Falling For You

Falling For You

Chapter 18

Hamsters, Staplers, and New Experiences


oOoOoOoOo

When the world says, \"Give up,\"
Hope whispers, \"Try it one more time.\"

--Author Unknown

oOoOoOoOo

The last of Breanna’s determination and cheerful optimism died a gruesome death a half an hour ago in the office of a small antique shop at the edge of town. It was there that she’d also lost all hope of finding a decent minimum wage job and resigned herself to the knowledge that she had undoubtly, and miserably, failed. Closing her eyes, she let her head drop onto the table in front of her and gave in to the despair that had been nipping at her heels since the end of her first interview at noon that day.

Leaning forward and patting the top of her head sympathetically, Devon sighed and said, “Come on, Bre. That last one didn’t go so bad. At least this guy remembered your name.”

Picking her head up and giving him a dark glare, Breanna scowled. “Yeah, somehow, that really doesn’t make me feel any better, Devon,” she grumbled irritably as she glanced in the direction of the kitchen to see if a waitress was on her way to their table.

‘Yeah, at least this last guy didn’t call you Brandi, Bradli, or Betty.’

‘You’re enjoying this aren’t you?’

‘It is quite amusing, you have to admit. It’s almost like God is punishing you or something.’

Breanna groaned and scrubbed her hands over her face in frustration. ‘Then I must have really pissed Him off, because this day has sucked!’

Taking a deep breath, she looked up and gave Devon a half hearted smile. “I’m sorry for being such a drag, I’m just so disappointed, ya know? It goes without saying that if I can’t find a job, there’s no way I can take those lessons, and I was really looking forward to dancing again.”

“Giving up already, are we?”

Glancing up in surprise at the sharpness in his tone, Breanna shook her head and stuttered, “N-No… but-“

“No ‘buts,’ Breanna. Either you want this or you don’t, and with the already beaten attitude you have right now, you’re not going to get anywhere.”

Anger flashing and darkening her violet eyes, Breanna sat up in her seat and leaned forward. “I never said I was giving up, Devon, I just had a bad day. I can do this; I need to do this. There’s no way I can’t quit now, you know that better than anyone. Why are you being such an ass?”

There was a moment of tension filled silence and then Devon, smiling suddenly, winked and tweaked the tip of her nose. “There ya go. That’s all I wanted to hear. You’ll be fine as long as you keep your goal in mind, and don’t let yourself be discouraged.”

Her mouth gaping open in disbelief, Breanna restrained the urge to kick him in the shin beneath the table. “Wait a second. Were you deliberately provoking me?”

Devon smirked proudly. “Yup. That I was.”

Eyes narrowing dangerously, Breanna scooted forward and lowered her voice to a barely audible level. “You. Are. Evil.”

Cupping her chin and bringing his lips close enough to feel her breath against his mouth, Devon’s smile widened as he murmured, “It worked didn’t it?”

Breanna felt laughter bubbling in her chest despite the fact that she told herself she should probably be at least a little upset with him for antagonizing her. She chalked up her weakness to his charms from the weariness of six, count ‘em six, job interviews from hell.

Giving in to her desire to taste his kiss, she brought her mouth to his and nibbled gently on his bottom lip. Sighing softly as he buried his fingers in her hair and brought her closer still, Breanna allowed the stress of the day to melt away beneath a haze of tender sensation and heated bliss. There really wasn’t anything better than Devon’s kisses…

Someone cleared their throat next to them and Breanna blushed as she pulled away and covered her mouth. Looking up into the disapproving eyes of an older, stern looking lady obviously there to wait on them, Devon coughed to disguise a laugh and quickly ordered their drinks. They managed to wait until the waitress was out of ear shot to laugh quietly and breathe a sigh of relief that she hadn’t been anyone they knew.

“We should really be more careful where we do stuff like that. I mean, I know that this Denny’s is pretty far away from where everyone usually hangs out, but still… We could run across someone we know and it’s going to be hard to convince them that we’re just here as friends if your tongue is shoved down my throat,” Breanna whispered as Devon nodded in agreement.

“And we wouldn’t want that,” he agreed, an indiscernible look clouding his eyes and lining his forehead.

Interrupted again by the arrival of their drinks before she could ask why he had looked at her so oddly, Breanna quickly forgot about it as the events of her first day of job hunting came flooding back in bright, agonizing Technicolor.

“I can’t believe that one guy at the pizza place. Do you think he even noticed I had a face?” Breanna groaned at the memory of the portly, bald man who owned the pizza shop across the street from the school. He had spent the entire fifteen minutes or so of the interview asking his questions to her cleavage and practically drooling on his desk.

Devon laughed. “Yeah, all that shameless ogling and he still told you you weren’t right for the job. What an asshole… Remember the guy at the pharmacy?”

Breanna scrunched up her nose in disgust. “You mean the one who kept talking about his hamsters or the one with the staple obsession?”

“Hamster guy.”

“Oh, yeah. He was… scary. What was up with that, anyway? I couldn’t answer a question without him somehow bringing his hamsters into the conversation.”

Shrugging, Devon chuckled at the blatant revulsion evident on her face. “Some people really like their pets.”

“He was creepy.”

“He was unique.”

Breanna snorted. “He told me that he dresses them up for holidays and paints their little claws.”

“Now that’s weird.”

“Yeah.”

Exhaling heavily, she folded her legs beneath her and scraped at the shimmery polish on her pointer finger. “This day was a complete failure. Either the interviewers were creepy, stapler fondling weirdos, or they weren’t open to hiring an eighteen year old female with no prior work experience and little to no computer skills. They didn’t even take into account the fact that I’m willing and ready to learn whatever I need to in order to get the job done.” Glowering at the wrapper to her straw she was currently twisting and tearing apart, Breanna muttered, “Big mean heads. They didn’t even give me chance.”

“It’s their loss, Bre,” Devon told her softly, “Don’t worry about it. What’s that saying? If you fail once, try, try again? All you have to do is keep putting yourself out there. Someone will notice you and realize your potential eventually. I promise.”

Breanna nodded. “I hope so…”

Just then, an old woman supporting herself with a cane passed by their table on her way to the door. Breanna watched how she barely managed to make it there, and then observed with disgust as everyone else seemed to conveniently ignore her struggle to leave the restaurant.

“I’ll be right back, Devon,” she muttered. Hurrying over to the poor woman, she held the door open and flashed her a bright smile. “You have a great night, ma’am. Drive safe.”

The woman returned Breanna’s smile gratefully and clutched her purse tightly to her side. “Thank you so much, dear. You’re such a sweet girl.”

“It was really no problem at all, but you’re welcome. Bye now!”

Slipping back into the booth across from Devon, Breanna shook her head and said loudly enough for the couples around her to hear, “I can’t believe nobody got up to help that lady. People can be so rude...”

Devon snickered as Breanna scowled darkly at the people in the booth next them. “That was subtle.”

She shrugged and returned her attention back to him with a sweet smile. “I try.”

Sitting back as their very unpleasant waitress returned with their food, Breanna was just about to bite into her cheeseburger when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around in her seat, she was met with a pair of warm, amused green eyes and a kind smile.

“Hi, I’m sorry to interrupt your meal, but I overheard you talking about looking for a job and I think I might be able to help you out.”

Dropping her burger back onto her plate, Breanna turned around completely and gave the man her full attention. “Are you serious? Where? How?”

With a low chuckle the man explained that his name was Brian Peters and that he was the head manager of the Denny’s they were currently sitting in. Apparently he’d been looking for new applicants since the summer with little to no luck due to the increase of newer restaurants being opened in the area.

“I don’t know exactly what kind of job you’re looking for, Miss Denton, but the spot I’m looking to fill is a waitress position. Would that be ok with you?”

Breanna fiddled with her napkin nervously and replied, “Any position you’d be willing to give me is fantastic, Mr. Peters, but I think you should know that I don’t really have any job experience.” Looking at him pleadingly she continued, “But, I’m willing and ready to learn whatever I need to, ok? I promise I’ll do my best, and-“

“Miss Denton, calm down,” Brian laughed, “There’s no need for you to try and convince me that you’re right for this job. You’ve already passed the interviewing process with flying colors.”

“Huh?”

Mr. Peters smiled softly. “I heard everything you and your boyfriend were talking about earlier, and I saw how kind and polite you were with that woman a couple of minutes ago. You’ve already got all the qualities a good waitress needs to be successful, and I think you’re going to be very happy working here. The training is no problem, here at Denny’s, we welcome employees with no previous work experience. It gives us a chance to mold you into exactly what we want.”

It took a moment for Breanna to completely comprehend the implications of his statement, and when she did, her mouth dropped open in shock. “Are you saying that I’m hired? Are you serious?” she practically squealed as Brian chuckled and nodded his head.

“Oh my, GOD! Thank you so much! You don’t know how much this means to me! Thank you, thank you, thank you-”

“Bre, I think he gets the idea, sweetie. And besides, you’re scaring that toddler over there with all of your screeching,” Devon murmured softly with an amused grin.

Slapping a hand over mouth, but still smiling widely, Breanna stopped shrieking and just bounced excitedly in her seat. Devon gave Brian a bland look and said, “She’s really happy, can you tell?”

Mr. Peters laughed again and nodded, “I got that actually, yeah.” Standing up, he shook Breanna’s hand and said, “Come by tomorrow around noon and we’ll take care of all the paperwork, alright?”

“Ok!”

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Denton, and I look forward to working with you.”

“Ok!”

Brian looked at over at Devon and raised an eyebrow in question. Devon shrugged. “She’s weird.”

“You’re a lucky man.”

Devon smiled sadly and watched at Breanna whipped out her cell phone to presumably call everyone she knew and tell them the good news. “Yeah… Yeah I am lucky…

oOoOoOoOoOo

Breanna pulled at the straps of her black tank top and smoothed the silky material of her knee length mauve skirt as she took a deep breath and walked up to who she assumed was the hostess. Giving her a bright smile she said, “Hi! My name’s Breanna, and I’m here to fill out some paperwork. Is Mr. Peters around?”

The girl, who looked about her age, gave her an indecipherable look and said, “What kind of paperwork?”

A little taken back at the hostility in her voice, Breanna stammered, “Uh… I… He…”

“Are you the chick he hired yesterday?”

“Um… Y-Yes…”

The hostess let out a short, bitter bark of laughter and narrowed her eyes. “Breanna Denton is going to work at Denny’s? Why? Did your daddy take away your allowance?”

Having never encountered someone who seemed to dislike her on sight, Breanna was shocked into silence for a moment. ‘Do I know this girl? I don’t recognize her, but she sure seems to know me.’

‘Yeah… and she also seems to hate your guts. What’s up with that?’

Breanna looked at her a little more closely. She was tall and thin, probably about 5’8, with a head of frizzy brown curls that fell to just below her chin and looked as if it had never seen a brush. Breanna suspected that with a little styling, the curls could be beautiful and glossy, but was also fairly certain the owner of them couldn’t care less about that sort of thing. Plain, but not overly so, with big, bright blue eyes and a small, straight nose, she was pretty, but Breanna couldn’t decide if she’d ever seen her before.

‘Her name tag says Zoey Clark, does that ring a bell?’

‘No…’

“Don’t even bother trying to figure out if you know me, because you don’t. I’m not someone that you and your superficial friends have ever and will ever notice or associate with.”

Getting a little tired of this girl’s incredibly bitchtastic attitude, Breanna put a hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side. “Look, I don’t know what your problem is, but I’ve been nothing but nice to you since I got here and have gotten nothing in return but hostility. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Zoey just glared at her. “I don’t care about you enough to have a problem.”

“Do I even know you?”

Zoey snorted. “Well, you’d think after going to school with me since first grade you would, but no, you don’t know me.”

Breanna froze. ‘Oh shit. I go to school with her?! That means… I wonder if she’s seen me here with…’

“Breanna! Hey, it’s nice to see you again. Ready to fill out that paperwork?” Stopping beside Zoey, Brian observed how pale Breanna looked and frowned. “Are you alright? You look kinda…. I don’t know, sick or something.”

“I’m fine,” Breanna managed to choke out with a weak smile.

“Alright, as long as you’re sure,” Brian said hesitantly and then looked over at the girl next to him like he had just noticed she was there. “Oh, Zoey! I see you’ve already met Breanna. Good, good… You two are going to be spending a lot of time together, so I hope you can be friends.”

Surliness fading away into abject horror, Zoey looked quickly at Breanna and then back at her boss. “Her?! I’m training her?! You’ve got to be kidding me, Brian!”

“Now, Zoey, that’s not a very nice way to treat a new employee, is it?”

“No, but-“

“I’d really appreciate it if you could just put any issues you two have with each other aside and be professional, ok? Breanna is a very nice girl, and I’m sure with a little time you guys will get along just fine.”

“But-“

Brian put a hand on Zoey’s shoulder and looked deeply into her eyes. “You’d be helping me out immensely, Zoe’, please?”

Blushing and averting her eyes, she mumbled, “Fine, whatever.”

“Great! Let’s get going, Bre, so we can take care of all this boring stuff and get you on the schedule.”

Looking back one more time at the frizzy haired girl staring contemptuously at her retreating back, Breanna exhaled heavily and rubbed a hand over her brow.

‘Well… that was like a scene out of a horror movie. That Zoey girl seriously hates me, and there’s a chance that she might’ve seen Devon and I here together. What am I going to do if she has?’

‘Kill her?’

‘That’s not funny.’

‘Think of it as a new experience in espionage, Bre. Observe her, ask her questions. I’m sure she’ll let something slip eventually.’

Squaring her shoulders, Breanna nodded and sighed. ‘Well, life is full of new experiences, right?’

‘Right.’

‘Alrighty then. Let the games begin.’