Ariel Had been handed over to the waitress who had already been at work when Ariel came in the diner. She listened intently to every single thing the morning shift waitress was telling her. Nodding her head constantly Tying the black apron she had been handed, on over her jeans and flannel. Putting the small notepad and pencil she was handed into the large pocket of the apron. Trying to memorize how to work the industrial coffee machine.
Trying to smile as she was introduced to Tyrone the head cook. He pointed to a cheat sheet of short hand code for different menu items underneath the heat lamp warmed pass through for finished plates. The waitress area was impeccably organized, with a lot of clear labels on everything. Making it very easy for her to pick up the routine and flow.
She hadn't lied, she had worked as a waitress, but it was only a temp kind of job situation. A fill in. The kind of precarious work where she just had to sign up at an agency every morning and hopefully they found some kind of random job for her to go and be a living, semi-functional body. Sometimes she stocked grocery or big box stores overnight. Sometimes she had needed to work as a server at events. Sometimes people hired temp workers to show up as paid protesters or supporters for causes she knew nothing about.
Occasionally there were longer term contracts, a couple weeks during a rush period for jobs that require some training before they could be done. Which is how she had ended up in the chicken processing job. Thinking a steady income for a few weeks with a completion bonus at the end of the contract would be worth the effort. It had not been, she still had nightmares about that job. Even after everything that come after.
She had lots of work experience, just not a lot of experience at any one job. This was something new, she felt a tiny thrill as she watched Binh take down the red and white help wanted sign from the window. Beth-Ann, not Bethany, not Beth space Anne. The waitress had stressed the point of how to say her name very clearly to Ariel.
Ariel introduced herself as "Jenny, Jenny Hunt." Beth-Ann shook her hand with a smile. Beth-Ann was kind and efficient as she went through everything she felt a new server should know on their first day. Including a warning that she better not get a crush on their boss because there was a line to try and land him. Everything Beth-Ann said had a slight air to it like was almost rehearsed, and she'd done this exact speech before.
Ariel as Jenny had laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not dating." She said definitively. Beth-Ann nodded like Ariel had said more than she had said. Ariel meant it. Men were trouble. No matter how handsome they were, or how they managed to stop her mid panic attack. Her cheeks burned at the reminder of her recent embarrassment. She wasn't going to mention the mental breakdown to Beth-Ann, and so far Beth-Ann had been good enough to pretend she had seen nothing out of the ordinary about 'Jenny'.
Beth-Ann had her own dark past and problems, same with every other staff member. There was an unspoken rule that if Binh hired someone, it was someone who was in need. This dinner was a community that took care of their own. Trusting that their very, generous boss knew what he was doing.
After the morning rush, when there was a long lull in new customers, Beth-Ann had implored 'Jenny' to let her do her makeup. Ariel didn't know how to say no and found herself being painted by a very enthusiastic Beth-Ann who was working through cosmetology school.
Beth-Ann had hissed in shock when she went to tuck Ariel's long mousy hair behind her ear and saw the red still healing tear in her ear. Telling Ariel she would be back in a second, returning with a fully stocked first aid kit, cleaning the wound with an alcohol wipe before applying antibiotic ointment, and covering it all with a small piece of gauze and tape.
Finally Beth-Ann produced a robin's egg blue silk scarf. Neatly tied the scarf around Ariel's head like a headband.Tying the ends in a bow over the ear, Keeping the gauze bandage hidden under the folded band of scarf and her own hair. "That looks nasty, we can change the bandage tomorrow." Beth-Ann said putting on a swipe of tinted lipgloss on Ariel's lips, near dying to know what the hell had happened, but asking directly would go against one of the silent rules to not pry into anyone's past.
Ariel as Jenny tried to find a way to express her absolute gratitude. Only managing to get a whispered thank you out past her lips. Beth-Ann smiled broadly. "Go on, have a look in the mirror, I'll check on the table." Beth-Ann said, walking away and giving Ariel a moment to herself. She went to the small washroom for the dinner, and was almost shocked when she looked at her reflection.
The dark bags under the eyes had been hidden, blush, and highlighter had made her skin come alive. The winged cat-eye made her blue eyes look larger and she had never seen herself with mascara done so perfectly. The light berry colour on her lips was the perfect shade of pink for her skin. Beth-Ann had tamed her hair, and the scarf being used to hide the gauze and her torn ear was more style than she had enjoyed in years. Jenny, left the bathroom with a real smile, not a fake one.
Jenny found that she liked being a waitress, the dinner was busy today without ever being overwhelmed with tables. Her coworkers one and all were kind to her. Seemed like good, decent people. She had been working for a few hours when Tyrone called her into the back, putting a club sandwich and plate of fries in front of her. "Eat." He said, turning back to his grill. Ariel tried to pretend that she wasn't hungry again already after her large breakfast. However, once she started eating, she couldn't stop herself from devouring every single bite on her plate.
She drank water from a plastic cup and when she was done, and moving her plate to the dish pit so Ripley the dishwasher-Bus boy and kitchen helper when needed; Tyrone put up another plate of food and called Beth-Anne back for her turn to eat. Leaving Jenny the first day waitress on her own to mind the dinner floor.
It had been going well, but as she was moving to take table thirty-two their orders, someone had come through at a near run. She stopped short to avoid a collision, but dropped one of the plates. She had looked at the mess with absolute horror. Wasted food. Broken dishes. A mess on the floor.
She didn't even have a chance for her panic to fully bloom when Ripley appeared beside her with a broom and dustpan on a long handle, sweeping the broken plate up with a smile, "Telling her not to worry about it." Hearing as Tyrone called a refire on table thirty two. Three minutes later, the new plate was safely delivered to the patron by Beth-Ann. The floor was clean, and no one was mad at her. There had been no punishment. No loud voices. No pain or threats for later.
It had near left her dazed. She was left troubled as she realized how deeply her recent past had conditioned her to be a scared, submissive person she didn't recognize as herself. She had grown up alone in cities, she had been good at living on her own, taking care of herself. Being small and unnoticeable to avoid trouble, but always standing up for herself when it was needed.
She had no idea who she was. Jenny the waitress seemed as good a place to start as anywhere else. Better really than any option she had imagined. She had gathered a few small tips in cash today. At four thirty in the afternoon two new waitresses appeared for the evening shift at the dinner. Monique and Kit could not be any more different from each other. Monique was dressed like a goth dream and Kit was in all pastel shades of pinks and purples and cream layered together.
Binh appeared from his back office, welcoming the afternoon team, handing Beth-Ann and 'Jenny' their daily wages. Jenny had a look, then looked again, there was over a hundred dollars in the envelope. "This is too much?" She tried to do quick math in her head as she counted the one hundred and fifty six dollars she had been handed to guess how much per hour she had made, but math had never been one of her strong subjects. This was too much money for hourly wages, even if all the tables had tipped generously it was still too much money.
The other serves all laughed. Not in a mean way or at her expense. "Binh is a great boss right?" Monique chirped, as Beth-Ann and Kit all laughed along and Binh looked as awkward as Ariel felt to be the centre of attention.
Binh flipped his braid back over his shoulder, "I pay what I consider to be fair wages for fair work." Ariel felt like there was a hidden meaning in his words. She got distracted from that thought as Beth-Ann skipped out the door with a smile on her face. Leaving Ariel alone with Binh as Monique and Kit went to the back to drop their things, returning quickly and running through the expo station to see what needed doing. Everyone was rehearsed, knew what they were doing and where they were supposed to be.
Binh looked at Ariel, like he could see through all her lies with his haunting pale gray eyes."Do you have classes I need to schedule around?" He asked her. Like he knew she was unattached and floating free with nothing to hold on to.
She shook her head, "I'm more aspiring to maybe attend school right now." Lying and not lying at the same time.
He nodded, like he already knew that she wasn't really a student and had hired her in spite of the lie. "Same shift tomorrow then? Beth-Ann will be on again." Ariel as Jenny nodded. "I will see you tomorrow," A pause, "Jenny." Ariel nodded again. Awkwardly. Heading to the back to grab her bag. She picked up the heavy canvas bag, turning as Tyrone passed by on his way out for a smoke break now that the evening cook had arrived to help during the busy supper rush and would watch the grill late into the night. Be safe, Tyrone had called out to her as she made her way back out into the world.