Match

60: Talk And Play

Cole sits outside on his brief break. He's thankful the usual influx of people entering the restaurant has been quiet. Nearby, he catches a pungent whiff of cigarette smoke for a second. He's not the only one outside; one of the waiters is taking a smoke break. To avert his nostrils from the smell, he sits a bit further back, away from the "pathway". The smell reminds him of two things - one of his old friends in high school who would sneak weed into class to trade with other classmates, and he'd reek of the skunk odour. The other is a reminder with a melancholic feel, the cigarette box from his dad, situated in a safe box at his mom's house that he consistently begged his mom to keep.

    To distract his mind, he decides to pull out his phone and text Jonah. He might be working right now, he thinks. Regardless, he types away by starting off with a simple 'hows it going?'.

    "Hey."

    Cole flinches, then hears a small laugh.

    "Sorry, did I scare you?"

    He looks up and sees it's Jenna.

    "Oh, uh," he tries to reserve the outward scare by laughing as well. "I'm fine."

    "Mind the company?"

    Cole shakes his head, shoving his phone back in his pocket. He moves to the side for some room. Jenna leans against the building. The only noise is from the cars whizzing by on the highway. He's not sure if he should talk to Jenna to remove the awkwardness. He's only known her for a month, but compared to other co-workers, he finds her easier to be around. As his eyes dance about, he sees a car park in a parking spot. He knows as soon as the person exiting that car walks in the restaurant, the manager is going to call everybody back in.

    "So, how's it going?"

    Cole blinks, then realizes it's Jenna again. He retains his composure, shrugging somewhat.

    "Better than most days," he says. "Uh, what about you?"

    She purses her lips together, digging her hands in the apron pockets. "It's going good, going good."

    He can already feel the awkward air come rolling back in, until Jenna "pushes" it further away.

    "How long have you been working here for?"

    "Long enough," he says in a half joke.

    Jenna snickers. "Yikes dude."

    Both of them turn around when they see the staff door close. It was only the waiter who was smoking. Jenna then looks around, seeing as it's only the two of them out here.

    "Man some of the co-workers here know how to be killjoys."

    Cole cracks a smirk. "You figure that out within the first week."

    "Remember the customer who wore a suit? The new guy I went and served."

    "Huh? Oh yeah him."

    "I cannot believe the amount of gossip that came from that!"

    He chuckles. "They were gabbing on 'cause they wanted to be his server. The drama changes every week though, don't worry."

    Jenna then raises her hands up high. "It's literally just a customer. Some of 'em need to keep their yappers shut."

    "If only, but a lot of them think they have the moral high ground."

    She then points up with an index finger. "Because they've worked here the longest?"

    "Yyyyup."