《Like His Father》


 Cori

    What have I gotten myself into? Agreeing to start a new job right away? Am I insane? I have only ever worked at my parent¡¯s coffee shop, that¡¯s it, no other job experience. So, yeah, I know how to waitress and take orders but this isn¡¯t a coffee shop, this is a very popular restaurant, requiring me to work with strangers instead of family. There¡¯s a knot in my stomach the size of a baseball and my palms are sweating. I may be good with people but jumping into a new situation like this is not my thing.


    I try to steady my breathing while the manager, Helen, grabs the paperwork.I keep telling myself over and over that this is a great opportunity for me. Helen has been incredibly welcoming and friendly so that has to be a good sign. Right? She sits the papers and a pen on the desk in front of me.


    ¡°Ok sweetie, I¡¯ll just need you to fill out these forms and sign where I¡¯ve highlighted on the last two pages,¡± she states clearly, ¡°I¡¯m going to find you a shirt to wear for tonight. What size t-shirt are ya?¡±


    ¡°Uh..medium¡± I try, and fail, to sound confident.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back,¡± she replies with a wink. Her long, red hair swishes back and forth as she walks out of the room. There¡¯s something very maternal about her that puts me at ease. Well, at least, a little. I turn my attention back to the paperwork. It¡¯s all pretty basic information but my mind goes blank. I take a second to breathe and then get started.


    After a few minutes, Helen walks back in with the shirt, and the door being open I can hear voices from the hallway. I assume it¡¯s the other employees here to start their shift. The knot in my stomach grows.


    ¡°Ok I have a few shirts for you. Jeans, like the ones you have on, are perfect. If you ever forget your shirt we always keep extra on hand, I just ask that you bring it back,¡± she talks a mile a minute, I struggle to keep up. ¡°Still working on those forms?¡±


    ¡°Almost finished, ma¡¯am¡± I respond


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t call me ma¡¯am, you¡¯ll make me feel old,¡± she says with a wink, ¡°No rush once you finish with those I have some rules and boring stuff to go through and then I¡¯ll give you a tour and introduce you to everyone before we get started on tonight''s shift.¡±


    I smile and nod in response and look back at the papers in front of me.


    A few hours later we are finished with the orientation and I change into my new shirt, Helen begins the tour of the restaurant. The place itself is fairly small but is a local staple that I have even been to a few times myself. She led the way down the brightly lit hall to a small room. There were a couple of small tables in the middle of the room. One of the walls was lined with lockers, one had a bulletin board with various posters and announcements, and another had cabinets with a sink, fridge and microwave.


    ¡°This is the staff room. You do get food while on shift or you can bring your own. Just make sure to write your name on anything you keep in the fridge. We have dishes you are welcome to use but please wash them and clean up after yourself. This is your locker,¡± Helen points to the beige locker with 11 stenciled on it. ¡°This is your lock and you can pick the code. I trust the people I hire but you can never be too safe with personal belongings so if you wanna lock up your purse or whatever feel free. Through that door is a small bathroom for staff only. If you ever need to change before or after shift feel free to use that bathroom.¡± I hadn¡¯t even noticed the small door behind me.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    After the staff room we head over to the kitchen. As we walk closer the strong, but delicious, smell of greasy, fried food fills my nostrils. I follow Helen through a gray door that swings into a large room with red tiled floors and shiny silver counters filled with plates being prepped. There are two men racing around the room making the food. One is a very serious looking man with short dark hair, brown skin and dark eyes. The other looked like a shorter, younger, less serious version of the first man. The taller, older one kept shooting dirty looks towards the younger one who smiled when he realized we were there.


    ¡°Cori, this is Terrance, our main cook, and his younger brother Luis, who wears many hats here.¡± Helen explained.


    ¡°Well yeah because Terrance¡¯s head is too damn big for any hat,¡± Luis said with a smirk.


    ¡°Just get these plates out now,¡± Terrance responded with a grimace. ¡°Nice to meet you Cori.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll leave you guys to do your thing,¡± Helen laughed as she walked back out of the kitchen towards the dining room and bar. ¡°I have never seen two brothers less alike than those two. And I mean personality wise, not looks obviously. Terrance is a great guy but he¡¯s always very serious and very business-like. Luis on the other hand is basically the class clown of this place.¡±


    Ii was finally starting to feel a bit at ease. This seems like a work environment I could actually enjoy. Once in the dining room, Cori notices how busy everything seems to be. Families and friends crowded around wooden tables in old worn out red chairs. The neon lit bar had patrons surrounding the wooden bartop on black stools. The walls were lined with posters, local sports paraphernalia and televisions.


    ¡°That¡¯s our bartender Greg. Very sweet but quiet man. Not one to gossip but always there when you need him. The blonde waitress is Krissy, she¡¯s been here the longest after myself. And the beautiful model looking girl over there is Whitney. Incredibly smart and can be a tough nut to crack sometimes but she¡¯s a great person¡± Helen points out my new coworkers as we walk towards the front of the small restaurant. When we get close to the door I notice a young looking girl with a face full of makeup smiling and talking to the customers that are waiting to be seated.


    ¡°And the youngest of the crew is our hostess Gretchen. Gretchen, babe, this is our new waitress Cori,¡± Helen introduces us.


    ¡°Thank God we have some more help. Krissy and Whitney have been shooting me death glares all shift for not clearing tables fast enough. Hi, Cori, super excited you¡¯re here,¡± Gretchen said, speaking even faster than Helen.


    ¡°Thank you, very nice to meet you.¡± I said, giving my most confident smile.


    ¡°Ok Cori, I¡¯m going to show you where everything is and have you help Gretchen clear tables and seat people. I¡¯m going to go help Krissy and Whitney catch up a bit before I start training you. Sound good?¡±


    ¡°That sounds great.¡± I said as we got to work.


    After a couple hours of constant rushing around there was finally a bit of a lull.


    ¡°Now that we can finally breathe for a second let me finally introduce you,¡± Helen said as I approached her and the other waitresses.


    ¡°Sorry if we came off as bitches earlier. The rush was crazy and Gretchen hasn¡¯t quite grasped the difference between being friendly and being way too chatty.¡± Krissy said.


    ¡°So true. But you seemed to keep up well enough, glad to have you on the team¡± Whitney said with a shrug.


    ¡°Thank you. I had to learn that difference while working at my parent¡¯s coffee shop¡± I responded with a chuckle.


    ¡°Ok now that table Gretch is seating right now, I want you to take it. Here¡¯s a pad and pen to take orders. If you have any questions we¡¯re all right here. Are you comfortable with that?¡±


    ¡°Yep I can do it,¡± the knot was reforming in my stomach as I set off to officially start this new chapter.

 2. Helen

    ¡°How¡¯s the new girl?¡± Janet, another waitress, asked as we got the dining room ready to open. ¡°Krissy and Whitney both seemed impressed when I texted them yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, she was pretty great this weekend,¡± I responded, ¡°I can¡¯t even begin to explain what a relief it is to finally have some help. Those damn weekend shifts were bound to kill me.¡±


    We finished getting the chairs down and tables ready, then I went to my office to work on some paperwork and get ready for my meeting with the owner. The owner, Carson Davis, is the best boss I could ask for. He is incredibly charming and allows me to do my job without breathing down my back. He is also some serious eye candy. Dark hair, piercing green eyes and a half smile that just makes my insides melt. If only he was a couple decades older. The employees all seem to have a crush on him too, well at least the ones attracted to men. While he is very charming and friendly to everyone, he is always professional and never tries to get with anyone here. Despite the many, many times people have thrown themselves at him. Honestly, now that I think about it, I don¡¯t remember ever seeing him with anyone at all. I couldn¡¯t even tell you what his sexuality is.


    The alarm on my phone went off, pulling me away from my thoughts. Time to get this shift started. I cleaned up my desk and headed to the break room for our daily meeting. I checked the schedule for the day to make sure everyone that was supposed to be here was present. Just as I realized we were one short, Gretchen comes running in the breakroom holding her shirt and makeup. This girl was even later than Janet, and that says a lot.


    ¡°Super sorry Helen,¡± Gretchen huffed as she put her stuff down and sat, ¡°traffic is awful.¡±


    ¡°Alright Gretch, just don¡¯t make it a habit,¡± I replied as I heard a few chuckles. ¡°Anyways, time to get this week started.¡±


    ¡°For anyone that didn¡¯t work over the weekend, this is Cori, our new waitress,¡± I continued, ¡°She¡¯s done an amazing job so far so do not scare her away. Carson is also coming in for our weekly meeting today so let¡¯s be on our best behavior.¡±


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    I noticed Gretchen and a few others started to smile and make sure their hair was perfect.I had to mentally roll my eyes. I finished the meeting with the typical housekeeping things and sent my team out to get started.


    Luckily, it¡¯s Tuesday which means we¡¯ll be slow enough that I can spend most of the night in my office. I walked back into my office to prepare for the meeting and get the next schedule ready. A few minutes later there was a knock on my office door and Gretchen walked in.


    ¡°What¡¯s  up, Gretch?¡± I asked without looking up from the papers on my desk. It was always something with her so I am not at all surprised to have her in my office.


    ¡°So when Carson, uh I mean Mr. Davis, gets here whose section should I sit him in?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Sit him at a table in Whitney¡¯s section and then let me know he¡¯s here,¡± I replied. Whitney wouldn¡¯t drool over Carson and will actually leave us alone for the meeting.


    ¡°Ok thanks!¡± Gretchen skipped out of the office and hopefully got to work.


    I spent the next hour working, getting interrupted constantly by little things like people needing to be reminded of the specials, needing to ask for certain days off, asking what day they are getting paid. I love my employees and I enjoy being a mother figure to them but damn would it be nice to work without being interrupted. I guess I finally know how real mothers feel.


    Just as I¡¯m starting on payroll, Gretchen is back at my door.


    ¡°He¡¯s here,¡± she said in a singsong voice. And I swear I can see fresh make-up on her face. I smile, grab my folder and head out to the dining room.


    I saw Carson sitting at a table by himself with his usual whiskey in front of him. He nodded at me as I made my way over to him. His expression then changed ever so slightly when he saw something behind me. Curious, I glanced over my shoulder and saw Cori taking a tray of food to a table. I looked back at Carson and noticed that his eyes were in fact following Cori. Is our young boss interested in the new girl? I caught Janet¡¯s eye and she gave me a look telling me she was seeing the same thing.


    ¡°Hey boss,¡± I greeted Carson as I sat down. He looked surprised, startled even when I spoke.


    ¡°Good afternoon, Helen,¡± replied the man coolly. He regained his composure quickly, which wasn¡¯t surprising. As much as I wanted to ask him about that look, I knew he didn¡¯t open up or talk about personal things so I just got right to business. But I knew I had to talk to the other girls about this later.