Mister and Misses Cop's Diner

June, 2009

Brampton, Ontario

Sheryl was the envy of all her co-workers; that’s just the way things had always been at MMC Diner.

Employee of the Month for 3 consecutive years in a row.

The waitress who got the most tips out of all of them.

Everyone’s favorite part of the diner. Even the co-workers who envied her.

And could you blame them?

The 27-year-old slid out of the kitchen with the same spring in her step as she had since she moved into town. Balancing a pristine tray in her hand. Smiling so brightly that she could melt the butter casually with it.

“Who’s ready for BREAKFAST!!!!”

She lit up the whole room just with that simple cheer, as almost everyone in that diner, who reflected the sunny morning outside, cheered with her. Even the grumpy old folks.

And what reason was there NOT to be happy? It was the first day of summer; the financial crisis had finally come to a close.

I mean, it was worse in the States, but it was still tough down here in Canada.

But who cared about that?

MMC’s Diner had become a staple in a lot of people’s lives in its short time being open. In fact, it was only 3 years today, June 24th, since it first blew into town. And somehow it had become a local hit.

Maybe because the Government uses unfair advertising tactics, but you know...

Likewise, she strutted down the aisles, greeting everyone while simultaneously serving them whatever it was that they ordered.

“Mr. and Mrs. Bharti, HI!” She served them their usual fix: Cardamom Maple oatmeal and Spiced Scrambled Eggs with a side of Paratha and Masala Chai tea. “It’s been FOREVER since I’ve seen you two—so, year 3 in Canada, what do we think so far? Mr. Bharti, how’s the dental practice going? Mrs. Bharti, how are Rashmi and Rohan doing? What are they in 2nd and 3rd Grade now?”

“Well, they’ve been going crazy for these Beyblades,” Mrs. Bharti laughed. “It kind of reminds me of an old street game I used to play as a child.”

“Those two have become quite the experts on Beyblades,” Mr. Bharti added with a soft smile. “Mathematics...” he tilted his head side to side. “Well, they’ll get there. But I’m happier they’re finding a home here in Canada.”

“That’s great to hear, Mr. Bharti! I’m glad to hear your kids are loving this place; bring them around more often!”

She slid along to the next booth on her list, where Roland and Angie Jefferson sat. The thing about Ro’ and Angie (outside of the fact that they live in Caledon, which was like half an hour and then some away from here) was the fact that the two had been together for 30 years; both were 60 and 57, respectively, and both had kids and grandkids.

They were just more common-law partners, never married.

“For Angie, some buttermilk Pancakes with all the berry fixings and some Caribbean cod. And for Roland, A scrambled egg and roast beef sandwich with a side of orange juice...” She quickly slid in for a quick chat. “So, new grandparents—that has to be awesome, huh? Congrats, by the way!!! What did Ryan and Melanie decide to name the little rascal?”

“Leonard.” Angie beamed, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she reached across the table to squeeze Roland’s hand. “Leonard Nathaniel Jefferson—oh, and he is the cutest cutie EVER!”

“That boy has a tree house in his future,” Roland chuckled with a gruff voice behind him. “My boy Ryan has been rambling on about it for weeks, so I’m lookin’ forward to seeing how all that pans out in the next couple of years.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting Leonard; you should ask Ryan and Melanie to swing by when they’re free.”

“Will do, dear.” Roland tipped his cap at her. “Thanks.”

So yeah, she continued on, going from booth to booth to do her usual morning introductions...

Sean and Hannah Cop were behind the Cash Register as always; they were the owners of Mister and Missess Cop’s Diner, so they made it a point to be the guys who greeted the ‘to-go’ crowd, collect the checks from the people leaving...

Typical money-hungry owners and all that, but they did leave complimentary mints on their desk, provided that the customers tipped before they left.

Sean and Hannah’s pre-teens were behind them, triplets named Dawn, John, and Fawn, 2 sisters and a brother who cared for nothing more than their DS’s and stuff. Since they were gonna be in Grade 9 in two years, Sean and Hannah figured that they should at least get some community hours in.

Even though employment wasn’t technically allowed, nor were they even 14 yet...

They had Government advantage...

Aside from Sheryl, the diner had only three other servers who worked alongside her. Like 31-year-old Marlon Watt, 26-year-old Melissa Grey, who had a huge crush on Marlon, and 29-year-old George Benedict.

George was the straight man of the group, the voice of reason who wasn’t as much of an involved as a waiter as Sheryl was; he was a straightforward guy who basically lobbied for tips.

Melissa was the rookie of the group, so she was the most eager to prove herself—no, ASSERT herself as the new rookie of the month. Even if half the year she spent time ogling Marlon rather than doing her job...

Which the Mister and Misses weren’t too keen about.

And there was Marlon.

Marlon was the upbeat guy of the group, just like Sheryl was. He used to be the employee of the month at an old gig he used to work at before joining MMC around the same time as George and Sheryl.

He didn’t really mind that Sheryl was taking home the monthly award, because it was just for fun. He felt prouder of his role in conceptualizing some of the Caribbean-fused Canadian dishes the diner offered. A lot of them were family recipes that had been passed down to him.

Of course, it also meant that because he loved his job just like Sheryl did, he never really noticed the outside noise, aka the one person who was crushing on him majorly.

Even now, Melissa was catching a few glances at him every couple of seconds when she had a pocket of free time.

He’s so dreamy...

By the time I finished all my introductions, Sheryl had gone through every table assigned to her; so did Marlon, then George, and finally Melissa.

They had already been at it for 3 hours, as it was 9 AM by this point. But, for how great Summer was for business, it only meant they had a few minutes’ break before they’d have to get back out there.

As expected, a lot of customers would be piling in on the first day of summer.

“Guys, the whole point of volunteering is not to be glued to your screens,” George leaned over to snap his fingers at the triplets, “come on, up and at ’em. We all gotta pull our own weight around here.”

“In a minute, Uncle G.” John, being the ringleader of his siblings, was as moody as always to adults other than his Mom.

Which didn’t bode well because his strict Mom was right there.

“Johnathan.” Hannah was already behind him with her arms folded sternly. “How about you and your siblings go help out with cleaning some of the dishes. Now.”

“Uh...” John nervously smiled. “Can it wait after—”

"Now.”

...

...

...

“Okay, good talk, Mom.” He frantically turned to his scared siblings. “Guys, we gotta get the eff outta here before Mom neutralizes us.”

And just like that...

They scurried off.

Anyway, the rest of the servers all made sure to stay vigilant, even on their break, but engaged in some small talk to pass the time.

“So, any plans this summer?” Melissa asked, pausing her routine of losing herself in Marlon’s eyes. “We have two weeks off at the beginning of July; there has to be something worth doing around here...or Toronto, for that matter.”

“Hey, can you not bring up the ‘T’ word for more than a couple of seconds?” Sheryl chuckled. “I was gonna check out the theatre scene at Rose Theatre. There has to be something worth watching down there.”

“I have to help my sister with some wedding planning,” Marlon sighed. “Well, not to say that I’ve BEEN helping. We made a Black Cake a few months ago, and it’s been a whole process since.”

“A wedding!?” She was back...Melissa slid in and grinned a little too widely. “Do you need a date!?”

“Uh...” Marlon stroked his chin. “Well, I mean, it would be nice to have someone to go with...do you wanna be my date?”

“Heck yeah.” Melissa widened her eyes and straightened herself out, quickly clearing her throat to compose herself.

“I mean...I’d be happy too.” She quickly looked at Sheryl, as if she was expecting her friend to give her some motherly approval or something.

She didn’t and just smirked and rolled her eyes.

But just the mention of a date piqued both Hannah and Sean’s interest.

“If Melissa and Marlon are gonna be a thing, I guess that leaves you, Sheryl.” Sean was barely paying attention to his surroundings, let alone his staff; he was focused on filling up the mint bowl. But of course, the second anything social was mentioned, he had to jump in.

Hannah wasn’t any more innocent either.

“Unless it’s one of those lame friend dates or something like that,” she gave Marlon a playful elbow, “otherwise, then it’d just be George, who’s the married one of the group.”

Marlon rolled his eyes and chuckled, “So what if it is? Two friends can’t go on a date?”

Of course that hit Melissa right in the heart—friendzone and all that—but she agreed while trying to...fight back her tears. “Y-yeah. What he said.”