Between Ties

1. Chang's Restaurant

Maverick's Point of View

I swear if old man Chang rings that stupid fucking bell one more-

The sound ringing in my ears as I flinched from it interrupting my thoughts.

I pulled the sharp pencil from behind my ear and then flipped around to face the front desk where he was standing so that I could yell at his annoying ass. "I fucking heard it the first time!"

"Then why you acting deaf, stupid bitch. I don't pay you to stand and daydream! Get your little ass moving to table three! They need a waiter and I pay you for that shit!" He said pointing a spatula at me as his tiny bald head twinkled from the down lights that hung from the ceiling of his Chinese restaurant. The warm tone of the lights and the red interior of this shit hole had set the mood for romance,

If you consider cheap food, the smell of socks, shitty candles, moderately dirty window booths and the occasional bug or two romantic...then fuck, Chang's 24 hour restaurant in the heart of New York City is the place to propose.

"You hardly fucking pay me at all!" I protested, cocking my head back before I placed my pencil in my mouth to push back my floppy dark hair with both hands. I pulled out my notebook from the front pocket of my black apron "But you're still here bitch boy!" I heard Chang yell as I walked away saying "Fuck you!" As the pencil was still stuck between my teeth while strolling towards table three...

A somewhat comfy window booth in the corner, it was quiet and gave you a view of the outside life as well as the people seated inside.

My booth,

Or at least the booth you'll always find me at from 2am until 3, during my break hour.

I breathed out heavily, holding my pencil and book in my hand as I tried to keep myself calm and get ready to communicate. Chang could make me promise to be calm and collected, but no way was I going to fucking fake smile at anyone,

that was pushing it.

I still don't know why I haven't gotten fired yet. I'm really shit at customer service, but fuck it I'm here, I got this job and I ain't going to question Chang's choices.

The booth was occupied by two drunk guys at 1am. The one was kinda buff and the other was skinny and lean.

"Her ass though man." The skinny one said as he bit his lip and closed his eyes for a moment as if he was remembering something pleasant. "Yeah it was fat! She was kinda cute too." The buff one added as I rolled my eyes approaching their table.

Great, this is going to be a long ass morning.

My expression was dead.

"Hey, I'm Maverick. What you guys wanna eat?" I asked dully as they stared at me. I felt a strand of my hair fall out of place while I cleaned my teeth with my tongue getting ready to write shit down.

The music was soft and mellow as it buzzed lightly like buzzing bee's around the room as the two of them scanned the menu.

"Yo, can I get a beer and the chicken chow mein." The buff one said and then the lean one ordered after "Yeah can I get a beer too, and dumplings, maybe some Peking duck. That would be great man." He nodded as I began to write down the order into my notebook,

and then like a flash of light had caught me I was pulled by a pink object in the corner of my eye, coming from the opposite side of the window.

Wavy glossy red hair dangling in the wind as she bent low to tie her pink bicycle to a pole. I glanced at her for a moment as she struggled,  causing me to narrow my eyes at how long she had taken to clip a bike lock.