"How long are you going to do this?" My younger sister asked as I rushed into the kitchen.

"What, running? Temporary," I responded cheekily as she rolled her eyes with a small smile on her lips.

"No, Leah, this two job craziness. I'm worried about you," She said as she leaned a hand on the countertop.

I had forgotten my clean work t shirt here at the house, I couldn't wear a scrub top to the restaurant.

"As long as I need to," I grabbed a granola bar from the cabinet behind her head. "You know we- I, I need the money."

Working in a small town was hard. There wasn't much work to be had, especially working in a town where most people just drove through on their way to somewhere better.

"I know, hell, why do you think I'm working at that strip mall in Rowe?" Maggie shot me an exasperated look. I tied my shoes as I chewed on the first bite of granola bar. "Isn't Dr. Castellano paying you enough?"

I had gone to the state university and gotten my degree in dental hygiene. There being one dentist in the whole town, and with one hygienist already, he only needed me part-time; and to that he was being generous.

"Mags, he's being really generous, and I'm taking what I can get. I've got to do it, at least for a while longer. Believe me, when I can relax and take a break- I will," I waved a hand as I jogged out of the kitchen to head to Billy's.

To pay my student loans, I also worked at Billy's; the trucker bar/restaurant that attracted a class act of patrons.

Billy was the owner and boss, how original, right? The only consistent workers he had were myself, Marco the cook, Bernadette the bartender, Janelle, Billy's daughter and fellow waitress and Jimmy, the dishwasher. The rest of the wait staff were mostly passerby's; people who, at least I assumed, were on their way to something better.

So I worked morning's 8-2 at Castellano Family Dentistry and 4pm-1am Monday-Saturday's at Billy's. Janelle was 19 and a recent graduate of the local high school, she had no plans of attending college so she worked the day shift 11-7 while I came in for the rush, 4 to closing which was 1am for the restaurant while the bar remained open until 3 or 4, whenever Bernie felt like going home. I could handle the drunk truckers, for the most part.

It was a Tuesday night, Janelle had just left and I went to the bathroom while Bernie watched my tables. Billy didn't give two shits about what we wore, as long as "my ass isn't hanging out of my skirts" but I never wore skirts to Billy's, learned that the second night I worked here.

It was late fall and I usually wore a long sleeve tshirt and a loose tshirt over it with jeans and any shoes I felt most comfortable in. I usually came straight from Castellano's, catching a bite to eat then starting my shift.

I tried not to wear too much makeup when working at Billy's. I had learned pretty quickly that if you had breasts at Billy's, men were just going to hit on you, whether they thought you were pretty or not.

I had learned that the less attention I brought on myself, the better. Bernie was 43, she still got hit on a lot, but it was slowly coming more onto me. I had never considered myself to be very attractive. I didn't have a boyfriend in highschool and I was never voted on the homecoming court or anything like that. I had a boyfriend in college the first semester, but he lost interest when I spent more time on teeth than I did with him.

I fixed my hair in the bathroom mirror and went back out to deal with the dinner crowd of regulars that usually came in. It was Taco Tuesday.

"Leah!" Billy had a booming mouth, his voice was deep and he just always spoke like you were deaf. And it always frightened me.

I jumped at the sound of my name. "Billy," I turned on my heel to face him. Standing in front of me was Billy- a large bellied man, and an unfamiliar face.

"This is Jack, he's your new bus boy," He slapped Jack on the back.

Jack's eyes were a piercing blue. He stood around 6 feet tall, dark curly hair and dark stubble across his face. His shoulder's were broad, taking up most of the room in the tiny hallway. His heather gray shirt hugged his arms, which were impressively large. He looked to be in his mid-twenties but the beard through me off. He was really attractive.

"Uh-" I started, looking quickly from Jack to Billy.

"Just hired him, looking for work, show him around quick- oh and get him an apron," Billy slapped Jack on the back again and walked back down the hallway to his office.

I blinked for a second, then turned again. "Follow me," I lead him through the "dining" area back to the kitchen. I lost track of how many waitresses and bus boys I've had to train in the two years I've worked for Billy. Usually, they only lasted a few weeks, before they would quit or just not show up for their shifts.

Marco stood at the back line on his cell phone. "Marco, this is Jack, he's the new bus boy," I jabbed a thumb behind me towards Jack.

"Hey man," Marco nodded his head towards Jack.

"Hey," Jack replied, his voice slightly raspy. I lead him past the stove and hot line towards Jimmy who was at the pot sinks washing the pots.

"Jimmy, this is your new best friend!" I smiled as Jimmy turned towards me. Jimmy was 22, a year younger than I am. He's mentally handicapped but loves Billy's and is a good worker. Billy gave him a shot and Jimmy had surpassed and surprised him. Jimmy loves cars and enjoys talking about them. "This is Jack, he's going to be the new bus boy. But don't worry, you'll still see plenty of me," I smiled at him.

"Hi," Jimmy was shy at first.

"I gotta show him around, but," I narrowed my eyes at Jimmy. "Get back to work," I said in mock seriousness.

Jimmy tried to keep a straight face, but failed. "Yes, Boss."

I snuck quickly into the locker room behind the dishroom and grabbed an apron. "This is yours, and here is a dish bin," I handed Jack a brown large container. "You get the gist, right?" I asked him.

"Yeah," He nodded.

"And I usually do 60-40 with tips, we don't get much, but I think that's fair." I told him.

"Fine with me."

Jack's first night went well, he did a good job. We weren't very busy, so any questions he had I was able to answer.

"Are you from this town?" Jack asked as we were filling salt and pepper shakers at 12:28 in the morning. All our tables had gone and there were a few men at the bar with Bernie.

"Yeah," I half-chuckled. "Only got out for a little while, for school," I added. "Then ended up right back here. I shouldn't complain, it's a nice small town, everyone's friendly enough."

He nodded, screwing the lids back on. "What brings you to Grangeville?"

"Just traveling," He said simply. "It seemed like a nice place to stay for awhile," He half smiled at me.

"are you going to be working the night shift with me?"

"Yes, I work 4-2."

"Isn't it just great?" I shook my head sarcastically.

Giving me a one-sided smile, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "At least it's a job."

"You're right," I could feel an ashamed blush on my cheeks. "Have you worked in a restaurant before?"

Nodding, he topped off a pepper shaker. Not much of a talker…

"Well, I hope you like it here, we are really going to benefit from your help. I think I am most of all." I chuckled.

"Glad to hear it."

"I'm going to go grab some silverware to roll, I'll be right back," I slid out of the booth towards the back.

Even if Jack didn't speak and even if we didn't become sort of friends, it would at least be the start of a beautiful work relationship.

My first crack at an original piece... at least on here, I have a dozen or so "blurbs" I've written over the years.

I hope you enjoy.

x Megan