Chapter 5

It was Saturday; I got up around 10, puttered around the apartment a bit; then went to the library and got a new set of books to read. The library was huge and well stocked, mostly because of the couple of small colleges in the area. I got back to the apartment around 2; Mr. Miller was messing with the old Caddy. He noticed me and said hello, said tomorrow was supposed to be a nice day and he was going to take the Mrs. and Caddy out for a cruise; maybe put the top down. He also said that Kelly Martin was inside talking with Mrs. Miller; it took me a minute to realize that Kelly Martin was my Kelly; I didn’t even know her last name. That’s about the time Kelly and Mrs. Miller came out on the small back porch and waved at me.

“Can I get a ride to work with you?” Kelly called.

“Sure” I answered, “I usually leave around 4:30.”

“That will be fine. Mrs. Miller’s going to do my hair.” They turned and went back inside; I turned back to Mr. Miller and found his eyes on me; I asked if he needed any help with the Caddy.

“No, I’m just staying out of the house while they visit. Kelly went to school with one of my daughters, she used to be over here all the time. You’re working with her?”

“Yes, she started 2-3 months ago and I took her home after work last night. She likes to talk.”

“That she does,” he chuckled. “That’s why I’m out here.”

I smiled and headed upstairs. I made a sandwich and read for a while, then got dressed and ready for work. As soon as I got to the bottom of the stairs; Kelly came out the Miller’s back door and met me at the car, carrying a little bag.

“Thanks for the ride, and going in a little early; I’ll put the waitress uniform on when we get there,” she said, shaking the bag.

We got going, “Your hair looks nice,” I told her.

“Thanks; Mrs. Miller is like a second mother to me. She knew I was back in town; I should have visited her before this. We’ve been talking for a couple hours; I think we’re all caught up now. She told me all about you.”

“I don’t think she knows that much about me; I’ve hardly talked to either of them.”

“Well; she said you’re a nice guy, quiet and clean; you seem to work a lot and keep pretty much to yourself; and you mowed the lawn for them, then wouldn’t take any money for it.”

“I like mowing the grass, and she cut my hair for free; I thought that made us square.”

“They appreciated it.” We drove for another minute or so before she asked, “It is alright with you if I talk to Chris, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is, we’re not really hiding anything. Not sure I could stop you, not sure I’d want to try; wouldn’t want you to be mad at me,” I said, smiling at her.

“She’s just closer to my age than the other girls; I could use a friend to talk to.” We didn’t really say anything important the rest of the way.

We got to work; the break room was pretty crowded with people ready to clock in. Kelly headed to the lady’s room to get dressed; I just hung around the back door, near the time clock. Chris came in a few minutes later and smiled at me, I smiled back and whispered, “We need to talk a second.” She just raised her eyebrows at me, and followed me off to the side. “Kelly wants to talk to you; she knows I was rubbing your feet under the table the other night.” Another rise of the eyebrows. “She wanted her own foot rub.” That got a smile from her.

“I’d thought I would have to really work on you about the girlfriend thing;” she said, a twinkle in her eye.

“I didn’t say anything else, just that you and I are friends. She says that she’s looking to make a friend here her age.”

“We’ve talked a little, she seems nice,” Chris said. “I hope you rubbed her feet.”

“I did.” That got the raised eyebrows again. “In my apartment.” More eyebrows. “She knows my landlords; she went to school with one of their daughters.”

“Anything else?”

“She wanted a kiss before I took her home.”

“I hope you did that too.”

“Once in the apartment, and a quick one in her driveway when I dropped her off,” I admitted.

“Do you like her?” Chris smiled.

“She’s okay; not shy. I didn’t know she’d been in the Army.”

“That’s not going to disqualify her, is it; you going into the Corps and all?”

“She might not be looking for more.”

“You’re so sweet; I’ll talk with her,” Chris said, smiled, and walked away.

Saturday night was a busy one. We had a full crew working; including Gary and another cook in the kitchen with me. The kitchen was actually a long, double, mirrored setup, with a big flat-top grill on each end with a smaller one next to it for toasting buns and the like. Then came a steam table and setup area for plating the food, there was a big fryer in the middle that supplied each end. Each had its own horizonal bicycle-wheel thing for the waitresses to clip their orders on, and a microphone on the other side for them to call in the orders, before hanging them. The back wall had a long line of other commercial-grade appliances, and access to one of the walk-in coolers. The primary end where I usually worked had a big, 8-burner gas range where we cooked the eggs during breakfast and the late-night rush; flipping them in small aluminum pans. That was the hardest thing to learn; how to flip over-easy eggs with just a toss of the wrist, without breaking the yokes.

It was a typical Saturday during nice weather, we got busy in the kitchen early and it stayed that way for 3-4 hours. I didn’t get much of a chance to see what was going on out front in the dining room; but I did see Chris and Kelly chatting a couple times, and sharing a quick hug once. The kitchen interacted with all the waitresses of course, making sure the orders were right and keeping things moving along. Everyone tonight was well-experienced and knew exactly what they were doing; we were a well-oiled crew and the two managers just stood around smiling. About 9 it finally slowed down a little; the third cook clocked out and went home; and we closed the mirror kitchen and cleaned and shut down that end. One manager went home, the other kept the busboys and dishwasher on until 10, then they were sent home. Gary and I restocked the kitchen and set-up for the breakfast rush we knew was coming; occasionally going in the back to the dish washing ‘hole’, keeping the pile of dirty dishes to a small mountain.

Most of the waitresses had stopped by the kitchen for little chats on their way to the back for supplies and breaks during the evening; they said things were going well, everybody making good tips. We were all friends really, and even if it was a busy night at work, it was a pleasure. About 11:30 both Chris and Kelly stopped in the kitchen together; both had mischievous grins on their faces, Kelly was the first one to speak. “How’s it going in the kitchen tonight, blue-ribbon boy?” she asked.

Shit. “I’m doing okay, just getting ready for the late rush. How about you two?”

“Made some good tips tonight; it’s been a good evening so far.” Chris answered, with no real emphasis on the ‘so far’ part.

“We’ve been comparing foot rubs.” Kelly said. “I give you a 9, Chris gives you a 10.” She paused, then added. “I gave you the lower score because you didn’t make me clench my toes.”

Both started snickering at my blush, then went back out front. Gary looked at me and asked, “What was that all about? Never mind, I don’t want to know; I’ve got to start working here more often.”

Business picked up a for a while, then ebbed, then it happened again; at 1:30 there were maybe 4 tables occupied, and they were finishing up; 15 minutes later every seat was filled. This was a middle-aged group; a few polka and square-dance outfits on the ladies, the men mostly in suits or a least a formal shirt and tie. They weren’t drunk, but they were all hungry; most had been here before and were very patient. The girls were taking orders from several tables at once, calling them in together; then putting several slips on each clip of the wheel. Once we got really behind Gary and I would put small plates of fries and onion rings up on the counter, freebies for the girls to distribute as needed. The manager tried to help us but kept getting in the way; eventually he just walked around refilling coffee, chatting with the customers; and working the cash register. He locked the door at 2, but there was still 20 people or so that hadn’t been seated yet.

It was way after 2:30 before we had the last order out of the kitchen, which was a total mess. Gary wasn’t the neatest to begin with, and tended to add to the disaster. We hadn’t tried to clean up as we went; we did manage to get close to the garbage can when we threw something that way. There were egg shells everywhere; I hoped the restaurant inspector was sound asleep somewhere. Gary and I started cleaning up, we did rock-paper-scissors to determine who was going back and do dishes; I won, and headed back.

Washing dishes wasn’t the hardest job, the washer was a big conveyer-belt machine; you just scraped the dishes, emptied the glassware and cups, stuck them in the racks, and shoved them in the machine. About two minutes later they came out the other end sparkling; unload the racks and start again. The harder stuff was all the containers and utensils Gary brought from the kitchen. It was hot though, steam coming out of the machine and water everywhere. It was after 4:30 before I had ‘the hole’ cleaned up, all the dishes put away, and the back of the restaurant squared away. I looked like I had been through the washer myself; fully dressed.

I went to the kitchen to see what else needed done; Gary was almost finished, the waitresses finishing up tallying their receipts and cashing in their tips. Chris smiled as she got near me; she said she was going to take Kelly home, she’d see me next week when we worked together again; Kelly just waved from the from the front door, and gave me a big smile and thumbs up. I was a sweaty mess and didn’t want anyone to get close to me until I had cleaned up; I just said my goodbyes to the ones heading to the diner to relax. The manager and I were the last to clock out, turn out most of the lights and lock up. The day crew was scheduled to show up in 30 minutes, we almost decided to stay and chat with them. Almost.

I woke up a little after noon, when the Millers pulled the Caddy out of the garage below me; going out for their Sunday afternoon drive. I rarely worked on Sundays; I got up and had a bowl of cereal, got dressed, and drove off to do a little shopping. Since Chris had made it plain she was going to be visiting the apartment fairly often; I got a couple more pillows and pillowcases for the bed, a couple nice fluffy robes, and a pair of cushy slippers. ‘Be Prepared’ was my old Boy Scout motto; good advice I thought. I also got a shower cap for Chris, just in case; and a bottle of scentless body wash, and lotion. I bought myself some new underwear in various colors; it was time to start thinking about things like that. I got back to apartment about 2, and had just gotten out of the car when the Millers pulled in; in the top-down Caddy. Mrs. Miller climbed out and headed to their back door, saying something about having lost her scarf and needing another one.

I headed over to where the Caddy was idling; “That is a classy ride, Mr. Miller, puts my Buick to shame,” I told him.

“It was my retirement present to myself and the missus; got it from a neighbor at a good price.” We chatted a minute or so and Mrs. Miller came back out wearing a scarf and hat.

“Good afternoon honey, how are you?” she asked; not to me, it turned out. Kelly was walking up the driveway behind us looking very nice in shorts and a short-sleeve, button-up print top; this could not be a co-incidence.

“I’m doing well,” she replied. “That is such a beautiful car; I’ve always loved it.”

“We’re just going out for another hour or so, want to go with us?”

“Could we?” she asked as she grabbed my hand, smiling ear to ear.

I just stared for a moment; then Mrs. Miller opened the passenger door and moved the seatback forward. “Climb in.”

Another moment staring, then Kelly nudged me forward and said, “Get in, silly.”

I turned to Mr. Miller and started to say something; that’s when he smiled at me and said, “This is one of those moments when you should just do what you’re told.”

“That’s right,” said Mrs. Miller. “And I’m Jill, and he’s Jack; please don’t joke about our names, we’ve heard them all. We’re all adults, first names are allowed.”

I wasn’t sure if I had been set-up, or who was involved, but I got in the car. Shoved in by Kelly, actually; who climbed in and snuggled next to me, holding my hand again and smiling at me. Mr. Miller; Jack now, I guess; backed out of the driveway once we were all settled, and headed off.

“Let’s cruise down by the lake, that’s always a good drive,” Jill suggested.

“Cool,” was Kelly’s comment.

As we started; I whispered into her ear, “What’s going on?

“I’m applying for the girl-friend position,” she giggled. “I was told it’s open.”