February 5th 2018

Chapter 36
Their Work to Employ

There was something sort of wonderful about those days working at the diner, with her friends all piled up in one of the booths, those who weren't working same as her of course. Today, Asher and Nadine were both in the matching red and black shirts with the diner's logo on the front. It was really the word for it, wasn't it? It was wonderful, for all it lacked in the way of excitement. It was peaceful, even in rush times, at least to her. As tired as she was sometimes when her shifts would be over, she'd feel it like an accomplishment more than anything.

At the same time, she couldn't help but remember her mother's days as a waitress, how it seemed to drain her sometimes. Maya only did this on weekends and some days after school of course, while her mother would do this, day in, day out, as much as she could in order to provide for her. When Maya would come home after one of those tiring days, as content as she'd be, she would find her mother there waiting for her and all she'd want to do would be to reach for her and hold her, thank her, for the work she'd done. They'd left that life behind when they'd left New York, and maybe if she'd had this experience to back her up, she might have been that much more thrilled for her that she got to go and do work that actually motivated her and made her happy.

The booth where the others sat was hers to serve, and as she approached with a plate of fries and a couple of drinks, the six of them sitting three by three on either side of the table were going on about the movie theater. Rebecca had been hired there just the week before, and it seemed there was the chance of one or two more positions open, which meant of course that some of them could soon find themselves some work of their own, all the better to start putting money aside for their trip. Now it was only a matter of seeing just who would get to have their shot. The way they were going on about it, one might have believed Rebecca was the one who actually had a say in the matter.

"Now, I know he's your boyfriend," Zay was saying, pointing to Joey, who looked like he didn't want to be there, when Maya reached them, "So does that mean he's going to have more of a shot than the rest of us?"

"Maybe he should," Maya told him as she set her load down on the table, giving Zay's shoulder a nudge. "Behave, Isaiah, or no more fries for you."

"You wouldn't," he stared back at her.

"Wouldn't I? Wouldn't I also tell Nadine and Asher to do the same?"

"Okay, Nadine wouldn't," he countered, looking back to his girlfriend across the diner.

"Wouldn't she? Wouldn't she?" Maya smirked before moving off again.

Maya was sort of glad she'd already had a job before this whole thing had started. It wasn't that she didn't believe she would have found one if she'd had to find it, but at least she didn't have to be caught up in that little free for all happening at the corner booth. She was just waiting for the moment when Lucas would slip away to come and see her so he could get out of there for a bit. If she had it right, it would be any second now…

He didn't so much announce himself as she heard his stride and recognized it, right before hearing a sigh and the creak of someone sitting at the counter behind her.

"We are way too young to sound that worn out," she teased, turning to find him sitting there with a frown on his face. "You can have Zay's fries when I cut him off," she leaned in to whisper, and he smiled. "Come on, perk up, Huckleberry," she instructed him.

"Oh, I'm trying. Just like I'm trying not to kick some of them under the table," he informed her, getting a laugh from her.

"Well then I applaud your self-control. I would have kicked 'em a long time ago."

He watched her work for a while, chatting along whenever she'd come to the counter, refilling ketchup bottles while she was going between tables and the kitchen. The way he had it, the rest of them back at the booth would hardly miss him so long as they were in the middle of this job talk like some great big negotiation, and so long as it was that way, there was nowhere else he'd rather be than with his ketchup and his girlfriend. He'd been looking for work, too, and he would find something all his own.

"I think you can go back now," Maya stopped next to him after a while. "Want me to go check?"

"I'll go," he got up. "You just want to kick someone."

"Maybe they just really deserved it," she shrugged, the picture of innocence. "I'd be doing them a favor, and you, too."

"Thanks, I think I got it," he assured her, giving a quick kiss. "What time do you get off?"

"Got like an hour left, you waiting for me? You could come have dinner at my house…"

"Alright, deal," he nodded before returning to the booth. As it turned out, Joey didn't even really want to work at the movie theater, which Zay would have known, if he'd stopped to think about what Joey Garcia was like around people he didn't know and just how many of those he'd have to deal with if he got a job like that. Whoever did or didn't get the one or two spots at the movies, Riley, Dylan, and Zay were all planning to go in on it. Lucas would throw in his name, too, and then they'd just have to wait and see.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners