The Art of Teaching
Chapter 5
Kumiko pinned her badge to her shirt as the manager of August Moon strolled over with his usual over-confident air. He was a young man with dark brown hair and dyed red highlights. His dark eyes peeked out from behind a pair of thick rimmed glasses and held a snobbish gleam.
"Hello Kumiko," he said. "You know, we're pretty busy tonight."
"Yes, Shinichi, I realize that," she replied, bored.
"Here at the August Moon, we provide the best of service, no matter what the circumstances."
"Point being?" she asked him.
"My point is that you're going to have to pull it together! That attitude of yours is causing a real problem around here," he explained haughtily.
"My attitude? What are you talking about?"
"Last week, a customer told me that you completely ignored him when he called you," Shinichi stated triumphantly.
"I wasn't even that guy's server! And he was cat-calling me! Do you have any idea how humiliating that is?!"
"All I know is that it better not happen again! You are really testing my patience here, Kumiko. Now get to work!" he commanded. She turned on her heel and walked swiftly away. She spotted one of the hosts and he waved her over.
"Kumiko, you've got a table of two waiting for a server," he said, pointing at a small table near the back.
"I'm on it," she responded. Time passed slowly as she took the various customers orders. It seemed as though she had worked for hours, but then she glanced at the clock behind the bar. The girl groaned; it had only been forty-five minutes.
"Party of four at booth twelve," a hostess, and friend, stated as she passed her. Kumiko looked over her shoulder at the new patrons and gasped. She grabbed her friend by the shoulder and dragged the hostess behind the bar. The two of them huddled on the floor. She glared at the pianist with narrowed hazel eyes. "What is your problem?!" she asked harshly, getting to her feet. Kumiko pulled her back down.
"Sorry, Naoko, but I can't serve them!" she said earnestly. "Couldn't you get somebody else to do it?"
"Everyone else is busy. Why, what's wrong? Do you know them or something?" The green-eyed girl peeked over the counter and Naoko followed her lead. Sure enough, there sat Shigure Sohma, along with Yuki, Kyo and Tohru. "Hey, the guy in the robe is cute. I didn't really notice before." As the pair looked at the four of them, Shigure, who had been teasing Kyo about something, laughed and glanced in their direction. Kumiko's eyes widened and she pulled Naoko back down as she ducked once more. "So, what's the deal?"
"You know how I told you I'm giving piano lessons on the side to help pay my rent?" She nodded and waited for her to continue. "Well the kid in the white shirt is one of my students."
"So?"
"So, Shigure, the guy in the robe, knows I'm living alone. I don't want him to think I'm having trouble with my rent."
"But, you are," she pointed out. "And how would that make him think that anyway?"
"Because he comes to my house when his cousin has a lesson, and knows how much I'm getting paid. If he sees me here and he can guess that this job doesn't pay much, he'll figure out that I have at least three jobs," the anxious waitress explained.
"You're making way too big a deal out of this. He probably won't even think of that, and even if he does, who cares?" she asked.
"I do! And I don't want his pity. So could you please find somebody else, Nao?" Kumiko begged, using her friend's nickname against her.
"You know we're swamped Kumiko! I know for a fact that all the servers are busy, and if you don't get over there soon, Shinichi is going to have your head!" she warned. "I'm sorry, but you'll just have to deal with this one." Kumiko sighed and hung her head.
"Okay," she conceded. Naoko helped her to her feet and pushed the girl towards the booth with an encouraging smile. The group was too engrossed with their current conversation to notice when their waitress appeared at the table. "Welcome to August Moon. My name is Kumiko and I'll be your server this evening," she said pleasantly.
They looked up, their faces a mix of confusion and shock. Shigure was the first to speak.
"Kumiko?"
"Hello, Shigure," she greeted him sheepishly. This is so embarrassing! she mentally screamed.
"I didn't know you worked here," Yuki said, trying to act casual. It was strange to him that his teacher was doubling as their waitress.
"You weren't supposed to know," Kumiko mumbled without thinking. Luckily, none of them heard the comment. "Well, I guess you do now," she replied with a forced grin, this time in a direct response to the teen's statement. "So, are you ready to order?"
As she returned to the table with their food, Shigure managed to catch her attention for a second. It was no more than a small glimmer in his eyes, but she could tell that he felt sorry for her. She quickly looked away and walked briskly toward the front of the restaurant.
"Hey Babe," a deplorably familiar voice called as she hurried past the bar.
"Oh no," Kumiko murmured to herself. She squeezed her eyes shut and wrinkled her nose in disgust, knowing she had to answer or she would lose her job. She pivoted on her right foot and asked, "Can I help you, sir?"
"Why don't you come and keep me company, Cutie?" he said, patting the bar stool next to him. His drinking buddy on his other side snickered. It was the same guy from the week before, and by the look of him, he hadn't improved on his etiquette. His hooked nose was a drunken shade of red, and his grey eyes held a lustful glint.
"As tempting as that offer sounds," she said in a sarcastic tone, "I have to work."
"Oh, c'mon!" he whined. "Don't do this to me again."
"Sorry," she replied harshly.
"Just take a seat, will ya?" his friend added suddenly. He was just as drunk as the former.
"No."
"You know you want to!" the grey eyed man said getting to his feet and grabbing her wrist in an effort to convince her to sit down.
"Let go," Kumiko ordered him darkly, attempting to jerk her hand free and keep calm. He shook his head.
"Uh-uh," he responded with a sneer.
"Let go of me, creep!" she shrieked, becoming frightened. She kneed him in the groin and he let go instantly, dropping to his knees and whimpering.
The other man looked from Kumiko to his friend and came after her with unsteady steps. She punched him in the nose and kicked his shin. He backed up and fell over the first man, landing flat on his back. She snatched a pitcher of water that someone had left on the bar and dumped it over both of them.
"That ought to cool you two off," she said coldly, throwing the pitcher so that it bounced off the grey eyed man's head.
"What is going on out here?!" Shinichi's angry voice shouted from behind her. She whipped around to face him. "You did this didn't you?!" he accused, jabbing a finger in her face.
"I was defending myself!" she tried to explain as he walked behind her and stooped to help the injured men.
"I don't want to hear it! This was your last chance," he spat.
"You never gave me a first chance!"
"I treat you the same way I treat everybody else around here!" he said in his defense.
"You hate me because I wouldn't go out with you!"
"Th-That's not true!" he stuttered.
"Everyone here knows it is! But, it doesn't even matter anymore, because I quit!" she shouted in his face.
"You can't quit, I was just about to fire you!"
"Too late." She spun on her heal and headed for the door, stopping just before she opened it. "Don't worry," she called back to him so that the whole establishment could hear, "I'm sure some other poor girl will come looking for a job soon enough, and then you'll have a brand new waitress to hit on."
Kumiko sighed and smacked her head on the steering wheel, waiting for the light to turn green. She turned on the radio and the light changed.
"Now how am I going to pay next months rent?" she asked herself as she stepped lightly on the gas. "I couldn't just stick to the status-quo and ignore him, no. I had to let my temper get the best of me!" she reprimanded herself. She
She thought of the look in Shigure's eyes and found herself becoming more and more frustrated. Why did everyone feel sorry for her? Nobody believed that she could handle her own affairs; she couldn't stand it. She wanted to be seen as a responsible, independent young adult, but everybody still treated her like a high school student. Now she would seem even more pitiful to the Sohmas.
A\N: Uh-oh! What's our dear Kumiko's plan now? Reveiws and constructive critism make me happy, so send it on through. No flames; no one likes them. Later!
-Camie