hey Ruby, this is Nell, the girl I was telling you about. She's here for the job." Roxanne explains with a point of her thumb.

"Ah hello Nell, excuse the mess, I am run off my feet with not enough workers and my mother in hospital." Ruby apologises as she stands up to shake my hand, wiping hers on her leather pants first.

"Oh hello Ruby, not to worry. You have an awesome café." I reply with a grin.

"Thank you darlin'. Roxanne please go back and help John and Amanda. I'll have a little chat with Nell now." Ruby instructs, and Roxanne gives my hand an encouraging squeeze and flashes me a bright smile before heading back to work. "So Nell, do you have any experience in the hospitality sector?" Ruby asks as she leans onto her desk and crosses her arms.

"Erm yes. I worked at a small café in high school, and I have a reference here from my boss." I reveal as I fish around in my bag for that darn piece of paper. I hand it to Ruby when I find it who skims over it briefly.

"Ok, this all looks good. What days can you do and how many hours a week?" She asks.

"Well mostly evenings and early mornings, but Friday afternoon is clear. Also about hours - I was thinking ten or so a week?"

"Ok that's fine; I pay all my staff $13 an hour. Can you do an hour now?"

"Erm sure." I reply, surprised at how fast this is going, but I guess this is what happens when you are desperate.

"Ok your hired, your work will be on a rota basis, but I will put you down for two opening shifts a week and two closing shifts, and you will be asked to cover other shifts if anyone is off sick. Any problems speak to my niece Amanda; she runs that side of things for me."

"Seriously? You're hiring me just like that?" I ask, feeling relieved.

"Why, is there any reason I shouldn't?" She asks as she raises an eyebrow.

"No of course not, thank you." I hurriedly say.

"Ok go and speak to Roxanne, she will get you a t-shirt and apron to wear. Also please bear in mind you are not irreplaceable - if you regularly turn up late or have a bad attitude I will just fire you." Ruby warns and I nod in understanding. "But anyway, welcome to the team, any problems just speak to Amanda or me." Ruby finishes with a smile before returning to her desk.

"Thank you, I will make sure to work hard." I promise on my way out.

As I exit from the room, I feel so relieved and happy that I have a job. I make my way back out into the main café area and notice Roxanne making drinks for a couple of people I recognise from college. As we are so close to the college, I guess I will see a lot of classmates in here.

"How did it go?" Roxanne squeals once she is done with the drinks.

"Well thank you! I got the job!"

"Yay! We are work buddies now! What shifts are you doing?" She asks.

"Mornings and evenings I think."

"Oh man that's a bummer... The café opens at six am, meaning you will have to get here for quarter to." Roxanne pouts sympathetically, making me cry inside.

Early mornings and me do not mix well, and I have a feeling our biggest customer is going to be me just so I can get through the day.

"Come on then, I'll introduce you to everyone and get your uniform."

The uniform is a plain black top with 'Ruby's' embroidered into it in red swirly writing, with a matching black apron. I quickly changed into it in the bathroom, and hung up my coat and bag in the staff cloakroom. There are four other employees at Ruby's, including Roxanne, which are John, Amanda and Darcy. Seemingly they are all nice, although John is a bit of a flirt and has wandering hands. They are in college like us, but in their last year, and Amanda is assistant manager to Ruby. Apparently you do not want to get on the wrong side of Amanda who runs a tight ship, and is pleasant as long as you are an obedient puppet and don't step out of line. She has long ginger hair with porcelain skin, and is freakishly tall - I think she must be around six foot four!

Darcy isn't working at the minute so I haven't had a chance to meet her yet. Roxanne starts by showing me how to use the coffee machine and getting me to wipe down the tables once customers leave. I make sure to work hard even though the work is kind of boring and monotonous. Roxanne sets me up with John on the till a little while later, after warning him to keep his hands to himself. He isn't too bad really, and kind of cute looking with bleached blonde hair and a gappy smile. I get the hang of the register quite quickly with John's help, until the evening rush starts to settle down and I am back to clearing tables with Roxie.

I decide to stay on until the end of the shift to help the others out, and we all find ourselves counting down the minutes to six thirty, having to refrain from kicking a few stragglers out the door. When at last the sign is flipped to closed and the café is empty apart from us and Ruby (who is still hibernating away in her office), we only have to finish clearing up and preparing for tomorrow morning before we can go. Amanda leaves without helping to tidy anything away, but no one can challenge her considering she has a title above us.

"Hey Nell, my room mate and I are having a party at our place Saturday evening. You should come. You too Roxanne." John suggests as he puts a few plates and glasses in the dishwasher.

I look over to Roxie who is cleaning the adjacent table and nods in encouragement.

"Ok sounds good... can I bring a friend?" I ask.

"If she's as beautiful as you of course." He winks making me roll my eyes.

"All three of us will be there." Roxie confirms.

Wow my first college party! I'm excited to get wild and force Waverly to come with me, although I'm sure we will both really enjoy it.

"Great... and the kitchen is done." He whoops. "Are you girls ok to close up for Ruby?"

"Yeah of course, enjoy your night John." Roxanne calls out.

"Bye!" I wave.

"See you soon ladies."

Once he has left we only have a little more to do, and are soon turning off the lights and locking up, after shouting a goodbye to Ruby. Luckily our apartment is only ten minutes away from the shop, so it is an easy walk, although a chilly night and the stars are covered up with a blanket of fog.

"So what do you think of John? He's totally into you! Do you think you will sleep with him Saturday? He is certainly skilled in the bedroom department." Roxanne giggles with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Eww how do you know that?" I laugh and playfully shove her.

"We went to the same high school – we messed around a bit back then, and last week when I got the job and we were reunited." Roxanne shrugs.

"So you wouldn't care if we slept with the same guy? You don't have feelings for him at all?" I ask with my cold hands tucked deep into my coat pockets as we stroll along to our apartment building.

"Well I did forever ago but not anymore. Anyway, it's not as if it's a big deal – only one night. You know how these things go." No I don't.

"Yeah..." I answer hesitantly, although I am certainly not going to be sleeping with anyone at the party.

I decide not to tell Roxanne that I am a virgin and want my first time to be special. She is obviously very experienced with all things sex, and I don't want her to see me as a child, although I know being a virgin at eighteen and three quarters isn't actually a bad thing. However lately I have been wondering whether I should bother waiting for Mr Right, as the likelihood of ending up with the person you lose your virginity to isn't very high, and I am kind of living in a fairy-tale. Apparently boys prefer experienced girls anyway. Oh well, I'm not going to drop my standards just to please some guy I probably haven't even met!

Unless Zander falls in love with me of course...

Edited