AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because I had been trying to get Rex’s attention all summer. But no, he only has eyes for you. I wouldn’t be so hurt, but you are playing him. When he isn’t around, you are with Jake or Matty. Do these guys know you are playing all three of them?” Paula’s voice was growing louder with each word. “Let me not even get into how they all fawn over you in front of each other.”
I stared at her, unable to speak. She was jealous. Yeah, Rex was a great catch. All three of them were. Was I supposed to choose between the three of them? How could I? Plus, they didn’t mind sharing. Not that any of that was Paula’s business.
“Nothing to say?” Paula snapped her fingers in my face. “Not surprised. Spoiled brat. I hope they realize you are playing them. Maybe then Rex will realize I’m the girl for him.”
“I am not even gonna try to argue with you.” I shook my head and walked away.
I didn’t normally have issues with other girls. For the most part, I got along with everyone. Yeah, Sammy was the only friend that I was close with, but everyone else was always cordial with me. Maybe that was because they had never had a reason to be jealous before.
Squeezing my eyes tight and pushing aside thoughts of Paula, I went back to the servers' station. Sammy was still there cleaning the ketchup bottles.
“What was that all about?” She asked when I approached her.
“Paula is a bitch and sat me. Can you please take them?” I gave her the biggest puppy dog eyes that I could muster.
A loud crash and screaming came from the back of the restaurant. Sammy and I ran to the kitchen to see what was going on.
Richie, the cook, was standing there screaming at Barb, the manager. From what I could assess, it looked like he had tossed a large stack of plates on the floor. What I had thought was blood at first, was pasta sauce that was smeared over Richie’s apron and the floor.
“I have told you numerous times that you can not be high at work!” Barb was screaming at Richie.
“I’m not!” Richie grabbed another plate and tossed it on the floor for effect.
“Aside from the powder under your nose, you left your stash on the prep station!” Barb pointed behind her to where Richie and the other cooks prepped the food.
“Whatever. I quit!” Richie turned around, grabbed a small baggie from the prep station, and walked out.
Sammy and I jumped into action, grabbing rags and the broom. I was sweeping up shards of plates while Sammy wiped down the pasta sauce that littered the kitchen.
Barb stood there with a rag over her mouth, just staring at the mess that Richie had left behind. Although she looked shocked, she shouldn’t have been. He was the third cook this year and more unreliable than the other two. He was never on time and took smoke breaks in the middle of the dinner rush.
“What am I gonna do?” Barb fanned her face.
“Are you two gonna work today?” Paula stepped into the kitchen. “I have been serving drinks to your customers and they all wanna order.”
“Mal, go take care of the customers. Sammy, can you start the ticket orders that you know? As soon as I finish up, I’ll jump in and do what I can.” Barb took a deep breath and grabbed the broom from me.
So much for date night with Matty. I walked back into the main dining room without another word. Anything I wanted to say would have been nasty words toward Paula. She couldn’t have predicted Richie walking out, yet I still blamed her for it.
Paula whistled as she went back over to her hostess desk. Yeah, she was way too happy about this.
I pushed aside all negativity and went over to my tables. While taking orders and clearing plates, Matty walked in. I gave him a quick nod but went back to work. Sammy had a few tables that I had to cover and although most of mine were gone, a late-night rush was heading in.
Four more tables headed in before I even had a chance to put in the tickets from my table and Sammy’s. There was no way I was ever getting out of here.
Matty was still standing off to the side when I finally had a chance to talk to him. I hated having to tell him that our night was ruined.
“You okay, babe?” he asked when I approached him.
“No. Richie, the cook, quit. Sammy is cooking and now I have all these tables. I’m really sorry, but I have to cancel tonight,” I sighed.
“Anything I can do to help?” He pushed some of my fallen hair behind my ear.
“No, but thanks.” I kissed his cheek. “I appreciate it. Sorry about tonight.”
“Don’t worry. You go do what you have to do.” Matty grabbed my hand and kissed it.
From the corner of my eyes, I saw two more tables come in. What the heck? I sighed and went back to work. Paula was no help. Instead, she sat people as quickly as they walked in and didn’t bother to get their drinks. Staggering the seating would have helped me catch up.At this rate, not only would I drown in the weeds of tables, I would never catch up.
