“What tip jar?”
Gabriel fetched a plastic to-go cup from under the counter. He picked up a pen next to the register, and wrote “Tips” on the outside. He plopped it on the counter next to the register. “There,” he said. “That’ll work for now. Most of the time they just leave it on the table or the waiters take care of it. If you end up with change like that, just toss it in the tip jar.”
“Aren’t the waiters supposed to collect it?”
Gabriel waved a hand through the air. “Write on the ticket how much they paid in total. They’ll divide it up later. Sometimes they leave cash on the tables I have to clean, too, so I just drop it off in the jar and let them fight over it.”
“But...”
Gabriel picked up his bucket, holding it to his waist with one hand. He slapped me on the thigh. “Don’t worry so much. Just stand there and look pretty.”
I sought out Luke, but he was sitting down across from a customer, another older gentleman with a newspaper and sipping coffee. Luke was laughing at whatever he was saying. He was so distracted, he didn’t catch my eye.
???
In a half hour, the tip cup was stuffed with one dollar bills, a couple of fives, and a handful of pocket change. While the majority of people paid for their food with a credit card, most of them also carried cash and dropped a tip on the table for Gabriel or Luke to collect, or stuffed it into the cup.
I scanned tickets and made change, and rang up credit cards. It was okay work as all I had to do was smile and the customer passed me a ticket. They didn’t seem to mind when I avoided direct eye contact and waited patiently as I rang up, counted coins and passed back change. After each time, I felt nervous, like I should have said something like thank you, but most of the time, Gabriel or Luke beat me to it as they called to the customers as they walked out the door.
When Gabriel didn’t have tables to clean, he took turns with Luke being a server. I liked watching them work. Luke was smooth, friendly. Gabriel had flair, and even from a distance, I could hear his sweet baritone humming a few bars of a song as he walked the floor.
While it had picked up, babysitting the register was not enough to keep my mind from wandering back to Nathan and worrying about him. My legs ached to walk around instead of standing in one place.
To make up for it, I made myself familiar with the contents behind the counter. I counted the extra napkin dispensers, straightened the take-out containers, discovered the location for a key to the jukebox, and stacked extra plates and silverware into neater collections. There was a soda fountain behind me, along with a large coffee maker.
Gabriel materialized next to me as I was staring off at the door. “How’s it going?”
I tilted my head, continuing to stare off instead of facing him. “I think I like making pies better.” I perked up and turned to him. “Want to switch places for a little while? I can clean tables and wash dishes.”
He laughed, and his hand met my shoulder, rubbing the muscle. “You’ll want to be up here. No one tips the bus boy.”
“Then how do you make money when you’re doing dishes and other stuff?”
“I get a paycheck.”
“Can’t I get a paycheck?”
“Trust me, Sang. You want tips. That’s where the money is.” He patted my back close to my butt and disappeared behind the swinging doors toward the kitchen.
I sighed, glancing again at the clock. It was almost nine. How long was a shift? How late did the guys normally work?
The crowd started to really thin out. Luke picked up trays that I was sure would be too heavy or unbalanced to lift, but he managed perfectly. Gabriel held his own, but often enough, it was Luke that helped him split a large order, and carried half of the items on a tray.
I ended up scanning more tickets and running a lot of credit cards as people were leaving. There was a rush of folks coming in to pick up take-out orders. Gabriel replaced the tip cup with a bigger jar he found in the back. He used a Sharpie to write something on the front, and wedged it in front of the register out of my view. I got so busy I forgot about it.
When Gabriel dashed behind the counter and headed toward the soda fountain, he was grunting. He punched at the dispenser to hurry. He had another couple at a table waiting to order.
“Do you want me to do that?” I asked, feeling awkward just standing around between tickets.
Gabriel lifted his head, his eyebrows going up. “What?”
“Instead of running around the counter every time, just tell me what the drink order is. I can set it up for you.”
Gabriel blinked after me as if I’d just solved a physics problem. “Trouble, I love you. Give me a hand over here and pour a decaf.”
A fluttering swept over me at his love comment, but I tried to get over it. I’d heard him say that same thing to Luke, and from his tone, it sounded like just a friendly thing he said. I fished out a mug, finding the coffee marked decaf. “Can you show me how to set the coffee maker to brew more?”
“Next time I have a minute, I’ll show you.” He snagged the mug of coffee from me and planted it next to a couple of other drinks on the tray before he lifted it. “Keep an eye out for me,” he said. “If you aren’t already busy, I’ll tell you what I need.”
Gabriel and I worked out a system. When new customers sat down, he ran over and took a drink order. He rattled off to me what they wanted. I dispensed the drinks as he ran around to other tables. By the time he returned, I had the drinks ready on a tray and he could run back with a notepad to take the food order.
I brewed two pots of coffee, learned how to transfer Gabriel’s and Luke’s written orders into a bar code ticket so they didn’t have to do it, and passed off straws, extra creamer and sometimes fetched completed take-out orders from the kitchen. Luke picked up on what Gabriel and I were doing and started asking me for drink orders, too.
At one point I sensed someone hovering by the register like they were waiting to pay a ticket. I finished the drink order I was filling for Gabriel and looked up, meeting face-to-face with Silas.
My head jerked back and I blinked hard, as if sure it was someone else and I was just being delusional. Silas towered over me. His baseball shirt was dark with blue sleeves, and went well with the dark blue jeans he wore. The shirt showed off his smooth muscles. His olive complexion made his appearance much darker, and at first glance, you probably knew you wouldn’t want to mess with him.
But Silas was all heart. A big Greek one.
He beamed at me. “How’s it going, aggele?”
I smiled back. “It’s...” I couldn’t figure out a way to describe it. My feet hurt from standing in one spot too long. My mind was buzzing with numbers and wondering if the last time I counted out change if I’d done it correctly. I was listening out for Luke and Gabriel. “It’s kind of busy.”
“This?” He turned, studying the room. “This is nothing. You should see it Saturday. Or Sunday breakfast. This place is a zoo Sunday morning.”
My breath caught. It got busier?
His dark eyes lit up and his broad shoulders shook as he laughed. “No, no. Don’t look like that. You’re not doing it by yourself. Not tonight anyway. Kota called me. He said he wanted you to run home when you’re done playing here. He didn’t want you too worn out for tomorrow.”
I wasn’t supposed to go to Kota’s? I definitely couldn’t go to Nathan’s, but I guess Kota’s mom wouldn’t understand me coming back so late tonight.
I didn’t want to look like a quitter, but I was secretly grateful that it was looking like I could escape. I wanted to collect myself and I was tired of standing. I wasn’t used to it. “Are you taking over for me?”
He smiled. “I bus and do dishes. North should be here in a second to start cooking and take over for Luke and Gabriel.”
North waited on tables like Luke? That seemed surprising. I couldn’t imagine North doing any sort of customer service. “Are they going to go home now, too?”
“T
hey want to work through midnight. We’re off duty with Academy stuff for the moment, so they want to make money where they can.”
I faltered, feeling guilty about being told to go home when the others were staying.
Silas’s smile softened. He reached over the counter and beeped my nose. “Stop looking like that.” His eyes shifted and he studied the register. He reached out and snagged the tip jar, holding it. “What’s this?”
I was ready with an answer but looked at the jar. I tilted my head, trying to read the wording he was staring at.
Think she’s cute, too? Tip to keep her working here.
My mouth fell open. “Gabriel!”
Silas laughed, shaking his head.
“What?” Gabriel appeared next to Silas.
I pointed at the jar. “What are you doing?”
He glanced at it and shrugged. “What are you complaining about? It’s nearly full. You’ve got a nice haul to take home.”
My eyebrows shot up. “All that?” I glanced at the jar. It was stuffed with dollars. I hadn’t been paying attention to the jar. After Gabriel had moved it to the front of the register, I’d just felt for the edge and dropped in tips if I got any. Most of the time tips were written on credit card receipts, or Luke or Gabriel collected them from the table.
The guys often stopped by the register to drop some tips off in the jar. Gabriel had said they’d split it up later. Were they dropping off their tips into the jar on purpose?
“We’re going to need more jars,” Silas said.
“What are you doing here?” North said, coming through the kitchen door. His black T-shirt and black jeans were covered by a black apron. His fierce brown eyes locked on mine.
I pointed to the jar. “Gabriel wrote...”
Gabriel waved his hand in the air. “Shush, Sang. That’s your tip jar.” He took it from Silas and shoved it toward me. “Take it home. I’ll make a better one for you for next time.”
I squinted at North. Make them stop.
North read the jar and then smirked at me. “If you didn’t want so many tips, don’t be so cute next time.” He nudged me away from the register. “Go home. You’re not supposed to be working.”
“Oy,” Gabriel said. “She can do it if she wants.”