"Er-" Carter shook where she stood. Florescent lights above gave her a headache, burning the back of her vision. The large assembly of angry faces impatiently waiting ahead didn't do much to help. It felt like her skull throbbed under their stares, and she struggled to recall the exact recipe the middle-aged man ahead of her provided.
As the cashier, customers would tell Carter which ingredients they wanted on their salad or sandwich. She would punch them into the computer, and after payment, the recipe is sent to the kitchen to be made.
"I didn't want tomatoes on my sandwich." The man with sharp blue eyes said sternly to Carter from the other side of the sneeze guard. There was a screen adjacent to Carters that showed everything she typed into the system for the customers convenience.
Looking down and removing 'tomatoes' as a listed ingredient, Carter attempted smile. "I didn't want honey mustard on it either. You have to start over, this all wrong." The man demanded without returning the friendly gesture.
This was Carter's third day working at Assembly Food, and first day working without a mentor. She was perfectly able to construct a recipe when Austin was helping but now, on her own, amidst the passive aggressive comments and angry murmurs, all the buttons ahead of her blurred together.
The man rolled his eyes, "This store really needs to change their system. If I had a self-service machine I would have been out of here five minutes ago!"
Self service machine? Carter thought at the man. Like your own two damn hands?
Letting out a deep breath, Carter removed 'honey mustard' from the recipe. "Is that everything?" She asked.
The man held unflinching eye contact. "I want pickles!" His voice raised another notch. Carter flinched and her throat began to tighten. She could feel her eyes burn, and suddenly she felt more rushed to push the man away. I'm not crying for you! She thought at him.
"That's seven oh-two, and will be about a ten minute wait." Carter said curtly, praying her direct demeanor masked the emotion the man was stirring in her.
"Ten minutes?" He scoffed.
"We have to cook your food, sir." She replied shortly, "It's made to order."
The man rolled his eyes, "This is fucking absurd." He said.
Carter shrugged. I can't control the speed to which meat cooks. She wanted to tell him. I'm not even working the grills!
"I'm not waiting ten minutes for a sandwich." The man said stubbornly. Behind him, the line only grew.
"What do you want me to do?" Carter snapped, "Throw shredded raw beef on a bun?"
A hand wrapped around Carter's bicep, and just as suddenly she was being yanked into the back of the store. "Why the fuck are you talking to a customer like that?" Austin asked.
"Because he's an ass." Carter said, folding her arms. The two stood next to a windowed stainless steel door that separated the kitchen from the rest of the store.
Esmeralda, a curvy girl with long hair, had taken over where Carter had stood. She couldn't make out the words, but it seemed like she was trying to calm the man down.
"Ass or not, you have to be patient." Austin said to Carter, "It's customer service, we're paid to be verbally abused by strangers."
Carter's eyes dropped to the grey tiled floor. How was she supposed to do this if every time someone yelled at her she wanted to cry? She was done shedding tears, she's wet her cheeks more than enough times in her life. Carter refused to express any more weakness or vulnerability- not alone and definitely not in front of strangers!
