The first time Beatrice Campbell realized she needed a new job was when she witnessed a bar fight at the restaurant she worked in. She worked in a cowboy-themed restaurant called Rusty's. She didn't really hate wearing the cowboy hats. Or the cowboy boots.
She even found it endearing when her coworkers put on a thicker southern accent to bring in more tips. (Beatrice may have been texan but her accent was very soft, and for whatever reason, she was not very good at impersonating accents of any kind.)
What bothered her was when she was mere seconds away from getting dragged into a physical fight between two bar regulars. And when she had to sit down with a police officer to retell the events from her perspective. Even though she hadn't done anything wrong, she felt herself start to sweat. Had she done something wrong? No, she literally froze in fear until one of her coworkers grabbed her by the arm and lead her away from the commotion. "You were like a deer in headlights, I had to drag you away from there before you got hurt." Her coworker told her.
But, anyways, she had made the decision to look for a new job that night. Besides, it was starting to get really crowded at Rusty's. To the point that she'd have to get to work early just so she could clock in on time. Employees weren't allowed to enter through the back anymore, unless they were a cook, so Beatrice started going through the front of the building. And there had been times she could barely get through the line of families that had been forming by the host stand.
On top of that, Beatrice couldn't really think of a reason to stay. She hadn't really made any friends there. In fact, she mostly felt really invisible to others, unless they needed her for something.
Things like, "Hey Beatrice, can you take my last table?" "Beatrice, can you watch my section?" Things like that. Beatrice didn't really mind being asked to help, but it started to feel like that was all she was used for. When it got slow, Beatrice especially felt isolated by her coworkers. Except for one of her coworkers, Michael. Michael made a point to always talk to Beatrice, so they had started to form a friendship. But he was a dishwasher so they rarely saw each other. Oftentimes, when other servers were chatting together and even sharing appetizers, Beatrice was sitting at one of her tables by herself. But, she didn't want to view her coworkers or her job in a too-negative light, so she tried hard not to get depressed about it. Besides, the customers were generally nice, there was always this older couple that came in and requested they were sat with Beatrice. And sometimes her parents would come in and get dinner and she'd get to serve them.
Beatrice had been working at Rusty's for two years, since she was 19, and she felt it was a good time to move on. But, she needed to find a new job before she could put her two weeks in.
Usually when Beatrice got home from her shift at work, it was around 11pm, sometimes midnight. She'd enter the apartment quietly, just in case Lenore was asleep, which she usually was. Lenore was a dog groomer at a PetsTrim, and her shifts were always opening, which meant that she needed to get her beauty sleep.
As Beatrice unlocked the door to their apartment one night, she wondered if Lenore was content with her job. Nore (Bea's nickname for Lenore) never really talked too much about her job, instead opting for sending many, many pictures of the dogs she took care of.
Bea opened the door and double,double-checked that the door was actually locked before immediately changing out of her work clothes into some comfortable pajamas. It was a huge t-shirt that her mom had gifted her, with a big drawing of Snoopy on it, and black, plaid-patterned shorts from Victoria's Secret. It was a little too warm to put socks on, and Bea really loved wearing cute socks. Short ones; long ones; Black ones; pastel colored; fluffy, ect...
Bea walked to the thermostat to check what it was at.
"75 degrees?" she muttered to herself before turning it down a few degrees.
"Sorry, I was really cold-"
Beatrice jumped and turned and Lenore was standing in the hallway, wearing day clothes and scratching the back of her neck sheepishly.
"Oh! It's okay, want me to turn it back up?" Bea reached towards the thermostat again. "No, no; It's ok, I think I'm fine now."
"What are you doing up so late?" Bea asked, following Lenore to the kitchen.
"Well, I got home from work and I got a call from my cousin, Oliver." Lenore stops to pick up a few napkins from the dinner table and throw them away.
"Wait... Oliver your cousin from middle school?" Bea moves to start grabbing dishes and looks inside the dishwasher.
"Yep! The dishes are dirty by the way."
"Oh ok." Bea starts to place dishes in the dishwasher. "You know I used to have a crush on him right?"
"Yeah, I remember. I think he knows by the way."
"Oops." Bea flushes.
Lenore sits down in one of the wooden chairs and starts taking her hair out of the twin braids she always puts them in. "Well, he called me and told me his mom and step-dad kicked him out of the house. So I was wondering if he could stay here until he finds somewhere else to stay? If that's ok with you."
"Oh." Bea sits down next to Lenore. "Well, I guess he could sleep on the couch." Nore nods. "I haven't offered it to him yet, I was just listening to him on the phone, but he did say he's staying at a friend's right now. But his friend said he won't be able to stay much longer."
"How old is he? He's our age, right?" Bea asks.
"Yeah, he's 22. He's not in school right now, he's just working. But he got laid off and that's the reason his step dad kicked him out."
"Oh, wow..." Bea thought about asking more questions but didn't want to gossip or be too nosy. "Well, he's welcome here!"
Nore smiled. "Thanks, Bea."
Bea smiled back. "Well, I'm going to try and get some sleep now. You too?"
"Yeah, eventually," Nore nodded.
"Okie dokes. Goodnight, Nore!"
"Goodnight, Bea!"
Bea headed to bed and almost immediately fell asleep. She dreamt that she was in middle school again and Oliver had a crush on her, instead of her having the crush on him.
