JADEN AND I

The Pennsylvania heat was unbearable and my place of work didn't help matters at all. Mr Marshall, the owner of the restaurant; 'Marshall's Food House' had refused to install an AC for his customers. We were left to melt away in the scourging heat.

Mr Marshall was a very stingy man. He never granted any of his workers a bonus, never promoted any of them, never gave us free lunches and especially never gifted presents during the holidays like other bosses I heard of. What Mr Marshall could do was rage on and scream at his staff whenever he found something he did not like.

I knew it was wicked for me, but I secretly wished that he would choke on a lemon or a pea or something. Being a restaurant owner, Mr Marshall was fat and loved the taste of food.

It was very important that I cleaned the restaurant before Mr. Marshall's arrival. If he found the restaurant not cleaned yet or he found me in the process of cleaning, he'd always make a fuss about it so I tried to be punctual.

After cleaning up the restaurant, I walked up to the door. The eating section of the restaurant was made of see-through glass. I turned the sign from 'closed' to a bold 'OPEN' before springing the door wide open.

Another day as a waitress in New York. I said to myself before returning to the kitchen. A few minutes later, I heard Mr Marshall's loud voice as he walked into the restaurant.

"Hello, Mr Marshall." I greeted with a smile when I walked into the kitchen and he ignored my existence.

"Meeting, meeting!" He called out, standing beside the kitchen table. Ryan was already there. I walked over to them and Drake entered shortly after.

"We have a little problem." He announced and our faces went down in a frown.

"What's wrong Mr Marshall?" I asked. I was the only woman in the room.

Mr Marshall paused for a while and exhaled deeply before proceeding,

"The restaurant inspector that came here the other day gave us a bad rating."

Oh, did he now? Well I wasn't surprised. There was no AC, just one waitress to attend to all the customers (I tried) and the seats and tables were worn out.

Gosh, I was really surprised that people still maintained their loyalty regardless of the terrible conditions of the restaurant.

"So what's gonna happen?" Ryan asked and we eagerly waited for his reply. It better not be what I was thinking.

"I'm afraid I'll have to reduce your salaries until the renovations are done."

"What?" So it was what I was thinking afterall.

"What do you mean 'reduce'? You pay us peanuts and now you want to reduce the salaries?" Ryan asked. He was clearly pissed.

I didn't blame him. Ryan, at thirty five years of age, was already a family man. He welcomed a beautiful baby girl sometime last year with his girlfriend.

Drake did not utter a single word but it was quite obvious that he wasn't happy either.

"Look, it's not my fault…" Mr Marshall said, in an attempt to defend himself.

"Who's fault is it then Mr Marshall?" Ryan yelled angrily, and we all looked at him in surprise. Yes he was outspoken and all, but Ryan never got angry.

Or at least we never saw him angry until now.

"Don't you raise your voice at me!" Mr Marshall warned, but he seemed a little scared of Ryan.

"Mr Marshall please…we can't afford a cut in our salaries." I pleaded. I really couldn't afford a decrease in my income.

"You know what? Fuck this, I'm done!" Ryan announced, taking off his apron.

"What?" Drake and I asked in unison.

"Ryan you are…"

"Let him go!" Mr Marshall interrupted me. "Jokes on him, because a decreased staff is just what I need anyways."

"Joke's on me? For peanuts you call salary?" Ryan asked, hysterically.

"You can take those peanuts, Mr Marshall...and shove it up your ass!"

He angrily threw the apron onto the floor.

I wanted to reason with him but he was right! And as much as I knew who Mr Marshall was, Ryan was simply putting him in his place.

Ryan walked away, banging the door behind him.

"You're gonna pay if that door breaks!" Mr Marshall yelled out.

"Jeanette." He called as he turned to face me. He looked at me for a while. Then he said: