Yola, welcome to 'The Waitress,' sequel to Fanning the Flames. It will hopefully be only two chapters long, and because I want you to read the story instead of the author's intro, (or whatever you call this) I'll tell you more later.
So what are you waiting for, read!
The Waitress
You have got to be….
For what seemed like the thousandth time this night, the boss was yelling at me. ("Hey you, clean table 4. Go help the chef with the dishes. Blah blah blah…") And for what must have been time number one thousand and one, I had had enough. But of course I won't say anything, no matter how much my pride is begging me, because I need this job for the money I'm saving for college.
"Hey Izuki, were you listening to what I just said?" There goes the boss again, always messing up my name. (It's Izumi!) I turn my attention to him, promptly pretending that I heard everything he said.(I was really staring at the clock. It's 8:30, which means only 15 minutes left 'til I can leave!) "Um…yeah, Mr. Mirako." I smiled and shook my head, feeling like some kind of idiot.
"No, you weren't. Stop lying. I was going to send you home for the day, seeing as it is almost time to close, but now…you get to stay after and help Hannah close up shop." My heart sank. I hate closing up shop. I hate how I can't go home and lay in my bed right now. And I really hate…
"Hannah! Just the girl I was looking for! You and Zucchini are going to close the restaurant for the night. You're in charge, so keep an eye out for anything that she might try to do." She just smiled at him, before turning to me with some 'in your face' thing that she likes to do.
Oh, I'll tell you where your face can go!
"Ok then, Mr. Boss. I'll do my very best to make sure she doesn't do anything too bad. But if it's ok to correct you, my name is Hana, not Hannah." And she keeps on smiling that stupid looking smile at that big, fat, balding…jerk. (If you haven't noticed, I don't like swearing. It's not proper.)
"I'm sorry Hana. My bad." He stares at her, coal eyes glimmering in a strange sort of excitement. "Perhaps I can make it up to you some time." I think his eyebrows just wiggled. (EW.)
She's smirking, almost predator-like, before she answers. "I'm sure you can, but not right now. Don't you have to be going now, boss?" She winks, and I swear I'm just about ready to staple my ears shut and rip out my eyeballs.
"Oh, you're right. Thank you, Hana, for reminding me." I turn away as he hugs her, because I'm pretty sure I just saw his hand drop pretty far. "Remember to close up. Don't answer for anyone who comes knocking, we're closed." He stops for a second, then stares right at me before he continues. "Don't mess this up." All I can think, (besides 'Holy son of a mother, is that her lipstick on his neck!') is that this is going to be a long night.
-T-
"You have gotta be kidding, Dad! What do you mean that you can't come and get me?" You're yelling, even though you know you shouldn't be getting angry at your last chance for a ride home, but you can't help but be a little pissed. (That, by the way, is an understatement.) It's not completely your fault that everyone but you got the text message correcting your practice time.
But now that you look back on it, who would believe soccer practice would start at 8:45 p.m.?
You can hear the audible sigh through the receiver. "Look Takuya, I can't come and get you right now. I just sent Shinya out to look for you. I'll be there to pick you both up as soon as I get done with some business at home. It'll be about an hour and a half, maybe more. Just find somewhere to stay out of the rain."
He hangs up before you can reply. You put the payphone back on the…whatever that thing they hang on is called. 'Damn, what am I going to do in an hour and a half?' You begin to think about where you are (who knows?), slightly positive you possibly saw an eating establishment a couple blocks away. You decide to walk there, but pause momentarily.
"What did Dad mean about rain? It's not-" As if Kouji (who hates you…sort of) was suddenly in control of the weather, rain began to pour in torrents from the sky, drenching your clothes in the process. "I just had to ask, didn't I?" you ask as your walk becomes a sprint towards the possible restaurant.
-Z-
Hana taps me on the shoulder as I finish putting the silverware into the napkins. (Because, if you've ever wondered, no they just don't come like wrapped up nice and neat.) "Hey Zimbabwe," (Can't ANYONE get my name right?) "you all right by yourself? I got to go or I'll be late for this awesome party." I stare at her incredulously. This idiota is serious!
"Sure I am, and while you're out partying, I'll just sit and fold up napkins all day!" (That, dear readers, is sarcasm at its finest.) She smiled, probably stupid enough to believe all that sarcasm was how I really felt. (She's blonde, so it kind of makes sense… uh, forget I said – thought – that!) She turned to walk out the door, but stopped as she saw a lone figure running toward the restaurant.
I was ready to call the police, having already sprinted toward the emergency alarm. (Yeah, we have one. Mr. Mirako is paranoid, like "he carries around aluminum foil for protection from aliens- paranoid.") But Hana is just standing there gaping at him like he's some…
Really good looking guy.
She reaches out to open the door, but I give her a quick 'what the heck are you doing?' face, and she stops…to flip me off and open the door anyway.
Remember Zoe, cussing people out is bad…even if they deserve it.
-T-
You find the restaurant after several minutes of running (in the rain), so it's quite a relief to see the bright letters of 'Miracle Restaurant & Bar' above the small building. You break out into a sprint, hoping to get the hell out of the rain, hoping that one of the two people you can barely make out will see you and open the door. (That sure was a mouthful.)
Thankfully, one of them does, and you are glad to shake off the excess water as you step in, feeling quite...like a canine. (Some people might call it acting like an idiot, but you call it having fun.) You turn to the person who opened the door, and upon closer inspection, (not like that) you figure out it was a girl. Correction, both (and not surprisingly, the only) workers are female.
"Uh, thanks for opening the door (you take the time to look at her nametag) Hannah. The weather and I don't exactly agree on how to act today." She laughs, and you're not really sure why. (It wasn't funny.) "Oh, I'm Takuya, by the way." Hannah takes you by the hand and shakes it firmly, her eyelashes batting like…someone who uses bats...a lot. (Baseball players! That's what you wanted to say!)
Why are her eyelashes batting like she's…Oh.
"Um, do you have something in your eye?" You're unsure of why you said that, as you are well aware of what she's trying to do, but you suppose it stems from the fact that she's just not that pretty to you. You're not really a guy who goes for blondes that often. If it was up to you, you'd never deal with them on account of how (normally) every blond you've met either was like Hannah (too flirty) or just…
Out of your league?
You snap from your reverie (and people call you stupid! Look at that big word!) as you hear laughter. You turn to the other girl, listening to her laugh, before deciding that you need to get the hell out. Now.
You're not going to believe why.
You know that laugh. You've played it in your head for little over a week. That girl…is Izumi Orimoto. A girl you dated. (Once.) A girl you never called back, even though you said you were going to.
A girl who's WAY out of your league.
So...what do you think?
Originally, this started out as a 'cure' to my Digital War writer's block, but the plot bunny decided to pull a Bugs Bunny and escape from me. The story was also (and still kinda is) dedicated to...anybody who's REVIEWed or read any of those Takumi stories from way back when. I can't express how grateful I am to you for it. Special props goes to...utsukushii04! Thanks for REVIEWing like every Takumi story I wrote!
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns (i.e. 'What is Takuya's dad doing at home?' 'Is Shinya going to appear?' or 'When is Digital War getting a new chapter?') drop by with a REVIEW or message me. I don't bite. See ya next chapter!
-Reiji
P.S. Any or every blonde person reading this, please note that I hope that the above views the characters expressed about blondes have not offended you, and I apologize profusely if they did.