Waitress

By: UGAdawg

A/N: I would like to thank the people that reviewed; I really do appreciate it. Reviews are what keep me motivated as a writer. Special thanks to LilAznBby for being my very first reviewer.

Chapter Two

"Try not to be so upset Kagome." Hojo gave her a guilty glance as he paced in front of her. They were at her house tonight. Kagome was lounging on the couch just watching her boyfriend pace. "This isn't permanent, only for a couple weeks."

Kagome sat up and turned away from Hojo for a moment to stare out the large, front window. She just needed to focus on something else for a moment to collect herself. Hojo didn't like excess emotion and she felt about ready to snap at that moment. "But it's our last summer together. I just…" She didn't know how to continue without showing too much emotion. "I just want to be able to actually spend it with you."

Hojo just smiled soothingly at her. "It's not our last summer, Kagome. It's just the last summer before college. And I will be back in August. I'm only going to be gone for two months." He stopped pacing and walked toward her. Kneeling down so that he was eye level with her, Hojo seized her hands. "This European tour will help me build on my résumé before I even get to the university. You understand, right?"

Kagome suppressed her frown. Yea, she understood. She understood that he cared more about building on his resume then on spending time with her; she was always trumped by volunteer work or school activities. She understood that he was all she really had; without Hojo there a dreadfully lonely summer stretched ahead of her. "I understand Hojo. Don't worry about it." She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Just keep in touch with me while you're there, promise?"

"Of course. I'll write you every week." Hojo stood back up and sat down on the couch, obviously relieved now that that emotional situation was dodged.

"Write?" Kagome instantly frowned again. "Why can't you call?"

"I decided that a cell phone would be too much of a distraction while I'm trying to focus. I can't have people calling me at all hours. Writing would just be much more convenient and productive for everyone." Hojo said this so automatically, it was as if he had sat down for an hour and composed answers to all of her inquiries. It kind of upset her.

After a few hours of meaningful discussion about politics and global warming, Hojo left and Kagome felt incomplete already. He had kind of sprung the news on her with no warning. Hojo was leaving tomorrow and Kagome was going to be utterly alone.

Muttering to herself, Kagome got off the couch and walked towards the stairs so she could slip into her bedroom without any contact with her family. She really didn't want to face them right now and explain that she would most likely be wasting the summer before college alone and confused while Hojo toured Europe.

The next week passed on in complete monotony. Kagome continued on in the same routine she had religiously followed for the past two years… just without Hojo there. She woke up early, went to yoga for a few hours, came home and did chores, had a vegan lunch, then continued with chores and meaningful study. By the end of the week Kagome was about ready to crack from the boredom. Without Hojo, her normal routine seemed unbearable.

On her way back from some errands on Saturday, Kagome got stuck at a red light on the corner of Old Highway and Blossom drive. It was always a long red light because Old Highway had more traffic then Blossom did. So as she waited, Kagome just starred idly at the road sign and wondered why the person who designed this little town felt the need to name all the streets after trees that weren't even in the area.

Suddenly her view was obstructed by an old, blue truck, which pulled up to the light in the lane beside her. Across the side of the truck, painted in large block letters, was 'Your Choice Bar and Grill'. Kagome had forgotten about her experience in the restaurant over a week ago. It was such an insignificant moment that she hadn't felt the need to think about it. But suddenly she was painfully aware of that moment because behind the wheel of the truck, tapping his fingers across the steering wheel in tune with whatever was playing on his radio, was the silver haired waiter.

Sometimes it seems like the universe is conspiring against you. Like everything happens at just the right moment to push you towards something. If Kagome hadn't been stuck at that red light, if she hadn't been feeling so worthless, if Hojo had been at home, Kagome wouldn't have switched lanes and followed the truck down Old Highway instead of taking Blossom to Willow and head home. But she did without hesitation.

After a few minutes both cars pulled into the parking lot of Your Choice Bar and Grill. Kagome parked right next to the blue truck and got out of her car. The man was leaning against the side of his car watching her closely. Kagome was slightly unnerved to see that he didn't seem surprised to see her there again at all.

"Any particular reason you followed me back here?" He drawled out the sentence lazily, as if it didn't really matter what she said in return. He had already made up his mind what her reason was.

Kagome suddenly felt nervous and embarrassed at being so obvious about following him there. "I don't know… I guess I was just bored." It was a pathetic response, and she knew it.

He just shrugged, no sign of surprise. Then he pushed himself off the truck and started towards the building, motioning her to follow him. "We kind of got an unexpected rush a little while ago. I was driving to Miroku's house to see if I could convince him to come in today and help out since no one will answer their phones. Damn caller id."

She had to power walk to keep up with his long, smooth strides. "Suffice to say, the bastard was too busy with his date and couldn't come in." Suddenly he stopped before the red front doors as a small family slipped inside ahead of them. He let out a frustrated sigh. "If you're really bored enough to follow strangers around, how about you take his place for today and help out. We'll pay you of course. What do you say?"

Kagome was a little stunned by the suggestion. She didn't quite know what to say. But it seemed that her companion had already made up his mind about her answer to this question too. He grabbed her forearm and pulled her through the red doors, letting them swing shut behind them.

And just like that Kagome had a job for the day. She never did plan to get a job that summer. Kagome didn't really need the money, and all her time had previously been taken up by volunteer work and yoga with Hojo. But there she was, running back and forth between the kitchen window and her tables serving food and refilling drinks.

Surprisingly enough she picked up the work quickly. Kagome had been striving towards perfection for so long and she wasn't about to exclude that perfection from any aspect of her life, including a random day working at Your Choice. The menu was easy to remember, just basic bar food like burgers and fries. And after a few little slip-ups for the first hour, Kagome was able to fall into the routine.

It was hectic work, the kind of work that Hojo would loathe because of the complete chaos of everything. Nothing seemed to go completely right. A steak was too rare, the wrong dressing was brought out with the salad, and sodas were accidently upturned on unsuspecting customers. But for every little debacle there was always a quick solution. Everyone she was working with never seemed phased by these little disasters.

They all had a different way of coping. Sango, the fiery brunette from earlier, would just give the complaining customer a strained smile, apologize, and then calmly walk back to the kitchen where she would immediately break down in a torrent of curses and rude gestures until the cook finished remaking the dish for her to bring out. None of the customers ever saw her little breakdowns.

Inuyasha, the young man who had offered her the job, wasn't so subtle with his displeasure. At one point a customer was complaining that he had asked for onion rings instead of fries and demanded his meal be free. So Inuyasha said that he completely agreed and picked up the plate of food and flipped it onto the man's lap as if it was the most natural thing to do. He did things like that the whole time varying in extremes from hanging up on a difficult phone order to almost beating up another young man that seemed to know him from school. It was a miracle he still had a job…

And that left her. Kagome was personally just trying to survive with minimal confrontation, which wasn't easy. People get really heated over their food. No one was ever really happy. And the place was completely packed with impatient patrons waiting around the door for a seat. After the first few minutes, Kagome wasn't surprised at all that Inuyasha had offered her the job so impulsively. They really did need the extra help.

But hours passed, and Your Choice was left empty after the last dinner customer left. Sango sat collapsed in a chair looking completely disheveled and lazily flipping through her tips. Kagome sat across the booth from her also counting her tips. Kagome had never had a job before and felt a certain sense of pride from having earned some money for the first time. Usually she just survived off of allowance. Inuyasha had pulled up a chair next to them and was lounging in it indolently after having already pocketed his cash.

"I don't know how you manage to make so much money Inuyasha. It just stuns me. You're a complete asshole to most of your customers, yet you make a killing in tips every single night. What's your secret?" Sango glanced up from her collection of one-dollar bills to look at Inuyasha. Kagome kept quiet in her chair. It had been so busy that she hadn't really talked to either of the two except to ask for a straw or where the ketchup was. She was feeling out of place.

"The secret is intimidation." Inuyasha smirked a little. "Most of those people are regulars meaning that no matter how much I piss them off, they'll be back. And they know that I'll be handling their food again someday. They give me good tips to placate me so that I don't accidently drop their steak on the floor before serving it to them next time." He chuckled a little and glanced over at Kagome. "People learn quick not to fuck with people that handle their food."

Kagome just smiled nervously; these weren't the type of people she normally hung out with. Sango also glanced her way and acknowledged her for the first real time that evening. "Thanks for helping us out today, we wouldn't have survived without a little help. Kikyo had today off, but Miroku completely flaked on us." She muttered something that sounding like 'perverted asshole' under her breath.

"Was Kikyo the other young woman that was here when I stepped in awhile ago?" Kagome glanced from Sango to Inuyasha waiting for a response.

Inuyasha let out a slight sigh. "Yea, that was Kikyo. She's a stunner, right?" He said this so strangely, that Kagome couldn't help shooting him a furtive glance.

"Don't let Inuyasha alarm you." Sango said with a small laugh, reaching out and touching Kagome's hand in an encouraging way. "Kikyo and him used to date way back when he got her the job. Then they broke up and Kikyo decided she still wanted to work here. It causes all kinds of work drama." Sango lightly hit Inuyasha on the arm as he huffed. "Poor Inuyasha was heartbroken."

"Shut up." Inuyasha snarled out at Sango. He appeared threatening enough but Sango just laughed it off.

Kagome just smiled nervously. She still wasn't used to this brand of banter. "Well it was a pleasure to meet you both, and thank you very much for the opportunity today. My mother expected me home an hour ago though and I shouldn't keep her waiting." Kagome pushed her chair back and stood up, smiling politely at the two of them. "Maybe I'll see you later."

She started towards the door after Sango gave her a hug goodbye, which freaked her out a little, but she let it slide this time. Inuyasha didn't say anything though and Kagome didn't let that bother her. He was a peculiar man.

Before she got to her car though, Inuyasha caught up with her in the parking lot. "We've always been a little shorthanded since my brother left for college last year and we've been meaning to hire someone new for awhile now but never got around to it. Since you already have some experience, would you like the job?"

Kagome didn't even hesitate. "Yes. That would be nice."

A/N: I hope you liked that chapter. Sorry it took me so long, I was in France for the past week and couldn't write. Please, PLEASE, review. I'd love to know what you think.