Page 8 of Time for Change

My first day has been good. Hectic and a little overwhelming, but good in the grand scheme of things. Marla is super fun and easy to work with. She’s patient, energetic, and kind, and not just to customers, but to the staff too. She made learning the ins and outs of the restaurant enjoyable, and I’m glad I got to shadow her today.

Since I’ve worked as a server before, I was quick to pick up their system, and as my shift slowly winds down, Marla has taken to following me around and letting me take the lead, ready to help when needed. My biggest study tonight will be the menu, since each of their handcrafted burgers have special names. I want to make sure I have them all down by the time I return to work tomorrow.

“Here’s your ticket. Let me know if you need anything else,” I say to one of my tables as I drop off their check and collect the dirty dishes pushed aside.

“We’re good,” the man replies, pulling his credit card out of his wallet and placing it on the table with the check.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell him, taking the card and ticket up to the servers’ station to run the payment.

Marla watches and smiles when I complete the process seamlessly. “You’ve already got it. You don’t even need me.”

I chuckle, preening a bit from the praise at a job well done. “I don’t know about that.”

“I do,” she states with a decisive nod. “You’re doing great for your first day. I’ve trained with some servers who aren’tdoing nearly as well after their first week. You’ll be on your own in no time.”

A light blush burns my cheeks. “Well, I appreciate the vote of confidence. I better get this card and the receipts over to the table.”

She nods, following behind me as I head back to the table and return his card and receipt slip to sign. “Thanks for stopping in today. Have a great day,” I tell them before moving to the next table. “Would you like refills while you wait for your food? It should be up any minute.”

“That would be great, thanks,” the older man says as the woman across from him nods in agreement.

“Sure thing. I’ll be right back.”

I keep myself busy taking care of the midafternoon customers in my section. While the lunch hour was definitely busy, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the stream of patrons who have stopped throughout the afternoon. Good thing I have good athletic shoes. They may not be the most stylish or fashionable, but at least my feet aren’t crying in agony right now.

“Stevie, how’s your first day going?” Garreth asks as he approaches where I stand at the servers’ station, helping prepare for the dinner shift.

“Really good,” I tell him.

“She’s doing amazing,” Marla adds.

“Happy to hear that,” he replies. “Listen, can I steal her away for a minute? I want to introduce her to a few more familiar faces.”

“Of course,” she quickly replies, jumping in and getting silverware rolled with napkins for tonight.

“I’m happy things are going well,” he starts, leading me to the bar side. “Marla doesn’t give high praises too often, and definitely not on first days, so you must really be impressing her.”

I can feel the blush creeping up my neck. “Oh, well, she’s a great teacher.”

He flashes me a charming smile as we walk toward the back hallway. He knocks on the doorframe, but it’s the voices I hear from within that catch my attention. “Guys, I wanted to introduce you to our newest server, Stevie,” Garreth says as we step inside.

My heart pounds in my chest as I take in the men in the small office. Walker, who I’ve already met, sits behind the desk, immediately stands when we enter, as do the other two men sitting across from him. I recognize them immediately from the website.

“Stevie, this is Isaac Thompson, or as everyone here calls him, Numbers,” Garreth says.

I instantly step forward and reach for his outstretched hand. “Pleased to have you on board, Stevie,” he says with a polite smile.

“Thank you,” I reply almost numbly.

“And this is our head chef, Jasper Kohlmann.”

“Great to officially welcome you on board,” he says. “Though, we met earlier in the kitchen.”

I nod. “Excited to be here.”

“There’s one more owner for you to meet, and that’s Jameson. I was hoping he’d stop by this afternoon, but if not, I’m sure he’ll pop in soon so we can introduce you.”

Again, I nod in reply, not really knowing what to say. A heavy door shuts behind us, causing me to startle.

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