The annoying sound of my alarm woke me up at 5 A.M. My phone seemed to have fallen under my bed during the night, so I struggled trying to reach it. After what felt like an hour trying to get to the damn phone, I turned off the alarm and laid back down.
My hands rubbed my face as I groaned. I shouldn't have gone to sleep that late knowing that I had to get up this early. It was still dark outside, which was the worst part because it made me want to go back to sleep.
But I had to get up. I had to get down to di Lorenzo's to start cleaning up the kitchen. I did this every morning. I got up around 5 A.M., got to the restaurant at 6 A.M., cleaned the kitchen and set up the tables, and then I was done by 10 A.M. Just in time for them to open for lunch at 11 A.M. None of the employees showed up until 10 in the morning, so I had my own set of keys to open up the place.
I got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom. I splashed my face with some water to wake myself up before I brushed my teeth. Since all I did was the dirty work, I wore sweats to the restaurant. My black sweatpants were old and torn in some places, but they still fit and did their job. I pulled a long sleeved white shirt over my head and slipped on a beat up pair of black converse. Opening the top drawer of my bedside table, I grabbed one of the bandanas to use as a headband.
As I walked out to the kitchen, I saw Xander sleeping on the couch. I hadn't seen him when I got back from my date with Summer, so I assumed he went out to a bar. Why he decided to sleep on the couch rather than the bed is something I won't find out until later. I didn't bother to wake him because he was probably hungover from his night out. If that were me, I wouldn't want him to bother me.
I grabbed a banana and a water bottle before walking out of the apartment and down to the restaurant. It was about a thirty-five minute walk from my building at a casual pace. I didn't need to rush there anyways. I could've easily taken the subway, but I enjoy the walks in the mornings. The restaurant was on Eighth Ave. near Madison Square Garden. I took my time eating my breakfast and strolling down the sidewalk. Even at this early of an hour, the streets were still filled with taxi cabs and drunk people trying to make it back to their apartments.
It was amusing to see some people out on the streets walking around completely lost. Some women were clad in tight and revealing dresses as they held their heels in their hands. Their hair was a mess and the makeup on their faces were smeared. It was almost terrifying if you bumped into one of them and came face to face with them. It would definitely get you on high alert of where you were walking.
After my walk, I made it to di Lorenzo's and unlocked the door. It was a nice Italian restaurant that was open for lunch and dinner. It wasn't super fancy or five-star, but it was much nicer than an Olive Garden. The restaurant itself was fairly small, but it was always packed with people. The worst time to come in was either during lunch from 12:30 - 2:00 P.M. or at dinner from 7:00 - 10:00 P.M. That's when you needed to make sure you had a reservation because of how crowded it was.
The food was really good from what I had tasted. I had never actually came into the restaurant to sit down and eat, but sometimes I was here during dinner service and Isabella and I would taste-test things for the chefs.
Isabella's family owned the place. She was 100 percent Italian, so her father was your typical Italian old man. He was insanely loud, used his hands to talk more than his voice, was incredibly shameless, and bald yet very hairy on his body. His wife was fully Italian, but unlike Vincent who moved here from Italy, she was born and raised in New York.
Vincent and Filomena ran the restaurant together with their four children, Isabella being one of them. Isabella was the baby of the family. She was nineteen, so she was only a year younger than me. Her skin was a tanned olive color, her hair was jet black and fell just under her breasts, she had bright hazel eyes, and her body was curved to perfection. In the restaurant, she worked as a hostess because she didn't want to do actual work.
Her brother, the oldest of the four, was a typical 'guido.' His hair was coated in gel and reeked of hair spray. He had massive muscles that bulged from his tight shirts. His wardrobe consisted of jeans and Ed Hardy t-shirts to match his ridiculously colored Nike shoes. In the restaurant he often switched from being a waiter to working in the back with unpacking boxes. Even though we were polar opposites, Ronnie and I got along very well together. I started taking gym sessions with him, and I can honestly say he kicked my ass to China in each workout.
Their other two siblings were both females. Alessia was the second oldest of the four and the only one with a family of her own. She had three kids already, so she didn't work in the restaurant anymore. Nicola worked as a hostess with Isabella, but she was never in the restaurant when I was there. She never liked me at all, so she made sure to be absent whenever I was present.
Isabella and I met through a friend one night at a party. We didn't start off like normal people would when they meet someone. We had been at someone's house party. In our drunken states, we had hastily ran up into a room and fucked right there. We were fuck buddies, so to speak, for a long long time. We called it quits at the beginning of this year because she started dating some other guy, but occasionally she would try to seduce me into fucking her again. Give me some credit, I never gave in to her. What was done was done, and I wasn't going to reopen something that I agreed to shut. But we've stayed close friends, and she's the one who offered me the job to clean the kitchen, so I'm very grateful for her.
I got to cleaning the kitchen, starting from mopping the floors to wiping down the stove and cook tops. I ran eight loads of the diswasher and took out twelve bags of trash. During the time I cleaned, I played music from my phone, occasionally singing and attempting to dance along. It made the cleaning chore go by much faster than it would have if I worked in silence. I set up the tables in the dining area and wrapped all the utensils in napkins.
Around 10:30 A.M., Isabella walked into the restaurant, obviously not caring that she was later than usual. She walked up behind me and pinched my ass, giggling as an unexplainable noise escaped my lips.
"Fuck, Izzy. Don't scare me like that."
"Did it scare you or turn you on, Styles?" she mischievously smiled in my direction. "I think it turned you on. Just a little bit."
"I think you're wrong," I squinted as I whipped a napkin at her.
She yelped before bursting into laughter, "Styles, you're going to die."
"Oh really? You won't do a thing about that."
"Yeah, you're right. I like keeping you around. I love staring at your ass while you work. Keep it up," she winked and I rolled my eyes. "Are you busy tonight?"
"Are you asking me on a date, Izzy?" I smirked, crossing my arms as I leaned against the wall.
She scowled at me and poked my chest with her index finger, "No, I am not. I'm only asking because we are short in staff tonight. Marco just called to say he was sick. You can replace him tonight and make some extra cash. You know how much you can get in tips."
I thought about this for a second. I wasn't doing anything, so why not make some money in the meantime? I shrugged my shoulders, "Sure, I guess."
"Awesome! His shift is from 6 to closing. You do have black pants and a white button up right?"
"Yes, of course. I'll see you later tonight. Tell Ronnie I'm up for tomorrow morning."
I headed back to my apartment to get some much needed rest before I had to go and work for a few hours. Xander was sitting on the couch when I got back, watching some porno.
"Really? On the main tv? You couldn't do that in your room on a laptop?" I said as I shut the door.
He looked up at me and laughed, "Nah, bro. It's so much better on a large screen. How was your date last night?"
"It was good actually. I think we agreed to see each other again, but I don't think I'll call until tomorrow. I'm working at di Lorenzo's tonight, so I'll be busy."
"Are you a waiter? I thought you just cleaned the place?" he asked as his eyes were still glued to the tv screen.
"I do, but sometimes I'll fill in for someone if they're short on people. It's an easy way to make money with all the tips," I grabbed another water from the fridge and I began to make myself a sandwich.
Xander finally tore his eyes away from the screen and stood up, "Are you and Izzy still fucking?"
I shook my head and swallowed the bite of food I had just taken, "No no, that's been over for a while."
"Oh, so you wouldn't mind if I, you know, went after her?"
"Uh no. Be my guest. If that's what you want. She might be dating some guy, but I don't know if they're still together. But just know that if you do get with her, Ronnie will literally beat your ass if you do anything to piss her off."
"No worries, I'll be fine. When does she get off work?"
"Early. Probably around 7 or so. Just stop by, she's a hostess so you'll see her in the front," I finished the rest of my sandwich and walked into my room.
"Alright, well I'm going to finish up here and then I'm going out to meet some people. Maybe I'll see you when I stop by the restaurant."
"Don't be too loud. I need to sleep."
I shut the door to my room and turned on the small tv I had on my wardrobe. Hopefully it would help me to fall asleep before the shift I agreed to take. I had a couple hours to kill before I had to leave, and I was going to take advantage of that time to take a nap.
A/N:
Hi! I just wanted to give a quick note that all of these places I'll mention are actual places in NY, but for some of them I've changed the name. Like, the Lutes Hotel is not the real name a hotel, and di Lorenzo's is not the real name of a restaurant. But Num Pang is an actual food place in Chelsea Market lol. Sorry if that's confusing or anything. But if you're curious to know what real places are the ones that I'm going off of so you can look them up or something, then feel free to ask :)