"Bambino's." I answered the phone. Another damn order. It was a quarter to ten and this was the fifth order in the last fifteen minutes. Should have been expected. It was a friday night, and our kitchen closes at ten, Apparently every one in town wanted pizza." So you want an extra large, half shrimp and half tomato and broccoli?" I asked to confirm the lady's order. Who in the world ordered shrimp on pizza? Gross. "Alright ma'am, your total is twenty three seventeen. It'll be ready for pick up in about thirty five minutes." I paused while the lady asked for delivery, "I'm sorry ma'am, our delivery guy already left for the night, you'll have to come and pick it up." I winced as she yelled for her husband, or boyfriend or whatever and failed to cover the mouthpiece of the phone. Some people. I rolled my eyes as she told me that a 'Bobby' would pick it up. She said goodbye and hung up. I sighed and printed out the reciept and handed it to Jess, one of our cooks.

"Here Jess. The shrimp should be in the third freezer." I said as I leaned on the edge of the bar.

She took it with a tired look and nodded, "Thanks, Amanda."

"If you need help, just ask." Poor girl, it was her second day, and she barely knew what she was doing. I watched as she retreated back into the kitchen and I could hear the radio blaring back there. At least she had some sort of entertainment.

Just another Friday night. What I wouldn't give for a beer right now. Too bad I still had two hours left of my shift. Not only that, but I still had a bar full of people. I turned around and refilled my soda and looked towards the door as I heard the beep of the door opening. We had a nifty security system that whenever a door opened, either back door or the front, there was a nice beep to let us know someone was comming in. It was one of our regulars, John. He nodded to me and by the time he was seated, I had his usual, Captian Morgan and Coke on ice, in a glass waiting for him.

"Long night, babe?" John asked as he toyed with the small red straw in his glass.

I nodded and reached for my soda. Beloved Mountain Dew. I was going to need the sugar to keep going tonight.

"Don't worry, it couldn't get any worse." He said as he handed me a twenty dollar bill to change out into fives so he could play the poker machines on the other side of the bar. It was his routine. Come in, get a Cap'n, change out a few twenties, chat with me, walk me to my car when we closed. John was such a sweetheart.

I shrugged as I opened the register, "Yeah I guess. So long as Kenny doesn't come in tonight."

Kenny was another one of our regulars. He was usually a good guy, unless he's had too much to drink, then he likes to start fights. The last time, he was going after another regular, Brian. John and I both could barely keep him from getting to Brian, luckily, our deleveriy guy, Jeff, called the cops and they showed up before any real damage was done. That is, if you don't call four broken glasses, a broken bar stool, and a stiky mess of beer on the floor real damage.

"If he comes in, just keep the phone by you, but I doubt we'll have a repeat of Tuesday." John said as he pulled out his pack of ciggarettes. I handed him his fives and he smiled as he wandered over to the poker machines.

I refilled a few beers for some of the customers and dealt with four of the five pickups for the night before ten thirty came around. Most of the customers had left, John was watching the news on the TV above the bar, and there was still no sign of this 'Bobby' that was supposed to pick up the shrimpy pizza. Bobby finnaly showed to pick up the pizza around ten fourty five. He handed me twenty five dollars and told me to keep the change. I didn't argue, but wished the guy a good night and told him that in the future, the delvieries stop at nine thirty. He thanked me and left. The night was starting to look up. Jess and Mike, the two cooks for the evening had already left. It was just me and John.

"So how was work, Sweets?" Everyone that knew John called him Sweets. I'm not sure on the reasoning behind it, but it's hard to change a habit once you pick it up.

"Same as usual. Go in, show everyone how to do the job right, come here, get a drink." He emptied his glass before continueing, "And chat with pretty ladies like yourself."

"You know, you don't need to flater me to get a refill. It's my job." I said as I grabbed his glass and added more ice before mixing the drink.

"I know, babe. I just like to give you a better reason to do it."

I couldn't help but smile. I checked my watch. It was eleven. I could safely close the bar right now if John was done for the night, but if not, I was free to have a beer myself. Hardly anyone came in after eleven, not even the boss. I dumped the ice from my cup and set it aside before walking over to the beer cooler and grabbing a beer. I twisted off the top and walked around the bar and sat down. I chugged half the bottle before setting it on the bar.

The phone rang.

I cursed, John laughed, and I reached for the handset and answered, "Bambino's." Nothing but static on the other end. I waited a few seconds, "Hello? ...hello!" Still no answer. I raised an eyebrow and hung up the phone.

John looked at me curiously and I shrugged, "There was no one on the other end."

John shrugged and sipped his drink, "Probably some kids pulling pranks."

"Most likely." I said as I pulled out my pack of cigarettes and snatched John's lighter off the bar. John laughed to himself as I lit the little cancer stick and took a drag, blessed menthol and nicotine filled my lungs for the first time in three hours and helped the slight buzz that I had going from the beer. I rolled my eyes.

"You going to have another or can I cash you out?" I could tell he was almost done for the night.

"Just put it on my tab, and yours too." He said as he nodded to the bottle sitting before me.

I smiled and nodded, "Thanks." he shrugged as I walked around the bar, rung up his tab, and started the shut down process for the night.

John got up and walked to the front door to unplug the 'OPEN' sign. After a few minutes when he didn't return, I glanced over my shoulder to see him picking some songs off the Juke Box.

"If you love me, you'll play 'Red Neck Woman'!" I shouted across the bar to him. I smiled as he gave me a thumbs up.

The computer beeped to indicate that it was done processing and I could count out the money and fold up the report. I opened the drawer and counted the bills as music filled the bar. I groaned, more of that sappy lonely cowboy crap that John loved so much.

I put the money away as John seated himself once more. I stuffed all the money in the cash box and slid it under the sink, the new hiding place. The last place, the beer cooler, had been discovered by our last theif so we had to find a new place, a new box, and a new front window. I folded up the report and put it in the folder beside the register and returned to my seat and listened to John sing.

Twenty minutes later we were standing infront of the building while I locked the front door. We had stayed to listen to all the song selections on the box. It was fine with me, I didn't need to be home right away.

As the door clicked shut, John grabbed me by the shoulder, "Hey, you got your cell on you?"

I turned and pulled it from my jacket, "Yeah, why?" He didn't need to answer, I saw right away why he wanted the phone. There was a pickup truck accross the street at the gas station. sure, that was a normal thing before seven in the evening, but it was almost eleven thirty, the gas station was closed, and there were a couple of guys doing something to one of the gas pumps. I hit the speed dial on my phone to call the police station. Before there were even three rings, everything around me seemed to go in slow motion.

First I noticed John running accross the street, calling out to the four or five guys at the pump, then I noticed that the entire lot was soaked, and it hadn't rained for days. I called out to John, trying to point this out as one of the guys pulled out a lighter. Right about then, everything seemed to speed back up to normal, and the guy with the lighter, dropped it to the ground. For a second it didn't seem to do anything, but then the entire parking lot accross the street went up in flames. I threw my arms up to sheild my eyes from the sudden blaze. It seemed okay for a second, then all six pumps exploded, and the force of it slamed me back into the door. Almost instantly everything went black.


a/n : Sorry that the first chapter seemed so boring. I just wanted to set the scene and give you a little backround about amanda and what she does everyday. Hope I didn't discourage any readers. This is my first story in First Person POV. I promise the second chapter won't be quite so "lame".