MUTE part 5

Chapter 3

I ran into Munday's late, again, and Mr. Hoffman shot me a look that told me this better be the last time. I gave him a sheepish grin and hurried to punch in. Sometimes it got really old having the owner of the restaurant I worked at constantly hanging around, working shifts as a waiter and as a cook. I suspected he didn't have much else to do with his life. He was a nice guy, though, and other than at moments like this, I usually didn't mind having him around, especially when the wait staff was low and the amount of customers was high. I pulled my wrinkled uniform out of my backpack and hurried into the bathroom. The stupid zipper was stuck on my little blue and white dress, so I pulled on my shoes and my hat and hurried out of the bathroom with the zipper only halfway up, so anybody who happened to look could see the back of the stupid hot pink bra my mom bought me. Janice was leaning over the counter blowing a gum bubble, and I motioned quickly for her to come over. She saw my zipper and pulled it up with a yank, and I mouthed thank you to her before stowing my stuff in the manager's office. I was looking down when I came out of the back, trying to flatten out the wrinkles in my dress, and when I glanced up, Ames was sitting on one of the stools, grinning widely at me. "Hey," he said, looking like he was in on a joke I hadn't caught. "Nice dress. Pesky zipper, though, right?" I gaped at him and he laughed loudly before I blushed, rolled my eyes, and grabbed a pad, walking over to a table newly occupied by a young, newlywed-looking couple. I smiled at them and motioned as if I was taking a drink of something, and then indicated my pad.
This was the worst part about my job. Regulars knew I was mute and just told me what they wanted, but new people always had to figure it out, and the expressions on their faces when they did...let's just say I wasn't too fond of them. There was the "surprised" look, where they told me what they wanted quickly, their eyebrows high on their foreheads and their eyes wide, and of course the "concerned" look, where their expression turned to one of pity and they told me their order as if they were telling me my grandma just died. My favorite of all was the "understanding" look, where they smiled at me and talked calmly, enunciating carefully, I guess in case I was deaf and trying to read their lips. Sometimes they even raised their voice unnecessarily loud, which never made sense to me, seeing as, if I was deaf, I wouldn't hear them, no matter what volume they spoke at, or what emphasis they put on salad. Mr. Hoffman hesitated before hiring me, which I couldn't blame him for, of course. I was going for a waitress job, and Mr. Hoffman didn't see how I would be able to do that with my "speaking malfunction", but I told him- or rather, I motioned, Val told him, that I knew how I would handle it, and I was a very good worker, so he gave me a chance. The hesitation that came from the customers, especially drunk ones who just wouldn't catch on, was always a pain for everyone involved, but when people eventually understood, or when I caved and wrote it out for them on my pad, I was a fast worker. I had cards with things like, "medium or well done" written on them that I showed to customers. And I never dropped anything, unlike butterfingers Janice. Also, I never skipped a shift, unlike Danny, who was always tired and slow on the rare occasion that he actually came to work. This couple gave me the "Oh, you poor girl" look and told me they'd like an iced tea and a coke.
Ames was still grinning when I came back around the counter, and I rolled my eyes and walked to the soda fountain in the back, getting the newlyweds' drinks.
It was pretty quiet, given the time, and Janice had the only other table that was currently occupied, so I was forced to wait on Ames. "Hello again," he said to me with a grin. I gave him dagger eyes and motioned drinking again, and he smiled and said, "I'll have some coffee, please." He said "coffee" with a New York accent and then smiled hugely at me like he'd just cracked the world's greatest joke, and I rose an eyebrow sarcastically and turned away from him. I poured the coffee and brought it back to him, and then I scrunched up my face. "What?" he asked, glancing down at his shirt. I ripped a sheet off my pad and wrote, You have paint in your hair. He laughed, "Oh, yea. So I do." And smiled at me. I bit my lip, placed his coffee down, and hurried away to get the newlyweds' food order.

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