His Wants

1

Working at Encino Oaks Country Club as well as being a bartender on weekends here could be rough, but not as rough as being homeless or hungry. I was one of the lucky ones, it was just my uncle and I, us against the world. Uncle Art stayed with me Monday through Wednesday each week, the rest of the time he lived in an assisted living facility. My uncle is the best guy around, I swear that man was Superman ever since I was a kid.

"Ells? Ells? You're going to be late for work, you had better get up," Uncle Art woke me quietly. I had slept through my alarm which was unlike me.

Waking with a start and bolting out of bed I began to rush around my bathroom and bedroom, dressing and putting my wavy dark hair up in a high ponytail, "Thank you!" I hollered as I dressed, "Uncle Art, don't forget you have a doctor's appointment today at 2, I will still be at work, do not forget!"

He chuckled, "I got myself a little sticky note here, I won't forget, Ella. You better get a move on otherwise you're going to miss the bus!" Grabbing my small bag I ran through our small apartment, slamming the door behind me, catching the city bus just in time, it was a twenty-two minute bus ride to the Country Club from where we lived, my shift starts typically at 7:00, and I'm off by 4. Here lately, people have been either quitting or filling positions had been a hassle, I was often home by 6:30, 7:00 at the latest, depending on the day.

As soon as the bus stopped two blocks from the Country Club I thanked Sara, the kind, fifty-something bus driver who drove the bus and route I took each day. I ran through the lobby, saying good morning to everyone, making my way to the employee area in the back to clock in. I sighed in relief, 6:58, that was cutting it way too close.

"Ms. Graeves, so kind of you to make it to work this morning," my boss, Roger, said smugly as he smirked at my panting frame as I began to change into the appropriate footwear near the locker area.

"Sorry, Mr. Kraft, first for everything I guess," I chuckled nervously, smoothing my uniform down and making my way to my first of the morning appointed work area. I hated getting all the chairs uniformly at the tables in the restaurant area, but it was quiet, sometimes I liked it, next, I had to make sure there were plenty of clean robes and towels near the sauna area in both the men's and women's areas, taking care there was no one currently changing in the locker room areas. Vacuuming was next, though the custodial staff always cleaned the night before, I was always made to clean a little here and there at the beginning of my shift, I swore Roger had something against me. Apparently Uncle Art knew Roger somehow back in the day, that was the only reason I got this job.

"Finally," I sighed in relief, making sure all my duties were completed, I wandered back to the kitchen area to say hello to the staff, "Good morning everyone, how are you, Kyle? Santiago? No Jeremy today?" I noticed a few others were missing too.

Santiago looked at me, already tired of the day, "Jeremy is only working Tuesdays and Thursdays now, Stacy quit yesterday, and no one has heard from Liz."

My mouth was agape, before we could continue, here came Roger, the oompa Loompa of a man, so dreadful, you never knew what mood you were getting from one moment to the next, "Well, as you can see, Ms. Graeves, you will have another set of shoes to fill, help the boys start the breakfast dishes then get to your post before guests arrive."

I silently obliged, Kyle looked at me, saddened, "You're so much better than this, Ells, I know Roger and your uncle were friends or whatever, but this ass has it out for you, you need to find a better job. This guy is determined to break you, I mean, you've been here for nearly ten months now and you do the work of three, he's exploiting you at this point."

I chuckled as I collected the veggies and meats for omelets, prepping everything to get things diced or sliced, "It's fine, Kyle, I get it. I bartend on the weekends so even if I wanted to quit, bartending doesn't pay all the bills, besides, the insurance here covers my uncle too, I can't quit. I've also go to be able to afford his assisted living residency."

Santiago sighed, pulling ingredients for the specials of the day, "We got some high roller coming in today, he's here frequently, don't be surprised if Roger puts you from being the hostess to a waitress, you bring in the high tips, little Ella," he chuckled, "You're lucky you're a cute chick, it gets you out there and not stuck back here."

Laughing out loud, "Oh my gosh, Santi! Really? You think I enjoy playing nice with some of these asshats to get tips? They're all rich bastards with nothing better to do, if it were up to me, I'd be far, far away from here, on some beach or by a crystal clear lake, relaxing with a glass of whiskey in my hand. Away from people."

I loved the people I worked with, we were like siblings, chit-chatting and laughing the day away while drudging through the high rollers and rich people that loved to get us to jump at their beck and call. I always took my breaks alone, I liked the quiet, sometimes I had to go for a walk, just to clear my mind, or read. Roger loved to exploit me, sending me to the wolves when younger twenty-something rich boys with daddy's credit card would come through by the dozens. What a lot of people didn't know was that Roger liked skimming our tips, taking 25% for himself, while leaving the rest to be distributed to the rest of us. A good day was taking home a couple hundred dollars, but, if I had an extremely good day with boys and daddy's cards, if tips went above $500 or more, Roger would instantly take nearly half. Everyone hated the guy, but he dug himself in with some of the higher ups of the valley, using our tips to get himself nice clothes and wooing these rich folks, even getting himself a fancy car.

"Does anyone know what time this rich guy is supposed to be here or what he's wanting for lunch or dinner? Or... whatever," I asked dryly.

Kyle looked at the iPad with the day's duties, "Looks like he wants some Japanese dish, supposed to be here by 12:30 to, and I quote, 'unwind in one of my favorite establishments,' huh... sounds like a nice guy," he said sarcastically under his breath.

We laughed, I knew right then, I would most certainly have to entertain this guy, lucky, lucky me. Having a small waist-to-hips ratio was nice, clothes no matter the style, complimented my figure, Roger would always pick the most atrocious and revealing 'uniforms' for me to wear. I dreaded rich men.

"Any name?" Santiago asked as he stirred the breakfast gravy he made from scratch.

"Uh," Kyle scrolled, "Silver... That's all Roger put in there."

Sighing collectively, we continued our work. I knew I knew that name, he had to have been a regular here or at least regular enough for me to know that name. Guess we'll see what the day holds for me, I hated that Roger expected me to play the innocent card and flirt, just for tips, I was a glorified whore, I hated it, but I needed to take care of my family somehow. This was better than anything else, paid more than most jobs too, I need to suck it up.