| Psithurisim |

| Chapter 17 |

Taking a deep breath, I walk out of the employee bathroom and face the manager. She grins at me, clapping her hands together, "you look great as always! Now, I want you to shadow Tamaki a bit today before working on your own. I know it's only your second day, but I know you've got this!"

I smile up at her, adjusting the skirt of my dress, before following Tamaki out onto the main floor. I trail him as he greets new customers, jots down their orders, refills drinks, and give the orders to the kitchen.

"I think I might be able to do one on my own," I say, confident after watching the process a few times.

The older man gives me a smile, and a confident, "go for it!"

With that, I head over to an older man who just sat down. I greet him with a smile and a simple, "Welcome! Is there anything I can get for you today?"

The man is pleasant, quickly giving me his order with a smile. I give him a slight bow with a smile, before turning on my heel and heading to the kitchen to give them his order. Once that's done, I grab his drink as well as a container of water. I quickly top off customers' water glasses as I make my way to the older man. Once I reach him, I place his hot tea down with a smile before heading back to where Tamaki is standing, watching with a careful gaze and a hospitable smile.

"How'd I do," I ask, placing the water container down, "and please be honest."

"You're doing great" he smiles down at me, "just keep doing what you're doing."

I nod, thankful that I'm actually good at this job. Now I'll be able to get things for myself without having to rely on Dai. The bell on the door rings, and seeing as neither Tamaki nor myself have anything to do, we both greet the new customers. Closing my eyes, I smile in the direction of the door.

"Uh," a familiar voice says, "we saw your flyer."

My eyes open in shock, as I take in the newcomers. Shun. Kuboyasu. Nendo. Saiki. I can't help but flush, feeling awkward now that there are people from school here.

'I'm not here for a job' Saiki's voice states, as he breaks from the group to take a seat.

"I'll handle the new guys" Tamaki smiles, "you worry about the customers."

I nod, immediately heading over to Saiki to take his order. It's simple, just a drink. I send him a practiced smile, before heading to the drink station and getting his drink for him. Once that's set in front of him, I make a quick trip around the room, checking in on all the customers to see if there's anything they'd need.

Thankfully that trip goes smoothly, and there's nothing requested of me. With that, I head over to where Saiki is sitting, "so, um...why is everyone here?"

'Nendo wanted a job' Saiki shrugs, 'the other two wanted to help after seeing him fail at two others.'

"Oh" I bite my lip, "well, then I'll do what I can to help here."

'By the way, I intervened' Saiki's voice pops up, 'Nendo is now Rikii.'

"I...Alrighty then", leaving Saiki, I make another trip around the room to refill drinks. I can't help but be nervous the longer I'm working alone though. It feels different having someone experienced watching you, making sure nothing goes horribly wrong.

"Hey lady" I'm summoned over to a group of rather loud boys, "we need refills."

Having just refilled their drinks, I can't help but walk over to the drink station slowly, "okay, I'll get right on that!"

I grab the container of cola, swiftly walking it over to where they sit. After topping off the first guy's glass, I reach to fill the second.

As I'm doing that, two of the guy start shoving each other out of nowhere, one of them crashing into me. As a result, cola is spilled on the table and on my outfit. Gulping down any emotion, I shoot the guys a smile, "oh no - I'll be right back to clean that right up for you."