Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 42nd cycle. Now cycle 43!

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** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 43 CHEAT SHEET ** Check it out to find out about shift days!

This is a shift day [see above]. There was another upload this morning: The Customer You Are Trying to Reach..., chapter 2.

"The Cautionary Tale of Lucy Collins"
Artie/Lucy (OC)
Following 'Wheels Go Two By Two'

1. The Past

Sometimes he would go in and stick around Breadstix while she worked, but that usually distracted her, and he didn't want her losing her job for it. So the routine instead had become for them to hang out around the mall for a while until her shift started. Then she'd go to work and he'd head home. Sometimes he'd end up coming back to be there when she finished, and they'd go back to watch a movie at his house or hers. As their pre-shift hang out that day had involved a trip through the DVD sections that ended with a stack of new purchases, that would probably be the case that night.

"You know I've been hearing whispers…" Lucy told him as they came to sit by the fountain and he parked his chair before her.

"What kind of whispers?" he asked.

"Well, the guys from the band told me they heard Schuester's thinking about doing a musical."

"Really…" he sat back, intrigued.

"Yeah they were just standing there and he was talking to Miss Pillsbury," she explained.

"Interesting…" he nodded slowly, then paused when he saw her face. "You're not nervous again, are you?" She shrugged.

"Little bit," she admitted.

"You did so good at Sectionals," he reminded her and she smiled.

"Thanks, it's just… a musical is very different."

"Not that much," he insisted. "It's a lot of work, crazy costumes sometimes, and people fight for solos… The only real difference is it's longer." This got a small laugh out of her. "You never know, you could end up with the lead."

"Oh, I don't know about that…" her laugh turned nervous.

"I do, I believe it," he insisted, and she looked back to him.

"Just hope Rachel doesn't want it too though, right?" she joked, getting up. "Okay, I have to go, need to change and all."

"We'll get back to this," he pointed at her and she just leaned in to kiss him goodbye before heading in to the restaurant.

Clothes changed and hair pulled up, Lucy had gone in to start her shift. She'd be there until closing that day, which was fine. She'd always tell Artie she loved being in the restaurant when there was no one left, and he'd smile and call her a goof.

Overall it was a pretty easy night. No big parties, no loudmouths, no one who knew her and tried to mooch free food off of her… She'd just get through it and then she could meet Artie for movie night.

"Can you switch with me?" She was startled and looked back to Janice, another one of the waitresses.

"Why, what's wrong?" Lucy laughed.

"Couple at table nine…" Since Janice's husband had walked out on her the month before, the woman still had an issue being… courteous to the still happy couples of the world, and she couldn't lose her job…

"Alright, just this once," Lucy grabbed a couple of menus, while the woman mouthed a silent thank you.

Lucy went on ahead, trying not to smirk. She felt bad for her co-worker, but at the same time her reactions amused her. At first it would have been bad to laugh about it, but now Janice did too, sometimes. If she'd wanted to pass the couple off to her though, she had to imagine they were being very visually 'couple like.'

She recognized him from behind, and she froze. If Janice had her reasons for being hesitant to serve the couple, Lucy had possibly even bigger ones… At least Janice didn't know the guy. Grant Hastings was supposed to be her knight in shining armor… Only it had taken her too long to realize all that armor did was to hide his true nature. They had been broken up a few months by the time she and Artie had started their courtship.

She could have gone back to Janice, told her to suck it up and go serve them after all, but Lucy wouldn't do that to her. It wasn't like she didn't see him around school every day, but over there she didn't have to deal with him if she didn't want to. Here it was her job… to serve him. She took a few breaths, letting some of the emotions flush out of her system before she had to face him. She was going to have to do it whether she liked it or not, so she might as well get it over with.

"Welcome to Breadstix," she made her approach, handing them their menus. A lot of things happened in that moment: the two of them looked up, Grant saw Lucy, Lucy saw Grant… Lucy saw… "Anna…" she hadn't recognized Grant's date from behind.

"Hey, Lucy, I didn't know you worked here!" the girl was all smiles, as she tended to be.

"I, yeah, for a while," Lucy told her, though now her eyes were drawn back to Grant, who had been staring at her with an amused smirk from the moment he'd seen it was her. "Grant," she greeted him. He didn't say a word. Instead he opened his menu, began inspecting it with great attention, reading each entry quietly. Lucy tried to bite back the sneer that was building under her features like a primed volcano. "Spaghetti and meatballs," she muttered under her breath – he showed about as little variety as there came. He looked up at the sound of her voice.

"What's that?" he asked, like she was just any other waitress. Breathe, she told herself, breathe.

"Can I start you guys off with something to drink?"

"Root beer, please?" Anna asked right away, ever smiling.

"Sure," Lucy marked it, then looked up. "Grant?" she kept her voice even. He looked to her.

"I'll have the same, why not," he turned his smile to the girl at his side, who laughed.

"I'll get those for you while you decide on your order," she made her exit swift.

She made it to the soda machine, grabbing two glasses to fill them, and she didn't realize her hands were shaking until her fingers jerked and the glass slipped out of her hands, tumbling to the ground and splashing her shoes… It was a good thing she'd only just started filling the plastic cup, although now her shoes would be sticky and everyone would hear it as she walked… Grant would just love that.

He was going to do it to her… Anna… the same thing he'd done to her.

Anna wasn't stupid, but then neither was Lucy. Still, from what Lucy knew of her, Anna would end up in the same position she had, and wouldn't it be her fault if she didn't do anything about it?

She hadn't said anything, not that night. It would have seemed like she was just the jealous or needy ex-girlfriend, wanting her man back, which was far from that. She made it through the dinner through sheer force of will, as Grant's amusement showed no end. Anna had no clue… none at all.

By the time they were gone, Lucy just wanted the night to end, so she could leave and be with Artie and… maybe he'd be able to help her figure out what she was supposed to do. When she saw him outside the restaurant on her way out, she must have looked as bad as she felt.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and she shook her head. "What's wrong?"

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)