FivebyFive89 – I've never worked in customer service but I've seen other customers behave like that…I don't think I'd be able to restrain myself if someone was that rude to a coworker or something!
billy – Thanks!
sara – I think her motto is 'fail to prepare prepare to fail'
Willow untied her apron, stretching her arms in process, after a long shift.
She loved the feel of pulling the tie free, unchaining herself from its binds and signalling her work day was over. As she lifted it over her head, Brian came into the break room and waved, slightly clumsily.
"Hey Willow."
"Hey," Willow replied, hanging the apron back up, "Can't believe I got my first week done. Thanks so much for all the help."
Willow had been kept primarily on the register, though did assist with beverage making during other people's breaks and had become a dab hand at the foamer.
Restocking was another task she was much happier to be given, rather than working on the very hot machines and keeping track of the sheer volume of order possibilities – she had a good memory and could ace a written test on it all, but the practical took a lot more ability. The cranky customers were her kryptonite and she was usually quite wound up until she could finally take that apron off and release it all.
Brian had been kind in placing her where her skills were best and letting the real baristas get on with brewing. Willow very much appreciated it, though dreaded the day when a new shift supervisor would be on shift with her. So far though, she'd seemed to have been put with him every shift. She didn't know he wrote them up.
"Not a problem," Brian dismissed in his typical humble way, though with a nervous lilt in his voice, "You have the weekend off too, right?"
Willow turned around and smiled.
"Uh huh. Looking forward to it."
Brian nodded casually, a little too casually.
"Any plans?"
Willow shook her head.
"Nope. Not usually large with the big, extravagant plans."
Brian audibly swallowed, then took a step forward.
"There's a free concert on in the Pavilion tomorrow night, you know the open air arena? Do you maybe want to come?"
"Oh," Willow replied, considering it, "What kind of music?"
"Soft rock, mostly. Local bands," Brian replied, tone hopeful, "Sordid Striker, Selfless Dose…Disorder Corridor."
"Oh!" Willow replied, recognising that last one as one Tara had brought her to see a couple of times in college, "Can I bring my girlfriend? She likes those last guys."
Brian was thrown for a moment, but seemed agreeable.
"S-Sure, if you want. I'll bring my buddy."
"Great," Willow replied cheerily, "We'll meet you there. What time does it start?"
Brian visibly brightened up.
"8 o'clock," he replied, beaming, "We should meet around 7:30. Get a spot. We'll bring a blanket."
"Sure, that sounds nice," Willow replied amiably, "Let me give you my number in case we get delayed."
Brian produced his phone and Willow saved her number.
"There you go. Okay, well, we'll see you tomorrow."
"That's great, it's great," Brian gushed, pocketing his phone again, "See you then."
Willow waved, donned her jacket and headed out through the store. She stopped to get her end of shift drink and luckily there was no queue.
"Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino, right?" one of the other girls asked.
Willow smiled at the familiarity and smiled.
"Can I get a Triple Grande Vanilla Latte, too, please. Extra hot."
She paid for Tara's coffee and walked briskly home, hoping the extra hot would keep it warm until she got there. She came in the door and Tara was standing in the kitchen over the oven.
She smiled and brought the cup over.
"Here you go, you caffeine hound."
"Oh, sweetheart," Tara said gratefully, "Thank you. You didn't have to get me that. How was your day?"
"Yeah, fine," Willow replied, "What smells so good?"
"Spaghetti and meatballs," Tara replied in an awful Italian accent.
Willow giggled.
"Yum and yummier," she said, dropping her empty cup in the trash, "Do I have time to change?"
Tara nodded.
"And shower if you want, we're a few minutes out."
"Are you telling me I'm stinky?" Willow asked with a grin.
"Of course not," Tara replied, offering a hug, "You smell like coffee beans."
"Then I definitely need to shower," Willow replied, already stripping off as she made her way to the bathroom, "Had enough of that stuff for this week!"
The shirt and pants weren't constricting but it was very monotonous wearing the exact same thing day in, day out. She tossed them all in the hamper, not to be seen again until they were washed and dried Sunday night for her shift Monday morning.
She picked out pyjama pants and her old college t-shirt and laid them out on the bed, then went off to have a nice hot shower.
Borne from necessity from being in college with the limited hot water supply, both she and Tara were quick bathers and it had the benefit of keeping their water bills down. She was in and out in five minutes since she didn't need to wash her hair and forwent a towel to drip-dry as she walked back into the bedroom.
She put her clothes on, happily stretching out and returned to the living room. Tara was putting the pepper grinder and a little bowl of grated parmesan on the table to go with the silverware.
"Good timing. Beer?"
"I'll get 'em," Willow replied, going over to the fridge and retrieving two bottles.
She popped the tops over the trash and carried them to the table, with Tara behind her with full plates. They sat in an L shape, as they always did so they could hold hands, and clinked bottles.
"To your first week," Tara toasted.
Willow smiled and took a long, slow sip.
"Ah…that tastes even better after a long week."
She twirled some spaghetti and popped it in her mouth.
"This is delicious, baby," she complimented, using her napkin to dab her mouth, "Oh, I hope you're not mad but I accepted an invitation for us."
"For what?" Tara asked warily.
"Concert tomorrow at some place in South End," Willow answered, using her fork to cut a meatball in half, "That band you used to take me to in college is playing with some other bands. The one that sounds like a metal band but isn't."
Tara was pleasantly surprised.
"Sounds fun," she said, eating her pasta neater than Willow, "Who invited us?"
"You know the guy I've mentioned who's been helping me out a lot?" Willow asked, not sure if Tara listened to her ramblings about work or just let her talk until she was tired.
"Was it Brian?" Tara queried.
Willow smiled, happy it was the former.
"Yeah, uh huh," she replied, "Him and a friend are going so they invited us along."
Tara squeezed Willow's hand and smiled.
"It was about time we went out on a Saturday night. We were getting far too old married couple-ish."
Willow turned her hand over and linked their fingers.
"Well, I can't wait to be an old married couple with you. So I'm totally okay with that."
She leaned over to kiss Tara's cheek, then grinned.
"But we can still be wild and free once and a while, right?"
Tara returned the grin.
"Who says we have to wait until tomorrow?"
Willow fixed her favourite sneakers over her feet and tucked the laces inside so she wouldn't trip. She was sitting on the bed and was in a prime spot to watch Tara don her clothes through the mirror.
Tara was wearing jeans tucked into boots, a red shirt and a waist-length, tight black leather jacket; all things that had returned with her from Paris.
Willow had seen them all separate, but never together in a quite so sexy get-up. She looked down at her own brown jeans and yellow t-shirt with the sun on it and immediately ran back over to the closet. She figured it was time a professional woman start to dress more appropriately, and maybe keep the fuzz and luminescence to her laundry days.
She found a purple and black checkered button down shirt and replaced her t-shirt quickly, letting its hem fall past her hips instead of tucking it in.
She came over to check it in the mirror and Tara smiled at her through it.
"Hey hot stuff."
"Hot stuff yourself," Willow replied, biting the corner of her lip, "You look amazing."
Tara tugged the sides of the jacket unsurely.
"The jacket is too much."
"Nooooo," Willow protested, "The jacket is…perfect."
Tara considered it and shrugged.
"Okay, if you say so."
"I do. I definitely do," Willow replied, breathing ever so slightly laboured, "Especially if you put that deep red lipstick on…"
Tara picked up her lipstick and applied it, dabbed her lips and presented herself to Willow.
"Yup, that's it," Willow said with a gulp.
Tara smiled and offered her arm, which Willow took proudly. They got their purses and headed for the train, standing close together as the carriage was full with people heading out on their Saturday night.
"Do you think they'll have food?" Willow asked.
"If you ate your broccoli with dinner, you'd be full," Tara said with a tut.
"Sorry, mom," Willow replied, rolling her eyes.
"There might be a popcorn stand, or a hot dog vendor or something," Tara responded, "Didn't the website say refreshments but no alcohol? Anything about food?"
Willow shrugged curtly.
"I just skimmed it."
"Oh don't be grumpy with me," Tara replied, squeezing Willow's nose affectionately.
Willow couldn't help but smile and leaned her head down against Tara's shoulder. They arrived to their stop and headed towards the concert venue. Tara broke her hand from Willow's to hold her purse closer to herself when the crowds started to pick up. Willow kept an eye out and waved towards the entrance gate when she spotted Brian.
"That's them over there."
Brian picked up his hand in a shy wave and his buddy standing beside him perked up. He was a good foot taller than Brian, with big brown eyes contrasting against his pale skin and curly brown hair to his shoulders that either needed a decent shampooing or half a bottle of hair gel less.
"The redhead is yours, right?"
"That's Willow," Brian replied respectfully.
"So the other one is mine?" his friend asked, motioning a gesture of gratitude towards the sky, then gripping both of Brian's shoulders excitedly, "Thank you, man."
Brian swallowed repeatedly as the girls approached.
"Hi!" Willow greeted warmly, standing in front of them.
"You look good, in colour. I mean not just the black and green. I mean–" Brian started to ramble until his friend nudged him and he cleared his throat, "You look good."
"Oh, thanks," Willow replied, looking quizzical for a moment before brushing it off, "This is Tara."
"Russell," Brian's friend interjected, jerking his hand towards Tara, "I'm Russell."
Tara shook his hand and smiled at them both.
"So you must be Brian."
Brian nodded and they shook hands too.
"Willow's been telling me how helpful you've been."
"It's nothing," Brian replied modestly; he would have been patient and kind even if it had been a six foot biker who'd shown up that morning, but Willow being Willow had certainly endeared her to him, "Do you guys want to head in?"
It was a large grassy area with small hills surrounding the central stage. Lots of people, most on dates were already sitting around and sharing drinks or food. The most space was near the top of the banks, but there was still decent viewing from that angle, so they all agreed on a spot easily.
Brian laid out a blanket he had under his arm, lengthways so there was room for them all to sit side by side. Willow sat down in the middle and Tara was about to sit next to her when Russell swooped in and got between them.
Tara tried to figure out a way to go around him, but when she saw Willow and Brian had started an animated conversation about Doctor Who, a subject she knew just enough about to identify but not contribute to, she just sat where she was instead.
"Hello," Russell greeted, resting his hands behind his head and flexing his biceps in the process, with attempted subtlety.
"Hi," Tara returned, folding her hands in her lap and wondering what to say, "So, do you like these bands? I like the lead singer in Disorder Corridor. Her voice is haunting."
Russell nodded easily.
"Yeah. I'm a DJ."
"Is that fun?" Tara asked.
"Lots," Russell replied, flashing a smile, "Makes me good with my hands."
Tara was entirely uncomfortable, so just offered short nods and forced smiles as Russell continued to converse with her. He was perfectly nice and friendly but she was starting to pick up a vibe that was certainly not returned.
She was unsuccessful in catching Willow's eye to save her, but got a reprieve when the first band started to play and everyone's attention was turned to the music.
She kept getting smiles from Russell and nods when a good song played. She nodded back and brought out her phone to text Willow, but she wasn't paying attention to it. Finally while the bands were changing over, she and Brian stood up and Willow looked towards her.
"Hot dogs, like you said," she said, pointing out a stall at the end of the hill, "Do you want something?"
"Willow can you…" she started, but fell back when all three faces were staring at her, "Um, yeah, get me a pretzel and a Sprite. Thanks."
Willow smiled and she and Brian skipped off together, nattering away.
"We finally get a minute alone," Russell grinned, "They can dork out together down there. It's nice to see him have someone to talk about that geeky shit with."
Tara moved onto her knees.
"You know, maybe I'll go help them."
Russell reached out and took Tara's wrist.
"Just…give them some space," he said and scooted himself towards Tara, "Look, I'll level with you. My guy needs to get laid. And he's clearly onto something good."
"Excuse me?" Tara asked tersely.
"He'll treat her right," Russell reassured, "He's a great guy. And he'll back off she's not into it. But just, let it flow okay?"
Tara's eyelids fluttered with anger, but Russell mistook it and brushed his fingers against Tara's palm.
"And while they're gone, it gives us a chance to…talk."
Tara took her hand back and rubbed her fingers together to get rid of his touch.
"Talk?"
Russell saw his opportunity and went for it.
"Unless you have a better way to use our mouths."
"I do," Tara replied, leaning down to put her red lips against Russell's ear, much to his delight, "To tell you I'm gay."
When she pulled back, Russell was just continuing to smirk.
"I'm into that."
Tara made an 'enough' motion with her hands.
"No. That doesn't mean I'm here to titillate your little fantasies. It means I don't date men, I'm not into you and whatever you think is going on here, isn't."
Russell did a double take.
"You-wha?" he asked, bewildered, "Brian didn't mention this."
Tara cast a terse glance towards the hot dog stand.
"Probably because he has no idea, seeing as it looks like he thinks he's on a date with my girlfriend right now."
Russell's eyes grew wide.
"Wait. She's a 'girlfriend' girlfriend?!"
"Yes," Tara replied, very slowly and precise as if she was talking to a five year old, "Very much so."
Russell ran a hand through his slick hair nervously.
"Aw shit," he said, holding up his hands defensively, "Listen, I'm sorry…I didn't mean to disrespect your girl…or you…shit."
They sat in awkward silence for the few minutes it took for the others to return. Russell jumped up when they came into view and grabbed Brian's arm.
"Man, I gotta talk to you."
"Later, okay?" Brian replied, shooting him daggers.
"No, now," Russell said and dragged him a few feet away.
Brian looked apologetically at Willow, who just smiled and came to sit with Tara and hand off her plastic cup and pretzel.
"I got you extra ice like you like."
Tara left them sitting on the blanket and brought Willow's elbow in.
"Willow, he thinks you're on a date."
Willow was sipping some diet coke through a straw and looked at Tara, confused.
"Huh?"
Tara physically moved Willow's face to where Brian and Russell were speaking in hushed tones and Brian was paling considerably.
"He. Thinks. You're. On. A. Date."
Willow's eyes darted back and forth until she got it.
"But I came here with you! I asked if I could bring my girlfriend."
"He didn't know that meant gay girlfriends," Tara explained, "You should have been clearer after what happened at my work party."
"Stupid straight girls stealing our word and causing untold chaos!" Willow spat, then looked to Tara, pained, "What do we do?"
"His friend is telling him now," Tara said, lowering her eyeline as they cautiously stepped back, "They're coming back."
Brian gestured over his shoulder with his thumb.
"Hey, we could, a, um, text from another friend, and um, we should, we should, we gotta go, but, um, yeah, so…"
Willow stood up.
"Brian, I'm sorry, I didn't realise–"
"My fault," Brian interrupted, unable to meet Willow's eye, "I'll…I'll see you at work."
"Yeah, I'll see you there," Willow replied and the air hung awkwardly for a moment, "Hey, I do really appreciate how you've helped me settle in. Thank you."
Brian shrugged one shoulder, eyes on the grass.
"I would have done it for anyone. And you're welcome."
"I don't want things to be weird," Willow said, dreading the thoughts of work with things like this.
Brian finally lifted his gaze and offered a weak but sincere smile.
"Not weird. I'm totally embarrassed, but it's not weird."
"You don't need to be embarrassed. I should have been clearer," Willow replied, extending her hand out, "Friends?"
Brian took it and squeezed.
"Allons-y."
Willow returned the smile and the tension seemed to dissipate.
"We are gonna go," Brian continued, still awkwardly stepping from side to side, "It was nice to meet you, Tara. And, um, sorry. No hard feelings?"
"Sure," Tara replied, keeping a protective hand on Willow's hip nonetheless, "Have a nice weekend."
The boys made a graceless exit, almost tripping over each other to get out of there, forgetting their blanket in the process.
Willow sank back onto it, dazed and confused until Tara poked her in the arm.
"You went on a date with a boy, Willow."
Willow's head reeled, then she caught Tara's grin and smiled back.
"Oh shut up, if I did, you did!"
Tara tore off a piece of her pretzel and set it down again.
"They forgot their blanket."
"I'll give it back in work," Willow replied absently, then reached for her girlfriend's hand, "Tara, I'm sorry I got us into this situation. A case of the clueless Willow strikes again. I really hate heteronormativity sometimes. All the time."
"At least they weren't creeps about it," Tara replied, then waved a hand in the air, "Forget about it. Hey, now we have a blanket all to ourselves."
Willow paused and smile. A mistaken date with Brian was not an experience she wished to repeat, but she'd take a date with Tara any day of the week.
She scooted over and rested her head in Tara's lap, enjoying the inevitable hair playing that occurred and the music as it started up again.
"So we do…"
Willow was sitting on the couch, slipping on her work shoes. Tara came out from the kitchen with a cup of coffee, still in her pyjamas. Willow noticed she was a tad off balance.
"You okay? You're carrying yourself funny."
Tara sat back on the opposite couch, still waking up.
"I slept on my shoulder funny."
"What is it with this shoulder?" Willow asked, standing up and putting her hands on her hips, "It's only ever that one you 'sleep funny' on."
"Old injury," Tara dismissed.
"Like a sports injury?" Willow teased, "Didn't peg you for sticks or balls."
"Like a 'getting shoved into a book case' injury," Tara brushed off, then offered a smile when she saw the look on Willow's face, "Nothing a hot shower won't fix."
Willow opened and closed her mouth a few times.
"I-I'll give you a massage later."
"Won't say no," Tara replied, then motioned Willow over and pecked her cheek, "Have a good day honey."
Willow nodded mutely and headed out to work. She could never get used to hearing of the horrors Tara had endured, though did her best to not make Tara take on any of her hurt on top of it all.
When she got to the store it was packed and she was roped in right away with the apron barely tied behind her back. She noticed Brian was behind the counter, the first time she'd seen him since their 'date'. He'd clearly switched shifts to avoid her for a few days, but seemed to have recovered and greeted her with the same easy smile he had on the first day.
"First weekend shift?" Brian asked as she speedily marked cups and passed them down the line.
Willow nodded and he shot her a wary look.
"Brace yourself."
Willow didn't really know what to expect from that, but she soon found out. While weekdays had considerable 'rush' times, that weekend day seemed to be constant with no let-up in customer lines or tables to clear.
She ended up being at the end of the pass, handing drinks off. She had a few verbal slips and stumbles as she remembered all of the codes at such speed and one or two people grabbed the wrong drink without waiting for her and came back to complain.
Willow didn't like her good name sullied by impatient people and was growing ever increasingly frustrated. One dressed up woman was waiting, her pointed toe tapping and oversized handbag hanging off her wrist.
"Can you hurry up?" she bleated at Willow, looking past her.
There was just one drink ready, so Willow forewent checking the name and just gave it to her. She stared at Willow as if she was a child.
"This is ice-ed," she said, over-enunciating, "I ordered a ta-all macc-hi-ato with a shot of van-ill-a syrup? Can you please get me the right drink?"
Willow turned towards the line to see where the drink was and finally saw another co-worker hold it up to indicate it was the right one but the customer was still shrilling at her.
"Can you hurry the fuck up? Are you deaf? Are you–"
The woman cut herself off with a scream as Willow found herself pushing the cup towards her so forcefully that it spilled all down her front. Willow's mouth dropped in surprise and she took a step back as the entire store looked towards them.
"You! This is Chanel! I will have your head for this!"
The not-often-seen manager came running out from his office at the screams and saw the customer screaming at Willow. He ordered her into the office and attended to the woman.
Willow sat in the office, pale, and spent the rest of the afternoon being verbally berated and eventually dismissed. Willow was on the verge of tears from the shock and being yelled at. She burned all her bridges by snatching her apron and pummelling it towards the manager, hitting him square in the chest with it.
On her stomp out, Brian came up to her, holding his visor in his hands.
"Willow, I'm sorry," he said, clearly saddened, "I tried to step in for you, I said it was an accident but that woman was screaming her head off. You're under probationary period, he wouldn't listen."
"It's not your fault, it's mine," Willow grumbled, then made herself take a deep breath, "Hey, thanks for everything."
He nodded and she started to leave, but turned at the last second.
"If you want to hang sometime, give me a call. We could do a Doctor Who marathon."
Brian smiled.
"I'm in."
Willow smiled back, then held a hand up.
"Just to be clear–"
"As friends," Brian finished, smiling still.
Willow offered a thumbs-up, then started the long walk of shame home. She sat on the stairs for a while and moped until it was time to face it all. She walked into the apartment, the envelope she'd gotten on departure still in her hands.
"You got your first paycheck," Tara noticed with a smile.
Willow closed the door behind her and gulped.
"And my last."
Tara put her book down and looked at Willow sympathetically.
"Oh sweetheart," she comforted, opening her arms, "What happened?"
Willow found herself running into Tara's arms and sobbing the whole story out.
"Was it an accident?" Tara asked gently.
Willow rubbed her sleeve under her nose.
"90%."
Tara patted Willow's hair gently.
"Well you got to experience a job. Something for the résumé."
Willow scoffed.
"Yeah, 'So Willow, why did you leave your last job'? 'Who's your reference?'"
Tara's face scrunched for a moment, imagining that conversation.
"So maybe a fast-paced job isn't the best avenue for you."
Willow's eyes dropped down.
"I'm sorry I let you down."
Tara held Willow's face gently.
"The only way you let me down is when you do something that doesn't make you happy," she replied, pecking Willow's lips, "Was your heart in Starbucks?"
Willow shook her head.
"No."
"So let's notch it up to experience," Tara suggested, hoping to impart some positivity.
Willow took in a breath, then flopped back into the seat.
"Being fired SUCKS."
Tara turned and rubbed Willow's knee.
"Order pizza, watch sci-fi and I'll change into shorts and a tank top?"
Willow cracked a smile.
"Wow, you really know how to cheer me up."
"What can I say? I'm a Willow whisperer," Tara replied with a grin, then put her lips by Willow's ear, "And I can whisper anything you want."
Willow shivered and closed her eyes to enjoy the sensation. Tara kept rubbing Willow's leg in comfort.
"I know you're very disappointed. That's okay. But let's focus on good things. You made a new friend."
"Yeah, I did," Willow agreed, unable to continue in her grump as much as she tried, "You make it hard for a girl to stay down in the dumps."
Tara leaned her head in with her nose against the side of Willow's head.
"I love you, Willow."
Willow turned her head in and kissed Tara softly.
"I love you Tara," she said, palming Tara's shoulder gently and remembering what had set off her whole bad mood, "I love you so much."
She started to massage that shoulder and felt her heart filled with more pride than coffee ever could when she heard the grateful little sigh of relief from her girlfriend and knew she was easing her pain.
She was upset and mad at herself for how things had played out, and wished she'd been able to contribute more than a few hundred dollars into their joint account, but she had an important position that she would always be grateful for having.
Being Tara's partner would always be the most fulfilling thing in her life.
"Thanks for not making me feel like a loser."
Tara kissed Willow back.
"The only loser is she who doesn't follow her heart."
Willow rested her head on Tara's chest and sighed softly.
"And I'll follow you anywhere."