Eyes: The Story Of A Blind Heroine

Chapter 4

"Oh, hey! Are you the new assistant?"

At the voice behind me, I almost jumped out of my skin as I spun around.

"Er ... Yes," I replied, after taking a moment to compose myself, "I'm Brigid Summerville, the new assistant. Can I ... help you with anything?" Honestly, I have no idea why I asked that.  The only reason for my question, was because it was an automatic question.

The girl who stood there, laughed. "I also work here," she said, "My name's Chelsea. I'm just a waitress, though."

"Ah, okay," I sighed in relief, "it's nice to meet another staff member. The environment seems cool so far."

"This place is the absolute shit," Chelsea assured me, "for customers and staff alike. You're going to love Ms Dean, the floor manager!"

"That's a relief," I laughed, "because I'm still really new here, and, to be honest, I haven't got the faintest clue of what to do next. I'm kinda ... flipping right now." Why the hell did you have to say that? I chided myself, feeling as though I could sink into the ground with embarrassment.

"No need for that, don't you worry," Chelsea assured me, "this working environment is really chill. Hey, let me go introduce you to the other staff. Tony, the head chef, is a bit of a grouch, but he's cool when he's not busy bullying the waitstaff and subordinate chefs out and about."

At that, I couldn't help giggling. I found myself feeling grateful that I wasn't a chef or a waitress. I crumbled when people yelled at me. Especially men. "I've heard him a few times when I visited this place," I recalled, "that voice can vibrate windows out of their panes!"

Now, it was Chelsea's turn to giggle. "Yep," she agreed, "pretty much."

Just then, a side door opened, footsteps heading our way from that direction.

"So," came miss Leilo's voice, "how are we doing here, Brigid? Chelsea?"

"Okay so far," I replied, "thank you, miss Leilo. I was just busy getting acquainted with Chelsea over here."

"This chick's funny, misss C," Chelsea said, "she's going to get far here, I think, if she interacts with customers."

"Yeah, uhm ... about that ..." I started, planning to lay bare to this complete stranger the extent of how my social anxiety wouldn't allow that, but I kept quiet.

"Don't worry about it yet, miss Summerville," miss Leilo saved me, "I'll be doing the talking until you've been properly acquainted with your job. Chelsea, it will be a busy Monday morning. Tourists are our main clientel today. Would you please get Michelle and the others ready?“

"Yes, Ms C," Chelsea replied. "See you later, Brigid!" With that, her heeled footsteps faded away.
"So, Brigid," miss Leilo said, turning her attention to me, "you can follow me. Let me show you your desk and the layout of my office. I want you to get properly acquainted with it."

* * *

I breezed through my first day, which was mostly an induction period. I was shown the ropes. Basically, I was responsible for taking all miss Leilo's messages. I was also to be the mediator between her and the companies who, among others, provided stock and so on. Yes, I was talking to people. Fricking scary shit!

At the end of my first day, as the café was about to cash up and most of the staff were let off for the night, my new boss headed for my desk. "Brigid, could I speak to you for a moment, please?"

"Of course, Ma'am," I replied, getting up, "What can I do for you?" 

Unexpectedly, miss Leilo gently took my arm. "Please listen closely," she said, her voice lowering significantly, to little more than a whisper, "as my personal assistant, there are a few things that I think you should know, since you are handling my mail and taking my messages."