just call [e.d.]

two: party

greta loved when jack let her drive the truck. she had only done a few jobs with sunrise catering, but he had the grooviest truck ever. it had a bright yellow interior and it was sky blue on the outside. jack had let her hang pink fuzzy dice on the mirror and he had put a hula girl on the dashboard when he first bought the truck. greta always loved tacky shit. 

"is the rest of the crew coming?" greta mumbled while working her way into a tight parking spot.

"of course. while you're a great employee we're gonna need a little more for a party of 200," jack chuckled. 

greta felt her heartbeat quicken and a bead of sweat form at her hairline. "are they even allowed to have that many people on a boat?" she asked, gliding into the spot and turning the car off. 

"greta, i don't know what you're so worried about. even if you know these people, you're working, everyone works. sometimes, you're job isn't going to be glamorous. but guess what? at the end of the night, you'll get paid, and these people will not," jack said, trying to be supportive.

"clearly they don't need the money if they own a boat that can fit 200 people," greta mumbled under her breath. before jack could respond, she opened the door and jumped onto the pavement unsteadily. 

"come around and get one of these coolers," jack yelled from the other side of the truck. 

greta opened the trunk and grabbed the first blue cooler. for a cooler full of appetizers, it had some weight to it. she turned around, and instantly she could tell which boat she was boarding. already, a crowd of people had formed near one of the larger boats. the sun was already beginning to set, casting pink and purple hues onto the sky. california sunsets were truly a sight. 

"excuse me," greta shouted as she butted her way through the few people in front of the boat. she was happy to see that she didn't recognize any of them. she opened the gate and boarded the boat as swiftly as possible. 

"you must be the food," a young boy exclaimed once he saw greta. he looked to be about 18 and had bleach blonde, sun kissed hair. he was standing on a higher level of the boat than greta, so the sunset was behind him, making him look like something out of a painting. 

greta began to pick at her nail polish awkwardly with her hands. she had set down the cooler. 

"not the food, just the girl carrying the food," she chuckled awkwardly. 

the boy jumped down and landed in front of her, a good distance away. "are you...it?" he asked, walking a few steps closer.

"no, my step dad's right behind me and some other guys are coming separately. our truck only holds two," greta replied. oversharing, greta, she said to herself. who cares how much the truck can hold.

"cool..uh, just set that down in here," he said, leading greta to the interior of the boat. it smelled like saltwater and cigarette smoke. 

greta set the cooler down against the wall next to an outlet, which they would need to hook up the grill. oh, how she wished jack would walk in right about now, as she would have to wait there with the sun kissed boy in awkward silence until he showed up.

"is this a good spot for us to set up our grill?" she asked sheepishly, making eye contact for a short second.

"yeah, it should be no problem. we're gonna be outside and upstairs and stuff," he replied, leaning against the wall. 

there was a pause before he spoke again. "so look, i gotta ask something of you and your crew tonight," he began. 

greta nodded.