"Panda, wake up"
"Wuh..?"
"It's time for work"
"Give me five more minutes.."
"It's Ten thirty." Panda jolted awake, swinging around in his bed to face his awakening, which turned out to be Ice Bear.
"Wait, What?!" He yelled.
"Ice Bear said it was ten thirty" Panda started to panic as he fell out of bed.
"Oh no, I'm going to be late for work..." He untangled himself from his bedsheet, and got up, feeling around himself. "Where are my contacts?"
"Ice Bear has them." Ice Bear raised a paw, on them being Panda's contact lenses. Panda quickly grabbed them, slipping them in as quickly as he could.
"Thanks, bro" Panda shut his eye's, allowing the contacts to settle in place.
"Ice Bear has Panda's breakfast ready." Panda turned, grabbing his phone.
"I'm really sorry dude, but I'm going to have to skip." He explained hurriedly, " I'll eat it when I get home, OK?" Panda dashed through the front door, running through the woods towards the city. Ice Bear walked over to the door, watching sprint through the forest around the Cave- House. Ice Bear shut the door gently, then walked into the kitchen, looking at the large stack of pancakes sadly.
"Ice Bear will clean up..."
Panda came to a slowing stop outside Stack Your Snack. Rochelle saw him from behind the counter, and waved him inside. Panda pushed the door open and walked in.
"Hey..." he said, "What time is it?" Rochelle made a glance at her watch.
"11:05" She said, eyebrow raised. Panda groaned. "It's okay, we'll overlook 5 minutes, but if you come more than 15 minutes, late, you're outta here." She raised the counter for him to come behind the glass. Panda went behind the glass.
"Where's Jesse?" He asked, puzzled.
"He's not coming in until midday." explained Rochelle. "So you'll be working with me" she said smiling. Panda tried to return the smile, but he was sure he managed to turn it into a grimace somehow. Luckily, Rochelle didn't see, being distracted by the bell that alerted the arrival of new customer. Panda took a quick look around him. The Cafe was empty, except for the two woman drinking a steaming cup of something that was probably coffee. Panda looked behind the counter to see Ross, leaning on the counter, cradling a bottle of water, waiting for the next order. Then finally he looked down, and realized, he didn't know how to use any of the buttons on the Cash Register, excluding the number buttons. He looked around himself again. Rochelle was busy serving a new customer, so that only left...
"Hey, Ross?" Panda yelled. "How do you..?" Ross came out from the kitchen.
"Use the cash register?" He finished. Panda nodded. Ross sighed. "Well, it's confusing at first, but you get the hang of it real fast..." Ross walked up beside Panda, leaning on the counter beside him, and Panda was forcefully reminded of his brother, Grizz. Ross pointed to a button in the top left of the register.
"You use this button to start a new order, so you don't accidentally charge someone with the same order the last guy got." He moved over to a bunch of other buttons, "These are for special offers, like Half off, Two for one, and all that. I'm sure you can figure out the calculator buttons there, and finally, this button on the side..." Ross pointed out the button that stuck out slightly, "...is the button you press to open the register and place the cash inside. It also measures the cash put in,so don't think of pocketing any of it for yourself"
"The thought never crossed my mind"
"Yeah, sure." Ross picked up a piece of laminated paper, that was left just under the counter. "You use this to check the prices, without having to look up at the menu behind you and let some people reach into the register and steal some cash."
"OK, got it, thanks Ross."
"Once you get the receipt, write down their table number on it, and pin it up, so I can make it and you'll bring it out to them, so make sure you remember their table number."
"OK, thanks Ross." Ross started back to the kitchen
"And don't worry about tax, the register calculates it automatically for you."
"Uh.. Thanks Ross." Ross disappeared behind the doors to the kitchen again. Panda looked back down at the cash register, trying to commit each of the buttons to memory. Rochelle tapped him on the shoulder.
"I nearly forgot, here." She held up a orange apron. "It's your uniform, so remember to bring it in every day." Panda slipped it over his head, but struggled to tie the knot behind his back. Rochelle giggled. "Here let me..." Panda turned away from her, and she tied the knot tightly in a double.
"There." She said, making the final loop. "Better?" Panda adjusted the apron slightly.
"Yeah..." Panda looked up at her. "Thank You" Rochelle turned away from him, putting some cash in the register.
"No problem." she looked up at the ring of the bell. "How's about you take these ones, Panda?" Panda looked to the door, seeing the two man walking through the door, chatting to each other happily.
"Oh.. um, OK.." Panda looked up nervously. The men walked up to the end of the waiting line, waiting for someone to call them forward.
"O-over here, sirs..." Said Panda in a quiet voice. The men looked round, then stepped forward to Panda's claimed piece of counter, and were quick to speak.
"One Blueberry Coffee and one Lemon Iced Tea," The man turned to his companion, "Do you want something to eat, before this place fills for lunch?"
"Nah, I thought we were gonna get pizza..." Said the companion, evidently confused.
"No, yeah, but did you wan't anything else" Panda cleared his throat.
"Could you please tell me what you would like to order?" The man looked to his companion. He shrugged.
"I'll wait."
"Just the drinks please." finalized the man.
"Okay, so a Blueberry Coffee, and a Lemon Iced Tea?" confirmed Panda.
"Uhh, yeah..." Panda looked at the sheet, like Ross told him to, found the price, like Ross told him to, and punched it in, like Ross told him to, and made the receipt, like Ross told him to. He pinned it up behind him on the board, and, Ross, just like promised, looked at it and started stirring the drinks. Panda waved the men off to their table, who ambled over slowly, chatting as they did so. Panda waited at the counter for Ross to finish the drinks.
"Good Job..." Panda looked around himself.
"Hmm? Rochelle, did you say something?" Rochelle looked at him.
"No" She cocked her head. "Why?"
"I thought I-" Panda started, then turned. "Ross, did yo-"
"Order 12!" He interrupted, thrusting the drinks towards him.
"Oh, Um," stuttered Panda, caught off guard. "Thanks." Panda turned towards the table, then looked down at the receipt. "Uh... Um, which table..." Panda looked around him, then back at the receipt, which Panda had forgotten to write the table number on.
"Blueberry Coffee and Lemon Iced Tea?" offered Panda, slightly desperately, only to be disappointed by shakes of heads and negative responses.
"Oh man... where are they?" wondered Panda to himself, wanting to kick himself for allowing such blatant stupidity on such a simple order. Then, finally, he felt he saw them, sitting by the door. Panda moved closer. It was definitely them, but one of them seemed to be... crying? Panda came and set the tray before them.
"Is everything OK?" The crying one waved him off, but the other one called him closer.
"I think we need some alone time but..." the man said furtively, "something very... sensitive was just found out."
"Really?" said Panda sincerely. "what happened?" The man looked to his crying companion, who, still leaking tears nodded him on.
"His girlfriend just broke up with him... over text..." The man whispered, looked around like it was completely confidential, "By Text..."
"I thought she was the one... I was going to propose!" The man started to sob. Panda grimaced at the sight, then looked at Rochelle, who, looking back, got the gist of what was going on. She waved him on, looking concerned. Panda set the tray down and put his arm around the crying man gently.
"She obviously wasn't. She couldn't have been strong enough for you..."
"But she was able to support herself!" The man cried, still sobbing. "I should have seen it coming!"
"If she's such a strong woman, how come she couldn't muster the strength to break up with in person? Why by text?" The man stopped sobbing.
"Y'know, that actually helps..." Said the man, wiping his eye's with a table tissue. "Thank you..." The man took his Iced Tea with both hands and sipping at it. Panda smiled and stood up. The mans friend, holding a coffee looked up at him and mouthed the words "Thank You" to him from the other side of the table. Panda bowed, as if to say "It was my pleasure" Panda stood up, and walked back to the counter. Rochelle met him at the folding portion, giving him a playful punch on the arm.
"Dude!" She said, astounded, "That was amazing! How did you calm him down. Panda could feel the blood rush to his cheeks.
"It was a topic I'm quite familiar with..." he explained, then turned towards the register again, glancing nervously towards Rochelle. Rochelle smiled.
"Oh, really?" she said cunningly. "And what was this familiar topic that made a grown man cry so much that only a talking panda in a orange apron could cheer him up?" Panda could feel the blood rush to his cheeks even more, and he hoped it wasn't visible through his white fur. He mumbled something inaudible. Then turned away, only to find Ross leaning through the serving table, listening intently.
"You too?!" He yelled at him. Ross shrugged.
"I may not look it, but I'm very much into gossip..." he explained half-heartedly. Panda sighed, and turned around at the tinkle of the bell. to see a familiar purple-haired boy walking through the door. Panda waved, eager to leave the awkward conversation.
"Hey Jesse!" Jesse looked back at Panda, and waved back, already smiling.
"Hey Panda!" He moved behind the counter, taking off his scarf. Panda cocked his head.
"Isn't it a bit warm for a scarf?" He asked, confused. Jesse shrugged.
"It's how people recognize me. At my flats, quite a few people have dyed hair, so..." Jesse explained clearly.
"Ah I see..." Panda looked him up and down. "So why the big coat?"
"I just like this coat..." He said, pulling the collars of a thick dark brown coat closer to his neck. A voice came from behind him.
"E-excuse me?" Jesse moved aside to reveal the man Panda had comforted earlier. He dropped a 5 dollar bill in the "TIPS" jar. "Thank you for helping me with my girlfriend troubles." Rochelle and Ross gave a Panda a sidelong look, who pretended not to notice, even though he could feel his cheeks turning red.
"N-No Problem.." The man backed away, and left the cafe. Rochelle was quick to hone in on Panda.
"So, who's the lucky girl?"
"Lucky?" said Panda, confused, "What?"
'Well, any woman would be lucky to have such a cute boyfriend, y'know?" She said, almost as if explaining to a 5 year old boy. "It's kinda obvious that you have a girlfriend, to be honest." Panda didn't answer, instead focusing intently on a single button on the cash register. Rochelle gasped. "You don't mean..." Panda nodded. Rochelle pulled out her phone, and started doing something on it, looking worried.
"I've been on a dating site for months, but no one has wanted to approach me..." He said sadly. "Maybe I should just give up." Rochelle put her phone down, then looked up at the ceiling innocently. Panda looked at her.
"What? You look like you know something..." He said accusingly, " What do you know?"
"Nothing..." Panda's phone rang a small chime. Panda froze, stuck by shock.
"Did you.. Is that..?" Rochelle looked at him.
"I'll let you check that this one time," she said sternly, raising a single finger, "but another time, and it's mine until the end of your shift." She turned away from him. Panda whipped out his phone and gasped. There was a match.. Panda quickly unlocked his phone and checked it and nearly dropped his phone.
"So? How about it?" Asked Rochelle, "Wanna go out for donuts sometime?"
After work, Panda walked through the door of the cave-house, eyes still wide from shock. Ice Bear stood there with the plate of Pancakes in his hands.
"Is Panda ready for breakfast now?" he asked. Panda's only response sounded like "UhhmmmIothun". Ice Bear cocked his head.
"Ice Bear is worried." Ice Bear put the pancakes on the table, and guided Panda over to the seat in front of them. "Panda should eat. You haven't eaten all day." Panda got up, clearing his throat.
"I-I'm not hungry." he said, and, with that, left the room. Ice bear looked down at the floor sadly, hoping he wasn't losing his brothers. Just then, Grizz walked through the door, still wearing his hard hat for work.
"Hey Bro," He said nonchalantly, before spying the pancakes that Ice Bear was sitting next to. "Hey, are those pancakes? Can I..." Ice Bear pushed the stack towards him, then got up and left, opening the freezer door and disappearing inside. Grizz looked around him, suddenly alone.
"Was it something I said?"