I just finished Winter and I'm already onto another story. It's crazy. Anyway this idea sprung on me when I went to my local Fish & Chip shop on a Friday night. I've been crushing on this girl who works there for about a month now, so that's given me inspiration to write this. Enjoy & Review, oh and a warning, you may get hungry while reading this chapter. Lol.
Friday Beauty
Friday night. 6:30pm. Literally crunch time. I let the chips drop into the deep fryer quickly as I lay out two sheets of white paper. If someone told me this would be what I was doing at 20, I would have scoffed in their face.
'Brittany! Those chips have got to be out and wrapped in 4 minutes!'
Oh man, my boss was on the war path again tonight. Sue, otherwise known as evil chip witch as dubbed by us the employees. No one really knows why she is like that. Mercedes, my fellow worker and friend thinks she was born like that.
Yes, on Monday afternoons when there is one customer every hour, we have nothing else to do but gossip. Those gossip sessions have kept me sane in this job.
Originally I was destined for New York to become a professional dancer but one month after graduating, I was doing a complicated routine and fell heavily, forever making my right leg incapable of mastering the moves I needed for the big time.
Alas, working in Sue's Fish & Chips does have its good points, the money for one.
I'm snapped back into the present when Mercedes nudges me, bringing my attention to the burning chips in front of me. 'Oh Shit!' Grabbing the mit, I lift the basket up, revelling the blacken remains of a batch of what used to be chips.
I hear her before I see her, already shaking from terror. 'What the hell happened here Brittany?!' She looks at me menacingly. I do everything I can not to run away and cry, mumbling out a 'sorry I got distracted.'
I look down in shame, gazing at my trainee badge. It was like a full on label that thing, Sue deliberately signalling me out because it's my second week in the job. Moving to serve the customer at the counter now, I feel her eyes burning a hole in the back of my head.
I barely register the order, scribbling it down subconsciously. I turn back to the deep fryer, determined to do better. I set up a new batch of chips, making sure there were ones that weren't longer than your middle finger.
Seriously, the wacko nick pickers we get sometimes are one step away from entering the loony bin.
The bin in the corner is full. Typical on a Friday night, some things never changing. Getting a new bag, I take out the trash while the chips are cooking. Here's hoping by the time I come back, they aren't burnt again.
The cool air hits me as I step out the back entrance, tossing the bag in the dumpster with gusto. I hear laughter in the distance, poking my head up to see a group out at the park. They look like their celebrating.
I trudge back in to the sight of Mercedes giving me a worried look. Taking one look at the queue, I sigh unhappily, washing my hands.
I move onto setting up more chairs for people to sit in when waiting. I greet them with a smile, much to their distained faces. Some people are just rude. The queue was about 10 people long, spanning to outside the door.
It didn't take long for Sue to find her next victim, picking out the girl who started two days ago. She wears a scared look on her face.
I shuffle through the orders, wanting to get them down as soon as possible without stuffing up, like adding up incorrectly on the calculator- I thought those things were never wrong.
I'm fine when I'm not under pressure I found.
The dim sims fry perfectly, sweat forming on my forehead from the exertion of running around. I really wanted to take a break, but I know if I asked Sue, she would yell in my face to suck it up princess.
By now the waiting area occupies 4 people. It's winding down to post-peak. Thank god. Everyone knows Friday nights are the busiest at a fish & chip shop, and tonight was no exception.
Handing the old lady her order with a smile, I let out a breath of relief. I lay my head on the counter, completely spent from this draining shift. Then much to my horror, I hear the flaps of the door whistling. Oh god, not now when I stepping out of the so called 'tunnel.'
Light laughter. One singular laugh I note. Still not lifting my head, I feel a soft hand place on my shoulder. I snap up, and almost fall backwards into the deep fryers.
Standing in front of me was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. Long dark hair cascading down her shoulders, fitting her face perfectly. She looked early 20's, maybe my age. Shining brown eyes, giving me an amused look.
'S-sorry. I'm so exhausted. What can I get you?' I slide the notepad into my hand, looking back into those eyes.
'We would like the family pack.' She says, motioning to the 3 other woman seated in the chairs. Her friends most likely.
'Sure. Would you like chicken salt on your chips?'
She laughs. 'What's the difference?'
'I'm not sure.' I say with a confused look. I never really bothered to check what our salt was like.
'Normal salt is fine.' She says with a smile, and it melts me completely, gripping my pen while literally swooning.
'O-ok. That's $20'
She fishes through her purse, dragging out half its contents on the counter in the process, making me giggle. She looks at me, then down at the counter. 'Oh sorry.' She says apologetically.
She finally finds it and hands me a $20 note.
Our fingertips brush lightly at the exchange, sending an electrical shock down through my arm, penetrating my whole body. I shiver, putting it in the register. When I look up she is still standing there, looking at me with curious eyes.
'What?'
'Nothing.' She laughs lightly, joining her friends now.
My feet try to find purchase on the ground as I turn to the deep fryer, sizzling it up for the last order of the night in my shift. Staring at the fir extinguisher, I couldn't stop thinking about how she was standing there just staring at me.
It made me nervous and curious at the same time, stirring butterflies in my stomach.
I lay out the paper, careful not to drag it too close to the edge. Mercedes asks if I needed any help. I shake my head, watching her clock out for the night. The raven haired beauty was staring at me again when she thought I wasn't looking.
I take a deep breath as I watch Sue walking towards the cooking station. 'You did good tonight blondie, besides the burning chips, you passed your second Friday shift with flying colours. Good job.'
I give her a weak smile. My work mates warned me that if you ever get a compliment from Sue, never pass it up. 'Thanks.'
The order was set, laying out the chips, throwing on the dim sims on top. Tying up the paper, I grabbed the fried mars bar and packed it separately in a paper bag.
I place the food on the counter, shifting nervously when she comes up with her friends. She takes it with a thank you.
But she motions for her friends to wait outside. I watch confused, the woman now turning to me with the same curious look she's had for the past 10 minutes. 'What's your name?' She says looking me dead in the eyes.
'Brittany S Pierce, not to be confused with Brittany Spears.'
I watch her lips fall into a soft laugh.
'Santana Lopez.' She says extending her hand. That same electrical shock races through me when our palms meet. I pull back with a shy smile, with her eyes looking over my shoulder.
'Uhh, is that normal?' She says pointing to the smoke coming up from the deep fryer.
'Oh shit, not again!' A few chips were left at the bottom of the basket and I didn't turn off the deep fryer.
'Does that happen often?' I hear her shout out over my desperate attempts to clear the smoke. 'Nah, only when I'm near it.' I say with amusement.
That same laughter rings through my ears and I can't help but smile, turning back to Santana.
'I better be off, my friends are probably wondering where I am.'
'Oh ok, well enjoy your food.' I stumble out, running my hands through my hair, something I do when I get nervous.
'Thanks, I will.' And with that, she was gone.
Oh man, she must think I'm a total klutz who can't cook.
At that same moment, Santana was thinking that she is definitely coming back to this fish & chip shop next Friday night, if only to see the cute girl named Brittany again.
tbc
