“Yes.” Jennifer nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Smith, I’ll be here tomorrow morning.”
“Good, remember 7:30 am opening time, 10 pm closing time. Come in by 7, right at the opening of the shop, okay?”
Jennifer nodded, got up, shook the hand of the manager and left, her face flushing and her mood absolutely giddy.
She had done it! She had gotten a job!!! Now she didn’t need to ask her mum for cash whenever she needed extra spending money! Not to mention she would meet new people- Mellissa, the other chef, and the customers.
As she stepped outside into a cold air, a man just walked pass by the cafe and went in from the back entrance, focused on his phone. The two of them passed each other, one excited, the other tired, as they went on different ways.
She looked at him, the man did not. She didn’t care much, only that the man had a really, really athletic body and looked quite strong. “Handsome,” Jennifer thought but then she shook it off, too giddy to think about it. She really was looking forward to the next day.
Chapter 2
The next morning, as Jennifer promised, she was already present in front of the cafe, wearing a nice black skirt, long green leggings underneath and a T-shirt that had ‘gals for life’ printed on it. The outfit wasn’t too flattering, neither did it reveal too much of her body, but it was enough to highlight her natural beauty.
“You must be Jennifer.” Mellissa smiled, or at least she assumed the woman was Mellissa. She was wearing an apron with the cafe’s logo over a simple shirt and jeans. “I am Mellissa Duncan, nice to meet you. We’ve been looking for some young beautiful talent for a long time, you see, I’m no longer as young enough to attract most of the customers to come back.”
The wink that the woman gave her was enough for Jennifer to realize it was meant as a joke, though it didn’t prevent a small blush from rising up on Jennifer’s face.
“And dear me, I must say that the boss did pick up a nice one to help me,” Mellissa joked again, looking up and down her new colleague.
Jennifer was naturally beautiful. She wasn’t too tall, but she was easily reaching above the woman in front of her as she was at least an inch or so taller. Her skin was pale without any tan, nor any blemishes except for some freckles on her face. Her training to be a paramedic also involved fitness, so she definitely had the curved, hourglass-like figure that had caused many heads to turn her way, especially heads of her fellow male students who were most likely to come to the cafe.
“Let’s get started, shall we? The rush will start in an hour or so. Our boss and head chef, Tony Smith, usually doesn’t come out very often, though he does have a nasty temper and is really, really cost effective. The other chef, Johnas, takes care of the salads, sandwiches, and other things that can be done on the bar counter. We make the coffee and other drinks. Our Full English Breakfast is super popular - so much that people order it all day long. Then, there is pasta, specialized sandwiches, and few more meals but they’re for the one rare customer. What most of the customers come for is the coffee, tea, and packed sandwiches. Your job is, at first, going to be getting the orders to the customers.”
Jennifer was handed a similar apron with the familiar steamy cup of coffee logo on it and was shown the correct way to put it on.
“As a waitress, there are a lot of things you must keep in mind, appearance is the most important of all,” Mellissa said, raising one finger up in the air. “Friendliness is the second; always be kind and friendly to the customers. If someone looks, don’t look back, if someone suggests, warn them and if they touch, call for the police instantly or even better, call Tony.” The women laughed and Jennifer felt relieved that her colleague was such a fun.
"And the most important rule of the waitresses,” Mellissa continued, “do not act unprofessionally in the shop even if the client is your husband.”
Keeping all of that in mind, Jennifer nodded. It was Sunday and she had a lot of things to do, more importantly, help Mellissa set up the cafe for the opening.
“Af first, for a week or so, you will do the usual waitress’ job: taking orders, serving meals, cleaning tables... Depending on how good you show the performance, you will be ‘promoted’ to a barista, and I will happily teach you how to make the best coffee in the world,” Mellissa said. “But let’s not worry about that now. Your wage will be 8 pounds per hour and you will be paid by the end of the week, is that okay with you?”
“Yes.” Jennifer nodded, inwardly smiling. She has already discussed the wage with Tony but still: eight pounds an hour would mean 40 pounds a day if she worked for 5 hours a day, and 80 pounds for 10 hours she expected to work on a Sunday. In the end of the week, she would easily earn 300 quid and that was amazing, even if she wasn’t working entirely for money and only to earn her extra cash for certain things, that totaled to over 1200 bucks a month and that was more than enough to support her studies. “Shall we start then?”
“Absolutely.” Mellissa smiled back. “Let us begin with memorizing the prices of the most common items and how to work the register.”
***
For the first few hours of the day, Jennifer didn’t serve around much, she was given the task to simply pour coffee into mugs and then serve them to the various tables, and noted how Mellissa worked. She would watch how the older waitress smiled and appear friendly towards the customers, inwardly wondering when she would be the one making the customers feel that they wanted to come back. Unknown to her, it wasn’t only a customer that she was going to charm.
It was the first time she was taking a big order, a Full English breakfast, a latte and a blueberry cheesecake to a table right by the corner of the entire cafe, where usually no one sit as it was nearing the front door of the cafe and she recognized him as the very same man that she had seen yesterday evening after she got confirmation that she had gotten the job. She noticed the ‘Special’ sign on the table and clearly remembered that the sign was for people that were daily customers of the cafe, coming in almost every day ever since the cafe started. Mellissa had said to her that every customer who sat on that table wouldn’t be charged anything for meals as they had been coming for over 8 years straight.
“Here is your order, sir,” Jen politely said, putting the order in front of the man on his table and secretly getting a good look at him. He had light brown hair, short but not a soldier cut. His shoulders were very broad, with a perfect muscle arch on his arms. He was wearing a fairly normal looking army-green colored T-shirt and jeans and he had very familiar brown eyes. His skin tone looked very, very pale and he looked as if he was from the central parts of Europe. He looked up from the magazine that was on his table and his eyebrows raised as his brown eyes met her dark blue ones.
“Oh, you’re a new face,” the man said, his eyes graciously looking at her figure and the slightest raise of the eyebrows indicated he liked what he saw. “And quite a beautiful one at that. Did you join in today?”
“Yes, sir.” Remembering everything that had been told to her in the past 3 hours, Jen didn’t blush but did smile brighter at the compliment. “I did join today.”
“Good, welcome to the cafe.” The man smiled warmly. “I’m Tristian, Tristie for short, and you might be?”
“Jennifer.” The new Waitress smiled back. “You’re a ‘special’ customer?”
“Yep.” The man nodded, amusement pooling his eyes. “I am a special customer, have been coming here for the past... 8 years or so, every evening at around six, and every Sunday morning, though I’ll not waste your time. It is good to see a new face, I hope we can talk again when you’re free.”
“As you wish, sir.” Nodding once, she walked off, leaving the man to his thoughts alone.
‘She didn’t comment on my relationship with Dad?’ Tristian wondered in his head, appreciatively looking at the retreating girl and her bountiful rear. ‘Nice girl though, I hope she lasts.’
Sighing once again, Tristian looked down at his food and started to eat. He really hoped th
at the girl would be a steady worker and not just a student looking for some extra cash. He knew for a fact that she was most probably a student, but in the 20 minutes it took him to finish his food, he noticed she was extremely helpful, kind and smiled at everyone and did become the ‘apple of the eye’ for everyone who was under the age of 30 and was single, females included.
That day, he went back home with his mind very, very immersed in the thoughts of a certain girl that he had met that day, a very beautiful girl at that. He shook his head and laid down on his bed, his eyes closed and his dreams about the smiling girl that he had met.
Chapter 3
As it turned out, it wasn’t only that day he had met the young woman. Tristan was a regular customer and soon, Jennifer found herself looking forward to 6 pm, the usual time when Tristan would pop in. Although the studies and now job too were demanding, she liked the fact that she was always occupied.
The next day, when he had just come home from his long day job, he sat down in his usual spot, taking a deep breath and sighing deeply. He was wearing a deep blue jersey with a symbol for Nike on his chest, and grey jogging pants. He was tired and completely hammered as he clearly looked as if he had run a marathon. He was in severe need of something sweet and he knew just the thing that he needed.
“Hey, Jennifer,” he suddenly said to the passing girl who immediately stopped, startled when she heard the voice and looked to see tired looking Tristian smiling at her. A warm smile appeared on her face as he was still panting. “Good evening, nice to see you here again.”
“Nice to see you too, Tristian.” Remembering his name, she turned around, taking her notepad out of a pocket as she was ready to take his order. “What would you like today? The same as yesterday?”
“No, not today.” Tristian shook his head. “Today, I want just something to drink, possibly with lemon, anything that you think will be good to give my aching throat some relief.”
“Getting cold, huh?” Jennifer chuckled, nodding. “I’ll get you a lemon and ginger tea, that’ll be good for you to drink. Do you want anything to eat?”
“Actually... yes, I’ll take a ham and cheese, grilled.” Tristian tilted his head in gratitude. “And please get me some water as well.”
“Sure.” Noticing the signs of exhaustion and her training suddenly kicking in, she briskly walked towards the counter and poured him a large glass of water and set it in front of him. Then, she walked to Johnas and gave him the order for a grilled ham and cheese sandwich which he passed along back to the boss in the back kitchen. while her other colleague, Anita, started to brew the ginger tea.
Jennifer was then distracted by another customer who wanted a big order, four different sandwiches and couple of cold drinks. Writing everything down, she just passed it on to Johnas when Tristan’s order was set in front of her. She quickly grabbed the plate and the hot drink before walking towards Tristian.
“Here you go,” Jennifer said, placing the cup of tea in front of him, followed by the gorgeously smelling sandwich. “You should drink the tea first, 3 to 4 gulps quickly, wait for a couple of minutes before you go on with the sandwich, it will help you quench the initial exhaustion.”
“Really?” He looked up, surprised. He didn’t know anything about exhaustion and frankly, he had dealt with even worse before, but today was indeed a very tiring day. Trying her method, he watched as she walked off again, going towards Anita who had to deliver another big order to a large party on the other side of the cafe. He noticed the look that the boys were giving Jennifer and almost growled, drinking much more gulps then he was supposed to and then simply resorting to glare at them. Filthy perverts, how dare they?!
Suddenly, he remembered Jennifer’s words and actually found himself feeling much better off than 3 minutes ago. The unbearable quench in his mouth and throat had suddenly worn off and he seemed to be panting a lot lesser than he did some time ago and he smiled slightly, his lips quirking as he bit into his sandwich. Truly, the girl was a work of art, she knew something about medical knowledge that even he didn’t and he was no ordinary person.
“You know, your idea worked really well.” Just as he finished his food, he looked at her, a big smile on his face. “Like, really well. I wonder how you know this.”
“Oh, I’m a practicing paramedic in training, that also for intensive care,” Jennifer said, quite proud of herself. “And I’ve seen such cases many times before, it is the first thing that we’re told to treat. Be lucky you didn’t collapse, or I actually might have to lay you down and transfuse hydration to you.”
“Well, if you say that then it makes all the more tempting to actually find myself collapsed when close to you,” he said, taking a slight dive into deep and rocky waters. “Maybe I’d enjoy this ‘transfusion’ of yours as much as I find myself enjoying your company.”
“Now, sir, that is no way to treat a waitress that has just joined yesterday.” Unaware of the flush on her face, Jennifer did smile playfully, taking the plate and the cup off his table. “But if you continue on your ridiculous advances I might find myself delving away from you and helping Johnas out with the salads.”
“Oh, I hope that is the case, at least I’ll get a reason to sit anywhere else other than this table.” Tristian winked. “Well, thank you for your advice, ‘Dr. Jennifer’, I’ll be sure to remember it.”
“You better do, sir, or you’ll find yourself in the hospital.” Jennifer winked. Mellissa never said anything against flirting back with a customer, especially as attractive as this one was.
Tristian only chuckled and walked out while Jennifer dropped off the dishes and plates near the dishwasher. Following Tristian’s leave, there was a small bout of silence as the other customers came in were all take away coffee drinkers so Mellissa, who until now was doing some work in the kitchen, and Jennifer had a chance to talk about her performance.
“Good job, Jennifer, you are doing really good,” Mellissa said, but then her smile turned into a devilish smirk. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you staring and looking at Tristian. He’s cute, isn’t he?”
“It’s not like that!” Jennifer blushed. For some reason, another woman teasing her with the man felt much more embarrassing rather than flirting with the man. “He’s a hard-working young man and was extremely exhausted.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’d rather have him collapsed and in need of medical care, so you can give him mouth to mouth respiration and maybe much more, don’t you?” Mellissa said suggestively. She then leaned in and winked. “He’s been only in 2 relationships before and they never lasted for more than 2 to 3 months, but I’ve heard that he is quite amazing in bed.”
If Jennifer’s face was pink before, it was absolutely scarlet now. She really wondered what it would be like to actually experience the said man with her in bed, naked, and using his mouth for other things than talking and flirting with her. The very thoughts caused her to unconsciously rub her legs together as she walked off, getting turned on as she stepped, her thoughts running absolutely wild as a multitude of different scenarios ran through her head that involved Tristian and herself. Shaking her head rapidly, she gave Mellissa the stink eye who was laughing merrily. Unknown to her, the older waitress was also thinking.
‘She’s deliberately ignoring that he’s the boss’s son? Impressive.’ Mellissa giggled in her head. ‘I wonder how long will it take for them to end up together, days, weeks or months?’
Unknown to her, the same thoughts were running through Tristian’s head. Ever since he’d met the cute and beautiful girl that Sunday morning, she had turned out to be a really nice and helpful woman. Further prodding with Mellissa gave him the information she studied at the Manchester Metropolitan University as a paramedic, and that was a very noble career she had chosen to go into. Not many would go for something as demanding as paramedical training, hoping to go straight to being doctors and that only showed the woman’s attitude towards life.
He had dated two girls before, one jus
t after he’d finished his training as a Royal Marine and was on leave for a month. That one wasn’t what he’d call a relationship but more likely just hormones acting up and both the girl and him thinking rather with what was between their legs and not what was between their ears. In the end, the relationship had ended in a disaster, a big, giant disaster and that was saying something.
The second girl he’d dated was when he’d quit the Marines after serving for 5 years. He felt the desire to lead much more normal life and do something positive for lives of the others instead of potentially killing the lives. He was able to do a short course in physical education and now found himself enjoying the career of a personal fitness trainer. Additionally, this new lifestyle gave him a greater opportunity to do his beloved sport - cricket. Tristan joined local county-level cricket team, which was what he wished to do. When celebrating winning one of their matches, he’d met his second girlfriend and was very, very charmed by her antics and they ended up dating. That was perhaps the worse of the two relationships, with them breaking in 4 months when he’d realized the girl was only interested in his looks and his former marine status.
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