Cigarettes and Smoke - Tododeku A.U

Chapter 3

~Shoto~  

Normally I'm a morning person, but I had such a feeling of dread that I couldn't pull myself out of bed. I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that they probably wouldn't take me and that they found someone better. After a while, I ended up convincing myself that they would reject me, so why even get out of bed? 

Five hours later I finally managed to drag myself out of bed and make myself a cup of tea. My hands shook slightly, so I ate one of my granola bars. Because my apartment didn't really have a kitchen, I had to rely on food that didn't need to be cooked or microwavable food. Hopefully, I wouldn't be living here long and could at least live somewhere that has an actual kitchen.

Once I had brushed my teeth and showered I felt good enough to leave and explore the city some more. As I walked around I bought some street food, which was cheap and delicious, and did some sightseeing. I ended up sitting on the sandy beach and watched the waves roll in from the lake. Honestly, I didn't want to believe it was actually a lake. How could a lake be as big as a sea? 

I sat there on the beach for hours, lost in thought. The lull of the waves coming in was almost enough to put me to sleep, and enough to put me in a trance.  In the end, it was my phone ringing that pulled me out of the trance. I didn't recognize the number but answered it anyway. 

"Hello?" I answered.

"Is this Shoto Todoroki?" a some-what familiar female voice asked. 

"This is." I said, standing and brushing the sand off of my jeans. 

"Good! This is Inko, from The Caffeine Fix. I'm calling to let you know we accepted your application!" she exclaimed. What? They actually accepted me? "Hello? Are you there?"

"Oh, yes, sorry." I said, pinching myself, "I-I just didn't expect you to actually accept me, because I've had such bad luck."

"Well, have bad luck no more!" Inko said, "Can you come in tomorrow morning at seven for training?"

"Seven will work great. I'm usually awake by then." I said. "I-Is there a dress code?"

"You can wear whatever you like as long as it's work-appropriate," Inko said. "I will see you at seven, Shoto!" The line went dead, but I still held my phone to my ear. I actually got a job, I thought as I stared out at the water. I pinched myself one more time, to make sure I wasn't dreaming, before heading back to my apartment. 

I set an alarm for five-thirty and tried to sleep early so I was well-rested, but sleep didn't come to me. In the end, I only got six hours of sleep, but it was enough to function. After my morning cup of tea, I showered and dressed in black jeans and a black and white pinstripe turtle neck sweater. Once I was sure I had everything, I set out for the cafe. 

When I arrived at the cafe I checked my watch. Six forty-five. I'm early. The open sign was up, so I decided to go in. "Welcome to Th- Shoto! You're early!" Inko said in surprise, "You must be eager."

"I am quite eager." I said, clasping my hands behind my back. "I'm going to be getting low on funds soon. I underestimated how much I'd need."

"Well, we're happy to have you." Inko said with a warm smile. "Here, come around the counter and put on an apron." I followed her orders, tying the apron around my waist. She walked behind me and tightened it for me, then handed me a name tag with my name on it. "Wear this when working. Now, let's go over everything."

Over the next three hours, Inko explained what my duties were and showed me how to use the cash register, how my duties should be done, and how to make the drinks on the menu. "If you need help on any of them, there's a recipe book under the cash drawer." she told me. She helped me with my first few customers, then let me try on my own. 

I messed up on my first few orders, but after Inko corrected me on my mistakes, I got the hang of it. By the time my first break rolled around Inko said I was a pro. "You learn fast." she told me as I made myself my lunch. I sat in the same corner I had sat in and observed the customers. Most of the customers were college students who were taking advantage of the free internet to study, but there was an older man sitting alone who seemed to have trouble cutting up the muffin he ordered.

Leaving my things at the table, I walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder, "Do you need any help, sir?" I asked. He looked at me for a moment, then smiled sheepishly.

"Please." he said. I sat across from him and began to cut the muffin for him. This was kind of a foreign thing for me to be doing, but I knew it was better than letting him struggle. "I'm sorry you have to do this. My wife usually does this for me, but she passed recently."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I said. "It must be difficult dealing with cerebral palsy alone." The man looked at me in shock. Before he could speak I said, "How did I know? The way your hands shake, and the way you move." 

"You are a kind young man." he said with a shaky voice. I sat with him for the rest of my break before cleaning my table and heading back behind the counter. Inko took a small break, entrusting the cafe to me for an hour. Thankfully it wasn't too busy and I didn't mess up anyone's order, either. 

When my shift was over at five I took a picture of the schedule and hung up my apron. My back was to the counter when someone cleared their throat. "Excuse me, I have a question?" I turned around to see a girl probably a year or two younger than me, holding a flier. "I saw this flier outside saying you're. Do you have an application?" 

I nodded and reached under the counter to hand her an application and a pen. "Bring it up to me when  you're done." I said, giving her a reassuring smile since she seemed nervous. The girl brought it back up just as Inko appeared from the back. "You should hear back soon." I told the girl. She nodded and left, pulling her jacket tighter around her. I handed Inko the application and said, "Some girl came in with a flier of the cafe, so I gave her an application."

"Wow, your first day and you're already holding the reigns. You might just take my job." Inko said, playfully punching my shoulder. "Go ahead and go home, I got it from here." 

"Yes ma'am." I joked, giving her a mock salute before heading to the back and grabbing my coat. 

Outside it was bitter cold and I immediately missed the warmth of the cafe. I grabbed cheap takeout on my way home, continuing the tv show I was watching while I ate. When I was done I went to throw everything away and found that my garbage was already full. "Shit. I don't have any more garbage bags." I muttered as I pulled the full bag out of the bin. I tied it securely shut and brought it down to the garbage, debating on going to the grocery store tonight or tomorrow. In the end, my tired limbs won and I headed back up to my apartment to sleep. 

By the time I had washed up and pulled the murphy bed down I could hardly move from exhaustion. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep. 

That night my family filled my dreams.