A.N A new day, a new serving shift.
TRIS POV
We spend all of Sunday boxing up my things and moving them from my old one bedroom apartment in the suburbs to Christina's luxurious three bedroom in the city. Sunday night after we have everything packed into the moving truck, I went into the old restaurant to put in my two week notice. I let my manager, Dustin, know that I had found a new job in the city and I would be moving this weekend.
"Well Tris, I can't say I'm entirely surprised. Henry put in his notice a few days ago as well." I instantly feel the guilt wash over me. Henry was another strong closing server and with me leaving now, I don't want to leave them short staffed. The restaurant, while slow with shitty hours, has always provided for me and management has taken care of me. "But it says here in your notice that your new job starts Monday? How are you going to keep that up while you work the rest of your time here?" Dustin asks.
The truth is that I'm not entirely sure. "Well, I told the management at Dauntless that I would still need to work my last two weeks here, which of course they understood." Most restaurants do. "So they are going to put me on a slower training track so that my shifts don't clash too much." It's still not going to be easy. I'll be working close to 70 hours a week for the next two weeks. At this, Dustin looks a little uncomfortable.
"You should call them and let them know that you can start full time on Monday." I'm a little surprised and I know it reads on my face. Did I just get fired for putting in my two weeks? Can that even happen? He must notice how hurt I look. "No, no, no! I'm not firing you, it's just that…Okay it's not like it's a big secret. The restaurant is failing Tris. I can barely pay the servers I have and having one less on the roster might actually help." There's that wash of guilt again. "You can always use me as a reference and of course we would consider you re-hireable. Don't take this as a bad thing. This way you can start your new job and won't have to worry about driving all the way out here to make shit money." I can tell he really means it, and honestly, my biggest concern thus far has been not blowing the reference. Had I left without putting in my two weeks, I might as well have been unemployed for the last two years.
"Alright, but if you need any shifts covered in the next two weeks, just give me a call. I really don't mind." It really wouldn't bother me. The trouble with starting a new serving job is that you generally don't make tips right out of the gate. You do a week or two of training and then there's generally a schedule after your training that you're not on, just in case you need more training days. After you pass your training, you're scheduled for the next week. It's kind of a money suck, sitting around waiting for a training paycheck when you used to walk home with cash every night. I say my final goodbyes to Dustin and the staff hanging around before finally leaving.
Christina's apartment already feels like a new home, even before I have everything moved in. We probably won't get everything out of boxes today, but she swears that having a couple boxes around while I get settled in at the new job doesn't bother her. The apartment has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Christina's bedroom is the master with an attached bathroom and a huge walk-in closet that she has overflowing with clothes she probably doesn't even know she has. The next bedroom over, she has been using as her home office. It has a desk, neatly organized with small stacks of paper, pens of all colors for editing, and sticky notes that correspond to the pen colors. In the corner of the room is an elliptical, a couple of yoga mats, and a few small dumbbells.
"You can use my little home gym whenever you want! I normally work in the office with my headphones in anyway, so I swear it won't bother me!" She says in her normal light-speed talk. I might actually take her up on the offer, at least until I can find a new gym to go to here in the city.
The next bedroom a little ways down the hall is where I will call my new home. It's just far enough from Christina's bedroom that it offers some resemblance of privacy. The office and my bedroom are separated by a bathroom with a stand up shower, small sink, and toilet.
"This is your bathroom! It's normally just a guest bathroom, but I figure you can make it your new home base!" It's the perfect size. I generally don't spend a whole lot of time doing make-up or styling my hair anyway. It just ends up rubbed off from tired eyes and my hair smells like food by the end of the night anyway.
My new bedroom had been used as both a guest bedroom and Christina's overflow closet up until now. And aside from her boyfriend, who's name I learn is Will and probably stays with her in her room anyway, I don't think she has too many guests over. It's a good sized room complete with a smaller closet, not exactly a walk-in. There was already a queen sized bed that Christina told me I could use, mostly because she didn't want to get rid of it and moving my bed from one place to another would still be kind of a hassle. Overall, I'm really happy with my new space. After getting most of the essentials unpacked, Christina leaves me alone to get ready for bed. She has to be at work early in the morning and I know today has already worn her out.
"If you need anything Tris, just let me know. Goodnight roomie!" She says before turning to walk back down the hall to her own room.
"You too. Thank you again Christina. I don't know what I would have done without you." I turn around and realize she is already gone. I look around my room and decide that this is enough unpacking for today. I need to be well rested for my first day of training tomorrow at Dauntless. I start going through my clothes and pull out pajama pants and a sports bra to wear to bed. I realize that I can't go to bed until one last thing is in place in my room. I find the picture of my parents and decide that it should go on my nightstand, that way they are the first thing I see when I wake up and the last thing I see before I go to bed.
I look at the clock as see that it is almost 12:45 in the morning. After doing some quick math, I decide that I should call Caleb and let him know that I'm settled in. With it being a Sunday night, I assume that he is home and in his room, likely getting ready for a day of classes tomorrow.
The phone rings a few times before he picks up.
"Hey Beatrice, how's the move going?" He immediately asks.
"Don't call me that. You know I hate my full name. And it's going very well. I really like Christina's apartment and I think I'm really going to like this new job. I haven't met Christina's friend Uriah yet, but he must have said some good words about me to get me hired on the spot. I start training tomorrow."
"You know you don't have to do this." I hate when Caleb brings this up. He knows that the only way for me to quit my job and go back to school is if he drops out, and that is definitely not an option. But he's constantly telling me that this isn't something I have to do.
"Yes I do Caleb. And that's fine with me. I like serving." Nobody ever said I was the most honest person on the planet. "Besides, this is real life experience dealing with real people. It's going to help me in the long run. You need to focus on school so that when you're a big time engineer for some medical company, you can pay for my school. Got it?" He knows I would never actually let him pay for my school, but in a lot of ways I think telling him this makes him feel better, like he can owe me something for my own sacrifice.
"You got it Tris. But anyway, keep telling me about this new job! You said you hadn't met Uriah yet. Do you know anyone that works there? How does management seem? What do you think your hours are going to be like? Do the customers seem like good people?" He starts firing off question after question. Leave it to Caleb to always be curious about something that doesn't affect him in any way. He's never really had a job before, so this is all new territory for him.
"Woah, slow down! I don't know anything about the customers, I only went in for an interview. I assume the hours will be mostly nights, it is a bar after all, although they will be open for lunch. Management seems fine. They asked me a couple odd questions during my interview, but I didn't think much of it. The only problem I might have is with the service manager, Eric. He seems like kind of an ass. He's the kind of guy that wants everyone to be constantly reminded that he's in charge and no one else is or ever will be. And the only other two people I met were the morning bar tender who literally didn't say a word to me and one of the night bartenders, Four." I mentally recheck in my mind to make sure I answered the rapid fire of questions Caleb had spit out.
"Four?" He asks. "What kind of name is that?" It figures that out of everything I just said, Caleb is worried about this guy's name.
"Yeah, I don't know. We didn't really get to talk all that much. I saw Eric yell at him over a misunderstanding. He sort of said hi to me when he walked in and then said goodbye when I left. But he did call me Stiff, which I can only assume is some kind of mean nickname for the new person." Come to think of it, I don't think I actually told him my real name. I make a note of it to nip this 'Stiff' thing in the bud.
"Well, whatever. As long as you're happy. Hey, I actually need to get off the phone. I have a huge differential equations exam tomorrow." He says this like I'm supposed to know what it means. "Love you Beatrice."
"Tris. And love you too Caleb." He hangs up the phone and I know that will probably be the last time I talk to him for the next few months. I try my best not to bother him too much while he is at school. After finishing up the rest of my night time routine I crawl into bed and turn off the lights, hoping sleep comes quickly tonight. Unfortunately, I don't think that is the case. I always have trouble my first night in a new place.
My phone makes a quiet buzz and illuminates the already dark room. I notice Caleb sent me a text. I open it with some confusion; we did just get off the phone after all.
Caleb: And try to make some friends at your new job too! Even if it's a guy with a number as his name for god's sake.
I chuckle slightly and decide not to reply. He knows me too well. I'm a creature of habit and if I don't try, I'll fall into the same routine I have been in for months. Sleep, work, gym, home. Sleep, work, gym, home. My life is actually a broken record.
The more I think about it, the more exhausted I become. I slowly drift off to sleep and tonight, I have dreams of a man with deep blue eyes. They look so familiar, but I can't quite place who they belong to.