Wonderwall

Chapter Three

The car pulled up outside of a small glass building. It was squashed in between a furniture shop and a bank, both tall; which made the cafe look even smaller. The only thing that was solid and opaque was a large pine double door that had one half open and one half. The closed half had a sign that read 'OPEN!' and a large red arrow that pointed to the open half. In the large glass window was a black and white sign saying 'HELP WANTED!'. I opened the car door and took a quick nervous look at Aidan. He was smiling at me, his dark blue eyes sparkling brightly.

'Don't be scared, Bri! They'll love you.' I smiled back, gratefully and slid off the seat of his large silver truck. I stepped up the large wood door and walked though, trying to look confident. The second I did a plump man walked over with a silly grin on his face. He wore a black shirt, black trousers but a long white apron saying 'Sandwich Shack' on it bright red letters.

'Hi there! Welcome to the Sandwich Shack! Can I help you?' He asked when he realized that I wasn't making any attempt to order anything.

'Oh. Yeah. I'm here about the job.' I muttered, pointing to the sign in the window. The man looked behind me and then looked back, smiling.

'Interested in being a waitress here?' He asked. I nodded. 'Great! Fill this out and bring it back as soon as possible!'

'Well I kind of need this summer job. I finished for summer yesterday and i'm saving up to move to Venice.'

'Oh. Well just sit over there on the table. Here's a pen. If your application fits the criteria; you could be working by today!'

'Thank you so much!' I beamed at the old man and took the piece of paper that he handed me. I took the pen and sat at round glass table. It smelt strongly of antibacterial spray. 

I filled out the form using my neatest handwriting and was about to hand it back when I suddenly felt somebody sit beside me on the chair. It made me jump, so I stood up quickly, knocking the menu on to the floor.

'First day on the job and already knocking things on the floor?' I looked up and a blonde haired teenage boy stared back at me. His voice had a strong irish tone to it. He wore a similar uniform to the man that I saw first, except his collar was undone at the top and his sleeves rolled up. His bright blue eyes shone brightly from underneath his messy blonde hair. 

'Oh. Uhm. I don't work here.' I mumbled.

'But you want to?' He winked at the application form I held in my hand 

'I need the money.' I told him. He stood up and smiled at me, sparkly braces lay on his teeth. 

'What for?' He asked.

'Why should I tell you? I don't know you.' I pointed out, wrinkling my nose. A wide grin appeared on his face.

'That's cute. My name's Niall. Your name's Brianna.' He said nodding towards the form. 'There we go. Now we know each other. So what do you need the money for?' I rolled my eyes and stepped towards the counter. The old man was nowhere in sight.

'I can hand it to Phil for you if you like.' Niall reached out and tried to grab the application form that lay on the counter. I quickly snatched it back and stared at him with a confused expression. 

'Phil?'

'The boss. The old guy that gave you this form. He's an alright bloke if you stay on the right side of him. Look, I can go behind into the kitchen, find him, then give him the form. I could even put in a good word for you. Oh! Let's say that we're cousins! Then you're bound to get a job.' I stood staring at him as he explained how he could get me a good job. I placed one hand on each of his shoulders and stared at him

'Don't you have a job to do?' I asked him, frowning.  He smiled once again, and pulled away from my grip.

'I was on a break. But yes. Now, I do. See you later, Brianna.' He squinted his right eye in an attempt to wink. He stepped round the counter and walked through the brown door that read 'Kitchen' I let out a sigh just as Phil walked out the door. 

'Oh hey. Done already?' He asked, taking the form out of my hand and looking at it with large eyes. 

'Looks pretty good. Hey, I see you met Niall. He just came swanning in the kitchen with a pretty big smile on his face.' Phil smiled at me. I nodded, biting my lip.

'Yeah. He's a bit..' I tried to think of the word.

'In your face?'

'Exactly.' I nodded. Phil bent down behind the counter and started routing around. A few seconds later he appeared with a uniform and a blank name badge. 

'Here you go. Just write your name on this badge. You do well today; and you'll get a permanent job here and a proper name tag, like this one.' He pointed a finger to an empty space on his shirt. I gave a small laugh.

'Phil..' I nodded towards his finger and he looked at it, frowning. 

'What the hell..' He muttered. Almost immediately, Niall stuck his head out the kitchen door. He stuck out a long arm and in his hand held a name badge. It read 'Phil'. 

'Oh thanks, Niall.' Phil hit him on the arm, smiling. 'Come to the kitchen once you've got your uniform on, Brianna. The girls' toilets are over there.' He stuck a long, fat arm over to the far end of the cafe before disappearing through the door; leaving me and Niall alone in the pretty empty cafe. I looked at my watch. 10:45am. It explained the lack on customers but I still expected it to be busy from people wanting to buy a cheap coffee considering the lack of coffee shops in Lower Bridgewater.

I looked over at Niall who was smiling smugly.

'You didn't find that name badge, did you?' I asked. Niall laughed and looked down.

'Nah. I'm always playing tricks on him. He's too old to see that i'm doing it which makes it just that little bit funnier.'

'You shouldn't do that to your boss.' I said, wrinkling my nose. Niall looked up at me and laughed.

'That's cute, Bri. Now go get your uniform on.' He said, then walked round the counter and into the kitchen, leaving me on my own.