Going the extra mile - m.c

1

-Michael-

The boys decided that we should all go to some old diner for breakfast, let alone I forget the name of the diner already but who cares, I'm getting food either way. We let Luke pick the booth and we all followed behind, Ashton and Luke in on side of the booth with Calum and I on the other.

After about 5 minutes a girl around our age began to head towards our booth with a handful of menus. She was dressed in a 60's solid pink waitress dress and her hair was done up in a ponytail, even if she was in uniform, I was intrigued. Calum caught me looking a bit too closely and kicked me before she reached the booth, he stifled a laugh when I jolted from his kick.

"Hey boys, welcome to Ozzie's Diner! I'm Lydia and I'll be your waitress today." She was stunning, and if I'm not mistaking she has a very slight Australian accent but yet she's working at a restaurant in California. My thoughts were interrupted when she placed a menu in front of me gently. "So our special today for breakfast is a plate of 3 waffles stacked on one another with chocolate drizzle and berries with a side of syrup, which is followed by a tropical fusion smoothie and a side order of bacon." She was so confident when she spoke that I almost felt intimidated. "So until you make you decisions, could I start you off with a beverage?" She was smiling so kindly, my heart melted, what am I doing.

"Can I please have a glass of orange juice?" Ashton asks smiling wide, she nodded and didn't even scribble anything down on paper as a reminder.

"I'll take just a glass of water please and thanks!" Luke smiled at her as well and she nodded in acknowledgment at his request.

"Just a glass of water as well please." Calum smirked at her and she nodded with a smirk back remembering (so I hoped) his order

"And can I please just have some iced tea." I said with a nervous smile up at her, she nodded to me acknowledging what I had also added to her mental note. "Sounds great boys, I'll be back in about 5 minutes with those beverages." She tapped on our booths table and was kitchen bound from there.

"Damn she's cute..." My head shot up as the words left Luke's mouth, he laughed and I shook my head after I realized he was playing games with me. "You're so oblivious to the fact that we can tell you practically just drooled over her Michael." Ashton joined in on the 'lets tease Michael' game. Calum just covered his mouth with his hand and chuckled, he tries to be slick about it but I know all his tricks.

The 5 minutes passed and she came right back to our booth with our orders in tow. Without even asking who ordered what for reassurance, she placed every drink in front of the correct person confidently. "Alright, are you boys all ready to place some orders for breakfast, or do you still need a little bit more time to ponder?" She had placed the tray under her arm and leaned against the side of Luke's side of the booth. "I think we're all ready to order actually." Ashton said speaking up for us all, we nodded in unison. "Awesome! Hit me with those orders boys!" She said giggling as she stood upright again.

"I'll take one order of the funky fruit bowl, with a side of toast and jam." Ashton told her as she once again just nodded in acknowledgement at his order. "And would you like a drink with that as well or just what you have already?" Ashton tapped his fingers on the table and looked back up at her again. "Can I just have some more juice please and thanks?" She smiled at his politeness and nodded once again.

"I'll have the summer nights pancakes with a side of scrambled eggs please." Luke said smirking up at her as she nodded at his order as well. "Would you like a drink along with yours?" He shook his head no and she acknowledged his reply.

"I'll take an order of today's special please and thanks." Calum said with a wide smile as she once again nodded.

"And I'll have the same as his him please." She nodded at me with a smile and whipped the tray out from under her arm. "Sounds awesome boys, I'll just take your menus and your breakfast will be ready in about 25 minutes." She stacked the menus on the tray and put her attention back onto us. "If you guys need anything at all in the meantime or during your breakfast just keep an eye out for me and give me a holler, as a reminder once again, my name is Lydia." She smiled fondly at us all and spun on her heels back to the kitchen. Something about her has me all shook up inside but I'm not bothered about it.

***

"That was the best breakfast I've had in ages." I said as I leaned back into the booth, I've never felt more full in my life. "It was so good man, I'm just in awe that she got every order perfectly correct without even taking note of what we asked for." Ashton said as he wiped off his mouth, we all nodded in agreement. Just as Luke took his last bite she was on her way back over.

"How was your food boys?" She said clasping her hands together with a perfect smile.

"Unbelievable, it was worth every second." The boys all nodded in agreement with my statement as I sat up straight from the limp position I was in. She seemed pleased with the feedback and smiled wider. "So, if you're all finished I can steal those empty plates from you." We handed them to her along with our glasses and she stacked up everything into one tall pile in her arms. "I'll be right back with your receipts, okay boys?" She said smiling as wide as ever and we all nodded. Whilst eating we came to the agreement that this has been the best customer service we've gotten in a long while from a restaurant.

After not even 4 minutes she was back with all four receipts. "Alright, so if you have a credit card I have the machine here and for cash I also have change in my apron." We all looked at our receipts and followed through with a plan I had set up for this amazing girl whilst eating. My breakfast only came to $10 even as did Calum's, from what we estimated beforehand, Luke and Ashton's would be $9 even each. So instead of giving her the proper amount and a small tip of coins, we all pulled out a 50$ each making it into one pile. I handed her the $200 and she looked at me with a confused look across her face. "Did I get your recipes wrong? There's no way your meals came to this amount." We all chuckled and Ashton spoke up. "The receipts were exact don't worry, Michael here decided that we'd give you a major tip because of how respectful, kind and professional you were with our orders and customer service here today." She looked at us all with her face in pure shock, her hands were shaking and she teared up. "There's no way I can take this, it's too much." Her voice was wobbly and she was short of breath. "It's not too much at all, it's well deserved, from what we saw today you work hard for what you get and you deserved to know that you're making a difference." As I let those words leave my mouth, she placed the $200 onto the table and covered her face with her hands. We all looked at each other and as we did a small almost inaudible whimper left her mouth. As soon as we all realized she was crying Calum pushed down to the very inside of the booth, I stood up, gently placed my hands on her shoulders and put her between Calum and I.

"You truly don't understand how much this means to me." She breathed out removing her hands from her face so we could hear her clearly. "I can't thank you enough, you don't understand how much this is going to help me today." Her mascara slowly ran down her cheek from the tears, and I wiped it away gently with a napkin. "We were all astounded by how confident you are about your job, if $200 is something that rarely happens for you with this job, you deserve a raise." Luke told her as he looked at her with sympathy. "Don't believe everything you see from what someone portrays, I could barely get out of bed this morning and when I did I woke up to an eviction notice on my door because I haven't been getting enough money to pay rent. But what you boys did for me today is a miracle because without you doing this kind gesture today, I'd be getting evicted sooner than later and that's why I truly cannot thank you enough for this."