Chapter Text
The coolness from the air conditioner feels like it's the only thing keeping you awake on this unforgiving Monday morning along with a lukewarm coffee sitting next to your computer, nothing could ever make you more tired than thinking about having to clock into another job after this one. The typing of keys will be replaced by the clinking of glasses and unwanted conversations will only become more frequent. There's no use in complaining if both jobs help you support yourself in one of the most expensive cities, you chose this.
“You have not lived until you’ve seen the astonishing beaches of Hawaii!” You can feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and only now are you fully awake, avoiding eye contact with the man you’ve gathered is the most annoying person on the planet, Josh Teitelbaum.
You can almost feel him grinning at everyone who passes him in the office though, you can’t see since you’re hiding behind your computer in an attempt to avoid being seen by him. As his footsteps seem to get more silent, the feeling of the devil before you fades you let your shoulders relax and start working on the article you’ve been assigned this week.
You take a sip of your now cold coffee and start to work in hopes of chipping down at the hours until your break. After a few minutes you hear a small creek from one of the old office chairs, it’s around this time that he always sits down. He always makes his rounds of kissing ass before he finally plops down to do his work or at least pretend to. He always talks to whoever seems less busy about whatever stupid shit his dad’s money bought him this week and right now it’s Hawaii. For today, you’ve made it your mission to look the busiest in the office and avoid all tropical topics around him so as to not provoke a conversation from him.
In the heat of your planning for the day you realize you’ve made a mistake. A mistake that can alter the rest of your shift here, you’ve stopped typing for a moment and just before you start up again it’s already too late.
“Hey, what’s up?” Turning his chair to face your desk and testing you with a tap of the shoulder.
It’s obvious that you now have two options, ignore him and have him seek your approval for the rest of the day or have an agonizingly long conversation right now.
You turn your chair, now facing him and his blazer that you can assume he had tailored just for him.
“Hi Josh.” You try to establish a chipper tone as you talk, hoping you don’t sound too passive/aggressive.
“Did you have a good weekend?” He asks, trying to be inconspicuous about the reason he’s started to talk to you. It only gives you one choice, give in and let him blabber about whatever rich person things he did in Hawaii this weekend.
“I did, I hung out with some friends.” You smile, taking a momentary pause before asking the dreaded question, “How was your weekend?” You ask, trying to act as if you don’t know what's coming next but it’s like watching the gates of hell open and suck you in.
“Oh, I had the most amazing weekend in Hawaii.” He says, waving his hands expressively as he goes on to explain and brag about all the rich people things he did over his marvelous weekend. Things that would take you months to save up for but he can do just because he feels like it.
Though he sits here and talks and talks just to hear himself, he seeks your engagement. Even if it means just nodding and an occasional ‘mhm’ here and there, he stops to see if you’re still looking. After a while he seems to have tired himself out, like a toddler. He ends his rant, now facing you fully.
“What did you do with your friends?” His curiosity shocks you for a second. It’s weird to you, being in the job you’re in you’ve around a few rich and famous people but you can’t recall any of them asking you a question about yourself beyond formalities.
You assumed that he’d just asked you about your weekend just so he could talk about himself and not seem rude but it seems now he’s trying to listen? This revelation doesn’t change anything, you know better than to let one nice gesture fool you, you’re not stupid. He’s still evil in your eyes. Rich, entitled evil.
“Me, my boyfriend, and some friends went out. We had dinner and bar hopped for a while.” You give a brief summary, trying to keep it quick so you can finish your work before you have to leave and clock into another annoying job.
“You have a boyfriend?” He tilts his head slightly and you can see his curious gears turn even faster now, “How long?”
What the hell is wrong with this guy? Why does he want to…know about your life? Who the hell raised him to be curious George?
“We’ve been dating for about two years now.” You reply, an unreadable tone behind your words.
“Going strong, eh?” He presses cheerfully.
“Yeah.” You turn back to your computer to avoid the conversation continuing.
There’s nothing left to talk about, why would he want to know about your personal life? The best thing you can do is keep it short and sweet. You know what they say, give a mouse a cookie and he’ll infiltrate your personal life.
It’s so weird the effect one question could have on the rest of your whole day. One question. A question from one arrogant snob.
“Going strong, eh?” The words taught you as you shovel down a mediocre salad in the break room and again once you sit back down at your desk.
Why would he say that? Yeah, you’re going strong. You totally are.
That’s what you tell yourself as you walk up to the apartment where you and your boyfriend reside. Putting on your waitress uniform while he sits on the couch, computer in lap.
“What have you been doing all day?” You twitter once you walk out of your bedroom, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge.
“I’ve been… working.” He mumbles and then talks louder, “If this is about the money, just give it a few more months and I’ll be making more money than you and that sales job.”
You take a second to respond, taking one last sip from the cold bottle and setting it down on the table.
“I’m a Journalist.” You snap, heading for the door. “I’m also a waitress because I’m the only one paying the bills here! Maybe you should take a page out of my book and get a fucking job!” Your words echo through the apartment along with the loud smack of the door, walking to work angry.
“This is just one day. This is just one angry outburst. You’re going strong. You’ll apologize when you get home.” You convince yourself it’s all okay, murmuring affirmations the entire commute to work.
You stay in thought while taking orders, seating guests, and going over the menu. Everything you can think of is just one stupid sentence but after a long time, you can forget for a while.
Sitting in the backroom of the restaurant, dozing off while the cooks prepare the tickets you put in, you can feel the lack of sleep hit you like a truck. Struggling to keep your eyes open you run your hands across your face, pushing yourself up from the stack of boxes you propped yourself up on and walking back out to tend to your section before your boss scolds you.
The air from the front area hits you as you walk back out and you plaster a smile across your face.
Trying to make the night pass quicker you deal with everyone quickly, getting everyone’s food out to them, taking all the disrespect without any push back, and keeping that same smile on your face. You only allow yourself small moments of quietness in the back so as to not start thinking and doze off.
You keep up speedy work and take the rushes of people coming in and for some reason all getting sat in your section. You don’t let yourself complain, you keep it quiet and quick.
Among those people you notice there’s one familiar face, it takes you a second to realize he’s there but as you place a plate of food down on someone's table you turn your head a bit once you hear a laugh you’ve only heard in the early hours of the day. It’s Josh.
You quickly walk back to the kitchen area, entering the small break room to let yourself breathe for a moment. You’re not freaking out because you're embarrassed, why should you be? You’re freaking out because he’s the last person you’d like to see here, especially after what he said to you this morning. Why out of all places did he decide that this is the place he wants to eat? With all the riches he could with all the diverse restaurants in New York, why this one? Why now, why during your shift? Why your section? It’s like he lives to appear everywhere and remind you how terrible your life is going.
You stand for a second longer, taking a deep breath and walking back out. “You just have to do this once, keep it quick. It’s going to be fine.” Is what you say to yourself before approaching them, welding your smile back onto your face and taking a deep breath.
“Hi, what can I get you today?” You ask for the fiftieth time today though this time you can feel yourself try and hide behind the tiny notebook you hold.
“Uh, I'll have the-..” Josh stops speaking for a moment, shocker. “Hey I know you!” He says enthusiastically. Yet again, he gives you no other choice but to acknowledge his existence.
“Hey Josh.” You try not to sound disappointed with the fact he recognized you so fast. He seems so carefree while you stand, waiting to take his order.
“So, what are you doing here?” He asks. Again with the questions, always with the questions.
“I work here.” You smile down at him, trying to be civil but fighting the internal conflict that is walking away and having someone else serve him or stay to see if he’ll leave a handsome tip.
“Yeah, of course. Dumb question.” He dismisses himself.
You can feel your head start to buzz as he starts to explain to his friends how he knows you from work and then telling them every personal detail he knows about you. While blabbers like always you think to yourself and start to comprehend that the one thing you didn’t want to happen just happened. You’ve given a mouse a cookie by having another job. You’ll never be able to get rid of him now, this mouse will take the cookie you’ve unknowingly given him and infiltrate your personal life. It’s over and right now as it stands, he probably considers you a friend.
“Did you get that?” He checks with you.
“Sorry, could you repeat that?” You return to Earth with a nervous laugh.