(1) Annoyed
“Rex! It’s time to get up.”, my mother says.
“Why?! I don’t have class.”, I groan out.
“Because if you don’t get up now, you won’t be ready for your second period and I’m not about to hear your father call my phone asking me why you weren’t in school.”
“Fine.”, I say, rolling out of bed.
I’ve always hated this; dealing with waking up when it’s bloody six in the morning. But I understand where she’s coming from since he enjoys putting his two senses when no one asked. Grabbing a pair of jeans and a plain white shirt; quickly getting dressed. Making my way to the living room to see my goofball mom sitting on the couch upside down; feet on top of the couch while she’s reading a book. I plop right next to her, just as my little cousin comes running down the hall; with his gigantic smile and his brown eyes shining with excitement. He bounces the rest of the way and gives us a confused look.
“Auntie, why are you sitting like that?”
“It’s fun but doesn’t mean do it. The last thing I need today is your mother yelling at me for letting you do this.”, my mom says.
“Awe, that’s not fair.”, he says pouting.
“Hey, now. No need for the pouting face, little man. Do you not want to come over anymore?”, I say and ask.
He quickly shakes his head no, but his face was still pouting. I turn to sit correctly then grabbing him and placing him on my lap. We rock back and forward for a while; there’s a knock on the door and off my little cousin is with my mom right behind him. Laughing at him before checking my phone to see one of my coworkers’ texted me.
{Hey, Rex. I know you don’t have work today but I was wondering if you could come in.}- work
{Why?}- Rex
{Someone canceled the last minute. And since you don’t have a first, you could come in.}- work
{Okay. What time?}- Rex
{7}- work
{Okay. See you then.}- Rex
My mom comes back and looks at me curiously. I burst out laughing before setting down, to talk to her. “So, mom. One of my coworkers texted me asking if I could fill in since they canceled last minute. And I said okay.”
“Alright, what time do you need to go?”, she asks.
“Seven. So I’ll be working from first period through second.”, I say.
“Alright. Just be glad tomorrow is winter break or you would have said no.”, she states.
Nodding head before heading to the kitchen. I need to eat before my mom rides my ass about me not eating and thinking I’m still having the negative effects from my ex. Which I’m not… it’s been three years; I got over it with the help of my best friends so there’s nothing to worry about. I make a bowl of cereal and scarfed it down; just as my mom came into the kitchen. She shakes her head before grabbing the car keys. Placing the rinsed-out bowl in the sink; I jog to catch up and once we were in the car, I felt my phone goes off so I check who it is to see that Angie texted.
{Hey, you coming to school?}- Angela
{No, someone canceled last minute and since I don’t have a first, they put me on their shift.}- Rex
{Does your mom know?}- Angela
{Yep. It would have been a problem if it wasn’t winter break tomorrow.}- Rex
{Makes sense.}- Angela
{Want to hang after school?}- Rex
{Sure, would it be cool if Al and Rogue come?}- Angela
{Yeah, just let them know. I got to go; text you once my shift is over.}- Rex
The car comes to a stop just as I send the text. I smile then kiss my mom’s cheek before heading inside. I see a group of coworkers that I don’t get along with so I quickly make my way to the locker room. Before I got into the locker room, I run into the boss.
“Good morning, boss.”, I say with a smile.
“Morning Rex. I do apologize for this. I know the morning waiters’ you don’t get along and I couldn’t get them to ask Rogue since…”
“Since he has the first period. It’s fine but you better let them know that I won’t tolerate them.”, I finish before walking into the locker room.
I didn’t see anyone, so I quickly changed out of my jeans into black slick pants and then the apron. Heading to the cashiers to start my exhausting shift; I can already see a group of girls talking and pointing to me. I try not to mind them but they’re starting to get on my bloody nerves so I let out a warning hiss. Their eyes went wide before they got back to work, but some of them kept looking at me so I snapped.
“What the hell are your problems?! You talked behind my back and when I let out a warning hiss, you stopped talking but you won’t mind your own fucking business! Leave me alone.”
It got quiet, but I didn’t care. A customer comes up and starts ordering when the same bitch starts shit. I begin to mentally prepare for her nonsense. Once I’m mentally prepared, I get to work on the customer’s order; finishing their order and then hand it to them. Moving around the other workers as I’m fixing the coffees, hot chocolate, and teas before moving onto the baked goods. I’m still waiting for the bitch to say something but maybe I scared her off yet that isn’t likely; the shift has just begun and I already want it to end. After all the baked goods are all set, I move to clean the empty tables so when new customers come, they can sit right down. Frankly, it seems that it’s the perfect time for the bitch to start something.
“How come we had to get you and not the hot vampire? I mean come on, we can’t flirt with you. You’re a Neko and that’s not cool. We like hot sexy guys.”
“Does it look like I care.”, I state.
She was about to open her mouth when someone came in. We all say welcome to Dolce Cafe; then getting back to work. Moving away from the girl, I head to the back to see the boss but she doesn’t seem to be too happy. Making my way to her and seeing her having a heated conversation with the new chief. Everyone around them seemed to stop doing their work so I snapped at them and they quickly got back to work; turning my attention to the boss and the chief to see them still arguing. Taking a breather and grabbing both their wrists, dragging them into the boss’s office.
“Look, you can’t just have an argument in the kitchen. That’s how people stop working.”, I snapped.
“Mi dispiace, Rex. (I’m sorry, Rex.)”, the boss says.
“Look here, Neko. You’re not the boss of me and frankly, you’re not the boss of anyone. This woman is the boss of me; we need to make some actual food and we would have more customers.”
“Quest’uomo e serio? Il nome del negozio e Dolce che e dolce in italiano. Costa ti passava la testa, capo? (Is this man serious? The name of the shop is Dolce which is sweet in Italian. What was going through your mind, boss?)”, I say to the boss.
“Bene, nel suo curriculum, ha detto che poteva cuocere. Mi dispiace penseare che si riferisse a dolic e non a un pasto. Che diavolo dovrei fare? (Well, on his resume, he said he could cook. I’m sorry to think he was referring to sweets and not a meal. What the hell am I supposed to do?)”, she says and asks.
Thinking before talking to her; I know Tala can cook but can she bake? That would be the question. I’m tempted to text her but I’ll just ask Angie when I see her. Taking a breath, I tell my boss what I think.
“Senti, hai un part-timer, capo? Se è così, allora va bene. Chiederò a qualcuno che conosco se può essere un full-timer. (Look, do you have a part-timer, boss? If so, then that’s fine. I’ll ask someone I know if it can be a full-timer.)”, I ask and say.
