Relatively Dependent

Relatively Dependent - Part Ten

My first shift at the Pub I was on the tables, waiting on them I mean. If there is one thing I'm certain of in this life it's that I'm not cut out for customer service. I didn't set out to do a terrible job, part of me actually wanted to impress Charlie and have it get back to Blake that I wasn't a total fucking failure. That didn't work out so well.

About an hour into my shift I started to buckle. People snapping their fingers at me, telling me their food wasn't right or good enough, making demands of me instead of saying please or thank you. I cracked it. 

This one real bitch of a woman kept hassling me all night. First it was that I didn't greet them politely enough, then it was that I didn't bring their drinks quick enough, then it was their drinks weren't cold enough, then the entrée took too long and she just went on and on. Finally, she snapped her fingers at me, summoning me over again and told me her steak was too cold and had been overdone—It made no sense! I'd been biting my tongue all night listening to this bitch whinge and moan about nothing and I didn't wanna' take it anymore. I pulled a chair over, sat down next to her, took her plate and I started chowing down on one of the most delicious meals I've had in my life. She sat there with her jaw just about hitting the floor and I told her she was crazy, that there was nothing wrong with her food. I cut off a piece of steak and held the fork out to her, offering her a second taste and I had to keep from bursting out laughing at her. She was mortified and I loved every second of it. Her boyfriend, husband, whatever he was, he wasn't so impressed. He grabbed me by the arm, hauled me to my feet and I bumped into the table which sent their drinks flying. Think the guy was about to deck me but the glasses smashing on the floor was loud enough to attract everyone's attention, including Charlie's.

Charlie popped up out of nowhere, he just appeared at my side and stepped in between me and the guy I'd pissed off. Charlie isn't the kinda' guy that raises his voice often, but when he does it'll send chills down your spine. He grabbed the guys hand, threw it off me and told him to get out of his pub. The guy spat out a few insults, telling Charlie his Pub was the worst he'd ever been to and people would be hearing about his experience. All the while Charlie kept ushering them out, stepping into them, making them head toward the door, it was awesome to see. That guy was actually scared of Charlie. He had a lot to say but when it came down to it he still walked away and I thought that was amazing to see. Of course after they were gone Charlie turned his death stare to me and I knew I was about to get the same treatment as the guy he'd scared off.

"My office, now," Charlie growled me.

Taking Charlie seriously was something I'd always had a hard time doing, until that moment. I'd fucked up on my first shift, made a scene, berated his customers, I knew he wasn't about to pat me on the back and give me a thumbs up for it.

He sat me down in his office and I expected to get my head blown off for screwing up so bad but he didn't do that. We sat, we talked and I think it was probably the first time I'd ever managed to tell someone I wasn't coping. I'm not sure why I unravelled, why I confided in Charlie and not Blake, I don't know, he just managed to pull it out of me.

I told him I didn't like the way I was, being so angry all the time, but I didn't know how to change it. I said how I hated myself for letting Blake down and that if I had it in me to do better I would. I told him how I'd had a lot on my mind lately and it was just fucking with my head and sometimes it'd all get on top of me. I pretty much just laid it all on him and it was like somehow he understood. I don't know how he could, I guess maybe Blake had sat there and had that same conversation with him a long time ago, I don't know. But he didn't scream at me or even fire me, he just let me talk, let me get everything off my chest.

By the end of our talk Charlie agreed he wouldn't tell Blake what had happened and asked if I'd be more comfortable out in the kitchen just cleaning up and stuff and I jumped at the chance. No more dealing with customers, no more keeping my temper in check, getting paid to wash some dishes, I was all for that.

And thus began my brilliant new career as a dish pig. I know I'm lucky Charlie didn't just throw me out and tell me to get lost so I was pretty happy to be honest. Hanging out in the corner of the kitchen, keeping to myself, humming to myself, I didn't have to talk to anyone or deal with customers and that made me a happy camper. After a while I started warming up to the crew, I'd seen their faces before, some of the fella's I'd known for years but I'd never really talked to them. After a while I actually started to enjoy working there, talking to the fella's, getting an awesome dinner cooked up for free, it wasn't all bad. Plus, some of the waitresses were nice to look at it and that helped pass the time.

It's weird, I look back on it now and I think I was doing alright, for a while anyway. I settled into this good routine of working and then partying with Jamie, most of the time I was pretty happy. Things with Charlie were going really good, things with Blake were back on track, I had my own money, my own independence, life was going alright, finally. Then of course in true Joel Reed style things had to get fucked up again.