this story's rating has been changed to M for its continuation chapter and might also have indicators of might be somewhat abusive behavior to some people. i would like to make it clear that i would never write anything of that nature, so do not be scared to continue reading if you feel a character might sound threatening to someone's integrity. they will not be.
————
Going back to work is a task people don't usually enjoy doing but for Piper it feels like a mix of both freedom and empowerment.
Despite having some moody costumers every now and then, she genuinely enjoys the company of her work mates and clients. It is a big variety of people and everyone has a good time hanging out and even making fun of clients or themselves. Most of her co workers are funny, easy going people and she doesn't have any complaints about being around actual adults she can hold a conversation with. Up until now she'd been having one sided conversations with a baby that can't really speak yet, and it was easy for her to feel lonely and seek older human connections.
Noemi seemed to be getting healthy again which meant Rafa was back on babysitting duty and the blonde could take up on as many shifts as her body would allow her to. The little girl had spent the past few days being extremely grumpy and clingy, but it was understandable - if Piper, at 26 years of age, still wanted to be taken care of, how could she blame a baby that recently turned 5 months old for wanting attention and extra cuddles?
Despite knowing Alex won't be there when she first goes back, Piper's eyes often wander around the floor in hopes of catching a glimpse of her.
This was her usual lunch shift so she wasn't too worried about having to rush. It was a big change from the night craziness.
When she first started out, every time she took up on a night shift it scared the shit out of her - it happens less now that she's becoming more confident with her abilities and knows the menu better, capable of explaining questions the costumers have, such as what exactly goes in a salad or how some of the sauces are made; she has even started making suggestions on dishes that people really seem to enjoy.
Arriving around 11:45, 15 minutes earlier than her clock in, Piper is greeted by a bulky/chubby blonde-ish guy dressed as a chef that she had never met before.
He has a black hat on, black pants with pepper shaped prints and a beard(albeit trimmed), which is odd considering none of the cooks were allowed to have facial hair(for hygiene reasons).
He introduces himself as Marco and when the girl is about to say her name back, he takes her hand and places a kiss on top of it. "You're Piper"
By his accent it's easy to tell that he's italian, and with his loud speech and the fact he's not giving her room to actually talk, Piper is quickly thrown off by that first impression(and probably by the fact that her ex boyfriend's family is Italian).
Ironically enough, Zucchini is chopping zucchini's on the station next to them. She overhears the conversation and rolls her eyes at the interaction and his obvious attempt at flirting, but her interest picks up when she remembers her suspicions about the girl and decides to keep an eye on them, wondering if Piper will correspond in any way.
By three o'clock the last table leaves and everyone's bored but not allowed to clock out yet, so they all gather around the kitchen to talk and grab something loose to eat. Delivering food has the tendency of making you hungry, especially if it's done at actual lunch or dinner time. Your body craves the calories at specific times, it's how metabolism works. Even if you eat before going into work, you'll still feel tempted to grab a little something during the shift.
Zucchini approaches Piper with a piece of swiss cheese that she hands the girl "Hey girl. You've been gone for a while. Do you feel better now?"
"So much better" she takes the slice of cheese and bites on it "I don't think I've eaten in like two days though" she takes the last bite "Who's that?" she asks, gesturing to the new chef with her head
Zucchini sighs "Marco? He's friends or related to the owner, something like that" she shrugs dismissively "Which is probably the only reason why he hasn't been fired yet"
"Is he that bad?"
"As a chef? No. As a human being? Absolutely"
"Great"
"I'm sure Alex will have your back if he tries anything though" she elbow nudges her
"I'm sorry?"
She gives Piper a snarky smile and winks at her before walking to the prep station, leaving it up in the air.
As Piper starts to gather her stuff in the changing room and walks out through the kitchen, her attention is on her phone where she's trying to come up with something to text Alex about, wanting to make conversation.
"Oi, bella!!" Marco walks up in front of her, blocking the passage "Leaving without saying goodbye? Where your manners?" he says with an accusative tone that Piper doesn't really know how to react to
"I-" she tries to speak but is cut off by the guy lifting both hands up defensively
"Joking, I'm joking!" he comes a little too close to her liking and it seems like he's trying to go for a hug, so she instinctively takes a step back "What? You scared of me? I don't bite"
Piper is speechless for a second and, if until then, she didn't feel somewhat intimidated, she does now.
———
"No way. No fucking way. We're not putting Christmas decorations up"
"Yes, we are. I'm your boss and I'm saying I want them up by tomorrow"
It's useless to argue so she puts the phone down.
Alex has tried to impose her point of view for numerous occasions when it comes to choices regarding the restaurant for about a year now - ever since she took up on the offer to be the manager of Carnes Y Tragos - but all her efforts have gone to waste.
She's the one that takes care of everything that happens there since the day she first got the keys to the restaurant so she could open and close the doors - but despite having complete control over the everyday operations, when it comes down to making smart decisions about who to hire or fire, which changes to make on the menu or even what kind of decorations should remain up or be taken down, she's never in charge.
The restaurant owner is a loop minded Australian who came up with the ideas for the crazy decorations and sayings that were plastered
all over the walls, but when it came to knowing her staff or taking actual care of business, she is completely clueless and doesn't seem to care about any opinions other than her own.
——-
A- On a scale of zero to ten, how busy are you right now?
Piper has just finished doing the dishes that had piled up during the past week and was grabbing the uniform she wore to work that she hadn't washed yet despite returning to her routine yesterday(and boy was she desperate to get rid of the smell of grease), when she reads the newly received text on her phone. She's supposed to work the night shift tonight, which she'd been looking forward to, but that was only in a few hours. However, with the content of the text, the last thing on her mind now was doing laundry.
P- What's on your mind?
A- If I tell you, you'll turn me down. So is that a 'yes'?
She smiles at the screen and types out a quick 'yes'.
A- Meet me at Target? I'm on my way now
"Noemi, we're going out" she says as she picks the smiling toddler up and starts to head out the door, before coming right back as soon as she realizes they need actual clothing if they're going out at 13 degrees Fahrenheit.
——-
"You bought a plus one"
"I thought I was supposed to be your plus one"
Alex smirks and cocks her head at the quick come back "Fair enough" before reaching closer and giving Piper a one armed hug and scratching Noemi's beanie, causing her to let out a small laugh.
"I didn't really have a big time gap to find someone to watch her"
Alex shrugs as to say she doesn't mind, as Noemi suddenly reaches out and touches her face, leaving her momentarily at a loss for words.
Piper breaks the silence "So why are we here?"
"You, and you" she pokes the baby's stomach "are going to help me not want to shoot myself in the face while I shop for fucking Christmas decorations"
"Hey!" she tries once again to cover one of the baby's ears "Language!"
"Piper, come on. It's not like she can tell which words are bad or not"
"Alex"
"Fine. Shall we go in?"
They somehow find a cart and try to sit Noemi on it. She's getting so much better at sitting by herself now, and seems to enjoy being carried by wheels for a change(unusual for her, seeing as they didn't have a stroller)
Despite the restaurant's decoration being mostly tacky and poorly made, the girls decide on adding only minimal and classy decorations that wouldn't stand out too much. Piper agrees they don't need any more junk plastered all over the already crowded walls and they only buy some details that won't take up too much attention.
They spot mistletoes at the same time and exchange looks. Neither can decipher wether they're thinking the same thing, but then the brunette picks one up and holds it over Noemi's head. They lean in at the same time, kissing both of her cheeks, causing her to squeak in delight, waving both of her tiny arms around.
"What should we get her?"
"What do you mean?" Piper continues to carry the cart through the isles, moving away from the Christmas decorations and heading to the payment counter "I wasn't thinking about buying her anything. Thought I'd wait until she actually starts asking for things... which are probably going to be expensive things"
"She needs a present" Alex picks the baby up and starts talking to her "What do you want, kid?"
"Are you expecting her to actually answer?"
The brunette rolls her eyes at the blonde and starts walking towards the children's toys section "What do babies your age like?"
"Pooping and crying, I guess"
"Oh I'm sorry kid, do you hear anything? Just your mom being bitchy? I thought so. What about this?" she lifts up a teddy bear "Too corny? I think so, too. You're not a regular kid, you look like you have good taste"
"Alex, I didn't bring money"
"Who said anything about money?" she finally redirects her attention back to the girl "Neither of us are paying for it. We'll just mix it in with the restaurant stuff"
"Alex, that's stealing!"
A random costumer looks at them, petrified at the tone and content of what the girl had just said out loud.
"Are you trying to get us into trouble?!" she glares at Piper, her eyes wide open in what seemed like frustration "Whatever it is that we get is going to be paid for. Just... by my shitty boss. Our shitty boss"
"I thought you were my boss"
"Then, as your boss, I'm telling you: the company will pay for it" she starts roaming down the shelves, trying to find something interesting. As she notices Piper's hesitation and the fact that she's no longer by their side, but a few steps behind, Alex turns to look at her "Don't just stand there. Who better than you at finding something she needs?"
"I'm not sure about this. It still feels like stealing"
Alex sighs and rolls her eyes, continuing to scan the isles, Noemi happily placed on her arm, one of her tiny hands placed on her chest like it belongs there.
——-
They agree on buying a somewhat educational toy that had a Christmas thematic and wouldn't stand out on the receipt. A toy like this didn't make much sense considering people only use Christmassy stuff for no more than two months a year(and that's a long stretch) - but it's about fitting wooden shaped pieces into a gingerbread house and Piper had given in when she read the prints on the box and noticed none of the parts were made of plastic - it reminded her of old times when she actually cared about the environment and trash waste.
Noticing they had little time left before work, they opt for an Uber and drop Piper and Noemi off at their apartment so they can have enough time for Rafa to come over and babysit and for the blonde to get ready for work. The car's trunk was somehow full and it surprised them how bulky Christmas items are, considering how minimal they had initially decided to go for.
By the time both younger girls get off the car, Alex rolls the window down to say goodbye.
The brunette says "bye bye" and waves at the baby, who sloppily tries to wave back, causing both women to stare at her reaction in a bit of a shock
"She's never done that before! Did you teach her that?"
Alex chuckles and shakes her head negatively "I think she learned from association"
"How?"
Alex shrugs "She's just growing up, I guess. Probably paying attention to more than you know. I'll see you at work, Pipes"
She taps the driver's seat who gets the message and drives off.
———
The amount of people that decided to go to the restaurant for company celebrations and functions that night was completely unexpected.
It all started when, at the beginning of the night, the phone rang in the office from someone asking for a table for 13. From then on, it all went downhill. Dozens of people started gathering outside the door, waiting for a table, and the new hostess had ran out of excuses to give clients when they asked how long it would take for a new table to free up. It's a stupid question she was quickly getting tired of - she wanted to ask them "how long do you plan on staying? Well, if you don't know, how can I tell how long the people in front of you are going to be?!", but she was doing her best not to be too rude.
Some of the orders were being returned to the kitchen - meat that should be well done was medium at best, waiters were forgetting to add sides to the orders, salads being sold with missing items - it was complete caos by now.
Piper's section wasn't doing that bad - the big 13 people table ended up being hers and they were a group of rich indian tourists that were so entertained amongst themselves that they didn't really require a lot of attention - the other couple of tables had easy going clients, as well.
She tried to make herself useful by helping run other people's food and especially the bar - which, by then, had so many orders that she could see the sweat coming down Nicky's face and how mad she was starting to get at the impatient waiters rushed her for their drinks. They were going as fast as they could, but it was clearly not fast enough to keep up with the increasing demand.
By the time she goes back to her big table, they are ready to order drinks, and they're not being shy: 3 bombay gin and tonics- one with cucumber and the other two with lime; a glass of red wine and a glass of white; a bottle of a different wine with two glasses; a passionfruit mojito; ginger beer; two pink lemonades; a manhattan; a negroni; one pale ale on tap and a coors light. By the time she actually manages to write everything down, she knows the bartenders are going to want to kill her. She puts the order through and calls mains away on another table, hoping for the best.
—
As expected, Alex had to go inside the bar to help the two bartenders who were deep down the weeds.
Meanwhile, Piper had taken the task to warn the kitchen that someone had forgotten to add a side of chips to their order. She's reluctant to talk to the chefs when they're clearly in distress and the mistake wasn't even hers, but does it anyway or else it'll only get worse.
Marco yells at her for asking them to rush with the chips and won't even allow her to speak about whose table that was - but Zucchini tries to rescue her by reassuring she'll get them done as soon as possible because she was the one working that station. Piper thanks her and runs off to get her big table's order.
There are a few POS machines around the restaurant and she heads to the one next to the bar - when she's almost finished putting all the entrees and the 13 mains on the system, only two dishes left to add, she hears Alex calling out to her.
Turning her attention back to the brunette, her finger still up on the screen, Piper presses the wrong button for the meat she wanted and doesn't even notice the mistake as she's now focused on the pool of blood forming on the counter.
"When you're done with that I'm gonna need your help here"
"Alex, you're bleeding! You're bleeding a lot!"
The blonde starts heading towards her but Alex calls her out: "Finish putting your order through first"
She finishes suspending the order in a rush and by then Alex is already walking out the bar, a towel in hand. It had been a white cloth once but by now was completely covered in blood.
Piper rushes to her and holds her bruised hand, pressing on it to stop the bleeding but she doesn't even know where it was cut
"How are your tables? I just need your help to put a bandage on"
"Fuck my tables, Alex you're gonna have to go to the hospital"
"I'm fine, Piper. I just can't touch food if I'm bleeding. Are you sure your tables are ok so you can help?"
"Yes, I'm sure"
They walk through the kitchen on the way to the office. Marco notices both of them together and yells out at Piper for the chips she had called for, but the blonde doesn't even notice him or hear anything. She's too concerned about the situation at hand.
Alex points at the first aid kit and Piper reaches up above the cabinets to grab it, proceeding to remove the blood stained cloth from her hand.
There were two bigger cuts and a minor one, and they looked like they reached a small vein or something because, despite not being very deep, they were bleeding really bad.
She takes a solution and uses a piece of gauze to clean it up, concern plastered on her face "Am I hurting you?"
"No, I'm fine" Alex's face is calm "I just can't bandage it on my own"
"You're not fine" the blonde flinches as she cleans off the blood and takes a good look into one of the cuts "You need stitches"
"What I need is for this night to be over" she takes the dirty gauze from the girl's hands and throws it into the garbage can as the blonde places a new one on the bruise "Or else I'll kill at least 5 staff members"
Piper smiles at her "I can give you some suggestions on who to start with"
Alex smiles back at the blonde who's now wrapping bandage around her hand.
——
After putting a plastic glove on so she go back inside the bar and continue to help, Alex is back into machine mode.
She is faster than the two other bartenders combined, but also way more organized; While Nicky is also really good at her job, she can't get herself around to put the bottles back on the shelves after using them or doing any sort of organization while it's super busy. She is good, but way too messy and that makes service slow down as she can't find herself amongst the dozens of things scattered around.
Piper had a new table that already arrived making complaints about how long it took them to be able to sit and saying how she should give them something complementary for waiting so long. She tries to explain that it doesn't work like that and she can't get anything without a manager's authorization and how the manager was very busy right now and couldn't come to their table: she would just tell them the exact same thing so it would be a waste of time trying to get her now, but they were insistent and rude.
She approaches Alex and tries to explain the situation with her table, but she's too busy and asks her to stall them for a few minutes until she can go over to their table.
Cara, a blonde and slim waitress that was usually very friendly to their costumers goes back to the kitchen carrying a rib on the bone dish, still untouched.
"Hey Piper, table 22 is saying they didn't order this"
"Didn't order what?" Piper asks as she tries to take a closer look at what's in the plate the girl is carrying "Yeah, that's right, they didn't order that" she pulls out the docket where she wrote the correct order down, but takes the ticket order from the kitchen that the girl was holding to read it. As she compares it, she realizes they had ordered the eye fillet, not the rib on the bone. She must've pressed the wrong button when putting the order through, since they were side by side on the POS machine.
She tries to explain her mistake to the chefs but they get really mad at her - they were way too busy to deal with order mistakes and cooking an entire new dish, above all medium well, would take up a lot of time and space on the grill, making them get even further behind on tickets.
"See blondie, if you weren't too consumed by that lesbian manager of yours, you wouldn't fuck up"
"Excuse me?!" she can't believe what she just heard Marco tell her
"That's right, you have to be careful with that one, she's dangerous"
Piper shakes her head in disbelief, her face turning red from the anger that was consuming her from hearing such bullshit.
"Piper" Zucchini calls out when she sees her friend getting worked up and ready to explode "Tell them it will be ready in like 10 minutes, I'll put some weight on the meat to cook it faster"
"No, no, no" Marco interrupts them "Is my station, I decide how long is gonna take" he says with his strong accent
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Piper walks closer to him, huffing in anger. Not only did the entire rest of the table already have their orders but one costumer, he wanted to make them wait even longer?!
"Hey, hey, hey" Alex walks into the loud kitchen when she overhears both of them speaking loud enough that they were now shouting at each other "That's enough!" she slams her good hand on the iron counter, her ring making a loud noise against it "You go outside, and you start cooking NOW!" she speaks to Piper and Marco, respectively "I SAID NOW!"
——
As the night finally dies down and the costumers start to leave, the kitchen staff is now washing the grill, ovens and the floor.
Alex has gone inside the office to start doing the night accountability when Piper storms in without knocking and closes the door behind her.
"What's going on?" Alex asks, scared that she's going to get even more bad news or hear about another costumer complaint. Gosh, was she done for the night.
"Shut up" the blonde turns the lock around and turns the doorknob, making sure it was locked.
Alex lifts up a questioning eyebrow, not understanding what's going on and thinking the girl had another discussion with the chef, but before she can even open her mouth to ask, Piper is kissing her so fiercely and biting her bottom lip so hard that the only thing Alex can do is let out a moan.
She grabs Alex's hair and pulls it, making her react as she stands up, their lips never leaving each other when the blonde starts to undo the button on the black pair of pants the manager is wearing and unzips it.
"Pip-"
"Alex" she presses their foreheads together and traces her finger underneath the underwear, trying to feel if the girl is wet enough "Unless you have something against it, I'm going to fuck you right now"
—-
phew. finally.
merry(slightly late) christmas, my loves.