a/n: Sorry this update took longer than the last. It was my best friend's bday this last weekend, so I was busy with best friend duties to make it awesome! Mission: accomplished. Then I worked all week. But here it is!
I hope you enjoy the chapter. Please leave a comment/critique/question if you feel so inclined. Thanks ;)
Chapter 3: Becoming A Habit
The café picked up for the lunch rush, and instead of making drinks I ran back and forth from the kitchen to deliver food to tables. Every time I delivered a tray of food to waiting customers at tables and made my way back behind the counter Tina would ring the bell again, signaling another meal was ready to be taken out. Due to the hurried pace of delivering food and not getting enough sleep last night I can feel a headache coming on. On top of that, the large table in the middle of the café includes a pack of young children that keep trying to reach out and snatch fries off of the plates I'm delivering. One lady who saw a boy steal some of the fries off her plate even asked for new food. I just sighed, forced a smile on my face and told her, 'Of course.'
I could tell that Tina was upset at me for making her redo the order, but she didn't say anything mean. She just took that plate from my hands and nodded with tight lips before turning and getting back to work. I whispered 'Sorry' one last time before grabbing two more plates to deliver to customers. Plates in hand, I turned to see Rachel happily swaying as she made drinks. As I passed to go deliver the food I heard her softly singing to herself.
Dancing through life
Skimming the surface
Gliding where turf is smooth
Life's more painless
For the brainless
Why think too hard?
I can't help the small smile that forms in the corner of my mouth. Despite the bustle of the lunch rush and the crazy customers Rachel is in her own little world signing Broadway tunes. I take a moment to close my eyes and shake my head a little. It's times like this that I really like Rachel and am glad I have her as my coworker.
When it's so soothing
Dancing through life
No need to tough it
When you can sluff it off as I do
Nothing matters
But knowing nothing matters
It's just life
So keep dancing through...
Feeling my mood pick up significantly I head towards my target table. I genuinely smile at the customers as I set down their food and ask them if I can get them anything else. They politely decline, so I turn to the empty table beside theirs and start collecting the dirty dishes left behind. With both hands full I head back to the kitchen to deposit them.
"Hey, Brittany." I snap my head behind me and see Quinn and 'the girl' looking at me. I still don't know her name, I realize.
I'm not sure which one of them spoke. I honestly forgot they were still here, losing track since the pickup in customers. I look down at my hands, full of dirty dishes, but walk over to them regardless.
"Your shoe's untied, girlie," the brunette spoke.
"Oh," I reply, "thanks." I look down and see that the laces on my left shoe are in fact undone and dangling over the sides of my shoes. Well that's an accident waiting to happen. Again, I glance at the dishes in my arms before skimming around me. There's not a good place to set them down.
"Here," the girl says, patting her lap, "Let me help." I eye her light colored pants with raised eyebrows. I don't want to get her pants dirty. Maybe I have sticky stuff on the bottom of my shoe from the kitchen floor. I look at her face, seeing her friendly smile, before hesitantly lifting my left foot to put in her lap.
"Um, how were your coffees?" I ask. I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable with my foot in the lap of a customer, arms full and helpless.
"Absolutely delicious!" Quinn chirps in. "We're never going anywhere else for coffee." I beam at her with a delighted smile at the compliment. "I'm Quinn, by the way, and this is Santana. We're starting school at the university next week. So I'm sure we'll be coming in all the time for some much-needed caffeine pick-me-ups."
"Oh, very cool," I smile and nod. I wonder if I should tell them I'm not going to school right now. After all, I am like the only person my age that isn't going to the university. Rachel, Tina, and even Puck all take classes, at least part time. They might just assume I'm a student. I've always thought about it, but I've always been to busy with work and stuff. Plus I wouldn't know what to study. I'm pulled from my thoughts as I feel the last tug on my shoelaces before Santana taps my foot.
"There you go." She smiles up at me triumphantly. "Danger avoided."
"Thank you…Santana?" I look at her questionably, not wanting to mispronounce it. I've never heard the name. It's pretty, and seems very fitting for the girl sitting in front of me, though I don't know why I think that.
"Yeah, don't wear it out." She turns her head slightly sideways and gives me a smirk with a little wink. This makes me giggle a little bit at her dorkiness.
"So, Brittany," Quinn starts, pulling my attention away from Santana, "Are you from here, or are you here for school?"
"I grew up here," I reply. Pausing before adding, "In Lima."
"Perfect!" Santana interjects. "You can tell us what to do for fun around here." She smiles at me expectantly, while Quinn playfully rolls her eyes at her friend.
"Oh, well…" I scrunch my forehead in thought. No one's ever asked me this question, but I feel really important for being asked. "Let me think, there's the park, of course. I love the park." I pause to think again. "Oh, and the bowling alley is usually fun on week nights. Like there's always a lot of people." I look over at the girls to see if any of these sound entertaining to them. Santana just keeps staring at me, nodding her head. Quinn is focused on her nails, but I think she's still listening because I can see her head nod slightly as I list off more ideas.
"What about more adult things?" Quinn adds innocently, staring up at me. I could tell she was trying to ask me without making me feel stupid.
"Oh," I say in slight surprise. Of course they'd want to here about 'adult' things. They're college students after all, not tweens. The park and bowling? I mentally chastise myself for listing the most childish ideas. "Well, um, the drive-in movie theatre is 18 and over on Friday nights." I pause to think again. "Usually there's college parties on the weekend, but you gotta pick the goods ones because some are really lame." They both chuckle at this. They're not laughing at me, I'm pretty sure. I think they think I'm funny even though I wasn't trying to be. It makes me smile though.
"Do you know how to pick the good ones versus the lame ones?" Santana asks through her quiet laughter.
"Yup." I nod my head confidently, smile glowing.
"Well then you should let us know so we don't end up at the lame ones." Quinn adds, still smiling. "Can we get your number?"
If it's possible my smile got even bigger. People never ask for my number! I look down to my apron, where I can just see my phone sticking out of my pocket. I look down at my hands full of dirty dishes. "Um," I just shrug my shoulders, unable to reach it.
"Here." Santana leans forward and grabs the phone out of my apron pocket. She takes some time to add her contact info to my phone before handing it off to Quinn who does the same. Standing here watching them I can't help but beam. I've never felt so popular in my life.
"Yeah, just let us know…" Quinn trails off as she reaches forward to put my phone back in my apron. I inch my hip towards her in assistance.
"Brittany!" I turn to see Rachel pointing to the kitchen.
"Oh! I gotta get back to work." Snapping my direction back to their table, I see that both girls have scowls aimed at Rachel. "Sorry." I apologize to the girls and start dragging my feet backwards.
"We gotta go anyway," Quinn replies as she starts to stand up, shaking her palms, telling me it's not a big deal.
"Nice chatting with you, Britt." Santana gives a little wave. "See you soon."
"Yeah, okay. Bye." I quickly turn and make my way to deposit the dishes before grabbing more plates to deliver to customers. If it's even possible, I'm in an even better mood than when I saw Rachel singing at the counter. I can noticeably feel the new bounce in my step.
xXxXx
The last couple days of work passed with no significant events. I worked long shifts both days, eagerly hoping to see my new friends. Every time the bell on the front door rang I would snap my attention to the counter. It was never them though. For the majority of my time at work Bob was the only customer in the café. So many times I pulled out my phone and started typing a text to Santana or Quinn, just to see what they were up to, because I was bored. But every time I was about to hit send I would change my mind and delete it. After all, if they wanted to talk to me they would text me. Or they would come into the café and see me.
As I head out the back of the café towards my car I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. I hardly ever get texts or calls from people. I excitedly pull it out and look at the screen. I'm a little disappointed when I see Katie's name.
"Brian wants you to stop at the store to pick up something for dinner. And beer."
I let out an exaggerated sigh before stuffing my phone back in my pocket and walking the remaining distance to my car. I have to turn the key a couple times in the ignition before the engine finally rolls over and I'm able to head to the grocery store.
I walk into the store and grab a basket. I gaze around the store reading the titles above the aisles. I'll grab the beer last because it's too heavy to carry around while I round up dinner. Dinner…what to get for dinner… Last time I got mac'n'cheese, my absolute favorite meal. Brian wasn't happy with that though. He got angry and yelled for five minutes about how 'dinner' implied a healthy serving of meat. I hate getting yelled at. I remember trying my hardest not to cry, because crying in front of Brian is something you don't do. So I didn't cry until I was able to go in my room and shut my door. Even then I made sure to cry into my pillow so he couldn't hear me.
So I definitely have to get something with meat… My mind is coming up blank. Maybe if I just walk around for a minute something will catch my eye. So I wander up and down the aisles, weaving my path in no specific direction. I eventually end up in the garden section, where I run into the prettiest, most colorful display of flowers I've ever seen. There are roses and tulips, daisies and pansies, fall crocus, small blue flowers I don't know the name of, and lilies! I stop at these.
Lilies are my favorite! They are so beautiful and come in so many different shapes and colors. Not only that, but you can use them for all kinds of occasions. I remember we even had white lilies at my mom's funeral. The white flowers really stood out because every one was wearing black. The lily petals were all spread and open, and it made me feel like they wanted to give me little flower hugs to make me feel better. I think that's when they became my favorite flower.
I walk up to a collection of stargazer lilies. Putting the basket behind my back and leaning forward, I poke my nose in to get a close inhale. The sweet aroma fills my nostrils, and I close my eyes and sigh contentedly. I slowly stand up but keep my eyes closed, taking deep breaths in and out.
"Hey, stranger," the raspy voice sounds like it's inches from my neck. I jump in shock and drop my shopping basket. I swiftly spin and come face to face with a composed yet apologetic Santana. Slapping my palm to my chest I feel my heavily pounding heart. "I scared you," she says regretfully, "I didn't realize your eyes were closed. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. You just startled me is all," I reply, trying to relax my breathing. She gives me a remorseful frown, and I quickly answer back with a small smile to show her that I'm actually all right.
"Apparently it's becoming a habit." The corners of her lips turn upwards once again, revealing her perfect, white-teethed smile.
"I'll get used to it eventually." I spot the shopping basket I dropped and slowly lean down to pick it back up. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Shopping with my mom," she replies with indifference. I glance around, and when I don't see anyone else I look back at her questionably. She soon catches my silent question. "Oh, yeah, I snuck away. She doesn't need my help anyway. She has her list, and I'm just in the way." She straightens her posture and crosses her arms. Face staid, she asks, "What about you? Did you come here to shop or just to smell the flowers?" At the last part of her question her serious façade crumbled and her teasing smile reappeared.
"Yeah," I look at my feet slightly embarrassed, "I'm suppose to pick up food for dinner but couldn't think of anything. I was just passing by and couldn't resist the lilies." I smile but can feel the heat rising in my face. I look at Santana just in time to see her nose scrunch up in the cutest manner. "What?" I ask.
She doesn't answer as she lifts her pointer finger towards my face. Her finger lightly brushes the tip of my nose, and I cross my eyes to try to see what she's doing. "You had some pollen on your nose." She smiles at me with the sweetest smile I've seen from her yet.
"Thanks," I whisper and look down to my feet, feeling my cheeks heat up even more.
She seemed to notice my embarrassment and quickly changed the subject. "So, dinner? You need help thinking of something?"
"Really? That'd be awesome," I respond. "I could really use help because I don't want to mess up again. Brian says there needs to be meat. I brought home mac'n'cheese once and he freaked out because he says dinner needs to have meat in it. He yelled for like five minutes and wouldn't even try my mac'n'cheese."
"What? Who is this Brian? Is he your boyfriend? 'Cause that's really rude of him to freak out after you took the time to make it and all." The look on her face is a mixture of disbelief and anger. Maybe I said something wrong.
"Oh, no," I hastily respond, "Brian is my step-dad. I don't have a boyfriend. And I just wasn't thinking. It makes sense, I guess, that dinner should have meat in it, right? I was just being stupid." She seems to relax a little but still looked at me like she didn't believe something I was saying. "I just need to get a dinner that has meat."
"Okay," she draws out the word then scrunches her nose in thought. "How about…hm…does Brian like sausage?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Does he like spicy sausage?" She amends her question.
"Yes. He loves spicy food." I nod rapidly.
Her triumphant smile returns. "I have an idea." She grabs my wrist and starts dragging me back towards the food aisles.
After just a few minutes I have a full basket, but the items in the basket don't seem to go together. I have pasta, tomatoes, chorizo, hot sauce, onions, cheese... I think I should have told Santana that I can't actually cook real meals, only ones that have box instructions. I look at her with my eyebrows raised in question.
"Spicy macaroni and cheese with chorizo sausage." She answers with assurance. "It's a family favorite."
I nod my head uneasily. "It's just that I can't really cook that well. I only cook from box foods," I admit.
At this she only smiles. Not the reaction I was expecting. "It's super easy. Trust me." She stares at me with raised eyebrows until I nod back in response. Suddenly her mood shifts, and she crosses her arms at me. "I would call you and talk you through it, but someone never called or texted me to give me her number." She rolls her eyes at me in fake annoyance before her smile cracks through. I completely forgot that her and Quinn didn't get my number. They just put their numbers in my phone. "Was that your way of telling me that you didn't wanna hang out?" She teases as she playfully shoves my shoulder.
"Of course not," I answer. "I just forgot you didn't have my number. I was waiting for you to contact me."
"Well, let's fix that." She reaches her hand out to me, palm up. I stare at her hand, not exactly sure what she's asking. It's not until she wiggles her fingers that I realize she's silently asking for my phone. I quickly reach into my pocket and place my phone in her hand. She smiles victoriously before getting out her own phone and calling it with mine. As her screen lights up indicating the call, she triumphantly waves it in her hand. I can't help but smile at her silly behavior. "Now I can get a hold of you," she says as she hands me back my phone.
Seconds later, her phone lights up again. "Oh, hey, it's my mom. She's probably ready to leave. Do you want me to call you after I get home to help you with dinner?"
"That would be awesome," I reply, grateful that she's willing to help.
"Perfect," she smiles back at me as she starts to walk backwards. "I'll talk to you soon then." She points her phone at me before quickly answering it and turning to walk away. "Yeah, mom, I'm heading to the car," I hear her as she's walking away.
"Okay," I mumble too quiet for her to hear. She was on the phone anyway, so I didn't want to interrupt. I look down at my basket one last time. Hopefully Brian likes whatever Santana has planned out. She seems confident enough, though, so I think it'll be good. I smile at the thought of Santana calling to help me make dinner. With that, I promptly turn on my toes and bounce to the nearest checkout line.
Song in this chapter: "Dancing Through Life" from the Musical Wicked
