Chapter Two

Waiting for fifteen minutes outside the building was more than enough to give Jimmy time to arrive. However, as his friend, Mike still waited ten minutes more inside after his conversations with Celia and Zane.

Finally, the doors opened wide as Jimmy pushed himself against them to get in. He refused to use his bloody cut up hands that still had shards of glass in them.

Mike saw his friend in an instant, and quickly walked over. "There you are!" he said in frustration. "What took you so long? Our shift is gonna start in forty-five minutes!"

Not that they didn't have plenty of time to clock in, but Jimmy wasn't a bit surprised to hear that coming from Mike. He was sure that he had some preparation planned. "Hey, sorry," he said while rolling his eyes as he tried to hide his hands."

"I've been waiting a while; don't you know that this is our first day working in the cafeteria?"

"Yeah, I know, Mike."

"We really need to—what, what are you—" he stopped himself when he noticed Jimmy's awkward posture. He then eyeballed his furry friend's hand.

"Huh?" Jimmy put on a dumb act as Mike tried to reach for his hands. He placed his arms behind his back, but Mike only followed by shifting around to grab them. Jimmy twirled around so he couldn't.

"Sully, what are you—just stop!" He attempted to snatch his friend's wrists, and it came easy as Jimmy finally gave them up.

When Mike saw the wound in the palms of his friend's hands, which rested in his, Mike's face softened. "Sully, what the heck? When did—" he went silent before peering around himself where more and more monster employees began to fill the lobby. "Come here." He grabbed his friend's arm and dragged him away.

Together, Mike and Jimmy went for the men's locker room. Mike told Jimmy to sit on the bench as he opened his own locker. He ignored his friend's soft grown. Jimmy was obviously planning on keeping his cut up hands a secret all day, but it didn't pass by Mike.

After opening his locker, the green monster picked up a roll of scotch tape that he had sitting in there, and tour off a piece. In a fast pace, he taped Celia's phone number in place, so it was safe and sound. Then he grabbed a small aid kit and turned to his friend.

Jimmy rolled his eyes when he saw the kit. "I told you, I'm fiiine."

"Your pride is but look. You're still bleeding." Mike sat next to his friend and looked at his hands. "And you have glass? This isn't gonna work, Sul. You will get an infection, plus you will get glass and blood in the cafeteria food!"

"Chtt." Jimmy let Mike take the shards out, one by one, then he washed his paws with a wet cloth. Jimmy forced himself to show no pain. He still had an ego and waned to look like a big tough guy, even if it was Mike.

Jimmy watched his friend, who was deeply focused on his hands. And that's when he realized that he didn't need to put on an act because this was his friend. Mike looked out for him. Still, it was only a cut and there was no point in showing his pain.

Afterwards, Mike patched up the wounds, and put his aid-kit away. He slammed his locker door shut before washing his own hands.

"Why do you have a medicine box, anyway?" Jimmy asked out of curiosity.

Mike turned to him. "Isn't it obvious? My friend is a clumsy hairball!"

"Hm." Jimmy smiled with a nod, although it was more of a sarcastic gesture. He was certain that Mike had the first-aid kit in there because he was the clumsy one. He kept that to himself, though.

Mike didn't bother to ask Jimmy how his hand got that way, because he was too eager to tell him about receiving Celia's phone number. "I can't wait to call her," he said. "Everything is going smoothly."

Jimmy watched his friend gloat. He knew how badly Mike wanted to get with Celia, but he wasn't a lovey-dovey type of guy. Still, he was more than happy for his friend.

Something couldn't get out of Jimmy's head, though, and that was the whispering voice he heard earlier. He knew it was real, but not know who was following him was overly concerning. It was hard for him to interact lively with his friend.

"Oh, by the way," Mike said, changing the subject, "Zane quit."

"He did?" Jimmy asked. "I wonder why." His tone drifted as he stared at the ceiling, only partly focusing on his friend.

Mike didn't seem to notice Jimmy's distant behavior, especially since his mind was always racing and he was always excited about something. "I know why," he said as he went to dry his hands. "Apparently, siting at your desk and writing a novel is a lot more satisfying than scaring. He'd rather write a book than scare."

"Hm. Wait, he wasn't a scarer. He worked in the cafeteria."

"Oh, we only have twenty minutes left!" He rushed back over to his friend and grabbed him by the arm before dragging him out of the locker room.

Getting to the cafeteria fifteen minutes before the beginning of the shift wasn't nearly early enough for Mike. In fact, the first thing he went on about was how he had planned on getting there an hour prior. Thanks to Jimmy's lack of showing up "on time", Mike couldn't admire and get use to the room if he hoped.

"You're the great Mike Wazowski," Jimmy said to motivate his friend. "You can manage."

A grin grew on the green monster's face, and at that second, an older man stepped into the cafeteria.

"Ah, James and Mike," he said as he walked over to them. "You know me, right?"

"Brad!" Mike said as he pointed. It was no surprise Mike got his name off the bat. He was good at remembering anything or anyone.

"That's right. It's great to see the new cafeteria crew. I will be supervising and showing you the ropes. Let me show you all about serving."

Mike was eager and rushed behind the counter. Jimmy slowly followed behind along with Brad, who then began to give them preparation instructions.

Every time Brad tested them with a question, Mike immediately answered correctly. He answered questions more than asked questions, and Jimmy watched.

Every little thing the two got to learn, it was like finding a piece of a puzzle to Mike. He even learned quickly on the tasks, and Jimmy didn't fall too behind either.

Prepping the meals and putting them in their place was the last thing they did before the cafeteria began to fill up. It was time for the first lunch break.

When Mike saw Celia, his heart started to dance. "Yes," he said excitedly. "Time to serve the queen."

Jimmy glanced in Celia's direction and shook his head with a smile on his face. In less than a minute, the woman was at the counter.

"You look like a real server," she said. "Both of you."

"It's easy work," Mike said, "and totally worth it. What will it be?" He filled a plate of the woman's request and placed it on her tray.

"Keep up the good work," she said before taking off.

"I will," he said. "I'll call you!"

Jimmy sighed. "You really are lovesick."

"It feels good," he said.

The rest of Mike and Jimmy's shift went smoothly, and on their last hour, Mike took out his camera and motioned his friend to smile next to him. "First day accomplished!" He took the shot, and after clocking out, added it to his janitor and mailroom photos in his locker.

"We have another mission to do," Mike said as he and Jimmy stepped outside, leaving their shift for the day.

"What's that?" Jimmy asked.

Mike smiled. "With all my savings, I decided we should pick out a place."

Jimmy watched him closely and stopped in his tracks. He was a bit stunned a little cautious.

Mike's smile only grew as he faced his friend. "An apartment. Nothing too crazy, but—"

"So, you want us to get a place together?"

"Well, yeah!" He and Jimmy continued toward the crosswalk. "I figured it would make things easier for us to go to work together. Besides, don't you wanna finally move out of your parents' place?"

Jimmy hadn't really thought of it, but he was so use to his mother taking care of him, he didn't know what it would be like to live on his own. Well, I won't be alone, he thought as he stared down at his friend who was slightly bouncing with anticipation.

Mike was ready. He was always ready to do everything, and Jimmy admired him for that. "Well," Jimmy said, "I suppose we can give it a try. I mean—"

"Great! I already have book marked a couple—"

"Move!" Jimmy suddenly shouted as he grabbed Mike by the arm and dragged him across the street.

"What, Sully!" He wasn't capable of stopping his friend and telling him that it was not clear to cross. Although he tried his best.

Jimmy looked behind him and saw something that bothered him, or someone. He didn't know who it was, but the expression on the person's face startled him, as well the hand gestures. It was the faded finger pointing at him that made his stomach flip with anxiety.

"Come on!" Jimmy let out as heh continued to drag his friend, using cars as an obstacle. Luckily, neither one of them got hit, and by the time they got to the other side, Mike was practically biting his head off.

"Are you insane?! What are you doing! We could have gotten killed!"

"Somebody's following us."

Mike glanced over at the other side of the street to see what his friend was talking about. However, there were quite a few monsters, so it was hard to tell. "What?" he asked. "Did you see someone?"

Mike kept his eyes focused on the other side, but he could no longer see the figure.

"Sul?"

"Uh, yes I did. But I don't see anymore."

"Your place is closer, lets get out of here."

The two hurried off with caution, while looking back to see if anyone was there. There was nobody suspicious in sight. However, the feeling of being followed sent chills down their spines, and they didn't stop to take a breath.