Sea Salt.

Complements.

Chapter Four: Complements.

I was finally off today. For the past three weeks I have been constantly working at The Hot Shot. I kinda needed to get out of there. Stress and anxiety made me sick and when I had laid next to my mother, I was only a little less relaxed. It was Saturday, a day that the store was filled with people and also it was the same exact day that everyone at home was, indeed, home.

The t.v. in front of us was displaying Dr. Phil. Mom had always enjoyed these type of reality things. She always hated things that were not realistic at all, so whenever I was with her there was no such thing as vampires, werewolves, unicorns, or zombies. That had meant I had to wait later to watch The Walking Dead.

Seph was sitting criss-crossed on the ground by the coffee table with Dad. They played chess while Mom stroked my hair and yelled at the couple who broke up over a blender. It made me smile to see my family together, in the same room, at the same time. No one was on their cellphone or laptop, everyone was just living in the living room.

Then my phone buzzed. Great. Nice way to kill the atmosphere. I got up and walked into the next room.

"What?" I growled and attempted to sound not too harsh.

"Oh! Sorry, Emery! It's just that we need you here. My poor Mike is sick and not a single soul is kind enough to help. It's really busy and I really need you" Marina pleaded. I sighed. There were nearly ten other people that worked there and Marina plus another three was working there. They didn't have anybody?

"Please," she added. "It's only for three hours."

I tried to look at the bright side. At least I can get a little extra money for college.  

"Fine," I said as I glanced over at the living room. I would have to sacrifice three hours of family time and I would be back by four.

I left home after telling Mom that I could no longer watch Dr. Phil with her. She was a little sad, but she covered it up with her large smile and let me go on anyway. I had no idea when the next family hangout would be, even if we had remained inside the whole time.

The Hot Shot was busy. I had not seen so much ever since I started to work here. I blinked and widened my eys. I saw Marina work so hard that it looked like she was doing a crazy dance.

I walked straight over to her and took out the coffee mugs out of her hands, "What table do these belong to?"

"Table eight," Marina calmed a little and smiled. If I had let her continue working like a beaver, she would have burnt herself with coffee. I decided to wait the tables for her.

I assigned the following million customers to empty tables and swiped them down after every party had left. I carried trays full of frappes, sundaes, and deli sandwhiches. Holly, Jackson, and David were the other ones working this shift. Marina took orders, Holly worked at the drive-thru, and Jackson worked with David to make all the food we had to offer.

I had another two hours, but the stampede of customers seemed to last another five hours. After all the orders of iced tea and coffee, it had made me feel like throwing their own orders onto my face. It was 89 degrees this afternoon and it sure felt like 100 in the cafe.

And the worst part was when he walked in and then it felt like it 2357346392800 degrees.

Good thing I was busy with other customers. Cyan was sitting with the stools so he ordered from Marina. I was happy I didn't have to deal with him, but I was also sad at that fact. Stupid teenage girly feelings I have inside. Yeah, you. You suck.

Another hour had passed and it was three o'clock. The amount of customers had decreased over time and I no longer needed to carry a tray of food because there wasn't many orders now. Only about thirteen people were in the store, and one of the thirteen was Cyan. Yes, he was still here.

He wasn't wearing his usual Pizza My Heart uniform so he looked only a sightly different. He was wearing a grey polo with the first two buttons unbuttoned. His hair was messy and it seemed he wanted it to be like that by the way he was clenching his hair in his large hands. It actually frightened me of how all of his muscles in his arm were tense.

"This is all so stupid!" Cyan banged his head against the marble and stretched his long arms across so that his fingers were able to grip onto the edge. I felt like consoling him and telling him "It's all going to be okay", but I didn't.

Instead, I wiped the counter and forced him to pick up his head. He gave me an odd stare and then shook his head, "Can't you see I am mad? Can't you clean the counters some other time?"

I stopped and looked up at his hazel eyes. Oh no, I just angered the prince. MY BAD.

"What's going on here?" Kyle walked in, holding a plate with a cupcake on it. Now the king is here? Oh boy.

"Anyway," Kyle continued after everyone of his employees turned to him. "I have made a new creation!"

"Is that why you have been cooped up in your office with your Easy Bake™ oven?" Marina asked.

"Yes. Yes it is. And I want you all to try it," He placed the plate down and handed each of us a fork and also handed it over to his son. "It is my new chocolate ganache cupcake!"

Mr. Kyle watched us tear the cupcake with our forks and place it into our mouths. He looked really thrilled and his eyes seemed so big.

Dang, the cupcake was really good.

"Was there coffee in the ganache?" Cyan asked. He seemed to calm himself after taking a bite. 

"Yesiree!"

"It's nice, Kyle. Put it on the menu."

Our boss disappeared into his 'bat cave'. Everyone else returned to their stations and continued to work. I spun around and happened to face the prince. He stared me down for a second longer than usual. I tried not to blush when he smiled at me.

"You are really pretty, Emery."

I widened my eyes. Did Mr. Kyle put alcohol in his portion of the cupcake? Wasn't he just yelling at me?

Really, Emery?! The guy just complemented you and that's the first thing you think of! Say something back!

But by then it was too late. Cyan went back to his black coffee and minded his own business. His face was showing the sad card. I wondered why he was mad at the first place. 

It was four o'clock and it was my time to leave.

~*

Well this was a short one. Sorry about that. 

The new chapter will come out maybe someday this week, so stay tuned because it will have some of that 'rising action'. 

And did I over use the italicize button? Maybe a bit. Yeah, I just love formatting...too much

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