Anne guffawed as she continued entering the order.
“Geez, she was trying her best, okay?”
“It’s not good enough anymore!”
Why was it that “your mom” jokes came so easily to her? It made them all the funnier to people that it was a clean-cut girl with what she thought to be absolutely no sex appeal making the joke. Whatever worked for her. She couldn't help but try to make people laugh whenever she could. But she was careful not to overstep. Luckily she knew this other server not only had a mom (she made that mistake once) but her mom was just a regular old coupon-clipping housewife, jokes easily made at her expense.
“You're crazy,” Anne laughed as she walked away from her toward the kitchen, probably to get starter salads for her table.
Hailey was left standing there awkwardly. She didn't want to just follow her coworker like a lost puppy looking for someone to talk to so she made herself look busy by straightening the bread plates on the counter and refilling the napkins from the cabinet underneath. Then, she grabbed her chapstick out of her apron and applied it, thankful that she hadn’t lost this tube yet.
She felt her phone buzz in one of her pockets andlooked around to see if any customers or her boss could see her. The coast was clear so she gave it a quick check to find a few messages waiting for her.
Hailey spotted the first one from her friend Bridget asking for an opinion on her wedding coming up. She was going to be a bridesmaid and was super lucky that Bridget was the most laid-back bride on the planet. That might explain why the text was actually about the bachelorette party instead of the wedding.
She asked for her thoughts on a picture of shoes. How the hell did Bridget find high heels with tiny penis graphics all over them? It’s probably best she didn’t ask.
She sent back a thumbs up and an eggplant emoji before going back to her messages.
The next text was a funny “Lord of the Rings” meme from one of her best friends, Avery. They’ve been friends since high school and always had each other’s backs. Their friends sometimes made jokes about how they belonged together, but it was always just friendship between them.
Hailey never understood why it was so hard to believe they could just be friends. Sure, he was handsome with his sandy hair, chiseled jawline and eyes girls went crazy for. And he was able to geek out with her over all their dorky interests. Plus, he was super kind and generous, but he deserved way better than her. Avery was currently dating someone that she thought was okay,but Hailey didn’t trust her for some reason. She couldn’t put her finger on why.
After she shot Avery a laughing gif in return, she checked her final message and immediately deflated a bit when she saw it was a text from her mom.
MOM:Bring Gage over for dinner this week. We haven’t seen him in so long!
Hailey let out a sigh as she thought about how much her mom loved her boyfriend, Gage. Sometimes it seemed like her mom wanted him around more than she did.
She texted back a quick response letting her mom know she would check with Gage about it before slipping the phone back into her magenta apron.
Gage wasn’t exactly the greatest boyfriend and she found herself constantly defending him to others. Considering this wedding was coming up and she would hate to go alone, she might as well try to make it work for now.
Another server left a table nearby and approached the computers on either end of the booths to enter their own table’s order.
“God, could this day go any slower? I’m making no money today,” said Andrew.
“I dunno, I kind of like it when it’s slow. Way lessstress and a lot more time to spend with each table.”
“Well, yeah, but way less money.”
“True. I’m still lazy though.”
Andrew chuckled, surprised that anyone felt this way about the service industry. Customers meant money and money meant affording a lifestyle you wanted or things like more chapstick. The servers that worked weekend nights made the most money, of course, with more diners coming out for date nights and big hangouts with friends. She avoided working those weekend nights as often as she could, picking a shift up here and there if someone was really stuck. But after working as a football reporter, she really missed having her weekends to herself and the loss of revenue was worth it to her. She actually made more money waiting tables some weeks.
“You coming to the party for Scott next week?” Andrew asked.
“Not sure yet. I’m surprised everyone isn’t stuck at work and can’t make it.”
“Some people managed to get their shifts covered, but yeah, not everyone will be there. It will be chill though. Plus, it’s at my house so you better come.”
“I’ll check my gym schedule. I could go for chill. Definitely not up for anything crazy.” Really, she never was. It was always a disappointment when she had to get off the couch. So, the chances of her actually going to this party were low. Plus, she worked her second job atthe rock climbing gym some nights.
“Are you gonna see Gage this weekend?” he asked with an annoyed look.
“Yeah, it’s our one-year anniversary.”
“Can’t believe you’ve been dealing with him that long. Cut the cord already, lady!”
