Chapter 4
"My, oh my," exclaimed Carol, shutting her car door and walking towards the restaurant entrance. "I will never get over the sight of Lori Loud dressed as a Hooter girl!"
Lori balled her hand into a fist as she let the back door shut behind her. She made her way into the employee restroom to change into her uniform, a practice she adopted when she kept getting questions about why she decided to wear orange shorts all of a sudden from her family. Almost everyone accepted her answer of spotting a great deal at the mall while searching for a job. Everyone except Luan.
"I don't know, sis," Luan had said the night Lori came back from her first day of training. "ORANGE you worried your new shorts would make guys eyes PEELED towards you!"
Lori ignored her comedian of a sister's joke and swatted the air towards her roaring laughter. "Whatever, Luan. I just needed a break from the job hunt, so I treated myself, okay?"
"With what money?" Luan pressed. "I thought you had just gotten a job that's quite a HOOT!"
Lori paused midway up the stairs and pivoted towards the living room, casting her younger sister a puzzled look. "Why'd you say that?"
Luan hopped off the couch and met her older sister at the stairs, resting an elbow on the railing and shooting Lori a smirk. "I mean, it's not like I've never seen those kind of shorts before. I've seen the commercials that come on during late night TV while I'm watching the late show. Or who knows, maybe a little OWL told me."
Lori narrowed her gaze and made her way up the rest of the stairs. "You're delusional, Luan. Besides, Mom forbade me from getting a job there. Why would I disobey her?" She put a hand on the doorknob of her bedroom door, but froze in place when she felt the warm breath of Luan tickling her left ear.
"Maybe the idea of showing off all of your goods has you…TIT-illated…"
In the present, Lori emerged from the employee restroom dressed and ready to go. The thought of her little sister's words sent a chill down her spine, and the freezing air conditioned ambiance didn't help. She made her way to the dining area and spotted Carol waiting by the cash register.
"About time you showed up, Lori," she said with a smirk.
Lori planted her feet directly beside her trainer's and placed a hand on her hip. "Can we just get this stupid training started. I, like, literally have money to make tonight."
Carol laughed. "Easy there, little cub. You have a lot to learn before you can just 'make money'."
Lori raised an eyebrow. "What is there to it? I literally aced the classes. I know what to do, so why don't I just, you know, do it?"
Carol was about to rebut her trainee's forwardness, but retracted as soon as she got an idea. "You know what, little cub? I think your right. Maybe I have underestimated you. Follow me, and I'll show you to your first table."
Lori followed the girlish gait of her trainer as she grumbled a few curses under her breath. They paused in front of a table where two men who looked to be in their 30s lowered their menus and flashed the two teens big smiles.
"Okay, little cub," said Carol with a whip of her long blonde hair. "Do you stuff."
Lori cleared her throat and gave the two men a smile. "Good evening, gentlemen. Can I get you two something to drink?"
One of the men cleared his throat and looked back into his menu. "Uh, I'll just have a beer. Lite, please."
Lori wrote the order in her notepad and turned her attention to the other man. "And for you, sir?"
The other man, dressed in casual clothing and sunglasses, slapped down his menu and placed a hand under his chin. "A glass full of the sweat from your ass cheeks, ma'am."
The look of disgust on Lori's face caused the two men to erupt with laughter. Behind her, Carol muffled her giggles with both hands. She could feel her face turning bright red as she stood motionless, unable to write.
The experienced Hooter girl shoved Lori to the side and joined gazes with the forward man. "I apologize for my…little cub. She's new. How about I make it up to you with a large glass of draught beer, and maybe an order of hot wings."
Lori's mouth finally moved, but in a jaw dropping fashion as she witnessed her archival place a leg on the man's lap, lightly rubbing her crotch against his side. The man, clearly flustered, couldn't help but stutter an approval.
Carol leapt off the customer and gave them a wink. "Okay boys, I'll be back with your drinks and wings. Don't go anywhere."
Carol let out a girly giggle as she made her way to the kitchen. Lori followed her, her heart pounding as if she were running a marathon. As soon as they reached the kitchen, Carol turned around to address her trainee, a slight frown shocking the new hire to the core.
"Listen, little cub. If you want to make money, you have to know how to play the game. And it's pretty damn obvious that you don't know the first thing about working this job. So I suggest that you shut your little whore mouth for the rest of the night and watch a professional do it. Understand?"
Lori could feel the tears forming in her eyes, and the slow forming smile from the girl across her meant that she knew it as well.
"Don't worry, my little sunshine," said Carol in a mocking manner, raising her hand to gently caress Lori's face. "Momma tiger won't let anything bad happen to poor widdle Lowee, okay?" She left the kitchen laughing heartily, leaving a lightly sobbing Lori in her wake.
"Oh god," Lori whispered. "What have I gotten myself into?"
