Archive of Our Own

Luz sighed to herself, propping up her feet on the empty freezer rack in the deep freeze and letting the arctic blast cool the sweat that had been dripping down the back of her neck into her white collared shirt. The very back of the deep freeze, where it was coldest, had been cleared out specifically for this purpose. Eda knew they all came back here for breaks, especially whoever ended up with the hell area that was the patio in Summer.  

It was almost seven-thirty in the evening but outside the summer heat wouldn’t go anywhere until the sun disappeared completely behind the horizon. The restaurant was cool but she had pulled the short straw today and the scorching hot patio area was part of her territory today. Her co-workers had all shared sighs of relief, even if Hunter patted her on the back in sympathy. It could be so hot that the chairs would start to bend and warp when people sat in them but still, people would request to be seated outside. 

Where they and their food would get a good extra baking. 

She didn’t even mind if they wanted to be masochists and sit in the scorching July sun to have their hot soup. What bothered her was when they came into the restaurant from outside, knowing how hot it was, and then would request to be seated outside and then have the gall to complain about how hot it was. Like she could make it cooler outside!

Luz never knew what exactly to say to that. She could think of a few things she wanted to say and, if it got bad enough, a quick retrieval of the manager/owner ensured Eda would say them for her. 

She let out a breath, watching the cloud of chilled air dissipate. The deep freeze was good at cooling her off but after running around on the patio in a long-sleeve shirt and dress pants, sweating, it cooled her wet skin to beyond chilliness. 

“I don’t wanna go back out there…” Gus grumbled from the floor beside her, making her chuckle. 

“Me neither but the food won't cook and serve itself,” she reminded, looking down at him. 

He made a face and reluctantly sat up. “We’ve been here all day…,” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes. 

“I know, I finally saw a help wanted sign sitting on Eda’s desk today though.” She nudged him with her foot.

“You think we’re finally gonna get some more help?”

“One can hope.” 

“Alright,” he sighed and stood, popping his back. “Back to it,” he grumbled and trudged out of the deep freeze.  

She glanced at her phone and knew she was going to have to go back out there in a couple of minutes. The dinner rush was in full swing after all. She was, in a word, exhausted. How long exactly had she been here today? She glanced at her phone again and did some quick math.

Going on ten hours now since she had gotten in before opening to help with prep. At least all her hard work was worth something if the fact that Eda had been hinting at making her manager was anything to go by. Friday nights were the best tip nights too, especially with the movie theater being just across the street. The Owl’s Nest was a popular date night hotspot. 

At least the ad in the Gravesfield inquirer had said last week, giving them a giant bump in business that they had barely been coping with. Eda had been pretty reluctant to hire more help but they were all getting worked to death and the ‘Owl Lady’ was about to break. They were swamped on the weekends. That sign on her desk this morning had been the light at the end of the tunnel that Luz had been waiting for. 

She wasn’t there yet though and really needed to get back to work. 

She took a steadying breath and stood up, stretching her cold stiffened muscles, and exited the deep freeze out into the refrigeration unit and then out into the restaurant. The kitchen was hot and steaming. It nearly gave her whiplash as the hot air hit her face.

“Your tables are waiting on you,” Hunter called to her from his place at the grill. Flame jumped up as he flipped over a steak. 

“Right, right.” She nodded as she grabbed her tray and hurried back out to the front. At least the dining area was cool. “Hey, Vee, I’m back from break, I can take tables again… please tell me no one wants to be seated on the patio,” she mumbled, making the hostess giggle.

“No, not right now but we do have a reservation out there in like, an hour.”

Luz nodded. By then, the sun would have sunk behind the buildings around them, throwing the patio into a cool shade. She could deal with that. 

For now, she had five tables all waiting on her and she straightened her shoulders and plastered a smile she didn’t really feel today on her face before heading out into the fray.

She considered it an easy day at least when no one had asked for a manager all day. Played in no small part to the fact that it was Hunter heading the kitchen today and not Mattholomule. It was very rarely Luz’s fault when an order was wrong and never when it took too long but she was the one getting the brunt of it. She and the other wait staff members. Something Hunter knew well, having been a waiter before and he was very careful of his head kitchen duties on the days he was on.

And even the ones he wasn’t. More fights happened in the kitchen between him and Matt than anything else. Eda made sure to arrange the schedule so the two were rarely in the kitchen on the same days.

You could always tell what days they were by the muffled yelling that would drift out into the restaurant anytime the kitchen door swung open.

It was the highlight of some of Luz’s shifts to walk by the kitchen doors and hear her brother’s growling voice. 

“Does that look medium-well to you!? That cow just mooed at me!”  

It was the little things that brought her joy on some shifts. That and watching with the whole staff as Eda tongue lashed any truly unruly customers. 

An hour later, things had quieted down as the dinner rush slowed to a trickle. There were still a number of tables in the dining room and she was just finishing cashing out a table when she looked up to see Vee motioning to her and pointing out toward the patio. A young woman was sitting at one of the patio tables, looking at a menu and she gave a subtle nod.

“Thank you for coming, have a good night!” Luz smiled at the table, who echoed the sentiment back to her before she walked over to the hostess stand. “Is that the reservation?” she asked and Vee nodded.

“Actually, Skara set up the reservation.” 

“Skara did?” Luz blinked at the mention of their other hostess and Vee nodded. 

“She even left a little note in the book.” She spun it around to show Luz. ‘ New friend in town, I set her up on a blind date. Treat her well.’ 

“For Skara, I can do that.” Luz smiled and ran a hand through her hair and left Vee standing at the hostess’ podium as she walked through the doors leading out to the patio. The woman looked to be about her age and her hair was dyed a vivid lilac color. That seemed on par for a friend of Skara’s. 

“Good evening. My name’s Luz and I'll be your server this evening. Can I get you something to drink?”

The woman looked up and Luz was momentarily stunned by the amber shade of her eyes but quickly gave herself a mental shake. 

“Hi, just water for now, I’m waiting on someone.” She smiled and Luz nodded.

“Sure, I’ll be right back.” She hurried back into the restaurant and was quick to bring the water before hurrying off to check on the few tables she still had inside. 

A new group of four had been sat in her section and were looking over the menu. Luz already had a bad feeling about the table as the two kids, maybe nine and ten if she had to guess, were already ripping open sugar packets and flinging the contents at each other while who she could only assume were their parents, sat there, looking at the menus and not paying them any mind whatsoever. Luz took a deep breath as she approached. She’d long developed a sixth sense about these things.

“Hi, welcome to The Owl’s Nest. I’m Luz. Ca-” 

“I want a glass of cabernet. He’ll have a scotch on the rocks and water for them.” She pointed to the kids, cutting Luz off. She hated that she had to ask the next question.

“Okay, can I see your ID?” The man let out an annoyed rumble but dug for it, which Luz was used to. Unfortunately, she was also used to the woman’s response as she turned to her, frowning fiercely.

“Can you not tell that we’re old enough?” she practically spat. 

“I have to ask everyone ma’am,” was her simple response. The woman scowled as she violently dug through her purse. Luz checked the man’s and nodded, handing it back. Finally, she was handed the woman’s ID and checked the date before handing it back, where it was summarily snapped out of her hand. “I’ll be right back with those drinks.” She slapped a smile on her face and popped over to the bar where Eda was on duty that evening. “Hey, boss, cabernet and a scotch on the rocks for table eight.” 

Eda glanced over at the table and was quick to notice the kids making a mess. “You good?” she asked and Luz nodded. 

“I can handle it.” 

Eda just nodded and set to quickly pouring the drinks. Luz didn’t waste any time taking them back. The sooner she could get this table fed and out of here, the better.

She should have known better.

“Here you are.” She sat the four drinks on the table. “Do you need a couple of minutes or are you ready to order?” 

“We only just got here, of course we need a minute,” she bit out and Luz just smiled. It was so practiced at this point she could probably pull it off at a funeral. 

“Take your time, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She turned and tried not to speed walk away too fast as she checked on her two remaining tables and smiled reassuringly at Eda as she passed by. Giving her best ‘everything is fine’ look. She made a quick round through the kitchen, checking on an order, that Hunter slid to her in perfect time. Once it was delivered to a very happy and polite table, she peeked outside. 

“Still okay out here?” she asked and the lilac-haired woman looked up from her phone and nodded. 

“Yes, I’m okay for now, thank you.” She smiled and Luz nodded, smiling back. She couldn’t help but stare back at those eyes again. They were quite captivating. She was really pretty herself, actually. She didn’t have time to gawk at pretty customers though. She stepped back inside and frowned. It had been at least fifteen minutes but the woman was still sitting by herself, Luz wondered if she should text Skara. She moved over to the hostess stand to talk to Vee, but she, unfortunately, didn’t have time before she happened to look up and catch the eye of the terrible woman, who noticed Luz looking back and raised her hand

And started snapping her fingers. 

Luz’s stride stalled. 

The woman was snapping her fingers at her like she was a dog. Vee, who had been looking too, looked just as stunned, eyes wide. 

Her eyes flickered to Eda, whose eagle-like gaze didn’t miss anything, before turning to Luz. a silent question in her eyes. ‘Do I need to handle this?’ 

She took a deep breath and muttered to Vee as she went by. “Text Skara and tell her her friend’s date still hasn’t shown up.” 

Vee nodded and Luz gave Eda a subtle, silent sign that she was good as she walked over.

“Yes, ma’am, are you ready?”  

“Finally. Yes. I want the new york strip, medium…”

Luz just nodded along as she took their orders, itching to get away from the table. 

“Okay, I’ll go put this in and be back.” She didn’t wait one second longer than necessary before turning and hurrying back to the kitchen. Hunter looked up at her as she stepped inside and slapped the ticket down. “If you love me at all you will make sure this order is perfect.” She stressed and the kitchen staff looked up at that.

“What’s the matter?” Viney looked up from where she was chopping up a potato.

“It’s one of those tables. She was out there snapping her fingers at me.” Luz grunted and her brother frowned. “If her food is wrong in any way shape or form, I’m gonna know about it immediately.”

“No worries, Luz.” Viney gave her a thumbs up and Hunter nodded, looking over the order. 

“The sooner we get them out of here, the better,” he said before calling out the order. Gus over on the grill got to it with a salute of his spatula. 

“Thank you!” She called before walking back out into the dining room, very intentionally avoiding that table and cashing out her two remaining tables before looking up to see the woman on the patio on the phone. She was nodding before hanging up. The frown on her face was apparent to Luz even from here and once she picked up the menu, she knew.

Stood up.

That sucked big time, she’d had her share of those too. 

She took her time walking over as she perused the menu but she looked up as Luz stepped outside.

“I guess I’m going to go ahead and order now, I'm not waiting anymore…,” she mumbled and Luz nodded.

“Not coming eh?” 

Her head jerked up, frowning and Luz hurried to amend.

“I know Skara pretty well. She left a note on the reservation about a new friend on a blind date…” 

The woman continued to frown but nodded. “Yeah, she’s not coming, but I still need to have dinner… I’ve never been here before…”

“Do you know what you’d like or could I make a suggestion?” Luz offered with a lilt of a question. 

“Um, sure. What do you suggest?” She tilted her head, lilac hair falling across her eyes. She pushed it back behind her ear as she looked up at Luz, whose mouth went strangely dry at the action. But she rallied quickly.

“Personally, the chicken and waffles are pretty im- peck -able, I think.” She grinned and the woman blinked, brows furrowed in confusion. “I tried something. It didn’t work, sorry.” She scratched the back of her head.

The woman chuckled quietly, grinning now and Luz’s stomach did a sudden flip.

“Never hurts to try.” She smiled up at Luz. “That sounds good.” She nodded and Luz jotted it down. 

“I’ll put this in and be back to check on you in a few minutes.” She said and the woman nodded before she trotted back inside, smiling to herself. 

The restaurant was slowly but surely emptying as the minutes ticked by. Only a handful of tables remained. She only had two herself. The terrible woman and her family and Skara’s friend. The former she could hear from clear across the restaurant as the two kids were screaming at each other. She could see Eda getting more annoyed by the moment. 

Other tables were eyeing them too but the couple didn’t so much as blink. 

She started cleaning some stuff up while she waited on their food. She couldn’t help herself though and glanced up on occasion to look out the windows to the patio as piled plates on a tray. Skara’s friend was staring out at the city, the sun had sunk behind the buildings and cast bright orange light across the sky. Tints of blue and black slowly but surely seeped in. She had her chin in her hand as she stared out at the sky. 

The sunset light in her lilac hair was very pretty. 

About the third time she looked over, her gaze locked with amber and she jerked, realizing the woman was looking back at her. She felt her whole face going red before she spun around and rushed into the kitchen. 

The hot room made a good excuse for her hot face as she dumped everything in the dish pit. 

“Your order is up, Luz!” Hunter called, pushing one plate of chicken and waffles across the bar. “The four top will be just one more minute.” She nodded and took the plate, steeling herself before moving out onto the patio where the woman was waiting.

“Here we go, chicken and waffles for the lovely lady.” She beamed on the outside but inside, slapped herself. ‘Why did you say that??’ 

She seemed just as surprised but didn’t comment on it, just blinked in surprise and were her ears slightly red, or was it the light of the setting sun playing tricks on Luz? She pushed her hair out of her face

“Thank you…”

“Can I get you anything else?” Luz held her tray under her arm.

“No… I’m good. Thank you, Luz.” 

A shiver went up Luz’s spine at the sound of her name coming out of the woman's mouth. She tried hard to ignore that and nodded before turning and going back inside. She moved over to the computer and printed out the ticket.

“Hey Vee,” she whispered as she passed by the hostess stand. “Comp Skara’s friend’s meal. Put it on me.” She handed Vee the ticket, who smiled knowingly at her. Luz ignored the look as she headed back to the kitchen. Hopefully, to get the worst part of her night over with already.  

“Order up, Luz,” Hunter called as she popped her head back into the kitchen and pushed four plates across the counter.

“Thanks!”  She grabbed them up and hurried out into the dining room to her least favorite table of the night. The mess across the table had now extended to the ketchup and hot sauce bottles on top of the piles of sugar. 

“Finally!” The woman huffed as Luz approached the table. “We’ve been waiting for thirty minutes!” She scowled and Luz carefully kept to herself that it has only been about fifteen at best. 

“Sorry for the wait. It’s Friday night and we’re a little shot-staf-”

“It’s Friday night and you should know that people will be here,” she cut Luz off. Luz felt her jaw twitch as she set the plates down. 

“Here you go,” she smiled and to most people, it probably looked fine. Vee and Eda watching from the bar and host stand could see the subtle twitch in it. “Careful, the plates are hot.”

“Do I look stupid to you?” the woman asked suddenly, looking up at Luz with a scowl. She didn’t know what to say to that at first but quickly recovered. 

“No, Ma’am, it’s just a general warning we give.” 

The woman didn’t even acknowledge her, just shoved her empty wine glass at her without a word. The man also held up his empty glass. Luz took them and without a word moved over to the bar and sat them on the counter in front of Eda.

“You sure you’re okay kid?” her boss asked, having been watching the entire interaction. After going on eleven hours, she could see Luz starting to crack.

“It’s fine. I can do it,” she assured. 

“I’m not saying you can’t, but it's been a long day and that table is…”

“I just need to get them fed and out of here.” She smiled but it was not as convincing as she had hoped it would be. Eda didn’t argue with her though. She just filled the glass’ back up and Luz hurried back to the table.

“Here you are, Ma-” She didn’t even get a chance to finish the sentence before the woman was turning to look at her all baleful fire. 

“Does this look medium to you!?” She gestured to her steak.

Yes. Yes it did. Gus had probably never cooked a more perfect medium steak in all his life. Luz had worked in food long enough to know and her patience was finally running on a trickle.

“Yes Ma’am, it does but if it’s not to your liking we can-”

“Are you blind?!” she all but screeched. “Take it back!” She roughly shoved the hot plate at Luz. It cracked against the drinks still in her hands, spilling red wine and scotch all across her shirt as the plate fell to the floor, smashing into pieces and drawing the entire restaurant's attention. Some food splashed back, hitting the woman’s legs and you would have thought she’d been shot with the way she screamed.  “You have to be the most incompetent waitress I’ve ever seen! Can you do anything right?! I want to talk to the manager!”  

Luz stood there, shoes covered in food and shirt stained bloody red and dripping onto her pants and the floor. She looked like she’d just been stabbed as the woman continued to yell at her, her kids screaming in the background and the husband looked angrier and angrier.

Luz could feel herself fracturing by the second when a hand on her shoulder grounded her back into reality. She glanced up at Eda, standing behind her and looking not happy at all.

“I’m the owner.” She gave Luz a gentle shove. A clear and silent command.

‘Go in the back ’ 

Without a word, she walked quickly into the back, barely holding it together and trying not to cry.  Frustration boiled up beneath her skin like steam with no place to go, burning her with every second it didn’t find release. 

“Whoa! What happened to you?” Gus was the first to notice her. 

“Not right now…” Was all she could get out before disappearing into the deep freeze.

She took a deep breath of frigid air letting the cold work its way in, calming her frazzled nerves and ease the stinging behind her eyes. 

Normally she didn’t get so upset, she knew how people could be but at the end of eleven hours on her feet, Luz was at the end of her rope. She stood there for at least fifteen minutes before she finally felt leveled again and stood.

When she peeked back out of the deep freeze, Hunter and Gus were nowhere to be found but Viney looked up from where she was cleaning the grill. She set the rag down and walked over.

“Hey, you okay?” she asked gently, resting a hand on her shoulder. 

“Yeah, I’ll be okay. Where are the guys?” she asked, looking around and Viney smirked. 

“They were helping Eda throw out that table of yours. She told them to leave and they thought they were going to get uppity… with the Owl Lady? Can you believe that?” Viney snorted.

Luz could believe it. It was a very bad idea but she could believe it. 

It was then that the woman herself appeared with Hunter and Gus and spotted Luz.

“Hey, you okay, kid?” she asked and Luz nodded, running a hand through her hair. She was sure she looked like a mess at the moment, covered in food and her shirt probably stained beyond repair with red wine. Eda was nonplussed. “I’ll take care of your last tables. Go collect your tips and get out of here.” 

“But I still have silverware to roll and…” she started but her boss held up a hand.

“Nope, we got it. It's been a long week, you’ve been every day just as long as I have almost. I don’t wanna see you till noon tomorrow and after that, we need to have a talk about that manager spot I’ve been meaning to fill.” She smirked and behind her, the kitchen staff gave her thumbs up.

“I… okay,” was all she could manage before Eda was shoving her out of the kitchen. She glanced over and sure enough, the table was empty now, Matt was cleaning it off as she moved to the register and started cashing out her tips from cards.

Took about five minutes and then she was heading out the front door. Her whole body felt heavy as she trudged toward her car. It was dark now and the parking lot was mostly empty save the familiar cars of her coworkers and a stray customer or two.

“What a day…,” she sighed, pulling out her keys. 

“Hey.. hey Luz!” 

She jerked to a stop at the call and turned. 

Skara’s friend was walking toward her in the parking lot. 

“Oh… hey, was something wrong? I just clocked out but I can get the owner if…”

‘Oh, no, no, nothing is wrong!” She shook her hands. "I just… I wanted to thank you. I went to pay and the hostess said you took care of it."

"Oh, well… " Luz ran a hand through her hair. 'damnit Vee!' “It was no big deal.”

"It was to me. I just moved to town for work last week and things have been a mess and Skara was just trying to help but then whoever she set me up with didn’t show and… I was feeling kind of low, honestly. My interactions with you tonight have probably been the best I’ve had all week,” she admitted, toying with her fingers as she stood in front of Luz.

Luz wasn’t sure what to say to that. 

“I also saw what happened in there...” She nodded to the restaurant and Luz grimaced. “And decided I had to let you know how much I appreciated your kindness…” She took a few steps closer and held up her hand. Luz blinked and held hers up. The woman slipped something into her hand with a smile. 

Her skin was soft and warm.

“Have a good night, Luz.” She turned and hurried away to a nice black car. Luz could only watch her get in before glancing down at her open palm and the hundred-dollar bill sitting in it, staring back at her.

Her eyes were the size of dinner plates.

“Hey-!”

The car was already pulling away. 

“I didn’t even get her name…” Luz frowned as the car pulled out into the street and drove away. “I think I just missed my chance…” She frowned and pocketed the cash before climbing into her car. 

~ ~ ~

The Owl’s Nest was closed on Sunday mornings but the sound of blaring music wafted through the place as its employees performed the normal weekly deep cleaning. 

“Well well, if it isn’t our new manager!” Viney called as Luz stepped out of Eda’s office, keys jingling from her belt. 

Luz just smiled sheepishly as the rest of the kitchen staff stopped their scrubbing to hoot and holler at her. Her white server shirt had been replaced with a black one and the tag now read ‘Manager’.

“Everyone beware, Luz can hire and fire now! Best be on your best behavior!” Viney called and there was a round of laughter through the restaurant. 

“I'm not firing anyone,” she laughed. 

“But you can, right?” Hunter asked.

“I mean, I guess. Eda said I have pretty much all the same power she does… but I’m not firing anyone!”

“But you caaaan,” He stressed, jerking his head toward Matt.

“I’m not firing Matt.” She smiled at him before walking out of the kitchen toward the front. She could hear Skara at the hostess stand, chatting away to someone and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. Skara was an excellent hostess because she was very friendly and chatty. That last part often had its drawbacks though. Skara could distract customers and staff alike at the busiest times of day. 

“Hey, whatcha doin?” She peeked around the corner and blinked as two pairs of eyes turned to look at her. Skara’s gray and familiar, glittering amber.

“Oh! If it isn’t the new manager!” Skara smirked. “Congrats, Luz.”

“Ah, thanks.” 

“I also, I have to thank you for taking care of my girl here.” She reached out and patted the other woman's back. 

“Oh, I mean, I didn’t…” Luz started.

“You’re single aren’t you?” Skara asked her suddenly and Luz blinked.

“Skara!” The woman hissed.

“What?” Skara laughed. 

“I mean… yeah… but we weren’t ever really introduced.” Luz smiled shyly and Amity looked like a deer in headlights. Skara scoffed at that.

“No doubt. This is Amity. Amity Blight. This is Luz Noceda.” She made the introductions for them. 

“Nice to actually meet you.” Luz smiled and Amity nodded jerkily. 

“Likewise…” 

“You grew up in town right, Luz? Maybe you could show Amity around sometime?” She smiled slyly like the other two women didn’t know exactly what she was doing.

“I wouldn’t mind, if she wanted.” Luz smiled and Amity only continued to look more frazzled. Skara looked about ready to answer for her but Luz beat her to it. “I came up here to tell you that they need you in the kitchen.” She looked at Skara who pursed her lips but glanced at Luz's new badge before sighing dramatically.

“Fine, you’re the boss lady now. I’ll be right back, Ams.” Skara smiled before walking away. Once Luz was sure she was gone, she turned back to the nervous-looking woman.

“You obviously don’t have to do that. Skara is just pushy…” 

“So I noticed,” she mumbled. “I could use someone to show me around town some afternoon or evening…” 

“I definitely owe you after the other night…” Luz started and Amity frowned, finally really looking at her directly. 

“You don’t owe me anything, Luz. That was just my way of showing appreciation for you being so kind to me… even if you were just doing your job…” 

“Well… giving free food to pretty women is kind of the opposite of what my job is,” she laughed and Amity’s face started to color at the word ‘pretty’. “I was just happy to help cheer ya up…” It grew quiet as Luz tried to screw her courage to the sticking place and just ask her out. They were definitely just beating about it.

“Would you…”

“Would you like to go out sometime?” Amity suddenly said, cutting off Luz, who blinked back at her wide-eyed and mouth still open mid-sentence. 

“Oh… you beat me to it,” she laughed.

“I wanted to ask the other night but… you were working and I didn’t want to be one of those people…” 

“Ah, right, well, I’m not working now… sort of… I’d like to show you around town sometime… Are you busy tonight?” she asked and Amity smiled, shaking her head.

They exchanged numbers and after seeing Skara and the rest of the kitchen staff watching through the open kitchen door, she decided she needed to get back to work.

“I gotta get back to work…”

“Right, I’ll see you tonight?” she asked and Luz nodded. “Bye Skara!” Amity waved as she turned and left the restaurant. Luz couldn’t help but watch her go. 

Loud whistling from the kitchen started before Amity was even out the door and Luz felt her whole face turning blood red. 

“I might fire someone!” She turned and yelled. Her friends and coworkers screeched and grunted as they rushed to get back to work. 

Luz looked down at her phone and the new contact and smiled to herself.