Lost Tempest Queen

First Day on the Job

I wake up and the room’s empty. Super excited I go to the bathroom and get ready for the day. I make my coffee and fry me some eggs and sausage. With strawberries and peach slices on the side. I’m unsure when I will be free for lunch so I pack a few granola bars and some fruit for a snack. My newfound appetite needs to be satisfied before I leave.

I look in the mirror and ensure I look my best and notice the dark circles under my eyes. Ugh, I look like I haven’t slept in weeks. I guess I’m gonna be wearing some makeup today because I need tips to survive. After I apply some concealer a wing tip liner and mascara, I finish the ensemble with some basic lip balm. I don’t care for makeup it makes me feel fake, but hey a girls go to do what girls got to do.

I grab my bag and head out to work praying I don’t come home to a mess again. The walk didn’t take long and I arrived twenty minutes before I was scheduled. The manager shows me my cubby and then takes me to his office to sign some paperwork. After the paperwork, he showed me where I would clock in and out on my next shift because today he would have me write down my times.

Since I have experience I’m paired with a trainer to shadow till I feel am ready to try on my own. It’s the same girl from yesterday and she is super sweet. She takes her time going over the menu and all of the expectations for side work. After the first five or six tables it was pretty quick to get the hang of, so I was able to start taking a few table orders while she shadowed me.

After a few hours into my shift, me and the girl were able to take our breaks. I’m sure she asked because my stomach was growling at every table we walked food out to, it was ridiculous. Since we get a free employee meal each shift, I didn’t need to worry about bringing my lunch to work. We ate in peace, then walked back out to the floor. We resumed the tables that we were assigned before lunch.

Just my luck the first table we are assigned coming back is none other than, Dorthy, her minions, and Alex. I put on an emotionless face preparing myself for the misery that is sure to come. We walk over and I greet the table with a polite smile. I introduce myself reciting the specials and then asking for their drink orders. Alex as if unaware of the body language at his table politely introduced himself and ordered his drink with a lovely smile.

The murderous aura that Dorthy had was frightening and not much intemediates me. I smile at her and ask if she knows what she would like or did she needs a minute. She slams her hand on the tabletop, drawing the attention of the other people in the diner. She then proceeds to give me a death glare and say how incredibly inappropriate it is to flirt with her man right in front of her. The look of shock and shame on the other customer’s faces didn’t go unnoticed by me.

I am floored, completely stunned even though I know by now I shouldn’t have been but she just had to go there of all places. After I have collected my composure and see my trainer is just as shocked as me. I know that I need to correct her behavior or this will affect my tips for the day. My other tables are mumbling about her statement, and I can not allow this the get worse. Ma’am, I’m unsure what I have done to warrant such an unjustified reaction to professionally taking your male companion’s order, but I can assure you that in no way by asking for his drink order flirting with him.

The same could be said about me flirting with you while I asked you the same question with the same facial expression and tone. She starts screaming at this point, how dare you speak to me in such a way! I want your manager you be fired immediately, don’t think that after today you will have this job or any other job in this area. Man oh man, this will be great she’s out to ruin me. I just don’t understand why. What in the world does this girl gain from messing up my life? The life of a person she didn’t even know until three days ago.

We walk away from the table to get the manager, who is pissed off that a new employee has caused such a scene. He walks to the table and asks Dorthy what happened and why she was causing such a scene. Sir your employee here was rude to our table, drooling over my boyfriend right in front of me. She was shamelessly flirting with him even though he was mine. You need to fire this skank before she brings down the name of your fine establishment.

He looks at me and then at the girl behind me. He asked Dorthy to give us a minute and assigned her another server to her table. Handing the new server the drink order I had started, then headed into the office. Instead of asking me what happened he turned to my trainer and asked her to give a detailed report of what took place. The girl being a quiet-spoken person, seems a bit nervous to talk to our manager. Thank goodness for me though she quickly gave a very detailed breakdown of every time we took today.

This detailed breakdown included Dorthy’s table and the reactions. She not only cleared me of this table’s unjust accusations but also provided me with a credible professional character witness. He thinks for a few minutes, while my nerves get the best of me giving me so much anxiety thinking that I was going to get fired my very first day. He stands up and heads back out to Dorthy’s table, with us hot on his heels. She looks triumphant till the manager states, I do apologize for any misunderstanding that may have taken place during our exchange.

He has a stern no-nonsense tone while he continues to explain, I can not in good conscience fire this young lady on her very first day. I do assure you that she will continue to train and improve. This didn’t make her happy because her only goal was for me to be fired. Who cares if this mutt is new or not She is a disgrace and you can do so much better. Losing customers over trash service isn’t a great look, she screams and she and her table get up to leave.

Alex pauses apologizing for her behavior and pays the bill. He tells the manager that he did not feel, I did anything wrong. He was nodding his head in my direction and left going after Dorthy. I can’t believe he is okay with her behavior and outbursts. He did look thoroughly embarrassed at her outbursts but when she was telling lies he did not speak up. I’m grateful he told the truth of the story before he left to clear the air but what would have happened if I had been fired on the spot? Would he have confessed to keep that from happening? After that, the rest of the shift went smoothly.

Thankfully my tables had heard the outcome of the scene and opted to compensate me extra for being new and dealing with her with such grace. After work, I head back to my dorm knowing my night isn’t over yet. I was debating to pack and head home tonight, instead of tomorrow but my pride wouldn’t allow her to run me out of my room. When I enter the room, she isn’t even home. I sigh with relief and head to shower and head to bed. I had expected my dream but again, I only got the weird story Nyoka told me.