The Sinclair Brothers ✔️

(15) Enticing

"Order up!"

The bell dinged to signal and order arrived in the food presentation window to which servers retrieved the food and carried it to the appropriate table in the restaurant.

Makennah gathered the four plates in her arms and marched back out onto the restaurant floor to deliver the food.

"Everything look okay? Do you need anything?" She asked with a waning smile.

"Looks good!" The father answered for everyone and dismissed Makennah.

It was hour six on the floor and her feet killed. On a Saturday, she imagined this restaurant would be more prepared but the owner and manager informed Makennah that they were very short staffed and hoped she would be able to catch on quick to take her own tables.

Well "quick" happened to mean four hours because after the lunch rush, Makennah's trainer went home and she was all on her own. They were so busy for dinner that they began to give her her own tables.

Fortunately, she could fairly well do the job without much assistance. There were a few things she had to ask for help with - like where they kept the extra glasses, if they had more straws, and where to take the glasses that belonged at the bar. Also, she didn't know the menu very well but most people didn't ask many questions. The Italian style menu was pretty self-explanatory.

"Excuse me?" A middle aged woman called from across the restaurant rather rudely in Makennah's opinion, but nevertheless she answered the call.

"Yes, ma'am?" She asked once she reached the table and pasted on a smile.

"May I have some more Dr. pepper?"

"Of course! I'll be right back with that!" She said in an over cheerful voice.

Internally, she groaned. She just wanted to go home. For a first day, this was exhausting. She wasn't used to being on her feet for so many hours on end.

Not to mention, her stomach growled so loudly that she was afraid customers would hear. She was starving. Downright famished. The thing was that she woke up late and therefore didn't have time for breakfast. She didn't think she would be at the restaurant for so long so she didn't think it would be a big deal.

But it was. Because then lunch passed. The lunch guests left. The weird in-betweeners from lunch to dinner stayed longer than necessary. Makennah never got a break. Legally she was way overdue as an underage minor worker in this restaurant. But she didn't say anything because she just couldn't stop. She could barely halt and have time to breathe.

At this point, her body was showing signs of glucose loss. Fatigue. Fluttering heart rate from the stress and anxiety of a new job. Tired, weak muscles. Unfocused vision. Shaky hands.

Repeatedly, Makennah pushed it away. Now wasn't the time for her young able body to act up.

"Here you go, ma'am!"

"Thank you, honey." The woman smiled from ear to ear and accepted her new Dr. Pepper.

"Makennah, can you run my food for me?" Stacey, a mid-twenty something waitress, asked Makennah.

"Sure." She ran to the back, collected her three plates, and passed them off to her table in the far corner. After she checked that they had everything, Makennah moved on to her three tables and swiped off dirty dishes to take to the back. Once she dropped them off, she swept by the employee drink station behind the bar to gulp down some water.

Her hands shook so badly from lack of food that she couldn't position the straw in her mouth correctly the first time. Sighing, she clenched her fist tightly and willed her body into submission.