The Way In Which Things Work

Chapter Twelve: First Day

Chapter Twelve: First Day

My first day at work made me nervous. I never really got nervous for anything, the feeling was foreign to me as I had been exposed to so much at a young age that nothing really affected me anymore. Nothing except for this. All the paperwork I had to turn in was ridiculous, yesterday I took Graham with me to the courthouse to get another copy of my birth certificate.

Upon walking into the restaurant, I see my boss, Griffin. He's waiting for me right by the front podium. He's standing in such a way that it appears he had been there for a little while, like he had been waiting for me. We make eye contact and I nod at him and hand him the stack of paperwork I was holding. He takes it with a smile and the grin he offers is uncomfortable and not helping my nerves at all. "Follow me," he says briskly and motions over his shoulder. "This," he kicks a door open, "is my office, if you can't ever find me I'll most likely be in here. You clock in by signing this sheet when you arrive and when you leave," he gives me a pen. "We're working on getting a fancy computer to clock in with." How I clock in didn't matter in the slightest to me, all that mattered was that I got paid for the right amount of time. He closes the door and instantly I feel my stomach turn again as if I wasn't already anxious enough.

"No need to be nervous, your job will be really simple, hosting is a breeze." Again, I stay silent and he reaches out to take ahold of my arm which makes me back up instantly. "Woah, what did you think I was trying to do there?" He asks me, something I didn't expect him to do.

I use the hair falling around my face as an excuse, "I just need to put my hair up, that's what people do when they work in restaurants right?" I quickly tie it up on top of my head in a ponytail and feign comfort. I really need this job, no matter how gross he makes me feel. I even let out a small chuckle to make it seem like I could enjoy his company.

He nods and smiles again, seemingly looking through me. "Yes, but you can take it back down, it looks better that way on you." He winks and brushes past me, his hand traces along my exposed leg. Before Griffin leaves completely out of the door he points to a shelf, "Pick one, it's your uniform, nice and simple." Then he nearly closes the door and pokes his head back in, "Better get changed quick." When he finally leaves completely I move to lock the door and check the handle to make sure that nobody, especially him, would be able to come back in. I've never felt so small and scared before, I'm generally not afraid of people like that. I'd met my fair share of creeps but none seemed to be able to compare to him.

After slipping on a shirt that had the restaurant name on it and leaving my jacket and other things in a pile under the desk, I reopened the door. Griffin was waiting right outside the door for me when I left the office again. I kept my head down to shield my rolling eyes from his gaze. He shows me back up to the front again and greets the other girl there, Katie, reads her name tag. Griffin greets her in the same creepy way he had done to me on both occasions I had seen him and I wondered if he was like that with all his employees. "This is Katie," obviously, "And she can show you the ropes, I have to go through your paperwork before we hit the evening rush, have fun."

As soon as he leaves I speak without thinking of the reparations, "Is he always like that?" I ask quickly, almost forgetting that she could easily tell him that I was already talking bad about our boss.

"You mean a total creep? Then yes. Trust me, I would quit if I didn't need the money so badly." I decided that since we both agreed on the disgusting nature of our boss that we would get along just fine. "Sorry, to get into that but I'm sure you already noticed. Just, don't make him mad and you won't have a problem." I didn't ask her by what she meant about 'a problem'. "Alright," she says, "Enough talk about Mr. McStalker, I'll show you what to do."