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Working as a waiter was simple enough, right?
Talk to the customer, ask what they want, ring it up, then serve them! Easy!
Well not for Lewis.
He’s been shy to talk to others since the end of elementary school, much preferring to do his other job, dishwasher duty, or help one of his parents in the kitchen with orders. While the other patrons are usually very understanding and tell him what they want whenever he signals it, mostly by a nod of the head, he always feels bad that other people have to change their behavior thanks to his social anxiety. He can’t even talk to— “Hey, lew? Isn’t that that boy you like?” His dad asked, motioning to the front door that has just opened with a ding to a girl that wore bright cyan all over, Vivi, and a boy with blond hair, Arthur, that’s the boy he struggles to talk to.
Lewis started to blush a deep red and hid behind his father, even though thanks his stature, he was still very visible. Mr. Pepper sighed softly, “well Lewis, we still need you to wait tables, why don’t you go and get their orders?” it was more of an assignment then a request, as Lewis nervously fixed his mullet and uniform, he started to leave the kitchen with a notepad and pencil and then went over to their table to get their orders. Once he was ready he gave them a nod “I’ll just have a vanilla latte!” Vivi said. He then wrote that down and visibly got even more nervous, blushing as he quickly nodded showing that he was ready.
“Hm…” Arthur seemed to think for a second, Lewis thought Arthur’s thinking face was cute, in fact he thought everything about Arthur was cute… but there was absolutely no way he could talk to Arthur. Arthur then gave Lewis the smile that he grew to swoon over “surprise me!” Lewis then beamed as he nodded and went back to the kitchen to ring up the order, and went to start on the surprise order, it was like their own little routine, Arthur would come in with Vivi, they would order, and Lewis would make whatever his heart desired to surprise the blond.
He started to struggle with ideas, would he do a hamster? Arthur talked about his hamster Galahad once! …No, it would be creepy to remember something so long ago… Maybe an alpaca? …no, he wants it to be more special. Until he got an idea and started cooking, he’ll make a special donut! The diner had mostly spicy foods on their menu, some of which are above Arthur’s spice range and many of which left his throat uncomfortable. So he could make a nice, no spice, double chocolate donut, a secret menu item just for him! As he started to mix up the dough, his sisters started getting more and more curious.
The more intrigued they got, the more they started to pester him about it “What’s that you’re making, Lewis?” Paprika piped up “It’s gonna be a donut!” He made sure to raise his voice just enough so that she could hear him then Cayanne spoke “you’re not putting any spice in it? At all?!” Then Belle weaseled her way into the conversation “It’s probably for the boy that can never deal with the menu foods!” Lewis pouted at how she put her words “He can deal with them,” Lewis started talking “They just made him uncomfortable!” “And only you would know that, big bro” Cayanne snickered.
However by the time he finished talking with his siblings, the raw dough was already halfway cooked in the oil. “Alright, alright.” Lewis and his sisters quickly turned their heads to see where the voice was coming from, seeing the velvet haired woman that was their mother “Now leave your brother alone, girls, he’s busy.” Mrs. Pepper said, and once all of the girls left to do their respective duties, Lewis shot her a thankful smile, and she sent a knowing smile back to him and went on with her work. While he was distracted he noticed that the donut was done, and so he took it out of the oil, put on some chocolate glaze, and plated it. “Vanilla latte!” Mr. Pepper chimed in, quickly put the drink on the plateer as he walked by to take another order.
Lewis put his creation next to the vanilla latte and picked up the platter, opening the door and briskly bee lining towards Arthur and Vivi. “Ah! Thank you!” Vivi beamed as Lewis gave her the latte “Thanks, man!” Arthur said as he was given his donut. Lewis nodded to both of them, and walked back into the kitchen, Immediately letting out his nerves the moment the doors closed, then walked towards the sink to start washing dishes. While of course Lewis was going to confess as soon as he was ready, he just needed more time to figure out the right words, for now however…
He started to hear Arthur gush. “Oh— this donut is really good actually!”
This is enough for him.