"Who has ordered a number 12, a hamburger combo with fries and a milkshake!" Her voice shouts a bit, so she could let the person who ordered heard her through the crowd of the restaurant.
It was an average day like no other day in WcRonald's where most people get their greasy fast food from because the food is pretty cheap. As for their customer service, it says otherwise. Calamity sighed, leaning onto the counter in the lobby with the greasy brown paper bag of the customer's orders beside her.
Her dark eyes glance around the lobby, while customers are on their phones, not even paying attention to listen to their orders.
How helpless, she thought, sighing in boredom.
"Order number 12," Calamity repeats. "Your order is up!"
An old man appeared in front of her, with his wrinkled pale skin, bald head, baggy eyes underneath his blue eyes, and appeared to be in his late 60s.
"Did you say order 12?" He asks, curiously, his blue eyes staring at her.
"Yes sir, I have. Here's your order, sorry about the milkshake though."
He smiled precisely. "It's fine, thank you, young miss. Have a nice day," he told her, gently grabbing his food, wobbly walking away to the exit door.
By the time of her last customer, she had to clock out to go home, before everyone at home returned. Saving herself time, she rushed into the back room, behind the kitchen where all the fryers and her coworkers would be.
"Going home, hun?"
Calamity startled so suddenly, she quickly veered around to face her manager, Meghan Williams, the only sweet black woman that Calamity knew. Just don't get to her bad side, if you did, it won't last long. Otherwise, she's pretty chill just like her other coworkers except for their boss, who happens to never come around for any problems when something bad takes place.
There would be rumors about their boss that he was some white grumpy man, who's in his late 40s and lives with his parents from being divorced with his wife who caught him cheating with a younger woman who was younger than his wife.
That's what Calamity heard from her coworkers, and maybe it's true. But who knows. "That girl is always zoning out, Meg," Calamity heard the main chef, Big Joe, say from the back of the restaurant, whose full name's Joseph Jackson. A sweet black man, who always has a fresh haircut whenever he comes to work, tall for his age although he's in his 40s, who cares about everyone in WcRonald's, no matter the situation would be, he always has your back.
Calamity blinks, before speaking. "Ah, sorry! Yes, I'm heading home before my stepmother comes home from work," she said, mumbling her words too fast. This usually makes her nervous or zoning out too much by overthinking herself, because of the problem she would get if she comes home late.
"Ugh, that bitch. She's so fake," Meghan confessed. "Her and those damn kids of hers. I don't understand why your dad married this woman?"
"Perhaps by her looks," Big Joe cuts in the conversation.
I understand what they both meant by that, she thought. Her stepmother, Layla Woods, Calamity's dad's new wife, Layla, who's a lawyer of the city's courthouse of Greenfield Hills. She's known for her good looks and innocence as others think of her, with a plastic smile she held onto her face thinking she was the perfect wife to Calamity's dad, but in reality, she isn't. Layla is evil only towards Calamity. She doesn't understand why, like right when she came, it seems like Calamity's life just became a nightmare.
She sighs, "Let's stop for now, but I do agree with you guys. "
"I don't understand why your father married her?" Meg says. "She isn't that great of a person. "
Big Joe nods, "Right! Don't let her control you, Calamity! You're braver than her." She heard him from the back. Meg shakes her head and just tells him to go back to work before he burns the burgers.
She laughs, while she watches Meghan walk towards Big Joe, to playfully hit his shoulder. Calamity sighs, heading her way to the back room to get her belongings from her locker.
She groans as she grabs her things, noticing she has to start dinner when everyone gets home. I'm not as brave as my stepmother. Sorry, Big Joe.
Stepping out of the backroom, she says bye to everyone before exiting the restaurant. By the time she got to the lobby, it was already crowded with customers. She knew this kind of time, students from her school who're in the after-school programs or activities were out.
Trying not to bother her as much, she quickly rushes to the exit, but she didn't know someone else was entering the restaurant, so she bumped into someone without knowing who. She almost stumbled backward, letting out a small squealed insight, before the person caught her. Her eyes were closed, she could feel the warm palm on her fragile form.
Huh? She slowly opened her eyes to face a firm male chest that her hands were on. "Are you okay?" Calamity heard. Her eyes widened quickly, quickly backed away, without making eye contact with the person. She knew that voice from somewhere, she just didn't want to fool herself.
She quickly bowed in apology and rushed to the exit without saying any word. Rushing to get on her bike, to ride off in a hurry without looking back.
"What was all of that about, Lorenzo?" He hears one of his friends ask, while he looks at the window seeing the mystery girl who bumps into him, riding off with her bike.
Raising a brow, he finally said, "No idea."