The Robbery

Dalia came into the restaurant she worked at and checked the roster for her position. She was primary tonight, the one who works the register and takes everyone's orders. It's 10 PM on a Tuesday night so there were not many customers at the moment. It was quite quiet. 

Dalia strolled to the back of the restaurant to clock in and saw one of her coworkers that she only met once clocking in as well. "Hey, Zay!" Dalia grinned.

"Oh, Hi!" he said smiling.

Although Dalia and Zay only worked one night together before, Dalia really liked Zay. He was sarcastic, really helpful, and hardworking. 

"I'll see you at the front," he spoke as he exited. 

Dalia was excited to work with Zay tonight. In the less than one month that she worked at the restaurant, Zay was the only person that Dalia had an actual conversation with. Sure, it's lame, but Dalia is socially awkward and Zay was easy to talk to with his sarcasm, honesty, and ability to relate which really drew Dalia to him. He was an overall great guy from what Dalia could tell. 

Dalia walked to the front and counted her tray. Once she was done, she helped the customer waiting in line while Zay was behind her packing the orders. When the customer left, Dalia turned around and asked, "How's life, Zay?"

He sighed, "It's alright. College is a bit of a hassle but bearable."

The lady's order came out of the pass-through and Zay packed it.

"Order 547!" he yelled and the lady retrieved her food.

"Have a good night, ma'am," Zay smiled at her.

"You too," she said and walked out.

There was no one left in the restaurant other than the two, the cook, and the manager. The sliding door opened and revealed a man with matted hair in ragged clothing stomping toward the register with a frown on his face.

"Hi! Welcome! What can I do for you?" Dalia chirped enthusiastically.

"Give me all of your money!" his voice boomed as he pulled out a gun from his jacket. 

Dalia's eyes widened and put her hands up. "Oh-oh-ok," Dalia stammered as she fumbled to get the register to open. She gave him the whole tray.

"That's all?" he bellowed.

"I just started my shift! There's no money to begin with!" she defended herself.

He growled and pointed the gun at Dalia.

"I'm telling the truth!" she pleaded.

Zay stepped in front of Dalia, shielding her from the man. "Hey, take it easy, man. That's all the cash that we have. Just take it and leave. Please!" Zay stated calmly with his hands making a downward motion, signaling to lower the gun. 

Unbeknownst to the 3, there was a person who silently entered the restaurant through the manual "pull" door and watched the whole situation unfold. He was frozen from shock. 

 "I can't just walk away with a lousy $75! Give me more or I'll shoot!"

Dalia knew fully well that if in this situation, you're supposed to cooperate or runaway.  They've discussed everything in orientation and the employees' safety is the company's number one priority. However, if that man really does shoot, she will not let Zay take the bullet for her. 

She stepped out of Zay's shadow and declared, "Go ahead! Shoot me! Not him, though. I'm a suicidal mother fucker anyways. Guilt-free death for me and you leave with a pocket full of cash. It's a win-win in my opinion."