Notes: Okay, I've decided to continue on with my story. I love all the positive feedback I've been getting, especially since I haven't posted anything new in this section in a while. I hope my work stays at the level that it started with. Sorry, I know this chapter is short, but I plan to have more in the next. Enjoy!
Oh, and since nobody has guessed what the restaurant name means (5 SR Café), I'm keeping the contest open for another chapter. Here's a clue, it has to deal with food in a sense. Think about when you were kids if that helps at all. If nobody gets it correctly, I'll post what it means in the following chapter. If you do, you'll be the first new OC to the story and have the very first line of the chapter. However, this does not mean that you won't appear in this chapter as well. Look out for cameos.
Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies or any characters other than Aqua.
Change. Change. Change. Change! Jack sighed as the clock moved to display the new time: four o'clock. He grinned. He only had six more hours until he could go home, and he'd only been there for thirty minutes.
It wasn't the job in itself that bothered Jack. He wasn't afraid of doing any grunt work, but grunt work that included watching varying sizes of meat cook on a grill until your eyeballs could feel the heat was not on his list of favorite things to do.
"Jack, no wearing cowboy hats in the kitchen," David called out as he passed by, "Or bandanas." Of course, annoying, curly-haired assistant managers who found fault in your every move was another problem in itself.
"For the last time David, it's a sweat rag," Jack replied.
"And the hat?"
"The hat just looks cool," Jack looked smug at this line, thinking it wouldn't cause the removal of his precious headgear.
"Take them off," David demanded, "then get back to work!" Jack sighed, but did as he was told. There were only so many jobs that a college student could get while on summer break. This so happened to be the job that he had left in order to attend college. For some reason or another, they had agreed to take him back. Jack only hoped that it was short lived and he found a new job soon.
Skittery let out a breath of relief as the last customer left for the dining room. A large group had come in for the lunch rush and as many times as he had survived the onslaught, he could never get used to it.
"Excuse me," a female voice asked suddenly and Skittery looked up slowly, only to be met by a pair of blue eyes staring into his own. She had brown hair that ended at her shoulders and stood a good six inches shorter than Skittery himself.
"What can I get you today," Skittery questioned, trying not to force the words out.
"I just need an application," she spoke.
"By the door," he replied, waving a hand vaguely in the right direction.
"Thanks." Skittery watched as she pulled an application from the plastic holder, hoping that just maybe, she'd be hired to take his place.
'Take your time' was a phrase that Bumlets had grown to hate, from the very first moment that he had said them. When he had been younger, before being old enough to even have a job, he had taken the words at face value, mainly to mean 'whenever you're ready'. Now that he'd worked the front after a month of cleaning the dining room and helping as a runner, he now knew the true meaning of the phrase, which was in the simplest terms 'I'm tired, you're taking up my time. Will you please just order already?', but more than likely without the 'please' thrown into the mix.
The group of four had been standing in front of him for a good three minutes and as they were the only people in line and nothing needed to be restocked, he was doing his best to remain sane as they gawked at the menu. Since Skittery had gone on break and Bumlets was in training for the register, it was left to him to cover the front for a few moments.
It also didn't help that Aqua was standing beside him, ready to fix a mistake at a moment's notice. Aside from Skittery, she was the best register operator they had and having her scrutinizing his every move was disconcerting. However, she had let him handle it as long as he didn't have a specific problem that needed her attention. Mainly, she got everybody's drinks and ran to get the food on the trays.
When the people in line finally decided between cheese or no cheese on their burger, they ordered. He only called on Aqua's help once, when he forgot to make one of their combos a medium. It was fixed quickly though and he was grateful when they took their trays to the dining room. Only ten minutes and he could return to his usual position at the fry station. Now, that he could handle.