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“Yes, I understand the table at the window doesn’t have anyone sitting at it right now,” Maria said calmly, wanting nothing more than to smack the snobby looking woman across the face. “However, we have a reservation which should be arriving any minute who specifically requested a table by the window. As all the other tables by the windows currently have people seated at them, and none of them will be getting up any time soon, and you do not have a reservation, I’m sorry but I can’t seat you at the window. It wouldn’t be fair to the person who made the reservation for that table. We’re happy to seat you at any other table in the restaurant.”
The snobby woman was with a friend, who was grimacing and looking apologetically over her shoulder at Maria. Maria sent the other woman a quick little smile as the snobby one rolled her eyes and made a disgusted noise. Even if this woman was a bitch, it was obvious her friend wasn’t, and Maria felt a little bad for her. It must be embarrassing to be out with someone who so obviously felt entitled and was basically making a scene that made both of them look bad.
There was no way in hell Maria was going to put out someone who had the courtesy to make a reservation with a specific request, in order to cater to some bitch who thought the world should just bow down to her.
“This restaurant is just awful,” the woman fumed, furiously tapping her perfectly done French manicure on the top of the hostess stand. Click, click, click, click. “Every time I come here, the staff is slow or rude or both, you management people never do anything to help, and the food isn’t even great!”
Stifling the fury she felt at such a derisive summation of what Maria considered her restaurant, well aware of the wide-eyes of Janet who was watching the entire thing, not to mention the serving staff in ear shot, Maria gave the woman her brightest smile.
“Well then,” she chirped, in her most friendly and upbeat manner. “May I ask, what brings you back?”
The woman gaped like a fish as her friend burst out laughing. Maria could hear the choked gasps and laughter of the staff. Out of the corner of her eye she could see several of the servers making a beeline for the kitchen where they’d be able to laugh themselves silly. And probably share what she’d said. Next to her, Janet was having a sudden coughing fit. Stoically, she held her bright smile, blinking and waiting for the woman’s response.
“Well I never!” she finally huffed and turned on her heel to go outside.
“Sorry... new money... thank you,” her friend choked out before following.
“Have a nice day!” Maria called out after them.
Next to her, Janet finally started cracking up. She was a sweet girl, senior in high school, but sometimes the more demanding guests could roll right over her. Which is why she’d sent Brooke for Maria, because she’d known the right thing to do, she just hadn’t known how to handle the woman.
“Oh my God... Maria, you are so bad!”
“I was perfectly polite.”
“And still, so bad!” Janet shook her head, still giggling as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “I don’t know how you kept a straight face.”
“Lots of practice,” Maria said with a grin. That and she’d been pissed enough that even her retort hadn’t made her want to laugh.
“What did the other woman mean by ‘new money’?”
Maria sighed, making a face. It was a problem they were probably going to have more often, although hopefully most of the people like that woman just wouldn’t come by, because Murphy’s was so not going to cater to them when they were being unreasonable. “You know the new housing development down North Hill Road? About five minutes away? A lot of people moving in there are people who are just starting to become rich. Old money, like the people we get from Mansfred Park, tend to be polite, classy, and not rub it in your face. They’re used to having money and influence. New money means they feel like they have to step all over you to prove how much better they are than you.”
“So, no class.” Janet made a face. “I hope we don’t get a lot of people like her in here... I wonder why the other woman was with her. She seemed nice enough.”
“Maybe they were friends before,” Maria said, shrugging. “Or maybe they’re forced into being friends because of business or something. Who knows. Anyway, don’t let people like that push you into doing things which will mess up the way the floor is running. Murphy’s has plenty of business, we don’t need to antagonize people who play by the rules by indulging people like her.”
“Okay. Thanks Maria.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” she said, smiling.
She was going to have to tell Ava about the little interlude later. Ava loved hearing work stories, especially about the craziness difficult customers could bring into the restaurant. It was definitely amusing, after it was over, although while it was happening Maria could usually feel her patience wearing thin.
Deciding she should go check on the kitchen, she wove her way through the dining room, stopping at a table here and there, saying hi to the regulars who were there. One table wanted her to sit and have a drink with them, but she refused. Sometimes James or Jeanne would do that with the regulars, but they were owners, not managers. It made a difference in privileges.
When she stepped into the kitchen, Ryan hooted and started to applaud. The other servers in there immediately followed suit, as did the chefs. Obviously, restaurant gossip had already made quick work of spreading the word on how she’d dealt with the bitchy woman. One of the reasons people loved working at Murphy’s was because they knew the management wouldn’t force them to cater to people who were rudely unreasonable.
“Thank you, thank you,” she said, taking a laughing bow before giving them a mock-stern look. “Now back to work!”
They all chuckled, not that they needed to be told they were in the middle of a rush. But they appreciated the joke.
By the end of the shift, Maria was exhausted. She finally got home around eight o’clock, starving and feeling a bit burnt out. Lunch had gone smoothly enough, but the dinner shift had seemed cursed. Not only had there been a major pile-up on one of the major roads nearby, causing half the servers and bussers to be late, but they’d had some trouble with the hood over the wood burning oven in the kitchen and it had started pouring out smoke...
Fortunately, it happened before they had any guests in the restaurant, but the entire kitchen had filled with smoke and she and the evening manager, Blake, had talked with the Executive Chef and realized they couldn’t open for dinner that evening. She’d called James and Jeanne to let them know. Then she and Blake had called every single person on their reservation list, the staff who hadn’t made it in yet, and then had to call around and find a repair person who could come in early tomorrow morning. It had been a major pain in the butt all around.
The good news was that tomorrow morning was not her shift.
The better news was that she had leftover casserole in the fridge and wouldn’t need to make dinner.
