Shout-ie O's!
Blue Boxer: How bout a guy from Relient K dressed in the chicken suit! Yes!
Studentnumber24601: Shank you, my dear…
Rubix: Lol, hope you're pleased with the CC results!
J.L. Jordan: Yes, the Monkees rock immensely…
Fighter (TheLoneReed): …yeah…thanks for the review, girl!
Frenchy: Lol, I hope you like!
Stagey: I love you, hon…
Josef (aka one of the sweetest guys on the planet): I'm so honored that mine was the first story you've ever read, haha! I hope I'll be able to work you in somewhere…
Okay, now it's time to introduce the characters…
Characters: *backstage getting nervous*
…right, okay, first of all, for the girls…
Girl characters: *squeal*
Oh, will ya'll shut up? It's a group intro, okay?
Girls: *sigh, twirling their hair boredly*
First of all, for the regular girl employees, we have:
Rubix
Endy (Frenchy)
Air
Poker
Flit
Rant
Lil Italy
Lida Rose
And returning college students, will have semi-small parts during the summer:
Trolley (yes, I just had to give myself a small cameo! I'm actually not quite in college yet…five months!…gosh, that's soon…)
Soaker
Lavender
Some characters based specifically off of some of my co-workers:
Stagey is a sweet, somewhat quiet manager that can be goofy and sarcastic, and people like working with her.
Fighter is a loud, boistrous, crazy, fun manager who causes drama in the store. People are nice to her face, but no one really likes working with her.
Blue Boxer is a sacrinely sweet, always freakishly happy, grating-on-your-nerves-she's-so-freakin-always-smiling employee…nothing against Blue, btw, I love her to death! *huggles* I just needed someone for the part, lol!
And for the guys:
Blink: narrator
Jack: General Manager
David: Training Manager
Spot: General Manager of a different Bucket o' Cluck
Race: gets hired at the same time Blink does and they become good friends
Mush: Blink's best friend from school (most likely won't work with them)
Dutchy: random mall employee who eats there often…flirts with some of the girls
All the other guys: will most definitely be in there!!
~*~*~*~
Chapter Two: Training Day
I got a few weird looks when I went in for my interview, but I was pretty used to that by now. Everyone seemed really friendly and helpful though. Most of them looked like they actually enjoyed their job. One of the girls informed me that the hiring manager would most likely be late, as usual. She offered me a free drink, and then I sat down to wait. Sure enough, Brian Denton arrived about ten minutes after our appointed time for my interview. The formalities were taken care of, and a couple of days later, Denton called me back with the news that I started the next day.
"Sweet!! Uh, I mean, thank you very much, sir." I cleared my throat as I stopped jumping up and down, the phone against my ear.
"We're glad to have you with us, Trey. You're a great kid, and I'm sure you'll be an asset to the business. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yes sir, five o'clock sharp, I'll be there! Thank you so much, sir!"
The next school day was quite possibly one of the longest I'd ever experienced thus far in my life. Yes, I was actually excited about starting work. Sure, the idea didn't seem too appealing at first, but when I was in for my interview and saw how much fun all these people were having with each other, I started to change my mind. Didn't seem so bad after all.
"You're the new guy, right?" a redhead greeted with a small smile as I walked up the counter for my first day of training.
I resisted the urge to look around to make sure she was talking to me and extended my hand in greeting. "Yeah, I am…my name's Trey."
"Sarah," she said as she shook my hand. "But around here they call me Lil' Italy." She must've noticed my somewhat confused look, because she went on to explain, "We all get nicknames here. It's really quite fun." She laughed slightly as my face betrayed slight apprehension. Come on back, they'll show you what to do."
I did as directed and entered the small swinging door that led to the frontbar, then the large swinging door that led to the back of the store. To my right was the backbar, where a guy was standing around, waiting for an order to come up on the screen. He heard me come back and looked over. "Oh, hey, new guy?" I chuckled and nodded. "Just go right back there to the kitchen, you'll see David."
Assuming David was my trainer, I walked straight back a little more through some narrow hallways, miscellaneous buckets and dustpans strewn about the floor. Once in the kitchen, a wide open area with a row of sinks along one wall and metal counters lining the others, I saw a guy crouched in front of something that looked like some sort of oven. He appeared to be fixing it, so I decided not to disturb him.
"Hey David," another guy called as he walked by, "looks like your new trainee is here." The guy gave me an indifferent glance and continued towards the front of the store.
My trainer, David, backed out of the oven and looked up at me. "Oh, hey, you're here. Um, just gimme one second, sorry about this."
"Not a problem." I nodded and smiled congenially, looking around a everything an taking in my surroundings. Dishes scattered the floor some of the countertops, and multiple racks and shelves above the sink. A large metal door which I suspected led into a refrigerator was against one wall, and I couldn't help but notice the boom box on the counter next to me.
About that time, a tall blonde guy whom I recognized as the general manager walked back quietly from the front part of the store, smirking and indicating for me to be quiet. He sneaked up behind David and grabbed him by the shoulders, yelling abruptly.
I laughed as David fell back on his butt, nearly hitting his head on the counter. "Oh my gosh! Jack, don't DO that!"
Jack was in a mess of laughter, nearly on the floor with David, who seemed extremely exasperated. "Davey, lighten up, it's jus a joke." He turned to me with a goofy lopsided grin and extended a hand. "Hey, you must be Trey. I'm Jack, but you can call me Cowboy. And this here's my good buddy Davey. He's gonna train you. Best in the business!"
David smiled slightly, ducking out from under Cowboy's arm. "I learned everything I know from Jack."
By now, the manager was looking me up and down, rubbing his chin slightly. "Trey, huh? That'll never do. See kid, we've all got nicknames around here. You got one already, or we gonna have to come up with one?"
I decided against bringing up the fact that the closest thing David had to a nickname was Davey. "Well, I guess there is a little something…see, when I first got the patch a long time ago, my friends started making fun of me and all, and eventually their jokes turned into the nickname Kid Blink." I shrugged nonchalantly, a bit embarrassed. I had always thought it to be pretty dumb, and it was rarely used except once in awhile by Mush…which is a funny story in and of itself. But anyway…
"Alright, Kid Blink it is," Jack approved, starting to walk off with a grin "Have fun training, lemme know if David gives you any trouble!"
David laughed and shook his head, noting my still somewhat apprehensive expression. "He's really a great guy, once you get to know him."
"Yeah, he seems cool," I agreed. More than apprehensive, I was mostly overwhelmed. This was just so different from what I had expected a job to be like. I tried to take it all in as David began leading me towards the back of the store.
"First, I'll take you on a tour of the place. As you can see, it's a lot bigger than it looks from the outside."
I nodded, taking it all in as David showed me everything. The back hall, where the fifty-pound boxes of drink syrup, among other things, were kept, the helium tanks (forbidden, yet oh-so-humorous sources of amusement, especially on late nights), and the unreliable mop well, where we keep most cleaning items (mops, brooms, etc.) The drain had a history of backing up and causing huge messes, he explained. To our right were shelves and racks of miscellaneous products, such as sauces, paper bags, and whatever else happened to show up there.
"Now we'll go upstairs and watch some videos, then come back down and I'll show you frontbar and backbar."
Wait. Hold up. "This place has an upstairs?" My interview had been held in the dining room, so this was the first time I had ever entered the store. Looks certainly can be deceiving.
David laughed and led me up a narrow flight of stairs to a small room that housed a few tables and chairs, a huge pile of boxes, and a small television set. Off to the other side was another small room, which at a glance appeared to be an office. David and I sat down at one of the tables and he put in a DVD.
"Hey, this is great, I get paid to sit around and watch movies!" I commented with a laugh.
David shook his head and laughed dryly. "Oh yeah…fun stuff…"
The sarcasm dripping from his voice made sense about thirty seconds into the first movie. It should be illegal to film this stuff, it's so boring. After an hour or two of sheer boredom (how to clean an ice cream machine? Come on!) intermixed with a few sarcastic comments from Dave and other random people that walked up, my trainer finally announced that, "Torture session is over for today. We'll go downstairs and have a look at backbar and frontbar, meet some people, then you're free!"
"Sounds good," I chuckled, following my new friend down the stairs.
"Hey, you're the new guy, Kid Blink, right?" Boy, news sure did travel fast around here. I would have to make a mental note of that (which did, by the way, do me good later to remember). "They call me Fighter, and that's what you'll be calling me."
I looked the girl up and down. She was quite pretty, even in her frumpy manager's uniform, but her electric blue eyes made me feel a tad uncomfortable. "Nice to meet you."
She shook my hand with a smirk. "I'll be keepin an eye on you! Haha, get it?"
I laughed, albeit somewhat artificially. Never heard that one before… However, I wasn't quite used to strangers poking fun at it. I didn't care, it was just a little…weird.
I met a few other people, a guy they called Specs who was working backbar, a guy coming in for training right after me named Thomas, and a girl on frontbar with Sarah--I mean, Lil Italy--who had been dubbed Rant. David took me over to the computer to show me how to clock out, handed me my plastic-wrapped uniform, and told me to be in for work tomorrow at five. I was really looking forward to it. So far, I really liked all my co-workers and the work didn't seem too hard. I couldn't wait to see what this simple, part-time job held for me…boy, was I in for a ride…
Blue Boxer: How bout a guy from Relient K dressed in the chicken suit! Yes!
Studentnumber24601: Shank you, my dear…
Rubix: Lol, hope you're pleased with the CC results!
J.L. Jordan: Yes, the Monkees rock immensely…
Fighter (TheLoneReed): …yeah…thanks for the review, girl!
Frenchy: Lol, I hope you like!
Stagey: I love you, hon…
Josef (aka one of the sweetest guys on the planet): I'm so honored that mine was the first story you've ever read, haha! I hope I'll be able to work you in somewhere…
Okay, now it's time to introduce the characters…
Characters: *backstage getting nervous*
…right, okay, first of all, for the girls…
Girl characters: *squeal*
Oh, will ya'll shut up? It's a group intro, okay?
Girls: *sigh, twirling their hair boredly*
First of all, for the regular girl employees, we have:
Rubix
Endy (Frenchy)
Air
Poker
Flit
Rant
Lil Italy
Lida Rose
And returning college students, will have semi-small parts during the summer:
Trolley (yes, I just had to give myself a small cameo! I'm actually not quite in college yet…five months!…gosh, that's soon…)
Soaker
Lavender
Some characters based specifically off of some of my co-workers:
Stagey is a sweet, somewhat quiet manager that can be goofy and sarcastic, and people like working with her.
Fighter is a loud, boistrous, crazy, fun manager who causes drama in the store. People are nice to her face, but no one really likes working with her.
Blue Boxer is a sacrinely sweet, always freakishly happy, grating-on-your-nerves-she's-so-freakin-always-smiling employee…nothing against Blue, btw, I love her to death! *huggles* I just needed someone for the part, lol!
And for the guys:
Blink: narrator
Jack: General Manager
David: Training Manager
Spot: General Manager of a different Bucket o' Cluck
Race: gets hired at the same time Blink does and they become good friends
Mush: Blink's best friend from school (most likely won't work with them)
Dutchy: random mall employee who eats there often…flirts with some of the girls
All the other guys: will most definitely be in there!!
~*~*~*~
Chapter Two: Training Day
I got a few weird looks when I went in for my interview, but I was pretty used to that by now. Everyone seemed really friendly and helpful though. Most of them looked like they actually enjoyed their job. One of the girls informed me that the hiring manager would most likely be late, as usual. She offered me a free drink, and then I sat down to wait. Sure enough, Brian Denton arrived about ten minutes after our appointed time for my interview. The formalities were taken care of, and a couple of days later, Denton called me back with the news that I started the next day.
"Sweet!! Uh, I mean, thank you very much, sir." I cleared my throat as I stopped jumping up and down, the phone against my ear.
"We're glad to have you with us, Trey. You're a great kid, and I'm sure you'll be an asset to the business. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yes sir, five o'clock sharp, I'll be there! Thank you so much, sir!"
The next school day was quite possibly one of the longest I'd ever experienced thus far in my life. Yes, I was actually excited about starting work. Sure, the idea didn't seem too appealing at first, but when I was in for my interview and saw how much fun all these people were having with each other, I started to change my mind. Didn't seem so bad after all.
"You're the new guy, right?" a redhead greeted with a small smile as I walked up the counter for my first day of training.
I resisted the urge to look around to make sure she was talking to me and extended my hand in greeting. "Yeah, I am…my name's Trey."
"Sarah," she said as she shook my hand. "But around here they call me Lil' Italy." She must've noticed my somewhat confused look, because she went on to explain, "We all get nicknames here. It's really quite fun." She laughed slightly as my face betrayed slight apprehension. Come on back, they'll show you what to do."
I did as directed and entered the small swinging door that led to the frontbar, then the large swinging door that led to the back of the store. To my right was the backbar, where a guy was standing around, waiting for an order to come up on the screen. He heard me come back and looked over. "Oh, hey, new guy?" I chuckled and nodded. "Just go right back there to the kitchen, you'll see David."
Assuming David was my trainer, I walked straight back a little more through some narrow hallways, miscellaneous buckets and dustpans strewn about the floor. Once in the kitchen, a wide open area with a row of sinks along one wall and metal counters lining the others, I saw a guy crouched in front of something that looked like some sort of oven. He appeared to be fixing it, so I decided not to disturb him.
"Hey David," another guy called as he walked by, "looks like your new trainee is here." The guy gave me an indifferent glance and continued towards the front of the store.
My trainer, David, backed out of the oven and looked up at me. "Oh, hey, you're here. Um, just gimme one second, sorry about this."
"Not a problem." I nodded and smiled congenially, looking around a everything an taking in my surroundings. Dishes scattered the floor some of the countertops, and multiple racks and shelves above the sink. A large metal door which I suspected led into a refrigerator was against one wall, and I couldn't help but notice the boom box on the counter next to me.
About that time, a tall blonde guy whom I recognized as the general manager walked back quietly from the front part of the store, smirking and indicating for me to be quiet. He sneaked up behind David and grabbed him by the shoulders, yelling abruptly.
I laughed as David fell back on his butt, nearly hitting his head on the counter. "Oh my gosh! Jack, don't DO that!"
Jack was in a mess of laughter, nearly on the floor with David, who seemed extremely exasperated. "Davey, lighten up, it's jus a joke." He turned to me with a goofy lopsided grin and extended a hand. "Hey, you must be Trey. I'm Jack, but you can call me Cowboy. And this here's my good buddy Davey. He's gonna train you. Best in the business!"
David smiled slightly, ducking out from under Cowboy's arm. "I learned everything I know from Jack."
By now, the manager was looking me up and down, rubbing his chin slightly. "Trey, huh? That'll never do. See kid, we've all got nicknames around here. You got one already, or we gonna have to come up with one?"
I decided against bringing up the fact that the closest thing David had to a nickname was Davey. "Well, I guess there is a little something…see, when I first got the patch a long time ago, my friends started making fun of me and all, and eventually their jokes turned into the nickname Kid Blink." I shrugged nonchalantly, a bit embarrassed. I had always thought it to be pretty dumb, and it was rarely used except once in awhile by Mush…which is a funny story in and of itself. But anyway…
"Alright, Kid Blink it is," Jack approved, starting to walk off with a grin "Have fun training, lemme know if David gives you any trouble!"
David laughed and shook his head, noting my still somewhat apprehensive expression. "He's really a great guy, once you get to know him."
"Yeah, he seems cool," I agreed. More than apprehensive, I was mostly overwhelmed. This was just so different from what I had expected a job to be like. I tried to take it all in as David began leading me towards the back of the store.
"First, I'll take you on a tour of the place. As you can see, it's a lot bigger than it looks from the outside."
I nodded, taking it all in as David showed me everything. The back hall, where the fifty-pound boxes of drink syrup, among other things, were kept, the helium tanks (forbidden, yet oh-so-humorous sources of amusement, especially on late nights), and the unreliable mop well, where we keep most cleaning items (mops, brooms, etc.) The drain had a history of backing up and causing huge messes, he explained. To our right were shelves and racks of miscellaneous products, such as sauces, paper bags, and whatever else happened to show up there.
"Now we'll go upstairs and watch some videos, then come back down and I'll show you frontbar and backbar."
Wait. Hold up. "This place has an upstairs?" My interview had been held in the dining room, so this was the first time I had ever entered the store. Looks certainly can be deceiving.
David laughed and led me up a narrow flight of stairs to a small room that housed a few tables and chairs, a huge pile of boxes, and a small television set. Off to the other side was another small room, which at a glance appeared to be an office. David and I sat down at one of the tables and he put in a DVD.
"Hey, this is great, I get paid to sit around and watch movies!" I commented with a laugh.
David shook his head and laughed dryly. "Oh yeah…fun stuff…"
The sarcasm dripping from his voice made sense about thirty seconds into the first movie. It should be illegal to film this stuff, it's so boring. After an hour or two of sheer boredom (how to clean an ice cream machine? Come on!) intermixed with a few sarcastic comments from Dave and other random people that walked up, my trainer finally announced that, "Torture session is over for today. We'll go downstairs and have a look at backbar and frontbar, meet some people, then you're free!"
"Sounds good," I chuckled, following my new friend down the stairs.
"Hey, you're the new guy, Kid Blink, right?" Boy, news sure did travel fast around here. I would have to make a mental note of that (which did, by the way, do me good later to remember). "They call me Fighter, and that's what you'll be calling me."
I looked the girl up and down. She was quite pretty, even in her frumpy manager's uniform, but her electric blue eyes made me feel a tad uncomfortable. "Nice to meet you."
She shook my hand with a smirk. "I'll be keepin an eye on you! Haha, get it?"
I laughed, albeit somewhat artificially. Never heard that one before… However, I wasn't quite used to strangers poking fun at it. I didn't care, it was just a little…weird.
I met a few other people, a guy they called Specs who was working backbar, a guy coming in for training right after me named Thomas, and a girl on frontbar with Sarah--I mean, Lil Italy--who had been dubbed Rant. David took me over to the computer to show me how to clock out, handed me my plastic-wrapped uniform, and told me to be in for work tomorrow at five. I was really looking forward to it. So far, I really liked all my co-workers and the work didn't seem too hard. I couldn't wait to see what this simple, part-time job held for me…boy, was I in for a ride…