Chapter 12 – You Have to Work with what You've Got

When Sirius came home from the university the next afternoon he took Regulus with him down to the restaurant. "Kingsley?" he called and stuck his head in the back door.

A tall man came walking out from the back room, wiping his hands in a tea towel. "Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! If it ain't little Mr. Black," the man beamed and stuck out his hand. "Regulus, right? I'm Kingsley. It's really my last name but everybody calls me that." He laughed in a booming voice.

"Hallo," said Regulus, hesitantly offering his hand. Although the man had just wiped his hands they were still a bit greasy, Regulus noticed.

"So you might wanna work here?" Kingsley asked and showed Regulus to a table where they sat down. "You worked as a waiter before?"

"No, I haven't."

"What work experience you got, then?"

"None. I've been a student until now. I'm just 19."

"So you got no experience at all," Kingsley said and shot a glance at Sirius.

"I didn't have any either," said Sirius. "I only had my charm and intelligence and Regulus has that as well."

Kingsley looked a little skeptically at Regulus and then nodded. "Alright. I'll give you a trial run. Your brother can help you get started."

"Gee, how lucky am I?" said Regulus sarcastically. "You sound you're giving me a shot at the Nobel Price or something."

Kingsley looked at Regulus in surprise and then at Sirius who sent his brother a warning look. He then turned back to Kingsley and smiled "Don't pay attention to him. He just has a dry sense of humor, especially when he's nervous. It's a British thing," he tried. "But you can cut that out, Regulus! Americans often misunderstand it."

He then got up and dragged Regulus off. "What the hell 's the matter with you? The bloke is giving you a job without you having any experience at all. You know how lucky you are to get that?"

"It's a rotten job," said Regulus. "If Mother and Father could see me now, they would be so ashamed."

"They're already ashamed of both of us! Why do you care so much? They're idiots! And being a waiter is not a bad job. It makes people happy. You'll see. You will learn to like it if you just give it a chance. You need the money, Reggie so this is not the time to be picky and think about Mum and Dad and shame."

Regulus sighed dramatically. "Alright. So what do I do? Just walk around and ask people what they want?"

"Yes, and bring them their food and smile. Remember to smile. That will bring you good tips."

"Okay," said Regulus and looked around. He spotted a couple of students who had just sat down and didn't look like they had been welcomed yet. Regulus resolutely went over there before Sirius could stop him. "Hi. What do you want?" Regulus asked.

The students looked at him in bafflement. "We... what?"

Sirius hurried over to Regulus and put his hands on his shoulders to turn him away from them. "I'm sorry. He's new. I'll be with you in a sec." He quickly pulled Regulus aside. "You can't just ask people like that! You say 'Hello, how are you today? Would you like to see the menu? Can I take your order?" That sort of thing. Not 'what do you want?' That's rude."

Regulus sighed and went back to the guests. "Alright. What would your lordships like to order?"

The students looked at each other again and then at the menu. "I'll have the double-bacon-cheese burger," said the young man. "And a Coke. Large."

"I'd like a green salad and a mineral water, please," said the girl, eying Regulus a little skeptically.

"Right," said Regulus and went back to Sirius. "What do I do now?"

"You take the order to the kitchen," said Sirius. "And don't address them as their lordships. Try to act like you actually want this job."

"First you complain that I'm rude and when I'm polite you complain as well!"

"Ah, come off it! You sound sarcastic when you call people lordships," said Sirius and crossed his arms. "You call women ma'am and men sir. Southerners are very polite and it's the respectful thing to do."

"What? They're my age! I'm not calling someone my own age – and very likely of a lower birth – sir and ma'am!"

Sirius' curled his fists. "Bloody hell, Regulus, sometimes I just want to give you a right kick in the arse! You address people ma'am and sir – at least those who are older than you. Pretend they're teachers at Eton."

Regulus just rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Let me show you how it's done," continued his brother. "But first let's get this order delivered."

They went into the kitchen with the slips of paper for the cooks. Then Sirius prepared the drinks on a tray and told Regulus to follow him.

"Here you go," said Sirius and served the drinks with a smile. "Your food will be right up." He then pulled Regulus aside. "See? It isn't hard to be polite."

"Well, take an order, then," said Regulus, eying four girls entering the restaurant. "Show me some more."

"Alright," said Sirius, running a hand through his hair before walking over to the girls who had taken a seat by a window.

"Hello and welcome, fair ladies," he smiled, handing them all menus "Just let me know when you see something you like and you're ready to order."

The girls smiled and looked him up and down. "Oh, I don't know what to choose," said one, licking her lips as she ran a hand through her long straight hair. "What do you recommend?"

"Well, we make ace burgers – right off the grill," smiled Sirius. "But I can also recommend the soup of the day - Italian minestrone. I had it for lunch today myself."

"Oh, I'll trust your recommendation, then," smiled the girl. "It's not too fattening, is it? I gotta watch my figure."

"Low calorie and loads of veggies," smiled Sirius. "Not that you need to watch your figure. You all look gorgeous."

The girls giggled and Sirius took their orders before returning to Regulus. "And that's how it's done. I'll probably get a nice fat tip for that one."

"So you want me to flirt with the costumers like a common whore?" said Regulus, crossing his arms. "Not happening. I'm not cheap!"

Sirius shot his hands into the air. "Flirting doesn't make you a whore! Tasteful flirting is the way to go. I was giving those girls a compliment, which made them feel good about themselves. It's called being nice. You should try it. You won't land any tips with your attitude."

"I'm not working for tips. I'm working for my salary."

"Well, over here the minimum wage is extremely low, and waiters rely mostly on their tips. You only get paid seven dollars an hour, and Kingsley even pays better than most restaurant owners."

"Seven dollars?" said Regulus, shocked.

"Yeah," said Sirius. "You have to make good tips to get by as a waiter, Reggie. You're not a rich kid anymore and you have neither a finished education nor work experience, You have to work with what you got – and your biggest asset right now is your looks. Use it well, and you'll make good tips. It has nothing to do with prostitution. You're not offering up your body, it's just flirting. You're bloody pretty with those big eyes and smooth face. You look innocent and sensitive – something that goes straight to young birds' hearts, and mature women's mother instinct. But when you open your mouth and act rude and arrogant, you mess up that image."

"What? You want me to act like a doe-eyed schoolboy?" said Regulus incredulously. "That's not what you do!"

"No, I have other things going for me. I'm sexy and charming in a sassy way. That's the image I fit best. Like I said – you have to work with what you've got."

"That's because that's the way you are! You're asking me to be something I'm not!"

"You can put on an act, can't you? You never had a problem sucking up to important people Mum and Dad wanted to make a good expression on. You were always the little angel when it was expected of you. So try to imaging our guests are important people you have to make a good impression on, if that's what it takes."

"So," sounded Kingsley's deep voice behind them and he came up to them. "Getting the hang of it?"

"Just getting the instructions down," said Regulus.

"Good, good. Well, I'm expecting you to start on Monday along with Sirius."

o0o0o

Regulus did not look forward to a whole day of work that Monday as he trudged down the street with his brother. At the restaurant he was given the shirt that was the restaurant's uniform and a pad and pen to write down orders.

"Alright. Let's see how it goes," said Sirius.

The first customers arrived around lunch time and Sirius took Regulus to a table where a middle-aged man had sat down. "You take this one and try to act civilized."

"Hello," said Regulus in a bored tone and pulled out his pad. "What can I get you? Sir."

The man studied the menu for a minute. "I'll have the soup of the day and a glass of the house wine, please."

"We don't have wine," said Regulus. "This is America and for some reason they're scared of alcohol and don't serve it in family restaurants. You should know that. You sound American."

The man looked a little surprised. "I'm Canadian," he informed. "You really don't serve wine?"

"This is a family restaurant!" repeated Regulus. "Like I just said."

"Very well... I'll have a club soda, then," said the man, looking a little offended.

"All right," said Regulus and left to take the order to the kitchen.

Next costumers to sit at one of Regulus' tables were two teenage girls. "What can I get you?" asked Regulus.

"Two cheese burgers and two Diet Cokes," said one of the girls and fluttered her eyelashes at him. "And maybe your phone number?"

"Maria," said the other girl and giggled, clearly a little embarrassed by her friend's forwardness.

Regulus narrowed his eyes. "Do you think I'm a rent boy? Just because I work waiting on people?"

"What? No, I just think you're cute. That's all," the girl said and smiled a little nervously.

"Well, I'll get you your stuff."

Sirius caught up with him on his way to the kitchen, looking mad. "Would you stop acting like a victim every time someone gives you a compliment? That bird was giving you one and you lashed out. You're gonna get fired!"

"Well, she made me feel violated!" retorted Regulus.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Oh, come off it, you drama queen! She was asking for your bloody phone number, not asking how much you charge an hour."

"I have a job to do," mumbled Regulus and hurried off to the kitchen.

Things went alright for a while until Regulus brought the wrong drink to an unpleasant costumer.

"I told you Sprite! This is Dr. Pepper! Can't you tell the difference or are you damn Brits color blind?"

Regulus felt anger well up in him and before he could think about what he was doing, he took the glass and tossed the content in the man's face.

Hearing the man yell, Sirius hurried over and saw to his horror that the man was soaked.

The man jumped to his feet and pointed a finger at Regulus. "You little punk! I'll have you fired for this!"

"Come now," said Sirius, trying to calm the man down. "I'm sure Regulus didn't mean to do this. Right?" He sent Regulus a stern gaze. "It was an accident, yes?"

Some of the other waiters had seen the incidence as well and huddled together to talk. Kingsley rushed out from the kitchen, having heard the ruckus. "What's going on here?"

"I want this waiter fired!" repeated the customer and pointed at Regulus.

"I'm so sorry, sir," said Kingsley. "I'm sure there's a good explanation for this."

"Explanation? I'm soaked!"

"Well, it's hot outside and with that temper you could do with some cooling off," retorted Regulus

"Don't you start up an attitude with me, boy," said the man angrily and took a napkin from Sirius to wipe his face.

Sirius lead Regulus away from the scene and pushed him against a wall in the staff room. "What the hell, Reggie? Are you deliberately trying to get fired? You don't throw drinks in people's faces!"

Kingsley joined them a few minutes later, livid. "I didn't expect that kind of behavior from your brother, Sirius! I'm shocked!"

"He asked for it!" said Regulus. "He insulted me!"

"I don't care if he insulted your mother! You ask him nicely to leave if he can't behave. Or you fetch an experienced waiter. You do not throw drinks on him!" scolded Kingsley.

"Whatever," said Regulus, rolling his eyes. Then he left for the kitchen.

"I'm giving him one more chance, Sirius, for your sake only. But I tell you - if there's as much as one more attitude problem, he's out on his ass!"

"Yes. Thank you, Kingsley."

o0o0o

They arrived home at around eleven and found that James and Peter had already gone to bed. Remus was the only one still up, wanting to know how his boyfriend had managed on his first day at work. Also, he hoped that Regulus would want to sleep in his room tonight. He could really use some cuddling.

Both Regulus and Sirius looked in a bad mood and Sirius went straight to his room after giving Remus a quick hello.

Regulus sat down on the couch next to Remus. "What a day. Being a waiter blows."

"So it didn't go well?" said Remus disappointedly. He had hoped for Regulus' sake that this would work out.

"Not very. I hope tomorrow is better."

"It probably is," said Remus and kissed Regulus' cheek. "You wanna sleep in my room tonight?" he asked hopefully.

Regulus nodded. "If Sirius goes to bed soon. I'm dead tired and I don't think I can stay awake for a long time waiting to sneak into your room."

"He probably will," smiled Remus. "And if not, I'll sneak into your room once he's gone to bed."

Just then, Sirius walked through the living room, ignoring Regulus completely and going to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Afterwards, he said goodnight to Remus and went to his room.

Remus sighed and leaned back on the couch. "You two should really learn to get along."

"He didn't like my performance at my new job," said Regulus. "As if I can be expected to do perfectly on my first day. He's not a very good teacher."

"I'm sure Sirius will do better tomorrow, but you also gotta give him a chance to teach you," said Remus, guessing that Regulus probably wasn't giving Sirius much of a break.

o0o0o

"You should talk more," said Regulus as they lay in bed, Regulus resting his head on Remus' chest.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"You have a lovely voice. Sort of… soft and warm. I like listening to it." Remus chuckled, the sound vibrating in Regulus' ear. Regulus raised his head a little to catch Remus' eye. "Don't laugh at me. I'm serious."

"I'm not laughing at you," smiled Remus, tracing one of Regulus' eyebrows with a gentle finger. "I'm glad you like my voice."

Regulus laid his head back down on Remus' chest. "I like your accent too. It's very soothing. I could listen to it for hours."

"Yeah?" Remus chuckled again. "I'm afraid I wouldn't know what to say for hours straight," he drawled in an exaggerated Southern accent.

"You could read to me," suggested Regulus, raising his head again.

"Might could," said Remus, pulling the other boy's head up for a kiss. "What would you like me to read?"

"Doesn't matter much" Regulus shrugged. "You decide."

"No, you go pick a book," said Remus, giving Regulus a little push.

Regulus got out of bed and crossed the room to browse through Remus' many books on his shelves. He suddenly looked over his shoulder at Remus. "You only sent me over here so you could look at my bum."

"That's right, darlin'," grinned Remus. "I got a real nice view from here. Do take your good time picking a book."

o0o0o

Next day was Sirius' day off, and Regulus hoped he wouldn't come along with him just to keep an eye on him. "I can handle myself!" he declared at the breakfast table. "Besides, don't you have plenty of studying to do? Your exams are coming up, yeah?"

"I don't think you're ready to do the job on your own yet, so I'm tagging along," said Sirius and scraped some butter on a piece of toast. "I'll just bring a textbook to the restaurant."

"I know what to do. I learned it all yesterday," insisted Regulus. "I also learned not to throw drinks in people's faces, so don't worry about that."

"I still think I should keep an eye on you," said Sirius.

"Have a little faith in him, Sirius," said Remus. "Maybe he'll actually do better without you breathing down his neck."

"Exactly!" agreed Regulus.

"Hmm," hummed Sirius and looked from Remus to Regulus. "Alright... I'll let you work on your own. But you ring me if you need me, yeah? And behave!"

o0o0o

The restaurant was busy when Regulus arrived and Kingsley tossed him his uniform and told him to hurry up. "You take the tables outside," he informed Regulus when he had changed.

"What? It's bloody hot outside! I want to stay in here."

"You do as you're told. This is your last chance, remember?" said Kingsley and walked back to the kitchen.

Regulus went outside and looked around. There were two sets of guests who looked like they had just arrived. He went over to the ones who looked the least annoying. "Hello. What can I help you with?"

The guests smiled at him. "We'd like to start with some ice water, please," said the woman. "The heat is murder."

"We can agree on that," nodded Regulus. "Why don't you go sit inside? I think there's a free table."

"My wife enjoys watching the people walking by," smiled the man.

Regulus gave them each a menu and went to get their water.

"I'd like the T-bone," said the man when Regulus came back with the water. "I could really use me a good steak."

"And what about you?" Regulus' asked the woman. "Ma'am," he added, remembering that's how he was supposed to address people.

"I'll have the shrimp salad. I always had a weakness for shrimps." She smiled amicably at Regulus.

"If you ask me, these shrimps look like they've been dead for a while. I wouldn't eat them."

The woman looked at him in surprise. "Well... what would you suggest, then?"

Regulus shrugged. "I don't know. I don't eat here. Listen - forget what I said. I'm sure those shrimps are better than they look," he said, wanting to cut the conversation short.

"But if they're no good? Can I please talk to the cook, then?" she asked. "Just to make sure. I don't wanna get food poisoning."

"No!" said Regulus. "If you're afraid to get sick, just order something else, will you?" he snapped.

"No need for such a tone, young man," said the husband. "You're the one who said the food was bad and my wife is not feeling safe with her choice now and you won't recommend anything else for her. What kind of waiter are you?"

"Hey - I make seven dollars an hour. Do you expect me to be some kind of expert? Just pick some bloody food, will you?"

"You would make a whole lot more if you had a better attitude!" said the man and got up from his seat. "You're never gonna get any tips this way. Come on, Heather – we're leaving."

Kingsley came rushing out from the restaurant, looking livid. "Regulus! Why did they leave?"

"They didn't like the menu," said Regulus. "They couldn't decide on anything."

The guests at the adjourning tables looked surprised and started shaking their heads and mumbling to each other.

The large man crossed his arms and looked at Regulus a little skeptically. "Go inside and help Marlene with the new deliveries. She could use a hand and you could use a break from out here."

Kingsley came back in five minutes later and found Regulus in the back, unpacking a large box of canned tomatoes. "Regulus, I consider myself a reasonable man, but I don't like it when my employees lie to me. So tell me – why are you lying to me?"

"Lying? I'm not lying! Those customers couldn't find anything on the menu they liked. The woman, at least. She was very difficult."

"Some of the other guests just told me you said the shrimps were bad and you were rude when she asked you what else you could recommend."

Regulus rolled his eyes. "I just told her that I wouldn't eat those shrimps, which isn't a lie. What's the big deal, anyway?"

"The big deal is that we're supposed to sell food here and we can't sell anything if we tell people that we wouldn't eat it ourselves!"

"Alright! I won't do it again, alright?"

"No, you won't, because I don't think you really get it. You got a real attitude problem, Regulus, and I can't have that in my staff so I'm afraid I'm gonna have to let you go."

Regulus was about to protest but then said, "Fine!" and tossed his pad and pen on the floor. "I don't want to work in this cheap joint, anyway!"

o0o0o

Remus was sitting in the living room when he heard the front door slam. "Hello?" he called and checked his watch. No one was supposed to be home yet. Both Regulus and Peter were at work, James was at Lily's, and Sirius had gone to the movie theater with a date. "Who's there?"

Being in a foul mood, Regulus ignored Remus' question and went straight to his room.

Remus heard the door to Regulus' room slam shut, and after a moment's hesitation he carefully approached it to knock. "Regulus? Can I come in?" He suspected that it might be safer to go into a lion's den than Regulus' room right now, but he felt like he had to be the supportive boyfriend.

"No," said Regulus. "Go away."

Sirius came back an hour later. "Blimey, a rotten film," he complained as he came into the living room and threw himself on the couch. "Rotten actors, rotten plot, rotten everything. The bird turned out to be pretty boring as well."

"Mm..." mumbled Remus, still thinking about his boyfriend. "Um... Regulus came home early," he said, trying not to sound like a snitch.

"Huh?" Sirius looked at his watch. "His shift doesn't end until seven! What happened? Where is he?"

"His room. I don't know what happened. He wouldn't talk to me."

Sirius went into Regulus' room without knocking. It didn't take half a minute until Remus heard Sirius start shouting. From what Remus could hear, it was clear that Regulus had been fired.

Ten minutes later Sirius came back out and slumped down on the couch. "He was fired," he informed.

Remus looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Oh... I'm sorry."

"Well, the little bastard isn't."