Remembering Raimondo (Complete)

Waitress For A Day

*****New story tense. It is very difficult to write in present tense. Forgive me if the change causes any difficulty. ****

I keep a diary.

Well I try to keep a diary, it's really harder than you'd think. I wonder how Anne Frank pulled it off. Okay perhaps its because she had circumstances that motivated her more than the circumstances I have to motivate me. But so far I've kept one ever since I moved out of my parents' home. I write in it every other night, and sometimes every other, other night, and sometimes just once a week. It's always something short, around three lines and more often than not have something to do with Raimondo. It always goes something like this and I never start with the cliched “dear diary”:

Paper,

Today I am shaving off my eyebrows … If the future me wonders why I felt so motivated to shave them off on this day, it's because Raimondo was staring at them.

Drie

I guess I was angry that day. I didn't really shave my eyebrows off. I just made them look like Ema's. Fake and plucked. And the man doesn't even notice! To be frank, he doesn't really notice anything that goes on around him, he's always in his little world. I have a couple of reasons to why he behaves odd.

He's mentally challenged.

He's a psychopath.

He's had rough times in his life.

Of all my reasons the only one that was one hundred percent true and couldn't be falsified is that he was a very serious man. Always serious. The Dark Knight should pay him a visit.

6 months into the job I began going to work earlier so I could leave earlier. This wasn't one of the greatest decisions I've ever made. At least not today it wasn't. Raimondo came in the restaurant very angry and was talking to the manager about something. I was not able to catch his words, but you couldn't miss his nonverbal talk. The man was pissed. He also seemed annoyed with my presence, not that I was lingering on his every move or anything. I was just observing. Okay, I admit, it was obvious I wasn't minding my own business.

A group of kids walk in with a boom of laughter, and the laugh I recognized first belonged to Austin. Crazy-screechy laugh that didn't quite match his looks. Besides him walked Ema, cocky smirk on her face and everything. It's like the girl never takes a break. If she's not acting like a total twat, she's looking like one.

“Hey Raimondo,” I heard Ema say. Instantly I peered up to see Raimondo heading towards Ema, walking past her, and leaving the restaurant.

How the hell does she know Raimondo?

“I feel sorry for him,” she continued “he has some kind of disorder.”

“Yeah?” Austin questioned watching after Raimondo. “What kind of disorder?”

They took a table close enough for me to hear, but too far to pick up each word. Ema smirked.

“I don't know, memory problems. When he dated Valerie and after he vowed to marry her, something happened to him. He doesn't even remember who the hell she is. He-”

“Alright, hey! What? You wanna gimme his entire biography or what?” Austin interrupted.

Valerie is Ema's older sister, a spitting image of the twat. I wondered how a boy in the family would have looked! I shook that image out of my head.

So Valerie's the one he was about to get married to? How a man like him, would get with a woman like Ema's sister is beyond me. While I stood there wondering the manager started walking towards me with a straight face.

Shit. I started scrubbing the counter top.

“Hey Audrie,” he placed his hands in his pocket in a vervous gesture, “we're one short, would you mind filling in for today?”

“Yeah … I mean no, I don't mind.” I smiled.

He puts his hand on my shoulder, “thank you, and don't worry I'll put this in your check.”

With that he walked away. I quickly grabbed a pad and put on a waitress' apron. The tables I was substituting for were 1,3,5,& 7. All of which were empty except for table 5. As I walked towards my job, Ema smiled a crooked smile and stretched both arms over her head. I hope she knew I wasn't in any way, shape, or form interested in women.

“Welcome to Jesse&James,” I fake a smile at Ema and her pack, “what could I get for you?”

“They just stared silently for a brief second then one of them picked up a menu.

“I'll have a steak,” Austin orders without looking at the menu.

“Dynamite Shrimp for me, X-tra hot,” one of his friends beamed sarcastically adding the “X-tra hot” with a wink.

As I wrote down all the orders, I looked at Ema waiting for her order. She was busy putting lipstick on! Who in their right mind applies lipstick on before they start eating? “I'll have what Austin's having.” She says snuggling in his arms. I get the rest of the orders and take the slip to the chef's window. I turn back around to see Raimondo walk in again, this time with a suitcase. I silently prayed he wouldn't sit in one of my sections, but this prayer, along with many many others, was left unanswered as he sat at table 3.

I make my way to take his order, not that I had much of a choice.

“Welcome to Jesse&James, what can I get for you,” I repeated for the second time, this time less confident.

“Sit down,” he ordered blankly.

I complied, but I got back up again. “I'm sorry you can only order food.”

He laughed at this. He laughed! Oh my days and what a laugh it was. He ran his hand through his hair. After a pause he picks up the menu and gestured for me to leave and come back. I was shocked, not only by his bossyness but because he laughed. Wow, I must be clown.

“Table 5,” the chef called. I picked up the food and carried them to Ema's table. Swiftly, I placed all their plates in front of the owner of the order.

Shit, I forgot to get their drinks down. God, take me now.

“Erm, anything to drink?” I silently prayed they wouldn't make a fuss out of it.

“Well it's great that you remembered!” One of his friends barked.

“Cokes for all of us-” Austin started, ignoring his friends rudeness.

“And hey bring 'em on our way out,” the same boy joked causing the table to erupt in laughter.

I didn't quite get the joke. But the jackass was pissing me off. Even Raimondo was paying attention to the little scene now.

“Listen dim wit,” I leaned in so that I faced him nose to nose, and whispered the rest, “I'm not your mother, or your little bitch to insult and order around. But, sure that wouldn't be a problem, you can have the cokes to go.”

Complete silence.

With that, I stood straight and walked back to Raimondo. “Are you ready to take your order?”