CHAPTER 2
I woke up to a wonderful smell. Someone was cooking. I rolled over and looked at my clock to see it read 8:05 a.m. Dammit, I so wanted to sleep in, but I needed money more than I needed sleep at this point. My measly savings from baby-sitting and waitressing for two years wasn't going to last long in downtown Dallas.
I padded down the hallway to see Stephanie at the stove. "Hey, whatcha cookin'?"
"I've got bacon, eggs, and pancakes. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah, I guess. Two questions... First, why the hell are you up so early? Second, where did all of this food come from?" I groaned as I poured myself a cup of coffee.
"I always wake up early after I have a late night. You know this. I crash the following night, which will be tonight. The food, my mom bought when she was here a couple days ago. She wanted us to be stocked up, so we wouldn't have to worry about it."
"Your mom is awesome."
"Yeah, she's really helped us out."
We sat at the table and ate breakfast in a comfortable silence. I could already tell we were embarking on the best couple of years of our lives. I smiled to myself. This was really happening.
"I really don't feel well," Nic moaned, stumbling into the kitchen.
"Gosh, girl. You look like a furry turd," Steph said.
"Speaking of fur, you need some hair of the dog." I got up, moving to my bedroom.
"What? Hair of what dog?" she asked.
Steph laughed again. "Pipe, did you really bring booze with you?"
"Yes, ma'am," I said, walking back in.
"Oh Lord, I don't think drinking more is going to be good for me," Nic said.
"Just drink a bunch of water and take some painkillers. You're dehydrated, Nic," Steph explained.
"Yeah, you better hurry up and get to feeling better. We have to find jobs today," I joked with her.
"I'll jump in the shower; maybe that will make me feel better," she grumbled, walking back to her room.
We all got dressed and practiced our interview questions as we made our way to one end of the city. We tried clothing stores first. I don't know why we thought it would be easier to work in those types of places, but we were wrong. They didn't even let us fill out applications. I wasn't particularly jumping for joy at the thought of working at the Gap, but I'd learned a long time ago that beggars couldn't be choosers. Growing up with a single mother had enlightened me to the value of a dollar. Plus, it wasn't like we had experience to do anything else.
We looked for jobs everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean we started at one end of the city and worked our way back into town. I wasn't sure what we were gonna do, short of selling our plasma. I started to make a joke about it, but could clearly read the frustration on the girls' faces. Now was not the time.
Finally, we gave up and went back to On the Rocks for lunch. After we were seated, I realized they were really busy during the lunch hour. Our waitress looked frazzled as she walked up to take our orders.
"Hey, girls. What can I get for you?"
"You guys are busy at lunch time, huh?" I asked, just making conversation.
"Honey, it's like this all hours of the day. We are so short-handed right now."
"Really? Are you guys hiring?"
"We sure are. Are you interested?"
"We all are. We just moved here and are out looking for jobs today."
"I'll bring some applications over and introduce you to Brandon. He's the manager and he's actually here right now."
"Sounds great. Thanks." I smiled.
"What are you doing?" Nic quietly asked as the waitress walked away.
"What do you mean? I'm getting us jobs."
"Piper, I can't work at a bar. My dad will kill me."
"We can and we are. We need jobs, and this place is hiring. We've been through half of Dallas, Nic. No one else is hiring right now."
"It would be cool if we all worked at the same place," Stephanie commented, shrugging her shoulders.
Right before I could reply, the manager walked up to our table. "Hello, ladies. I'm Brandon, and I manage this pub. Jenny tells me you're looking for jobs."
"Yeah, we just moved here—" Steph started.
"Transferred here," I interrupted, "We transferred from Missouri to go to school here." I didn't want to step on Stephanie, but we needed our fake ID's to be trusted so we could work at the bar.
Stephanie and Nicole just looked at me. I knew I was going to have to pull our weight with this one and take the lead. Steph and I would have to talk Nicole into it later; right now we needed money.
"Do you ladies have any experience waiting tables?"
"We sure do. We have all worked in restaurants in Missouri," I lied. Well, it was only a half lie. I did actually have experience, and Nicole worked at the Hut in the mall. Stephanie, however, had never worked a day in her life.
"Good, I'll just need your driver's licenses to make copies for the paperwork. Since you aren't from here, I won't worry about references. Honestly, I could use the help as soon as possible."
I looked at the girls, telling them with my eyes to hand over the fake ID's. Nicole looked terrified, and Stephanie was sending me messages telepathically, telling me she would kill me if we got caught.
"We can start whenever you need us to. We just need the work," I added, handing him my ID.
"All right, let me go get your paperwork started, and I'll be right back," he said as he walked toward the back office.
"Pipe, I don't know about this. I don't even know if I can do it," Steph said, biting her lip.
"I don't like lying. What if we get caught? Will we go to jail?" Nic was already panicking.
Why are my two best friends such goody goodies?
"Listen you two, we freaking need money. Just chill out, it's going to be fine."
They both nodded. Brandon came back a couple of minutes later and handed us our ID's. "I need a bartender too. Any of you qualified?"
"I'm your girl. I've tended bar before." It wasn't exactly true, but I'd mixed a lot of drinks at our college parties back home.
He looked me over. "What goes in a Margarita?"
"Tequila, triple sec, lime juice, and sour mix."
"Bahama Mama?"
Thank goodness, that is Stephanie's favorite drink. "Rum, Malibu, pineapple juice, orange juice and grenadine."
"Sex on the Beach?"
That was almost funny. I looked at Nicole, and she crinkled her nose. "Vodka, peach schnapps, cranberry juice and orange juice." I smiled, knowing I had just won him over.
"You're hired."
"Thanks, when do we start?"
"Could you come in tomorrow? I'll get your uniforms, and then we can start training."
He shook our hands, and we all thanked him for the opportunity.
As we made our way out on the side walk, I got really excited. "Guys, this is perfect! We live two blocks from the pub. We can walk to work."
"It did kind of turn out cool with us working together. I'm excited too." Stephanie grabbed my hand.
"My family would flip out if they knew I was working at a bar," Nic said, chewing on her lip.
"Nic, when are you going to start living your life for you? You are always so worried about what your family or your dad's gonna think. You are twenty years old, chick. These are supposed to be the best years of your life."
"I don't know, you guys. Old habits die hard. I told you I was going to try. I just—it's what I'm used to."
I walked over to hug her. "It will all work out, you'll see."
Stephanie and I always had to push her into trying something new. She would love it after the fact, but was a nervous wreck before and during.
That night, I volunteered to make dinner to celebrate. It was my way of thanking the girls for taking a chance. They appreciated it because I didn't cook. Ever. I would normally eat a bag of BBQ chips for dinner before I would take a pan out of the cupboard, but I needed Stephanie and Nicole to know how much I appreciated them following my lead. It was scary starting over in a new place, but we were doing it.
I knew in my gut that this was working out for a reason. The stars were aligning and we had jobs, which meant that we would have money. It also meant that we would be okay.