Cardinal

Chapter 1 Coke Slushie

"Hey Harrison! There's a new girl for you to talk to," Jacob stated jokingly, in which I looked back at him from the grill.

"Thanks Jake, I'll look out for them" I said with a smirk. I turned back around and moved all the meat patties from the narrow grill onto a small tray with a line of paper at the bottom. From there, I put the tray in a small heating area. Then, I tapped the button to show us how long until the meat goes bad and prepared to put chicken patties in the fryer.

"Harrison, I need you to come over here for a second!" I heard our manager, Carl, call out. I quickly looked back to see if we needed anything, in which we didn't.

"Don't get overwhelmed Jake!" I yelled, in which Jacob responded with a chuckle.

"Go get fired." I quickly walked over to the office, in which Carl sat there with a small cigarette poking out of his mouth. He was a bigger guy, with a bald head and a scruffy beard. He was much older than the employees, but no one really had problems with him, myself included. Beside him, however, was a stranger.

She stood there, looking at me nervously. Her hair was a dark black color and kind of short, matching her tan body. She wore all black pants, and a solid black T-shirt. It was a standard outfit that we all wore when we were first hired, a lot nicer looking than these ugly green shirts. I gave a warm smile and nodded my head at her before looking onto Carl.

"What's up man?" I asked, in which he motioned his hand to the new girl.

"This here is Mallianna, a new hire. I'd like you to train her on the grill," he stated, in which I excitedly smiled.

"Yeah, of course," I stated, before looking towards her. "This way please," I said, before walking towards the grill. I was trying to hide my excitement because sometimes it came off as strange. I cared less for working but wanted to be a manager, in which I was slowly getting there. I had been at this JoyBoy joint for roughly seven months.

Seven months of being overworked, exhausted, and ignored was nearing its end. I became a crew trainer, someone who trained all the new employees how to do the jobs they are assigned. Every time someone is assigned to be trained by me is exciting, because that means they trust me more and therefore, I get closer to my goal. When I first got hired, I did everything I could to grow the admiration from the managers and corporate dogs. It turned out that all of it was worth it in the end, as now I have each of them where I need them to get me to the top.

Mallianna followed silently behind, carrying the same aura that all new hires had. Nervous, awkward, anxious, it was the same as anyone else.

"My name is Harrison, Harry for short. I'll be teaching you how to work the grills today," I stated, turning back to her before leaning against a small table. It was a silver color but had crumbs and grime all over it. It was kind of slow at the moment, so I wasn't entirely worried about rushing her. It was only three in the afternoon anyways.

"Over there is Jacob, one of the people you'll see in the grill area often," I stated, turning away from her and pointing towards Jacob. Jacob was a pale guy with blonde hair. He was skinny and worked hard, but was very talkative, so he got distracted easily at times. He looked over at me pointing towards him, before smiling and giving a slight nod. I looked back towards her nervously waving.

"It's okay, he's nice," I stated reassuringly before opening the cabinet beside us. "In this small freezer, you'll have your nuggets. From there, you'll open the bags with these blue gloves on," I stated, putting my hands into the blue gloves beside our legs. It was on the drawer, and I've kicked the small hook that holds them several times. Those were never fun experiences.