Author's Note: This story did not go anywhere I intended it to. After you read it, see if you recognize the three new characters who were one-shot guests on another werewolf-related TV show. Message me if you can't figure it out.
The day that changed their lives (well, one of the days that changed their lives) turned out to be a Thursday, and a wet and rainy one at that.
"Bloody Valentine's Day. I hate this holiday; I'm always single when it comes round, and I have to see these disgustingly happy couples and their vulgar displays of affection. What do I get? I'll be spending the evening with the only other being that's stuck with me for more than a year: the wolf. We're going to spend a romantic evening in the hospital basement, smashing up the place." George was in a rare mood this morning, as seen by the sparkling cleanliness of their usually untidy flat. He'd gotten started at about six that morning and showed no signs of stopping. Between the Hoovering, the floor scrubbing, the washing up and doing all of their laundry, Mitchell seriously thought that Dirt itself might just give up on their place and move on to somewhere more promising. George whirled about the living room like a dervish armed with a feather duster and a facial mask, which left his words muffled but (unfortunately) still understandable.
"And look at this! A record breaking 113 Valentine's Day cards sent to John Mitchell!"
Mitchell had tossed most of them carelessly aside, saying that at least 98 of them were from old girlfriends who had never gotten over him, and the rest were from new girlfriends he hadn't gotten round to dumping yet.
"Three for Annie, who has been dead for a year. Guess they haven't heard!"
Annie looked at George sourly, startled from the pleasant memories of those old boyfriends from college who were indeed unaware that she had passed on.
"And none for George! Not one from his lovely ex-fiancee Julia Beckett, nor from his recent conquest, Nina Pickering. Although, she is also looking forward to a very furry evening, so I guess I don't blame her."
"George, for the millionth time, if you want some companionship, go out and get some! You aren't hideous to look at unless you're wearing one of those awful shirts you seem to fancy, and there's no reason you couldn't have your pick of the girls…or boys for that matter." Said Mitchell.
Annie snickered.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" screamed George in a high falsetto.
"Just that, you know, you have some…feminine traits."
"WHAT FEMININE TRAITS?"
Mitchell was saved from answering by the doorbell, which chose that moment to utter its harsh buzz. He fled to answer it just as George was trying to figure out how to turn the feather duster into a lethal anti-vampire weapon.
It was the postman.
"Letter for George Sands! I'll need his signature." Mitchell signed it absently and shut the door, handing the letter off to George.
"That's illegal, you know. We could go to jail for that sort of thing." George pointed out.
"Vampires don't go to jail, George. Just werewolves. There'd be no lack of companionship there; why, they'd be fighting themselves over who got to kiss that pretty mouth of yours."
Annie laughed out loud, then retreated up to her room with a 'pop' as George seemed to have an apoplectic fit.
George's skin was beet red, and a vein was throbbing warningly from the center of his forehead when he suddenly breathed deeply, and just let it go.
"You know, I realize now that you bait me just to make yourself feel more secure."
Mitchell grabbed George's letter and tore it open, since he seemed to have no intention of doing so himself.
"That's amazing." Said Mitchell.
"Why, because it shows self-awareness?" George looked smug.
"No, because you've been fired."
"WHAT?"
Forty minutes later…
"Nothing to do with you personally, Mr. Sands. The hospital is cutting back, and we had a surplus of porters." Said Mr. Smithers in Human Resources.
"But John Mitchell still has his job!" George shrieked.
"He's been around longer than you."
"That's for damn sure."
"Sorry?"
"Nothing."
The door slammed closed behind George.
On the way back to the flat, George passed a new pizza restaurant that had sprung up overnight.
"Three Gals From Salem Pub & Pizza. Funny name for a restaurant."
There was a big 'Help Wanted' sign in the window with the words 'Female Preferred' written underneath.
George debated for about five minutes, then grabbed the sign and went inside.
It was very crowded, and George could see at once why they needed help. The 'three gals' were the cashier, the cook and the single waitress who was rushing around trying to serve every customer at once. The cashier had an air of authority, so George approached her with the sign.
"You're not a woman." She said brusquely.
"You're the first person today to reach that conclusion." George said sourly.
"Can you wash dishes?" she asked.
"Um, yes." He had really been hoping to do the cooking, but he was desperate at this point.
"You're hired. Kitchens that way." She threw a white apron at him and waved him off.
George entered the kitchen and saw a veritable mountain of dishes and pie trays and pint glasses waiting for someone to clean them.
George closed his eyes, thought fiercely of his Valentine's Day woes, and set grimly to work.
The dishes didn't have a chance.
The hours seemed to pass very quickly. Whenever Penny (the blond waitress, and youngest of the three) came in with a tray of dirty dishes, looking mortified at the workload she was adding to, George gave her a smile and cheerfully dumped the dishes into a boiling hot sudsy sink. After a while, she began to smile back, seeing that he was actually making headway through the endless pile. Soon, George began meeting her at the door and grabbing the entire tray so she didn't have to lug it all the way to the sink. During one of these moments, George let his hand stay on top of hers for a fraction of a second longer than it needed to. Penny blushed, and George wondered if Mitchell would be proud of him. Granted, this was certainly not how Mitchell operated (Mitchell never hit on anyone while wearing an apron - actually, Mitchell never wore an apron), but George thought he was doing pretty well.
They began exchanging little jokes or comments at the customer's expense. George did funny impressions of the more eccentric ones, and Penny would sometimes scream with laughter. Amanda, the brunette chef, rolled her eyes and ignored them both while she tried to meet the demands of their ravenous clientele.
When the dishes were almost getting washed faster than they were arriving, George began to do a bit of rearranging of the kitchen supplies. Amanda would have growled at him to leave well enough alone, but she began discovering that things she needed were always within hands reach when he was done, as if he could anticipate what she would want next. If she were busy making a pie and the tomato sauce needed to be stirred, he went and did it without breaking stride. On three occasions, George added ingredients she had forgotten to put in while she was frantically throwing together some salads (who went to a pizza place for a salad?). He almost seemed able to smell what the sauce needed, but that was ridiculous.
Kate, the auburn haired cashier/hostess (only a few strands of gray gave an indication of her true age) also watched George with growing fascination. They had been through a string of dishwashers lately, and none of them had worked out. With George, she didn't even have to ask him to check the men's room to keep it stocked and cleaned, he did it on his own every hour. And he never forgot to wash his hands!
At closing time, the three women inspected George's kitchen with amazement, while he finished mopping. Not only was everything clean, but the entire kitchen had been reorganized to make the best use of space. The women exclaimed over the neatly arranged spice racks (alphabetical order), the perishables in the giant fridge (arranged by expiration date) and the gleaming chrome that winked at them from every surface. Only George himself looked in disarray, with his previously white apron soaking wet and dark with grime.
"You - you aren't human!" said Penny.
George's proud smile slipped a notch before he realized it was a sort of compliment.
"My mother trained me well." He said.
"We normally don't like to work with men, but you are as good as any woman I've ever met!" said Amanda.
"Um, thanks." The smile slipped a few more notches.
"The only way you are leaving this job is in a pine box." marveled Kate.
"Does this mean I can stay? I really need this job."
"Just try to escape!" all three said at once.
"Excellent, I can also cook very well, and there are a few things I can add to the menu."
"Thank the Goddess. I can get Amanda out on the floor then to help Penny out, and leave you back here. Are you sure you can handle it?" asked Kate.
George nodded.
"Good. I don't believe in taking advantage of employees, so you'll get competitive pay if you can keep up this kind of work. Anything I should know about you that will make me regret hiring you? Pardon me for saying, but you seem too good to be true."
"No, noth-" George looked at his watch and screamed.
He looked down at himself and did a little dance as he checked himself out for emerging fur, claws and fangs. He should have started transforming about twenty minutes ago.
The three women watched him warily.
"What on earth was that?" asked Kate.
"Um, I've forgotten to call my mother for Valentine's Day." George said nonsensically.
"You call your MOTHER for Valentine's Day?" asked Penny.
"Well, a boy's best friend is his mother." George opined, remembering at the last minute that Norman Bates had once said that.
"Right. Well, we're going to close up for tonight, but we'll see you bright and early tomorrow. Then you can show us if you can cook and clean at the same time. Until I get you on the payroll, I'll pay you under the table." Kate handed George a fripping great wodge of cash, then she left with Amanda to deposit the days earnings at the night drop box at the bank. George noticed many of the bills were crumpled, as if hastily shoved into a pocket.
"Blimey. I'm not sure I deserve all of this."
Penny smiled. "I added my tip money to it. I told Kate you deserved it for everything you did. It's well worth it if you stick around. You really saved us today."
George counted back half the money and insisted Penny take it.
"On one condition." She said. "You have to take me to a movie tomorrow night."
George's eyes widened, and he blushed furiously.
"Um, that would be lovely." No transformation? A date on Valentine's (well, the day after, but close enough)? What had gone wrong with the world?
"It's a date then. At least I know you won't stand me up like the last guy I went out with."
George smiled uncertainly.
"He'd have to be a fool to do that."
Penny looked over at a large fish tank that contained a single goldfish.
"Oh, he's something all right.
Stepping outside, he looked up to see that the moon was very busy being eclipsed. It was like a werewolf holiday. Penny was busy locking up, when George noticed three unsavory types across the street. They were nudging each other and looking over at the two of them. George didn't like the looks they were getting, and he didn't need to note the scorched black eyes to guess he and Penny might be in big trouble.
"Penny, this might be a bit forward, but would you mind if I walked you home? You know how the streets at night could be." George reached into his shirt and pulled out his Star of David. Seeing they'd been made, the three vamps went in search of easier prey. George breathed a sigh of relief before guiltily realizing that someone else would be their dinner as a consequence. He felt a thin fury, and hoped that if God were watching, those vamps would get what was coming to them. At least he could protect Penny.
She looked absurdly pleased at his suggestion, and they walked along at a leisurely pace. Penny noted the Star of David.
"So, you're Jewish?" she asked, then realized it must be a silly question.
"Um, yes, though I don't really practice."
Penny pulled out her own necklace. Her star had five points.
"I practice my religion all the time. So do my sisters."
"The only thing I still have left over is the guilt." George said, chuckling.
Penny took George's arm and snuggled close. It was very chilly this evening, and George once again thanked the gods for his night off. Last thing he needed was to be waking up in the freezing cold tomorrow morning.
"So, you're single, I take it?" asked Penny.
"Not as many girls are into a guy that cooks and cleans better than they do. But yes, I'm painfully single. I've only had two relationships, and they both ended rather suddenly. I was the 'dumped' one both times, in case you're wondering."
"I was too polite to ask. Thank you for being honest with me. I hate liars."
Looking up at the moon again, George shuddered.
"Don't worry about me, I'm an open book."
The three hunting vampires, in a stroke of very rotten luck, managed to run into Kate and Amanda who were heading back to the home they shared with Penny. When the vamps tried to attack, Kate (looking mildly irritated) muttered "Rega Flexis Mur" under her breath.
There was a flash and a minor sonic boom. A few seconds later, three tiny bats flew away into the night screeching in outrage.
"What is with all the vampires in this town? Is there a convention?" Amanda complained.
"Ha! Remember the she-wolf that screwed us over in L.A.? Vamps I can deal with. But werewolves really piss me off!"