Disclaimer. I don't own Victorious or any of the characters
inspired (Strangely) by Yuzu-ch's "Another Chance". It is, however, a unique, different story.
:}
"Have a nice day." Jade said through clenched teeth. Some days, she really hated this job. The man who just got his coffee had been flirting with her the whole time. Not that he was bad looking, but Jade wasn't interested. Besides, this was a coffee shop, not a brothel. Once she let him know she wasn't interested, he should have let it go. Instead he used the fact that she had to serve him to flirt in one of the least comfortable onslaughts Jade had yet to endure. It was like, the fact that he had a job and wasn't ugly meant she should have been all over him. Jade sighed, and let the dirty feeling pass.
"So, still not ready to just hook up with someone for their job?" Karen was the other girl working at the shop. Jade often wished it was just a kiosk, where she'd be here alone until the end of her shift, taking de facto breaks when the crowds thinned, and eating lunch at the counter. But she'd found a job at a coffee shop that was almost always busy, so they had a staff.
"I'm not for sale." Jade said, trying to keep her anger under control. It was always like that. Some guy would see a pretty girl working at a shop like this and assume she was just looking for him. The worst pat was, jade could accept some flirting. 'I've had guys with no right to be asking e out try, and I get it. But when they have that attitude, like their doing you a favor, then it hurts.' Jade rationalized. The line had thinned, so now was the time to clean up a bit.
"Jade, take your break." Tony said. He was the manager on sight. Jade was used to the manager hardly ever being there when she was. It was mostly because she worked off hours. 'I like the night. Besides, it give me time to try and follow my dream. Who needs to date?' Jade thought as she poured herself a cup of coffee and added the sugar. It was time for her to have her fifteen minutes of relative silence before the chaos began. The late night rush was about to happen. Thats what life was like in a major city like New York.
"You could just let Tony take you out." Karen said. She was a kid, still only nineteen, as opposed to Jade's twenty six years of life. "I'm sure he'd be happy to help you get better hours."
"I don't date where I work." Jade said coldly. She didn't want to focus on Karen, or the shop. She wanted to look out the window at the darkness. On nights like this, she'd look, and wish she could just dissolve into the night.
"So, you hear the latest about Tori Vega?" Karen asked. The young blond loved to push peoples buttons, something Jade initially liked about the girl. But anything gets old eventually, and when you're the primary source of entertainment for her, then things get old fast.
"I don't follow her life." Jade replied coldly. She really didn't want to talk about Tori. Or Cat, or any of the people she'd gone to school with. They were the usual mixed bag, except the "Main people" had all soured. All except for Jade. Beck wasn't doing poorly, but had discovered the hard way that he was best on a live stage. So now he was on Broadway, understudy to the lead in Uptown, Downtown. Jade appreciated the irony of that fact. He'd never been anything but the lead back at Hollywood Arts, but this run as the understudy was his ticket to playing lead roles on Broadway, even if he never plays the roll in this production. Instead, he was part of the ensemble, and had a few lines. Something easy to hand off to another.
Of course, Jade had lost contact with him. Just as she'd lost contact with Robbie, who was now a comedian with his own morning show. 'Who knew Robbie could edit Rex?' she'd wondered when she first saw him. Jade didn't like to watch. It reminded her that of the so called main people, she was the one person working in a stinking coffee shop, being ogled by men.
"She's getting married." Karen said, smiling. "You went to the same high school as she did, right?"
"How'd you know that?' Jade asked, picturing the blonds painful demise in her mind.
"Tim doesn't lock up the confidential employe files after he reads them." Karen said. "You graduated about the same time as Tori, so you had to have known her."
"We were never friends." Jade replied. Really, none of them were. Once she and Beck were done, the whole gang seemed to drop away. Cat was already mostly gone, having gotten closer to her roommate Sam. Apparently she could only have one semi-psychotic friend in her life, and the ICarly alum was helping her build her career. Not as much as Tori asking her to open on the latest tour, but still the night club performances were keeping both of them in cash.
The one that hurt the most, strangely, was Andre. He was so busy being a behind the scenes player in the music industry, writing songs first (And still) for Tori, and then for other pop stars. He also was branching into producing. But the one thing he wasn't doing was staying in contact with Jade. She'd tried with him, over the last nine years. Really tried. When phone contact got too hard, she'd switched to on line, emailing him and inviting him to be her friend on connectster. But he just let her slid, and now she had to follow Tori's career just to know what he'd been doing.
"Does that mean you're not going to the wedding?" Karen asked. It was low, the last and lowest blow in her game. Jade fumed, knowing there was a time when she'd have ripped the girls head off. But she needed this crappy job. So she finished her coffee and got back to work, marveling at how the line had waited for Karen, who took her brake staggered from Jade, never seemed to get n trouble for just abandoning her post.
'Benefit of sleeping with the manger.' Jade mused. She didn't have time, as the next late nigh rush was upon her, and she had to work fast to keep up with the demands. She'd be on her feet, rushing to fill customer orders while being treated just shy of sexual harassment. Karen did her job, but let Jade handle the customers. She just poured coffee and called peoples names. It was the other reason Jade had to be careful with the bitch. No telling when she'd put Jade's phone number, gotten from her so called confidential employe record, on one of the cups of coffee.
Finally the rush ended, and Jade spent the next half hour, going into over time that Tony wouldn't record, cleaning the store. "Jade, you should have done it before your shift was over. Now I need you to clean up before you go home, or I'll have to find someone who can do the job right." Jade just grumbled as she put in her unpaid half hour, and wished she didn't need that damn job.
Jade was often scared when she walked out of the shop. Despite her pair of scissors, she was still vulnerable. The shop asked the local police to have a cruiser near by, but Jade almost never got the benefit, since she usually had to stay late cleaning up. Being that vulnerable was another thing she had to get used to when her friends all became famous and she remained one of the vast unknown. Both being vulnerable, and how many people lined their own pockets with other peoples work. Tony would be in trouble if someone could prove he'd been forcing an employe to work off the clock, but if she reported him, she'd be fired. Worse, it'd be hard for her to find another job. So Jade had to endure his mistreatment. 'Unless I chose to sleep with him.' Jade mentally added. But Jade didn't date where she worked.
Jade made it to her car unmolested. One glance told her why. The ghost knives were out in force tonight, but with Billy running things. Of the officers in that gang, Billy Quan was more community conscious. He kept his boys from mugging people in what he considered essential occupations, including the late night coffee shop. Jade had heard his argument of "If we rob the place, then we might not have an all night coffee shop." When his boys ran the street, they kept most other criminals away, sine those were acceptable targets. That meant Jade could take the almost block walk to where her car was in relative peace. The other officer, Reggie, was less community aware, but still left the coffee shop alone. His people just didn't work as hard keeping their territory, thus the streets were less safe.
Jade got into her car, a heavily used but foundational Mazda, and drove home. It was the first time all night she was in control of her life, but she didn't have the chance to enjoy it. She passed the billboard shilling Tori's new album, as well as her impending appearance on Saturday night live. 'Must I be reminded about how Tori's one of the beautiful people, and everyone love her.' Jade was sarcastic in her mind, but still felt the brief pain. While Jade had scrambled to keep in contact with people, Tori had just stayed open to being contacted. They all bent over backwards to let her know what they were doing. "Probably all have reserved seats at her upcoming wedding. What a disaster thats going to be.' Jade griped. She was approaching her home, and needed to find parking. She pulled into the parking structure she used, and immediately started looking for an acceptable space. Her car was considered an eye soar, so she had to park it in an out of the way space, one of the friends and family spaces. Sometimes there were no open spaces, and she had to find somewhere to park. Tonight she found her space quickly, as a man pulled out, taking his trick back to the street before returning and parking in the more secure part of the structure.
Jade looked around to make sure she was alone, and walked until she was in view of the cameras. A short walk took her to the building entrance and from there she rode the elevator to the penthouse. Walking in, she took a moment to look around. Someone was home. "Tori?" She asked.
"Bedroom." Came the reply. "How was your night?"
"Terrible." Jade said, walking towards the stairs and her bedroom. "Someone leaked about the wedding."
"Probably Beck." Tori said. "You know how he gets when he loses."
Jade smirked at her fiance. "Karen asked if I knew you."
"Please tell me you're at lest admitting we're friends." Tori groaned.
"I'm not friends with the person I'm in love with." Jade said, not letting Tori think any differently. Jade had avoided the friends relationship because far too many girls won't date a friend.
"How's your other job?" Tori asked.
"They're picking up the Taxi reboot, with your sister in the Louie, now Lois, roll." Jade said. "But having three shows in syndication can be a nightmare, especially with me trying to write my next screenplay. I'm afraid I'll have to hire another production person to help out. And the more people around who know that J. West is Jade West, the more likely it'll be that someone will see me working at that crappy coffee shop."
"And why don't you quite." Tori asked, again not seeing it.
"I'm chasing the man on the moon." Jade replied. "Andy Kaufman celebrated his roll on Taxi by getting a job as a busboy. I need to remind myself that people don't make millions of dollars for the work they do. I need to stay hungry, not get cocky. This job, for now, is what grounds me."
"You get mugged, I'm buying the place." Tori warned. "Then you'll work for me, and I'll make sure your safe. Jade, we're getting married. Please, quit the watressing gig, move back to LA with me, and lets enjoy being successful."
"Not yet." Jade replied. "I still need the job." She walked over to Tori, smiling a warm smile. "Tori, babe, I know this is weird to you. But I need the crappy job. I promise, I'll cut my hours back. Soon. I just, I'm scared I'll lose touch with reality and be one of those producers living in a bubble, if I don't work."
Tori didn't say a word, instead patting the bed next to her. Jade took the hint, getting changed and ready for bed. She had a busy day tomorrow anyways. Jade cuddled into Tori and went to sleep, dreaming of horrors she's writer about later, a smile on her face.
:}
Okay, found this, and it was inspired. I hope you enjoyed it, and yes, Andy Kaufman did work as a busboy while filming Taxi.