Friday Night by Candlelight
Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 4:30 am
"Order up!"
The hustle and bustle of the so-called "upscale" diner on a Friday night was not unrivaled. In fact, it was probably just as crazy at any restaurant in the tri-county area. The calamity and chaos that echoed out from the restaurant's kitchen reflected just how busy the little restaurant was getting. It was dinner time, after all, and it was what every single person in the United States seemed to have designated as "date night". In fact, the only place that was getting more business than local eateries were businesses like the movie theatres.
Viki Valentine definitely didn't envy those Malco employees right about now.
"What the hell is this shit?!" Jacqueline the expo girl screamed at one of the cooks, "Can you not read the fucking order? What are you, an idiot?! Redo it, now!"
Then again, it was just another Friday night in this place. It wouldn't have mattered if it was a Friday or a Tuesday, Jacqui still would've been screaming at the cooks, and the kitchen still would've been filled with waitstaff scrambling to and fro in an attempt to assemble their orders and transport it to the waiting customers.
CRASH!
Well, somebody's order was going to be late. It was so chaotic in the back between the running waitstaff, the screaming expo girls, the obnoxious cooks, and the overly loud rap music blaring from the speakers that one could hardly think in all the chaos. The best part was, all you had to do was walk out that door and it was an entirely different environment. The front of the house was quiet, calm, collected. Lots of couples were scattered in various corners of the dark restaurant, in solitary booths, conversing quietly amongst themselves.
"I need a runner to table twenty-one!"
A couple families were scattered in the midst with an occassional obnoxious kid tossing the french fries from his plate onto the ground. Of course, whoever got assigned that particular table was probably swearing inwardly right now. Once those things were mashed into the carpet of the restaurant, they were almost impossible to get out. Not to mention, ever since Jaime broke the Bissell, it had been a real bitch to try to get stuff out of the carpet with that old straw broom.
"I said I need a runner! Are you people deaf? Let's get this food out, it's getting cold!"
Viki slinked up from the back of the restaurant where she'd been idly rolling silverware. She was supposed to have been cut already. Actually, she was supposed to have left already, but that scenario was one for fairytales. She couldn't finish all the extra work she had to do before she could leave for the fact that most of the other waitstaff seemed to be doing, well, a whole lot of absolutely nothing on their busiest night of the week. In fact, she'd watched over half the staff sneak out the back one by one to smoke a cigarette. She totally understood somebody needing nicotine on a night like tonight, but really now, couldn't they go one at a time?
She grabbed a tray and the row of plates that were lining up along the expo line, checked the ticket sitting on top of them, and headed out the exit door and into the much quieter lobby. Making an immediate right and heading up a small set of steps, the table she was carrying the order to quickly came into view. Viki couldn't help but grin a little bit as she approached. It's too bad it wasn't her table, it was a group of college-aged guys, all probably just having turned 21 by the fact that most of them had beers resting in front of them. All in all, the table screamed "huge tip" for the moderately attractive. She couldn't help but be a little envious of whoever's section this was supposed to be.
"Hey guys!" she chirped, "Sorry about the wait on your food. Busy night. Who had the T-Bone?"
The hustle and bustle of the so-called "upscale" diner on a Friday night was not unrivaled. In fact, it was probably just as crazy at any restaurant in the tri-county area. The calamity and chaos that echoed out from the restaurant's kitchen reflected just how busy the little restaurant was getting. It was dinner time, after all, and it was what every single person in the United States seemed to have designated as "date night". In fact, the only place that was getting more business than local eateries were businesses like the movie theatres.
Viki Valentine definitely didn't envy those Malco employees right about now.
"What the hell is this shit?!" Jacqueline the expo girl screamed at one of the cooks, "Can you not read the fucking order? What are you, an idiot?! Redo it, now!"
Then again, it was just another Friday night in this place. It wouldn't have mattered if it was a Friday or a Tuesday, Jacqui still would've been screaming at the cooks, and the kitchen still would've been filled with waitstaff scrambling to and fro in an attempt to assemble their orders and transport it to the waiting customers.
CRASH!
Well, somebody's order was going to be late. It was so chaotic in the back between the running waitstaff, the screaming expo girls, the obnoxious cooks, and the overly loud rap music blaring from the speakers that one could hardly think in all the chaos. The best part was, all you had to do was walk out that door and it was an entirely different environment. The front of the house was quiet, calm, collected. Lots of couples were scattered in various corners of the dark restaurant, in solitary booths, conversing quietly amongst themselves.
"I need a runner to table twenty-one!"
A couple families were scattered in the midst with an occassional obnoxious kid tossing the french fries from his plate onto the ground. Of course, whoever got assigned that particular table was probably swearing inwardly right now. Once those things were mashed into the carpet of the restaurant, they were almost impossible to get out. Not to mention, ever since Jaime broke the Bissell, it had been a real bitch to try to get stuff out of the carpet with that old straw broom.
"I said I need a runner! Are you people deaf? Let's get this food out, it's getting cold!"
Viki slinked up from the back of the restaurant where she'd been idly rolling silverware. She was supposed to have been cut already. Actually, she was supposed to have left already, but that scenario was one for fairytales. She couldn't finish all the extra work she had to do before she could leave for the fact that most of the other waitstaff seemed to be doing, well, a whole lot of absolutely nothing on their busiest night of the week. In fact, she'd watched over half the staff sneak out the back one by one to smoke a cigarette. She totally understood somebody needing nicotine on a night like tonight, but really now, couldn't they go one at a time?
She grabbed a tray and the row of plates that were lining up along the expo line, checked the ticket sitting on top of them, and headed out the exit door and into the much quieter lobby. Making an immediate right and heading up a small set of steps, the table she was carrying the order to quickly came into view. Viki couldn't help but grin a little bit as she approached. It's too bad it wasn't her table, it was a group of college-aged guys, all probably just having turned 21 by the fact that most of them had beers resting in front of them. All in all, the table screamed "huge tip" for the moderately attractive. She couldn't help but be a little envious of whoever's section this was supposed to be.
"Hey guys!" she chirped, "Sorry about the wait on your food. Busy night. Who had the T-Bone?"