Portugal ~ m.c.

3

On Monday that same week, my friend Ruth and I met for lunch in the cafeteria down in the Utilidor. I usually packed my own lunch since I had to buy groceries every week for breakfast and lunch anyway. Even though we had a card for dining in the parks or at Dowtown Disney, it was easier to grab my own food.
Ruth had been my mentor when I was training to become a full fledged cast member. She helped me out a lot during those two weeks by teaching me different ways to handle the guests. Afterward, it was hard to say goodbye to her. She worked in the Emporium on Main Street and I was being put in a candy store in Hollywood Studios. One day, after coming back from doing my laundry, I bumped into her. She lived on the floor beneath mine. We'd been communicating ever since. After I got promoted to working the ride lines, we established that we'd try to have lunch together if I was ever in the Magic Kingdom and we had the same lunch break. We almost always did.
I spotted Ruth on the far side of the room. I stood up and waved my arms like a mad woman until she caught my movement and made her way over. Her shoulder length white hair was a bit curly and she had stuck a simple black bow in it. The managers sometimes took pity on her. She complained to them that she should be cut some slack since her memory wasn't what it used to be and a woman her age should not be held wardrobe accountable. If she was my age and she said that, they would've fired her without a second glance. But she was going on 73. She loved to guilt trip people into pitying her.
Ruth plopped down in the plastic chair and sighed. A smile appearing instantly.
"I love sitting," she breathed out. "I've been standing for nearly four hours straight. That young Ama girl complained so much I let her take 2 of my breaks."
"How could you give up your breaks? Ruth you work in a highly popular store. You need to rest your body constantly," I scolded her.
She just shook her head as she took out a tuna salad sandwich. "I'm old. I haven't got much time left Bennie. I want to embrace every moment I have here." She wouldn't look at me. I had hit a sore spot in the conversation. She was always talking about time. How there was never enough of it. Time was always what people wanted more of.
"How's Ama doing by the way?" I switched topics.
"Complains too much. She's a hard worker but she doesn't have it in her to work this much. At least not here. She's smart, very intelligent but even if I ask her what the price of a certain item is she says, 'can't you just go check it?' She was holding the clipboard with the list of all the items when she said this. I told her, 'you have to learn how to use that clipboard honey. Or else nothing we do in this store will ever make sense. It has the item number, name, price, quantity, value and where it shipped in from. So either you look up that Stitch pin or I'll report you to James.' She turned beet red then and instantly went to work. James has yelled at her before. I think she knows if I report her, she'll get even worse."
"I never thought James would be a yeller," I pondered.
"I wouldn't want to get on his bad side," Ruth cautioned.
"You know, Nick is a yeller too. He yelled at Camila last week in the hallway outside our apartment because she refused to go home with him," I lowered my voice. Camila was one of my good friends and also one of my roommates. I knew she didn't want that information getting out.
Ruth frowned and swallowed a chip. "Didn't she report it?"
I shook my head. "He threatened to tell them she slept with Grantaire last week. But they've been seeing each other for months. The company doesn't usually interfere with personal things do they?" I lifted my water bottle to my lips.
"No, that's entirely our business. Unless of course domestic violence, sexual assault, drug or liquor abuse is involved. Then they contact the police."
"Well yeah, that's obvious. But we are allowed to drink in our rooms if we're of age. We have to deal with hangovers and such on our own time."
"Exactly. If we aren't careful about that then chances are we're out for good. You've got to manage your time. If you want to get drunk one night then make sure you can take the next day off to recover," Ruth bit into her apple.
Our conversations always fascinated me. We always seemed to be talking about something. From the moment we greeted each other to the moment one of us had to leave. It was like we were old friends.
"I'm training someone," I said. I held her gaze for a moment.
She swallowed a bite of apple before saying, "Bennie, that's fantastic. Who is it?"
"An Australian boy named Michael Clifford. Mr. Tompkins appointed him to me." I was glowing. It felt good to kind of be in charge of someone for a week.
"Mr. Tompkins adores you, sugar. There isn't anything he wouldn't do for you," Ruth smiled over at me and I blushed.
"I thought he was kidding when he said he wanted me to do this. But then Michael told me he couldn't shut up about me." I drank some more water, noticing my bottle was almost empty.
"So I take it Michael's a pretty nice fellow?" She asked.
"Yeah, we've been talking a lot over the past few days. He's been meeting me at that corner shop on Main Street, the one where they sell hot dogs, and we walk over to Splash Mountain together."
"How nice. Very gentlemanly. All the old men here are scoundrels," she scowled around at the men passing our table.
"What about Albert?"
"Oh he's the worst of them all!"
"I think he's decent. He's sweet on you." I winked at her and Ruth rolled her eyes.
"Oh please, buying me coffee and personally bringing it to me every morning will not win me over." She packed up her lunch bag and put it back down by her purse.
"Do you want to be lonely for the rest of your life? He likes you. He loves speaking to you. Give him a chance," I pleaded for Albert's sake. I had the pleasure of bumping into him once or twice and he was perfect for her.
She smiled softly. A though seemed to be weaving its way through her head. After a long moment she sighed. "Fine. Next time he comes in I'll...make an effort."
"You're impossible." I shook my head.
"And you're going to be late if you don't leave now. Better get a move on." Ruth glanced up at the nearest clock and I followed her gaze. I was expected back in 17 minutes. I hurried to put everything away and hugged Ruth goodbye. She smelled like honey and laundry detergent.
"Can you meet tomorrow?" I asked.
"I think so. I'll tell you if I can't," she replied. "Goodbye for now love."
I waved before hurrying past the tables. I caught sight of Michael playing around with 3 other boys. It looked as if he was in no hurry to leave anytime soon. I debated whether to leave him or not but decided to try and save him from getting a warning. If we both got there late, at least I'd have someone to blame.
I reached their table and said, "Michael, we gotta leave. We've got about 15 minutes to get back on time."
He glanced up at me and then behind me at the clock.
"Shit," he mumbled. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
"Michael, who's blondie?" One of his friends asked. It looked like he had a lip ring but piercings of any kind weren't allowed.
"My name is Bennie. You could've just asked me yourself." I rolled my eyes as I waited for Michael.
"Usually I like to be formally introduced to attractive girls like yourself. I guess it slipped my mind." He played with his lip ring with a smirk on his face.
Cheeky bastard, I thought.
"Don't mind him." A curly haired boy said, smacking Lip Ring Boy upside the head. "I'm Ashton, that's Luke and the dark haired guy over there is Calum. It's nice to meet you Bennie."
"Nice to meet you too." I smiled at him before glancing at Michael. He was lifting his backpack onto his shoulders, finally ready.
I glanced at the clock. We had less than ten minutes to make it. "Ready?"
"Yup," he said. "See you guys at the apartment."
"Lucky duck, gets to finish his last week of training with her?" I heard Lip Ring Boy, Luke I guess, mumble as we left.
I rolled my eyes and walked briskly out of the cafeteria. This time, Michael was right in step with me. Neither of us wanted to be late.
"You didn't have to wait for me," he spoke up. "You didn't have to come get me."
"But I wanted to. Just be grateful I saved your ass from being fired."
"We could still be late," he said as we took the turn for the Splash Mountain door we had to use during park hours.
"Don't remind me." I glanced down at my watch and sucked in a breath. "We have four minutes Michael."
"Stop looking at your watch it'll only make it worse," he instructed.
We took the stairs two at a time once we reached the Splash Mountain area.
"Almost there," Michael assured me. Once we reached the top he opened the door for me and allowed me to go in first.
"There you guys are! Your first shift starts now!" Nathan said, a strained look masked his normally pleasant features.
Michael and I looked at each other. His eyes were widened, mouth slightly agape from the vigorous exercise. His hair all over the place now.
Without thinking, my hand reached up and moved a few strands back into place. His eyes trained on mine as I did so and his features softened after I stopped. My cheeks grew hot with embarrassment. What was I doing?
"Um hello? Is one of you gonna fucking go do your job?" Nathan said agitatedly.
I left my place and out the door. I went down the steps and replaced Marcy at the station. Placing a fake smile on to cover up my worry.

Hey, it's been a while. Thought I'd update cos why not. Enjoy. Unedited so don't judge.