'that following monday'


Tommy had awoken to the 6:30am alarm he had set the night before. He only had a 10 minute walk to the diner, but he liked to give himself time for a shower and coffee before he left. He finally put on his jacket and walked out the door before hastily making his way to work.

The wind was brisk and the smell of emissions and city smog filled the air as he walked down the sidewalk. However once he entered the diner it was like a new dimension. it was incredibly warm and well decorated for the holidays (as Christmas had just passed) and everything smelled good between the baking pies and cleaners. He could tell this was going to be much different than working in any boxing gym.

"Well hey there, you showed!" exclaimed Tina approaching Tommy "Why? is there a bet going that i wouldn't" Tommy joked

"Not at all darling, but let's go meet our fellow coworkers together hmm?" she spoke in a cheery tone before basically dragging Tommy through the the kitchen doors where there stood two men and one other woman.

"This is Terrance and he is our head chef" she said pointing to a tall skinny man who was probably in his 40s he had crazy salt and pepper hair that stood up everywhere like he had been shocked by something and he wore a serious expression on his weathered face. The man now known as Terrance offered his hand to Tommy which he took respectfully

"I loved the country fried steak y'all made" Tommy said as they shook hands Terrance gave a nod with a very faint smile to the compliment

"And this is Andrew our one and only line cook" Tina continued pointing to the other man, who was relatively short and seemed to be shy as he just offered a simple wave. Tommy couldn't place the mans age, he looked like he could be in his twenties like Tommy and he looked to be of some sort of Spanish descent.

"And this young lady right here Madison" Tommy simply nodded to her with a smile as he could tell she wasn't in the mood for any other greeting. "She is Dianes granddaughter and she's a moody one sometimes" Madison rolled her eyes in response. She was definitely younger than anyone there Tommy could tell, She dyed half of her hair green while the rest was black and black seemed to be her favorite choice of color as everything she wore was of the same shade save for the ripped up fishnet leggings which were purple

"And don't be getting any ideas, she might be pretty and all but she's only 17, sorry" said Tina

"No ma'am I'm not like that I promise" Tommy said feeling a little awkward

Madison walked off in a huff with an embarrassed look on her face

"She's not mad at me i hope?" Tommy asked Tina

"Nahhh, She's just mad at everything. Now I'm gonna show you what you'll be doing" Tina said hurriedly as she threw a white apron to Tommy

Tommy followed Tina around the restaurant as he was trying to tie the slightly tight fit apron.

"So basically as a bus boy you're main job is to clean tables after guests and clean the restaurant herself, and also some dishwashing...Howeverrrr" Tina continued "You will have to jump in here and there to bring food out and seat customers if we're really busy, And before you ask yes that is the biggest sized apron we have unfortunately" she said as if she was reading Tommys mind.

"Okay that doesn't sound too bad" Tommy said with confidence

"Well i'm glad to hear you say that" Tina piped up cheerfully "Here come some customers now so be ready to greet them" and right as those last words came out of Tinas mouth an elderly couple had emerged through the door

"Welcome to Terrys country kitchen!" Tina exclaimed to them "goodmorning" said Tommy a lot more quieter

"Table for two I assume" Tina asked in a somewhat toned down voice "You assumed correctly" the old man said with a smile

"Perfect, follow me" Tina finally said walking off with the pair to a booth

Tommy just sat there lost in thought for a couple minutes

"It's welcome to Terrys kitchen by the way" Tina said making Tommy jump a little and spooking him out of his thoughts

"I'm sorry what?" Tommy said dumbly

"The greeting is 'welcome to Terrys country kitchen' not just 'goodmorning'" Tina said doing a mock imitation of Tommy at the end

"Ohh, my bad" Tommy apologized "It's fine just don't let Diane hear you mess up, she keeps her standards for everyone high" Tina replied

"Who is Terry?" Tommy asked after thinking about the name for a second

"Well, he was Dianes late husband. He passed away a couple years ago." Tina spoke quietly looking around the restaurant really quick "He and her opened this place together 20 years ago and thus why she keeps her standards high..oops hold on" Tina then approached and greeted new family that had walked through the door.

And like clockwork more and more customers entered the diner so Tommy decided to get to work himself, he had started removing dishes from finished tables and sweeping until he looked up at the new person that had just entered.

"Welcome to.." Tommy had begun before being interrupted by Tina

"THERE YOU ARE CANDACE!" Tina exclaimed, Tommy now noticed it was the girl from the bar last week

"Girl you are a half hour late! you better get to work before Diane gets here" Tina said before Candace started making her way to the kitchen, She stopped when she saw Tommy and gave him a big smile before approaching him.

"Heyy, aren't you that guy from.." "The bar" Tommy finished for her sending her a smile "Yes I am, I'm Tommy by the way" he said extending his one hand with the broom in the other, She took it in a very gentle handshake, he noticed how soft her hand was,

"I'm Candace" she spoke "Nice to officially meet you Miss Candace" Tommy said still holding her hand

"Ohh no, no Miss just Candace is fine" she said humorously "My apologies" Tommy said with an awkward smile finally letting Candaces hand go though it seemed she didn't mind

"I've been meaning to thank you actually" Tommy spoke up again, she replied with a confused face "You know..for that night at the bar, I just appreciate you showing concern for me, I was having a pretty shitty night until you came along" Tommy continued

Candace looked down with a shy smile before looking back up at Tommy still smiling face, she adored that smirk he had

"Aww you don't need to thank me, it just upset me a little seeing a big lug like you so sad is all" She said kindly

"Well you made my night so thank you" Tommy replied making her blush again before she suddenly gained a surprised look

"Oh shit! i need to clock in!" she said running off to the back kitchen

Tommy chuckled a little before continuing to sweep the aisle, he noticed Tina walk up with a grin

"I see you there Romeo" she said smacking him on the butt as she walked by

Tommy tensed up a little at the action as Tina giggled her way to the kitchen

Tommy couldn't help but smile again as he started sweeping once more

As the day went by him and Candace would constantly exchange glances while working

"I think working here ain't gonna be so bad anymore after all" Tommy thought to himself as he cleaned the last table for the night

Tina had called everyone to the center of the restaurant for a quick goodnight meeting before they all walked outside, everyone had went there own way leaving only Tommy and Candace behind in front of the now closed diner.

"You live far from here?" Tommy asked Candace "Ehh, about ten minute driving distance, how about you?" she asked Tommy

"Nahh it's not even a ten minute walk to my apartment i'll be ok, are you waiting on someone to pick you up?" He asked her

"Yeah my stupid asshole boyfriend should be picking me up, I'm not sure how long though" she said annoyed

"Well i'll wait here with you until he comes" he said leaning against the wall

"No No, It's fine Tommy i'll be ok you don't have to sit he..." She began

"It's fine i promise, I don't mind" he said with assurance "Besides I don't have anyone waiting on me at home" he said finally

"You're so sweet thank you Tommy" she said with a smile "So does that mean you're single?" she asked boldly

"Yeaahh...unfortunately i am at the moment" He said looking down

"At the moment huh? does that mean you've got an eye for someone?" She asked

"Actually yeah..there's one girl I've got on my mind" he said looking at the night sky

"Well I may not have known you long, but i can tell that's one lucky girl" she said looking at Tommy

Tommy blushed and looked away so wouldn't notice "Awww are you blushing Tommy" she said teasingly

"How can I not with all these compliments" He said defending himself

They talked for another ten minutes before an old rusty shitbox Chevy truck peeled into the diner parking lot stopping only two feet from them before the big guy know as Johnson hung halfway out of the window.

"COME ON CANDACE!" he shouted from driver side window

"well that's my ride i'll see you tomorrow' she said as she got in the passenger she only looked forward as soon as she got in

Tommy could see Johnson glaring at him in the dark cab at the truck before he roasted his tires again out of the parking lot sending rubber shrapnel and tire smoke towards Tommy

Tommy stood there for a few more seconds in silent anger before making his way home as well.


Please review and tell me how it's going so far i got a new laptop so i hope to keep updating stories