Mike hurried into the diner as he was a 10 minutes late due to the bus. The bell above the door ringed as he rushed inside.
"You're late Mike, that's a first" a deep voice called out from the counter .
"Sorry Mr Brown, problems with the bus", Mike quickly explained while clutching his tote bag.
"Hey, hey" Mr Brown rushed out , rounding the counter. He approached the timid boy & held both his shoulders. " Relax Mike, it's just a few minutes plus this is your first time being late and the diner is still empty. So calm down"
The young boy nervously nodded. "Let me go change Sir".
The older man smiled and nodded his head & went back to the register.
Mike reached the lockers and changed into his uniform. No one was in the room as everyone else was at the posts doing their jobs. Mike kissed 2 fingers and placed them on a picture pasted to the lockers door. He sighed and closed the door and proceed to his everyday post.
Browns Diner was famous for its delicious food and was always flooded with people grabbing something to eat on the go.
Mike was a waiter much to his distaste but that's the only job he could do at the time as other posts have been filled but he was grateful plus somedays were better then the other. As Mike was busy wiping down the counter when the bell above the door ringed notifying everyone of a new customer coming in.
Mike quickly drew in a breath as he knew this was the beginning of rush hour and he needed to brace himself for new possibilities.
He quickly put on a polite slime , "Welcom to Browns Diner. What can I get for you today?" .
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It was finally closing time and Mike had made a decent amount of tips and he was tired. He dragged the mop and continued to wipe the wet floor. Today was his turn to close the diner and he was rushing to leave before he didn't have a way home.
"Later Mike" one of his co-workers called out as they left the empty diner. "Bye Tom, see you tomorrow". The chef nodded out also rushing home.
Finally Mike was done with everything, so he changed and grabbed his belongings from the locker. As he left from the back of the diner he pulled his hoodie over his head and rushed to his stop. The streets were practically vacant as it was nearing 23:00 pm, the boy picked up his pace and rushed to the stop for the last bus.
After 2 minutes, the bus stopped and he got on. Mike was familiar with the driver and greeted him with a warm smile,"Evening Bob" . The elder simply smiled and returned the greeting.
The bus was practically empty with only a few people who were also headed home to their families. Mike sat down and pulled out his earpods and blasted Flashing Lights by Kanye West as he watched the lights that lighted the dark streets.
Eventually Mike reached his stop and he rushed to the old apartment building. It wasn't anything fancy but its all he could afford. He walked up the stairs as he didn't want to risk getting stuck in the elevator as he knew they didn't service it and he was too tired for such.
He finally reached the 4th floor and opened his apartment. He immediately heard barking and that sound alone put a smile on his face. He dropped to his knees and welcomed the dog that slammed into him. "Hey Baby, you missed me?".
He proceeded into the little kitchen and poured some food and water for the dog. Once the little dog was occupied he proceeded to the bathroom. He quickly stripped and threw the clothes into the basket and opened the shower and let the water heat up.
He switched on his speaker and played some music and hopped into the shower. After some time he hopped out, lotioned and wore some underwear and huge hoodie.
He made some noodles and ate them standing by the kitchen. He rinsed out his dishes when he was done and called the dog into his room . The dog immediately went into its little bed tonight and Mike chuckled. " So you not sleeping with me?".
He switched the light off and got into the bed and immediately went to sleep.
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Mikes life isn't sunshine and rainbows but it was a lot for someone without anyone but his dog. He has his ups and downs but he always fights on, no matter what.
