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"Order up!" Big Ben called from the kitchen. Joyce scurried to the window to pick up the burger and fries. She passed Benny Jr. in transit and he ducked out of her way. After working together several months they moved around each other with a learned ease. For the first couple of weeks they learned through banging into each other, both focused on their own paths and tasks. Now they dipped around each other like some sort of dance. Benny moved past her quite often with a hand on her lower back or her shoulder, an unspoken warning he was moving behind her. Those touches became a part of the norm. She never gave any of it much thought.
Benny moved to an empty table, gathering up empty dishes before pocketing the tip money, another fistful of change, and wiping the table down. When he leaned up from the task he nearly collided with her. "Sorry honey." He said, wheeling around to steady her on her feet. "Thanks babe." She commented before carrying on with her task. Mr. and Mrs. Hopper were among her favorite customers. They always ordered a single milkshake with their meal and shared it, a ritual she hoped to start with a sweetheart of her own one day. She watched the couple hold hands and felt a glimmer of jealousy.
"Mr. Hopper, Mrs Hopper! How are you today?" She asked with a sincere smile. Jim sat opposite them with a scowl. "Hey Hop." She added, flashing him a smile too. Jim had acted particularly cold to her during his last few visits to the diner and she couldn't figure out why. He warmed up a little bit to her at school, but was ice cold anytime he was near the diner. Joyce took their orders swiftly, scribbling notes in shorthand on her pad. They always ordered the same thing. "Alrighty. Big Ben will have it right up for you!" She said, flashing the three another smile. Benny brushed by her with their drinks balanced on a tray. "You're a lifesaver, Benny." He flashed her, and the Hoppers, a smile as he unloaded their drinks and turned away, headed back towards the kitchen.
Mr. Hopper caught Joyce's attention. "You know half the fun of eating here is watching you and Benny Jr. flirting. I don't see why you guys don't just date already."
"You'd make an adorable couple." Mrs. Hopper chimed in. Joyce's ears turned red immediately. Flirting? She doesn't flirt with Benny. From the corner of her eye she saw Jim sink down in his seat.
"Me and Benny? Nah." She teased with Mrs. Hopper.
Mrs. Hopper smiled. "I always sort of hoped you'd show an interest in my Jim, here. You've always been such a sweet girl to us."
Jim sank further down into his seat, his features stormy. Joyce smiled sweetly at the three of them. "Jim stays too busy for lil ol me!" She teased. He was too busy chasing cheerleaders to worry about her.
.
The Hoppers ended up being the last diners at the end of the day. Jim glowered in the corner of the booth, meticulously shredding napkins and depositing the strips onto his empty plate.
Joyce finished cleaning her last table and threw herself into Benny's arms. His big chest was always warm and inviting and more often than not at the end of their shifts she'd fall into him, wrapping her arms around his middle. Their hug at the end of the day was like a celebratory gift for the both of them. They did it. They survived another day. "You smell like french fries." She teased. Her face buried in his apron. "Don't I always?"
"Hey Jim!" He called over her shoulder. "You still going with us to the drive in tomorrow?"
"Got a hot date with Chrissy." He said and Joyce turned in Benny's embrace, leaning back against his chest, arms folded over her uniform. "You're skipping out on us for Kissy Chrissy?" Jim's mother scoffed at the nickname.
"Jim, that girl has a bad reputation. I'd much rather see you go with Joyce and Benny."
"And be third wheel?" He groaned under his breath a little too loudly.
"We are not a couple!" Benny and Joyce protested in unison. Joyce moved around the counter and dumped her tips onto the bar. Benny followed suit and began counting. They always divvied up the day's earnings between the two of them.
"Joyce is too good for Benny anyway." Big Ben called from the kitchen, making Benny's ears turn red. "You're the only man for me, Big Ben!" Joyce called to the kitchen, laughing and pocketing her cut of the tips. When Benny sat on a bench at the bar with a root beer float, she took an extra straw and, to Benny's surprise, helped herself to it too. As they drank he scooped a finger of whipped cream and smeared it on her nose.
"You two still look like a couple." Mrs. Hopper teased. "No way." Joyce replied, smearing whipped cream in Benny's beard. A knock on the locked door startled them both and when Joyce spotted Lonnie Byers at the door she quickly wiped the whipped cream away and threw her apron aside.
"Goodnight Benny. Goodnight Big Ben! Mr. And Mrs. Hopper, a pleasure as always. See you at school tomorrow, Jim." She called as she raced for the door. She threw herself into Lonnie's arms and kissed him.
Everyone in the diner watched as she mounted the Honda motorcycle behind Lonnie, wrapping her arms around his leather clad middle.
"She's too good for the Byers boy. She deserves better." Mr. Hopper commented. "If I were one of you boys, I'd be doing my best to fix that."
Benny slurped his root beer loudly, pretending that Mr. Hopper's statement wasn't pointed at him too. Jim slid from the booth quickly, making his way to the bathroom to cool down.