Closing Time

51. (Part 2)

"Last call for the bar."

It's almost 11:30. Today had been a good day. There was a fiat amount of tips in the jar, and not many people left in the place as the clock inched towards midnight. My eyes roamed over the regulars left in the place. These last guys don't normally tip much, but whatever they do should hopefully be worth it.

I turned my eyes back to the stack of bills in front of me as I continued to tally them up. Another amazingly, boring night.

"Yo Ry, we're heading out." My head to the source of the voice. The two girls working as waiters were walking out of the kitchen.

"Sure. See you tomorrow, Sienna. See you tomorrow, Maya."

The two girls waved at me, one of them hiding a yawn with the other hand as they strode to the door. "Yay. Weekend." Maya mumbled to herself.

I chuckled to myself, turning back to the day's receipts. The date caught my eye. It rang a bell in the back of my head.

It's been 6 months to the day since I started working here. However, it was actually eight months to the day I'd left my job and my old life behind.

My eyes roamed over the place. The building was much more modern than where I used to work. The inside had however been dressed down to seem intentionally aged. The wood-panelled walls and floors were given an aged look, and vintage posters had been framed along to give a real nostalgic vibe. It was not a style I preferred, but the owners paid well. And let me stay here for free while they were gone.

It did mean I had to handle everything from finances to inventory, but I liked being busy. With all the time on my hand now, tasks like that were the only thing keeping me from going insane.

It did confuse me in the beginning as to why they trusted me- a stranger from out of town- with their establishment. I could only chalk it up to the grace or glory thing Lou and Mike once vaguely mentioned. I didn't know what it was, but if it kept people trusting me and not asking questions, I'm totally fine with it.

The kitchen door swung open again. "See you tomorrow, Ryleigh."

"Later, Henry." I looked up again, giving the brown-eyed, dark-skinned chef a smile.

He nodded, throwing a wave over his shoulder as he headed for the exit. Nice man. He'd started working here around the same time I had along with those two girls. Those two were quite close, best friends from what they'd told me. Sienna even came to me for high school advice a few days back. Ah, kids.

I waited till the last customer had left before closing up. The tables were wiped down, chairs flipped and placed on top, stools shoved in and register checked. Typing out my daily earnings report for the owners, I did a quick stretch and headed upstairs. Inventory was sorted for now when it came to the bar. Henry handled the kitchen supplies, but I need to do a grocery run for myself. Maybe I'll stop in for a haircut as well.

I paused by a mirror in the stairwell. My hair was blonde now, but most of the colour had faded and given me more of a platinum blonde colour. I missed the honey look, but this wasn't bad. I could keep it. Get a trim.

When the sun started rising I left the place to head to the gym, passing Henry on the way in. He yawned, waving at me as he unlocked the front door. I waved back at him, having stepped out the back door and walked around the building. I enjoyed the morning air here. Small towns had crisp morning air. Fresh breath, fresh feels, fresh air. It felt so good to be outside.

The gym was just opening up. The lady at the reception gave me a smile as I signed in. I smiled back, heading in. It was empty. Perfect. The grocery story being almost empty? Perfect.