A/N: Diner AU. Inspired largely by Anna Camp's face from that music video she was in for that random Train song. Then I just decided Aubrey and Ruby should have diner feels. I brought this pain to myself. More PP characters than OUaT.
As per usual, I took all of the liberties possible.
A/N2: There's no werewolf thing and no Fairytale Land/curse. Title from We Were Promised Jetpack's "Conductor"
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended.
The first thing she sees is a flash of red.
Well, it's the story she'll claim. What she really saw first were long, toned legs that go for miles attached to a strikingly handsome woman wearing nothing but skimpy jean shorts and a too-tight white tank.
But it's the red locks of hair and pouty lips against a milky background of skin that are seared into memory.
/
When the bell atop the door rings and she looks up from one end of the counter talking to Denise, she sees the prettiest woman in her entire life. Inappropriately dressed, sure, but still the prettiest.
Aubrey has never experienced anything where she feels like the world around her is moving in slow motion. She doesn't believe in that fairytale mumbo jumbo and considers those who claim they have as a bunch of delusional idiots. And she'll count her best friend if she has to.
But when the brunette woman who's inappropriately dressed for a family establishment walks in the diner and happens to make eye contact with her, she swears that time slows down. And it's only when the same woman winks at her that she thinks that time stops altogether.
Without another thought, she follows this woman towards Bumper's office abandoning the pile of silverware that still needs to get wrapped in their napkins.
She barely turns the corner when she hears Bumper's voice.
"You're hired!"
The world warps back up to speed and the noise of the diner fills her ears.
"Oh! Hi." The woman greets as they avoid colliding into one another. Aubrey refuses to admit that this woman straight out of an America's Next Top Model episode is a total babe – even though she fits the bill to a T – because her seething anger at Bumper's inconsideration and disregard to the sacred rules of accepting Barden Bella waitresses takes top priority.
"Hi," she offers somewhat reluctantly.
"I'm Ruby. I just got hired." Ruby extends her hand out and Aubrey has half a mind not to slap it away.
Instead, she clenches her jaw but otherwise offers a polite smile, taking the hand in hers. Of course this woman has soft, warm hands. Of course. "I heard."
"Great," Ruby says with a nod before walking past her and towards the main room, no doubt to introduce herself to the others. She takes a deep calming breath and reminds herself that she is the brightest explosion her father has ever seen and she can get through anything.
She stands her ground by the office door to stop Bumper, the heir and current manager of Barden Diner, in regards to their new employee. It's a nominal title because she's really the one in charge making sure the diner runs as smoothly as it does.
"Bumper, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"No can do; I've got a very busy schedule playing Guitar Hero and sitting poolside with my homies. So I gotta go." He's inspecting himself in his mirror combing back his hair.
"It's about the new waitress you just hired."
"Isn't she hot? She's so hot. I might almost want to come to this dump just for her."
Aubrey does her best not to deck him in the balls because paychecks require his signature, but she's not pleased in the least.
"You're supposed to talk to me about hiring new people since I'm the one actually leading this place."
"I still have ruling power, it's in the manual." He's shuffling papers and moving the stapler around the desk, ruining the working system she's set up in the office. She huffs as she yanks the stapler from his hands.
"Did you even ask if she could sing?" she asks attempting to reason with the insane. He stands from his spot and dares to place his grubby hands on her shoulder.
"Arby's, listen to me." Her eye twitches at the name but fights interrupting him. She's a better person than he is. "That hottie doesn't have to sing. She can just stand there and look pretty. It's the same. No one really cares about this singing thing except you and my dying grandparents."
"But the reason we're the Barden Bellas is because we sing!" Her voice rises a full octave even as she refrains from punching her boss altogether.
"Look, you're the head waitress, right? Do your head waitressing job and figure out where to put her. That's what I pay you the big bucks for. But until I say she's fired, she's sticking around. Got it? Okay. Girl power!"
Without another word, Bumper pushes past her and out of the diner winking at every woman that he passes by, leaving Aubrey with the mess she's certain he's created just for her.
/
Barden Diner is her home away from home. When she needed a place to give her a chance after she risked everything all those years ago, it was the diner that took her in.
And she's earned the title of head waitress like no other before her.
She's the only one that's truly fit for the job because the rest of her coworkers are just not the leadership material that Barden Diner needs. She was chosen for a reason and she's upheld the tradition because she's excellent at what she does. She may not be the greatest person to control her stress, but people have their weaknesses, okay? Cynthia Rose's is Stacie and Lilly's are perfectly sharpened knives; not everyone is perfect.
But she gets the job done and that's all that matters.
Chloe, Aubrey's current best friend and former FWB, can't really be the head waitress because she'd give out one too many free milkshakes to anybody who makes her smile. And Beca doesn't like interacting with anybody. She may be great with the musical arrangements and have been given more powers through that, but she is just not a people person. How she ended up being a Barden Bella waitress is beyond Aubrey's ability to comprehend, honestly. She thinks it's got a lot to do with Chloe but she can't bother with that now.
Plus, okay, it's not like her other colleagues aren't great. Amy would be fit for the job if she didn't respond with sarcasm at every idiot who walks through the door. Cynthia Rose has a tendency to haggle tips with the customers. And Stacie just…needs to stop sleeping with their patrons. This is not a brothel.
So it's up to her as head waitress to lead. And now that job entails training Ruby to become a proper Bella – with or without the singing.
God help her.
/
Being the head waitress comes with certain responsibilities. She's not only in charge of leading the Barden Bellas whether she's physically there or not, but she's also in charge of training new employees to uphold the values of being a Bella waitress and make sure no one burns the diner down to the ground.
She's not even supposed to be here today since Mondays are her days off, but she had nothing better to do but go back. And good thing she did or else she'd have had a heart attack discovering what Bumper had done.
With clipboard in hand, she sits in Bumper's desk chair with Ruby opposite of her and decides to do her own interview. The more she learns that this woman is wholly unqualified for the job, the better she feels justified in giving her the dishwasher job as part of the waitressing training.
"Okay, so," she starts without bothering to look up. She's gotten her ten seconds of staring in, she knows how pretty this woman is.
"Sorry, I didn't actually catch your name."
She offers a tight smile before pointing at her badge with the lopsided crown on the corner to signify that she's head waitress. "Aubrey. And you're Ruby. I'm the head waitress here and the team captain for the Bellas."
Ruby just nods before leaning back in her chair. "Cool."
"So have you had any previous experience with food service?"
"My grandma runs a small diner."
"So is that a yes?"
"Sure."
Her jaw stiffens and she does her best not to frown at how completely out of place this woman is. She doesn't belong here and Aubrey will be the first person to admit that.
"Can you sing?"
Ruby shrugs and Aubrey's patience starts to come undone. "Can I just move my mouth and let you guys do your thing? I really only sing in the shower."
Admittedly, it's a good alternative. At least she's not forcing herself into a Bella position. But she's the leader in charge and she needs to show that it is a complete violation of trust to undermine her authority as the team leader. Just for this, she hopes that Bumper drowns in his own pool with his homies.
She breathes in deeply trying to calm herself, just like she and Chloe practiced, before opening her mouth.
"Did you ever consider that this…establishment is not for you? The Barden Diner is famous for its a capella singing service and waffles."
"Bumper promised me a job if I told him where to find something he desperately wanted. And I did, so the job's mine."
"Well."
Ruby pushes herself forward until she's practically leaning over the edge of the desk. "I'm really good at finding things. You can even say it's in my blood."
She catches herself staring; she forces herself to maintain eye contact just to avoid having to look any lower than Ruby's chin. She's certain that it's what sold Bumper to agree to giving her the job in the first place.
It's not until Ruby makes the first move back into her spot that she remembers where she is and what they're doing. "Well I hope you can find your way to storage in the back for your apron."
"Cool, when do I start?"
She wants to just scream 'Never!' at the top of her lungs but maintains her composure.
"When do you want to work?"
"Whenever the singing ends."
Aubrey considers this and agrees that it's for the best anyway. She looks at the schedules in the clipboard and realizes that the night shift can use an extra hand. It's her favorite shift by far and doesn't want a newcomer to ruin it for her, but it'll give her a chance to observe to see if Ruby is Bella material. So she relents for the good of the diner.
"Fine. You start tomorrow night with me. Your shift starts at 8 but be here by 5 so you can see what we do."
"Sure thing, Boss."
"And lose the provocative clothing. This is a classy diner. You've seen how we dress here: blue tops, black bottoms, and a smile. You need your apron from the back, a nametag and a yellow handkerchief."
Ruby nods. "Okay."
"Someone named Beca – she's the size of an oompa loompa so look down if you can't find her – she will show you around tomorrow before I get here."
"Okay."
"You're free to go."
"Okay. See you tomorrow, Boss." Ruby flashes Aubrey a small grin after punctuating the word 'boss'.
For a split second, her general animosity towards this new woman flickers just a little if only because Aubrey totally, totally loves it when someone refers to her as the one in charge. Rightfully so, because she is.
/
One of the perks about being the head waitress is that she gets to tell other people what to do just the way she likes it. On the way to work the next day, she recalls a particular sense of satisfaction when she phoned Beca during the other woman's day off to inform her that she's going to be showing the ropes to the new girl.
"You know, Aubrey, the joke has to be funny for it to work."
She huffed into the phone certain that the noise would annoy Beca. "Shut up, it's not a joke. Bumper stormed in earlier today and just hired her on the spot without consulting me or anybody. But mostly me."
"You poor thing." Her eyes narrowed when she heard laughter on the other end of the line.
"Listen, show her what we do around here and I'll take over when I show up for my shift."
There was a pause on the other line followed by a sigh. "Do I need to bring the old sheet music so she can get a look at them?"
She groaned before closing her eyes and shaking her head. This is a nightmare. "She doesn't sing."
"Does she know what the Barden Diner is about or…"
"That's what's unacceptable about this whole thing. Bumper is an idiot."
"All right. We'll try not to set the diner on fire before your shift starts."
She didn't bother to bid her cowrorker farewell, just slammed the phone back onto the wall. It helped relieve the tension.
She figures she may as well put Beca in charge of Ruby before she starts her own shift that night. It'd be a true test of character if someone can handle Beca. Lord knows it took her ages to warm up to the little bucket of ice and sarcasm.
The smugness she feels on the drive to the diner dissolves quickly into one of panic. What if in all of Beca's stupidity and ineptitude as a human being, she and Ruby end up ruining the diner? Aubrey can't let such a thing happen under her management.
She pushes down on the pedal and disregards the honking and the protestations of elderly pedestrians as she speeds towards the diner hoping that the building hasn't set itself ablaze. She's only mildly comforted by the fact that she doesn't hear sirens.
When she arrives, she quickly inspects the lot to see that nothing has actually happened to the diner. As she walks through the door, her gaze sweeps through the main room to continue her inspection. The customers look happy and her coworkers seem to be doing their job. Her sights eventually land on two blobs of brown hair towards an empty booth where the silverware duty continues.
She clears her throat and two pairs of blue eyes look up at her.
"Look, no one set anything on fire!" Beca says by way of greeting, an overly-enthusiastic smle on her face.
"I see that."
"You guys are really as good as you say. I mean the singing," Ruby comments. She almost snaps her neck switching her attention from Beca to Ruby.
"Of course we are. It's part of the job description."
It's unnerving how Ruby continues to smile at her from her seat, unfazed by her reply.
"Dude, Ruby's not tone deaf, though. So there's still hope for her."
"Nah, I think I'll stick to just rolling silverware and asking people if they want more coffee. I can do that."
Beca makes a face that Aubrey knows for a fact she only reserves for her friends. The horror washes over her at the possibility that Ruby has somehow finagled her way into becoming Beca's friend in less than three hours.
"You're relieved of your duties here, Beca. Go help Fat Amy with her tables."
"What, no. I really liked sitting here and not interacting with anybody."
She narrows her eyes even before offering her fakest smile. "We'll see you later."
With a poorly masked sigh and eye roll, Beca rises from her spot and offers a fist bump to her new coworker. "Red Rover."
"Mary Mack," Ruby replies with her own fist bump. She tries to hide her surprise that these two already have nicknames for each other. At this rate, she wonders why they hadn't braided each other's hairs. But that's because dealing with hair and food at the same time is against the rules.
Beca glances at her one last time before sulking away and towards Fat Amy.
"I gather she's shown you how to do things here?" she asks, taking the empty spot across from Ruby. She picks up the utensils from the bins and starts her own pile of wrapped utensils to match Ruby who has apparently not stopped doing this task since before she arrived.
"And Beca has shown herself to be a proper Bella?" They're now working at the same speed that if someone was to glance their way, they'd see mirror images of the two of them at work.
"Well do you have any questions?"
Ruby shakes her head without glancing up. "No. She's filled me in on everything."
"It looks that way."
Ruby shrugs but doesn't say anything and just continues to work.
As they sit together rolling silverware into napkins, she glances to inspect Ruby. She's wearing a simple blue button down shirt and black jeans with boots. Her long brunette tresses braided and swept to one shoulder. It's an acceptable enough appearance considering that her cleavage isn't popping out like it was yesterday. She can't have more than one employee showing their cleavage at everyone because the one they do have is already too much to handle.
Every now and then, Aubrey will look up from her spot and watch to see that everything in the diner is running in order. Within fifteen minutes, the two of them are able to finish the pile on the table and have refilled all the condiments behind the main counter. During that time, she gives Ruby an impromptu quiz checking to see how well she's paid attention. Unsurprisingly, Ruby aces her quiz. She's impressed but it doesn't mean that Ruby is excused from the same kind of training as everyone else.
By the time ten o'clock rolls around, much of the crowd has disappeared. One by one, her coworkers clock out for the night until there's only just a handful of them around. Sure there are always people coming in and out of the diner at all hours of the day, but it mellows out considerably when it's late.
While she and Chloe work at one side of the diner, she gives Ruby the other side with Ashley picking up the slack towards the back.
"She seems nice," Chloe says, nodding towards Ruby taking orders from two senior citizens.
"She has to be. It's part of the job." She doesn't bother looking up from her pad as she tallies up the bill for her table. When she puts the pen down and glances up, she sees Chloe staring at her.
"You know I meant more than being a nice waitress."
"She's a big ball of fun, Chlo."
She doesn't wait for Chloe to respond, just heads to her table to wish her customers a lovely night. She also doesn't bother to look up while she cleans the table even as she feels Chloe's eyes on her.
An hour later, after wiping down her tables and sweeping around the booths, Chloe approaches her as she's ready to head out.
"All right. I'm going. Be nice to the new girl."
"I am nice! I even gave her a chance to warm up to everyone else."
"You stuck Beca to her on her first day."
She snorts a little. "Yeah and they're now best friends with nicknames."
Chloe raises an eyebrow. "Is that why you don't like her?"
She scrunches her face in confusion. "Nobody said anything about not liking her. She's a competent waitress."
"But she gets under your skin like Beca did."
"Like Beca does," she corrects. Chloe laughs and pulls her into a hug wishing her a goodnight. Aubrey watches her best friend stop by the door and wave to the rest of her coworkers. Ruby waves back and offers a bright smile that betrays how long she's been at this diner today.
Aubrey takes a break a little after midnight and sits at one of the empty booths to rest her legs. From her seat, she can see Ruby and Ashley standing on the other side of the diner talking to each other. She doesn't want to watch them, but the way that Ruby speaks animatedly has captured her attention. Whatever they're talking about seems to be something entertaining by how involved the two women are about discussing it.
She can't help but wonder if there truly are some people who walk in the light and, more importantly, if Ruby's one of them. She got the job on the spot even though she's not really qualified. She befriended Beca, one of the most insufferable people in the entire universe (and she's a waitress, she's met her fair share of insufferable) in record time. She's conversing with the rest of the staff like she's been here as long as they have. She's existing in this universe like it's made for her.
She berates herself for feeling envious but she can't help herself. It took her a while to get where she is and even longer to get the hang of friends. So for someone to do it with ease makes the feeling of inadequacy she's worked so hard to push away come rushing back. She thinks that she has the rest of the morning to sleep through these feelings so she stamps it down and finds something to occupy her time.
She's managed to clean the bulk of their workstations when Ruby ends up standing in front of her with a neatly folded apron in hand.
"Hey, where do I put this again?"
She stares at her new coworker, not able to somehow process a proper answer. It's not until the third time that Ruby calls out her name that she snaps out of it. She shakes her head to help clear her mind.
"Are you all right?"
"Fine. What did you ask?"
"I just wanted to know where to put this." Ruby raises the apron up for her to see.
"Oh, uh, in the back. If it's still clean, put it in your cubby. If it's dirty, put it in the wash pile basket. Don't forget to remove your nametag."
Wordlessly, Ruby obeys her instructions and disappears through the back. She tries to gather herself before Ruby returns because the last thing she wants to do is form a terrible first impression as a flaky leader. And that's not who she is.
She turns around when she hears Benji stutter a goodnight to Ruby. Benji looks absolutely smitten and even goes so far as to show Ruby his best spatula, the one with the lightsaber handle.
"So same time again tomorrow? 5 to 2?" Ruby asks after greeting Benji goodbye and stopping directly in front of her. She straightens up her posture just to make herself eye-level with her. Luckily, Ruby's not wearing heels like she is, so they're practically the same height.
"Oh, uh, no. You'll work from 8 to 4 starting tomorrow night until Thursday night."
"Okay."
"We'll schedule you in after that like everyone else."
"Cool. Am I free to go?"
"Yes. Be here on time."
"See you tomorrow, Boss." Ruby waves at her after she's fixed her coat on, momentarily stopping at the door to wave at Ashley before heading out and home.
She lets out a sigh and thinks that the night turned out better than she expected. Ruby sounds like a model employee – at least so far. She concedes defeat that even though she doesn't sing at all and is useless in that department, that she's no worse than Beca when it comes to being a human existing in the same space as her.
But then again, no one is worse than Beca.
/
She relinquishes control to Stacie and Jesse when her shift ends and theirs start at 4 that morning.
Jesse taps her on the shoulder while she gathers her things while he puts his stuff away.
"What can I help you with, Jesse?"
"We're gonna go out for an early dinner Friday before we have a movie night at my place. You're always welcome to go."
She offers him a smile. For all the years that they've all worked together, she can count the number of times she's accepted an invitation on one hand. It's just easier, she thinks, if they don't bother. But they ask her anyway, every single time.
"Thanks. We'll see, we'd have to check-"
"Check the schedule. Yeah, yeah, all right," he finishes for her, laughing a little. "Get outta here," he jokes as he finishes tying the strings of his Barden apron on to take his spot in the kitchen.
"See you later." She shoulders her purse and gets ready to walk out of the room when she hears him.
"Oh hey, how's the new girl? I've heard good things."
She runs her tongue across her teeth and tries to let her tired smile reach her eyes. "She's fine. She doesn't sing but she's good at the job."
"Yeah, Beca said that she picked up on things pretty quickly."
"Yep, she and Beca are now best of friends."
Jesse produces a hearty laugh, one she's not sure she'll ever get used to so early in the mornings, and playfully punches her on arm.
"One day, you and Beca will also be best of friends!" She rolls her eyes and starts walking away trying to maintain a straight face.
"I'm leaving."
She does a quick check to make sure that the morning workers have everything under control before walking to her car and finally driving home.
/
When she steps foot into her apartment, she becomes someone else. She makes a complete 180 and turns from Aubrey the Head Waitress to Aubrey the General's daughter. Where she's authoritative and purposeful in the diner, she's much quieter at home, almost unlike herself. She somehow reverts back to the same diminutive Aubrey before she left her parents over half a decade ago. Her floorboards barely creak beneath her feet as she makes her way from one room to another.
She turns her television on to fill the silence with noise. After she changes into more comfortable clothes and combs her hair out of its tight bun, she travels to the kitchen where she pulls the milk from the fridge and the cereal from the cupboard. She pours both into her bowl and has herself her breakfast for dinner.
As she parks herself in front of the television to watch music videos on VH1, she checks her phone and finds one new voicemail.
From Mom.
She takes a deep breath through her nose as she stares at the red notification on her phone. Hesitant, she plays the message.
"Aubrey, honey, it's your mother. Your father and I…well, we hope you're doing all right. I was just calling to remind you that it's his birthday next month. We'd love it if you visited. He misses his little bumblebee. He'd be really happy to see you. You might not think so, but I know he would be. Anyway, I know you have busy work schedules, but I hope you get this message. We love you."
She purses her lips and deletes the message. She hates every single one of them and has yet to answer one but she doesn't do a thing to change it, not to block the calls or to change her number. It's a silly and sad thing, but it's the only time she can really hear her mother's voice. The fight is between her and her father, she just wishes her mother hadn't fallen into the crossfire.
She lets the music videos distract her for the next hour as she unwinds from work.
When it's time for bed, she draws the curtains closed and places her sleeping mask on, burrowing herself under the covers. She stretches out her tired limbs and stares at her blank ceiling and replays the day in her mind.
Eventually, she drifts off to sleep with her last thoughts into unconsciousness volleying between a red bubble and a lock of red hair.
