I am really fricken tired and really fricken pissed off today...but I'm gonna write anyway so here you go!
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The next night Petra showed up to work early, dressed in her brand new black pencil skirt and white button up shirt, per uniform code...however she made the wise decision to wear shoes with a much shorter heel. She wanted to come in early to talk a little with her new coworkers and get to know them better, which felt somewhat odd to her...she'd never felt enough at home in a job that she actually wanted to hang out with her fellow employees and especially not her bosses!
"Hey, Petra!" Eld called from the bar, a bright smile on his handsome face, "You're here kind of early, aren't you?"
Petra trotted across the room to take a seat by the bar.
"Yeah, I just...well, you know, new job and all," she suddenly felt lame for showing up a half hour early, it seems no one else but Eld did. "I just would hate to be late my second day."
"Oh, man, Levi's gonna love having you around," Eld whistled and shook his head, "You sound pretty dedicated."
"I am," Petra assured him, "This is my dream job! Well...I mean, OWNING a place like this would be my dream job, I suppose."
"Hey, Eld, Petra!" Eren came through the back door with Mikasa and Armin right behind him, "You're really early!"
"Some people actually dedicate themselves to stuff, Jeager," Jean's snarky voice preceded his appearance, blonde spiky hair poked around the corner followed by his rather handsome face.
"Yeah, something you know sooo much about, right?" Eren rolled his eyes, "Wasn't your big plan when you moved here to be a cop? So why are you cooking crappy food for a living, huh?"
"I happen to be a great cook, you little...!"
"Oh, will you both just stop?" Annie's voice cut in to the argument and Petra looked over her shoulder to smile at the blonde, "And what about you, Eren? Working here was your big plan too?"
"Hell no," Eren snapped.
"Well if you don't like it, you can get out of here," the sound of Levi's voice made everyone fall into silence...except for Eld who was chuckling under his breath. Eren spun around and at least had the decency to look worried.
"Oh, sorry sir! I didn't mean it, Jean just pissed me off!"
"Oh, right, it's my fault you hate your job?" Jean growled, grabbing Eren's arm and giving him a shake.
"Jean, get back in the kitchen," Levi gave the blond a squinty look that left no room for argument, "Sasha's already back there working so why are you wasting your time out here bothering my waiters?"
Jean let out a huff and turned to go back to the kitchen, muttering as he went about "Jeager always being the favorite"
A few of the band members had shown up while the argument was occurring and were already setting up on stage so Armin went to join them. Petra followed him so she could interact with the band a little bit, she'd not had any time the previous night.
"Hi, everyone," she called out happily and was relieved when they all smiled back, except Ymir who just gave her a nod before she leaned down to open her saxophone case.
"Hey, new girl! Petra, right?" said a broad shouldered and rather large man with blond hair grinned at her; she believed his name was...Reiner? Yes, Reiner.
"Yes, and you're Reiner?" Petra responded with a bright smile.
"You're lookin' good tonight, Petra," Reiner stated confidently, "You free for drinks later?"
Petra was a little bit flattered, to be honest, but she knew just by looking at him he was not her type.
"I'm always glad to go out drinking with my friends," she countered easily, turning him down for a one on one date but leaving the door open for him to come into her friendship circle, "Let's all go out together in a few nights. The whole band!"
The band members cheered and stated their agreements and they all began to mumble about what times and days worked best, Reiner frowned slightly but recovered quickly with a shrug and a charming grin.
"I'm game for that."
The band had to warm up and opening was coming up fast so Petra wished them all luck and headed for her hostess desk next to the door, across from where Gunther stood looking intimidating and large as usual, but the image was shattered when he gave her a genuine smile.
"On your own tonight, huh?" he asked as he scanned the line of people waiting outside, "I guess Krista got another job so she's only here a few nights a week now, looks like you're our main hostess."
"Oh joy..." Petra twirled her finger in a circle next to her head and did her best to look bored, but she failed and ended up grinning like an idiot instead, "Who am I kidding, I'm freaking excited!"
"You'll do fine," Gunther assured her, "You're a natural."
"Not really," Petra sighed, remembering the blunder with Nanaba the night before. Luckily Auruo had been there to save her from pissing off a very highly respected client...at the expense of her own pride though. Speaking of that rude, uncouth, lying..."We seem to be missing a waiter."
"You mean, Auruo?" Gunther asked, "Yeah, he's always here right on the minute."
"Well, that seems a bit irresponsible," Petra muttered, considering how many other people out there would love to have this job and appreciate it enough to show up on time.
"Irresponsible?" Gunther gave her an odd look, "Auruo is the most responsible person I know. He...aw, it's really not my place to divulge his personal affairs."
At that exact moment, the topic of their conversation burst through the back door and immediately headed for his assigned table section which, Petra noticed with annoyance, was the tables nearest the main doors...right by the hostess desk. Great.
"About time you showed up," Petra mumbled at him, going against her better judgment.
Auruo stood straight and tall by his tables like the other waiters but he gave her a sideways look and then a cocky grin.
"Well at least I'm in proper uniform," he replied calmly, totally unaffected by her statement.
"What!? I am in proper uniform!" Petra snapped, looking down at her clothes...oh, shit, he's right. I forgot my tie on my dresser!
"Here," she was snapped out of her dismay and looked up to see him offering her a piece of plum colored material, a cravat. "I always have a spare. I don't keep them around just to hand out to forgetful women but..."
Petra sheepishly took the offered cravat and sighed.
"Thanks," she mumbled, "I...um...I don't know how to..."
Auruo rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed grunt before he snatched the cravat back and stepped up to her, wrapping the material around her neck before she could even register what he was doing. Petra stiffened as he measured out the sides to their proper lengths and began to tie it expertly. Petra noticed that, as he focused on his task, his tongue peeked out of the corner of his mouth and he chewed on it gently. If he wasn't such an asshole she probably would have found it endearing.
It only took a few seconds for him to get it tied and then he stepped back to examine his work, his eyebrows furrowed for a moment and then his expression changed to something she didn't recognize. He cleared his throat and nodded, giving her a thumbs up before stepping back into his place at his tables, just in time for Gunther to unlock the door. Petra examined her seating chart and began planning out the flow, her face went into automatic hostess mode and she smiled charmingly at the first customers of the night.
"Good evening, welcome to The Inner Wall. My name is Petra and I'll be your hostess this evening. If there's not a particular table you've reserved for tonight, follow me please."
She was getting the hang of this! She smiled brightly at Marco as she seated them in his section and he smiled back as he walked over to take their drink orders. Marco was someone she hadn't talked to much since she started yesterday but she immediately liked this guy, he was freckled and cute as could be with a calm, steady voice and eyes full of honesty. A good kid, to be sure.
Petra returned to the door and smiled as she recognized Nanaba coming inside. Nanaba smiled back and waved...Petra guessed her near blunder with the seating had been forgiven.
"Good evening, Miss Nanaba," Petra greeted as she approached, "Your usual table?"
"Yes, please," Nanaba responded, "But if you'd like to take the next person in line, I can seat myself. Lord knows I know my way around this place."
She gave Petra a wink and then headed for her table, in Mikasa's section tonight. Petra liked how they switched up the waiters and their section, it kept it fresh for everyone involved and allowed the waiters to interact with various customers for the best experience they could get in this job.
Petra continued seating the incoming crowd until the sidewalk outside was empty. A few people would make their way in as the night went on but the main crowd usually took all the seats for an hour or so at least so she flipped around the sign that indicated to the hopefuls outside that the club was at full capacity.
"Hey, Gunther," she asked as she took her seat behind the hostess desk, "Whose idea was it to switch the servers and their tables every night?"
"Erwin's," Gunther informed her, "He likes his staff to be well rounded and challenged. This way they don't get complacent and bored of the same people every night."
"He sounds like a shrewd businessman," Petra made note of this for the ideals of her own club someday.
"That's why he's the main owner and Levi's his partner," Gunther agreed, "Levi is especially good at choosing and managing the staff, but Erwin is better at financial planning and business management. Excuse me."
Petra watched with a giggle as Gunther went to pull someone off the stage who appeared to have already been drinking long before she arrived at the club, she was standing next to Bertholdt, leaning over so close to his instrument that her nose was almost touching the strings. Bertholdt looked very uncomfortable, but he continued to play as the lady sniffled and sobbed about how beautifully he played. Thankfully, the lady went quietly along with Gunther and he returned her to her seat where she continued to cry over the beauty of the music...even though the song was upbeat and lively.
Petra giggled and shook her head, scanning the room for other interesting activity. Connie was telling a story to a rather buxom young woman and his arms and hands were very animated, Petra would have to ask him to tell it to her at some point. Mikasa was carrying two trays full of delicately balanced drinks on it, but her eyes were almost bored looking in her obvious ease as she made her way to the table that ordered them, very impressive! Marco was explaining an item on the menu to an elder gentleman and his wife, his face was gentle and patient and the old man's embarrassment at having to ask was fading quickly at Marco's genuine concern for his question. Eren had his head thrown back as he laughed out loud at something a man at one table had said and she watched as the man beamed, as Eren turned to go and check on another table she saw him give Auruo a good natured eye-roll...the man must have told a really lame joke, Petra mused, and Eren had been kind enough to laugh genuinely enough to make it seem real.
They were all very good at what they did here, excellent waiters (and a waitress!) indeed.
But Auruo...he took the cake.
He may show up to work with no time to spare but, when he was there, he worked with the determination and care of a professional and Petra found herself watching his every move despite her distaste. He weaved between the tables with ease, almost gracefully in fact, his face relaxed until the need arose for any other sort of expression, and he was always ready with a smile, a laugh, a look of concern, a raise of the eyebrows to let someone know he would be there in a moment to see to their needs. Not only that but he always had the words to say and his confident attitude made him very well liked among his customers as he easily chatted with them about anything and everything.
Petra wondered again why she seemed to be the only one who saw how he was outside of work; saw the sarcastic jerk who lied about where he lived and turned down her offer to help him out. She also wondered why he'd decided to call her, and only her, "broad" and claim she was unintelligent in front of respected customers...
No...wait...he'd apologized for that, hadn't he? He'd said he wanted to start over since they got off on the wrong foot. Maybe she was missing something, because everyone else seemed to see things about him that she didn't. Gunther had said he was the most responsible person he knew and the customers loved him and Levi had claimed him to be "the best damn waiter in the place"...but they'd all known him longer. Hopefully time would tell.
Her musing was cut short when she realized the crowd was cheering again and shouting out a ringing chorus of "please" and "Aw come on" and "get up there!" and she felt a thrill of anticipation when she realized they were cheering for Auruo to get up on stage and sing again. Oh, was this a nightly event? She could get used to that!
Auruo had that sheepish grin on his face, the same one as the night before, and he shook his head at the demands of the crowd for a while until the cheering got loud enough for Levi, Jean and Sasha to poke their heads out of the back room to see what the commotion was.
Levi looked very annoyed as he walked out and got up on the stage, silencing the crowd as he approached the mic.
"Bossard, get your ass up here right now," was all he said before nodding at the crowd and stepping back down, heading right for the back room again.
The crowd was murmuring happily in the wave of Levi's demand and Auruo obediently made his way up on stage, but Petra noticed the look of annoyance on his face was fake and he was actually getting a kick out of all this. What a jerk.
"Alright, fine, who am I to say no to the boss?" Auruo said with a laugh in his voice, "And I guess you guys too. So, how about it, what's your pleasure?"
To Petra's surprise, Nanaba stood up and began making her way to the stage, Auruo gave her a winning smile and offered her his hand to help her up on stage.
"Ah, Miss Nanaba, how are you this evening?" he asked galantly.
"I'm quite well, thank you, Auruo," Nanaba replied, "I thought maybe you and I could do a duet tonight? I know you know the song I'm thinking of."
The crowd seemed to swell with excitement and Petra assumed the pair had sung together before, maybe even this very song...it seemed to be a mutual understanding. Auruo nodded and turned to the band to speak with them about the song. Armin gave a thumbs up before standing and disappearing behind the piano to the corner where their instrument cases were piled and returning a moment later without his clarinet, instead he held an accordion.
Petra leaned against her desk and watched as Moblit brought a second microphone up to the stage for Nanaba and then took his seat with the band again. The two singers stepped up to their respective mics and gave the band matching nods to signify they were ready...and the band began.
Armin played the accordion and the strings joined in with the piano as the song began and Petra recognized the tune immediately...La Vie en Rose. She knew this would be lovely so he rested her chin on her hand and waited for the voices to join in, remembering Auruo's comment last night about being French. She wondered just how broken and crappy and his French would be, just like everyone else who tried to sing this song...but she immediately regretted that thought.
Auruo began to sing, taking the beginning of the duet as his part, in perfect, smooth, beautiful baritone French...sounding like he was born for this. His voice rose and fell in perfect timing, full of perfect emotion with words that Petra didn't understand language wise, but she could understand by the feelings they brought to her mind as they echoed around the club: words filled with romance and happiness.
When Nanaba joined in with her sultry, slightly rougher voice, they melded together perfectly and Petra found herself wishing she could record this to listen to as she fell asleep each night. It was relaxing and beautiful and their harmonies made her feel peaceful and calm.
All too soon, the song was over and the singers took their bows to the cheering crowd. Auruo lifted Nanaba's hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it before stepping back and giving her the spotlight for the crowd to cheer. He hopped off the stage and went back to work like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, like he hadn't just lulled the entire room into a state of relaxation of awe, like he hadn't just shattered every mean thought Petra had thought towards him that night into pieces that she couldn't manage to gather up again.
All she could think as she watched him blush at the praise of the customers was that she wanted to know more about him...and she would.
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Yay! I got a chapter done and it only took me all day long! Tomorrow is a work day so if it's a chill day then I should get a lot of writing done tomorrow!
Keep posted and review and be awesome!
