Order.
Table Sixteen.
Two eggs and a bagel with orange juice.
A short stack of pancakes with hash browns and milk.
A BLT with a water; hold the mayo.
And… and…?
"I'll have the Salad Niçoise and some honey bread."
"Anything to drink?"
"Mmm… no, I'm fine."
"Alright, then."
"Actually, wait."
"Yes?"
"I'll have a water, too."
"Alright. So that's…"
Her mind was there. Her body was there. She, as a whole, was there, taking an order, listening to the words coming out of the others' mouths and writing them down haphazardly yet legibly on a small piece of paper that she would later give to someone else, and, before long, would end up in the dumpster outside. And she would continue to do that day after day, around the clock, until the day arrived where… but yes, that was her life. She was there. Only…
"No."
Her heart wasn't in it.
"I'm sorry?"
"Two waters, a milk, and an orange juice. Not two milks."
"Oh, I'm sorry… yes, I have it written down. Two waters, a milk, and an orange juice. Will that be all?"
"Yes."
"Okay, I'll be right back with your drinks."
As she walked toward the kitchen, she could hear something being muttered from the table she had just left, but she didn't pay attention to the words. She didn't give an iota of care on what they thought about her as a waiter. Sure, it was her life; but she wasn't living it. She entered the kitchen and hung the order up, sighing deeply.
"What's up?"
The voice grabbed her attention. She turned and looked over at the speaker. "Oh, hey, Dianne." The brunette stared at the robin, waiting. She scratched at her clean face, put her curly hair behind her ears, fixing it up, and tapped her red-polished fingernails on the stainless steel counter that she was leaning on.
"…Well?"
"Huh?"
"Damn, you're really out of it today, aren't you?" Dianne asked, tossing the bird a bottle of water. "What's on your mind?"
"Well…"
"It's a guy, huh? Yup, totally knew it. Who's the lucky man? Someone I know?"
"No, it's… not a guy."
"Not a guy, huh? Then what is it?"
The robin sighed again, resigning to the persistence of her coworker. "It's not so much what's on my mind as it is what's not." Dianne looked at her in blank astonishment. She then let out a shrill chuckle, patting her friend on the back.
"Margaret, honey, you need to slow down," she explained. "This isn't your entire life. You can't be a brainwashed slave to the American food companies for the rest of your life! Us girls need to stick up for ourselves!" The aggressive twenty-something pumped her fist in the air with determination, her other arm around the robin. "And besides; you still have way more time left to do what you want than I do."
"Come on, Di," Margaret said, pulling away from the woman talking to her. "You're what - three years older than me? Four? I really don't think that makes that big of a dif-"
"Hey, now that you mention it," Dianne continued, completely ignoring what Margaret had been saying, "for all the time we've been here, you've never told me what you wanted to do in life. 'Cause I sure as hell know it ain't waitin' on tables all day long. So what is it?" Margaret took pause to think. What did she want, again? Was it… could it have been… what? What was that noise?…
"…I-"
"Hey, you slackers!" The figure yelled, entering the kitchen and pointing at the two who were conversing. "Get back out there and take more orders!"
"Yes sir," the two said in unison, though one with far more attitude than the other. The figure squinted and walked past them, muttering something about not paying them to stand around talking. The two exited the kitchen to their respective areas.
"He pays us?" Margaret let out a small snicker in response to her coworker's comment before returning to the world of servitude.
"Did you guys enjoy it?"
"Yeah!"
The table resounded with approval, empty plates being picked up by the feathered waitress.
"Oh yes, it was very nice indeed!" The lollipop gent said with a complacent smile on his lips and a nod with his enormous, perfectly round head.
"Great, I'll just leave the check here then…"
"Uh, Margaret…?"
"Yes?"
"Do… do you have a minute?" The robin looked at a clock hanging on the wall, and let a small smirk meet her beak.
"Yeah, I usually take a five minute break around now anyway," she said. Mordecai got up from the booth with a grin as Benson scanned over the bill. Pops smiled obliviously, his eyes locked with one of the many pictures of old events and memorabilia that might or might not have been relevant to the district the diner was located in, while the raccoon across the booth frowned, his chin resting on the table as tiny paws fiddled with a small white packet of sugar. He was careful not to open it or accidentally tear it open, as he did not want to incur the wrath of Benson, but he couldn't sit still, either.
"Meet us outside when you're done," the gumball machine called as the two birds walked away from the booth. "And don't take too long!" But the last exclamation was drowned out in the increasing volume of the dining area.
The two stepped out into the surprisingly cool open air, the door - which led to the side of the diner - closing with a thud behind them. They shivered in unison, looking up in the sky to find numerous grey clouds above them. "Huh, and it was so warm and clear earlier today," the male noted as he looked down the alleyway they were now in. He eyed the steps to the side of the slightly elevated ground he was standing on, which would lead him to the grimy ground in a matter of moments had he decided to walk down them.
"Yeah, the weather's been kinda crazy around here lately," Margaret said in agreement, resting on the railing that prevented her from taking a fall to the dirty earth below. While the rest of the vicinity seemed to be incredibly filthy, both the platform and railing were surprisingly clean, if not a little worn down from years of use. "I come out here whenever I have something on my mind," she said, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Mordecai leaned on the wall next to the doorway, listening to the robin he was so madly infatuated with. "Someday, I'm gonna get out of this dump." The blue jay was stunned.
"You mean, you… don't like it here?" The robin replied with a soft hum.
"The city is alright," Margaret replied, taking a deep breath of air. "Actually, I love it. Sitting in my freezing apartment, alone, in the dead of winter, drinking coffee to keep myself warm and sane, getting up in the morning every day to see everyone else lead the same exact life I'm living…" She closed her eyes, letting the visions come to her. "It's hell, but it's home."
"Then why leave?" She turned and faced Mordecai, her back now leaning on the rail.
"It's this job! I mean, I don't want to be a waitress for the rest of my life! You don't want to keep working in that park forever, do you?"
"Uh…" Mordecai had to think about that one. Come to think of it, he hadn't really planned his future that much since Rigby and he decided to work at the park.
"Exactly!" Margaret said, taking the silence as agreement. "I want to do something with my life. Go back to school, get a degree…" She scoffed. "Minimum wage just doesn't cut it anymore. And working in this job… you see a side of people you never thought existed in this day and age." Mordecai didn't know how to react. He wasn't used to seeing her so… cold. Alone. He wanted to do something. He wanted to reach out. Silence rang through the area for awhile, only interrupted by the occasional boisterous laughter of children across the street or a car horn going off in the distance. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Oh, uh…" Mordecai started as he tried to calm himself down, preventing himself from blushing as he made his move. "Well… Benson gave us the day off today, and I was wondering… maybe you might want to… come over to the park and… hang out?" Margaret smiled kindly at the other bird as he stumbled along his query.
"Definitely!" She said, causing Mordecai to brighten up immediately. "Today's gonna be a long one; I could use some time to relax later. I'll meet you there around six?"
"Alright, awesome!" The blue jay responded energetically. Something caused Margaret to look back up at the sky before the two went back into the diner.
"I think the clouds are beginning to part."
"Here you go, if you need anything else, just call!"
"Waitress!"
"Yes?"
"Could we order our dessert now?"
"Yes, of course."
"Hey, waiter!"
"I'll be there in a moment!"
"One sundae, an apple pie, and a coffee with cream."
"Would you like some sugar with it?"
"Waiter!"
"I'm coming!"
"If I wanted sugar, I would've asked for it, wouldn't I?"
"We've been waiting here for…"
"Right, so will that be all then?"
"I know, I'll say something."
"Yes."
"Alright, I'll be right back."
Through the swinging doors. Again and again. And again. And again.