The manager I had spoken to at Moxie, David, had told me they would provide me with a uniform. I was grateful for that as I had so little clothing I was sure I wouldn’t have what they wanted me to wear. Hurrying into Moxie five minutes before my shift was to start, David was waiting by the door, looking as if he had been looking out the window for someone.
“You’re here,” he exclaimed, looking strangely relieved.
“Of course I am,” I replied. “I’m so grateful for this opportunity, I wouldn’t miss it.”
He hurried me along to the back of the restaurant, handing me a stack of clothes along the way.
“I’m going to have you helping with the front tables tonight with Henry,” he stated. “Change into these, I just guessed your size.”
I thanked him and went to change. The uniform consisted of a sleeveless black pencil dress with a white apron. I felt silly wearing it, since it resembled a French maid costume I had seen in books, but I wasn’t in a position to argue. I had worn my black flats thankfully. The uniform would look better in heels but the flats would be more comfortable while I was working. I exited the changing room and headed to where David was waiting for me.
David stood there staring at me, and then shook his head a little before motioning for me to follow him. Walking behind him he led me to a table where a thin, mousy looking boy around my age was waiting.
“This is Henry,” David explained.
Henry looked nervous. He had thick black hair that fell across his face and he was wearing horn rimmed glasses.
“Henry is one of our best servers and will have you trained in no time,” he explained.
Pulling me aside, David continued, “Now I want you to let me know if you have any trouble, ok? I want you to have the best possible experience here.”
His hand lingered on my shoulder for longer than I was comfortable with, and after a minute David seemed to realize that he had been massaging my shoulder. Reddening, he excused himself and hurried away, shooting me a look behind him as he walked.
“Thank you so much for your help Henry,” I said.
He stayed looking at the ground as he mumbled, “It’s no problem. I’m sure people will love you.”
Henry refused to make eye contact with me for the next hour but showed me how to use the register, where the trays and drink machines were, and the proper way to set down drinks and plates on the table. We also went over the menu and specials. I hadn’t heard of half of the dishes as Moxie specialized in French cuisine, but Henry was very patient with me until I could pronounce everything correctly. There was a lot more that I needed to learn but it was a good start for my first shift. People started to arrive at 6. I could see limos, sports cars, and other fancy looking vehicles pulling up and letting their passengers out. Women adorned in jewels, and men dressed up in their best suits walked into the doors and were seated. It continued to get more crowded until there were tons of people waiting to get seats.
Serving was fun. Henry was sweet to work with and was patient with me as we went along. The people were interesting. I noticed that many of the women gave me horrible looks. We kept getting called back to tables for inconsequential things, almost like they just wanted to chat with us. I tried to stay in the background and let Henry do the talking, but I was inevitably pulled into every conversation. I began to get embarrassed as I realized the men were all flirting with me, right in front of their dates. Henry began to get a smile on his face as he picked up the bills after the guests had left. There were stacks of bills on the tables along with phone numbers. I couldn’t stop blushing but was awestruck at the tips. I had never seen so much cash.
I would be able to get new sheets and some things for my dorm room right away. David came over after we had been working awhile and asked if there was any way we could get our tables out faster.
“We have a wait an hour long of people requesting you two as servers,” he said anxiously, staring at me. Henry chuckled at this.
“You do mean requesting her right?” he said, finally looking at me for the first time in the face.
David smiled but didn’t reply. “Just try to move your tables out faster alright,” he said, hurrying away when the sound of glass breaking echoed through the restaurant.
“You have no idea do you?” Henry stated with a small smile.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
He shook his head at me without saying anything else and walked to a table that was waving at us.
The next two hours flew by as we finished up. I was tired, but felt exhilarated. Henry handed me a stack of bills.
“I feel like everything should go to you, “he laughed, “but I’m going to be selfish and keep half.”
“You’re crazy, you did most of the work,” I replied. I didn’t count the money in front of him. I didn’t want him to see how desperate I was for it.
“When do you work next,” he asked.
“I have two more days of training starting tomorrow and then I’m off for a few days before I start on my own,” I replied.
“Hopefully I get to train you tomorrow as well,” he said.
I was grateful that he had warmed up to me as the night went on. Maybe we could become friends. Waving goodbye and slipping out before David could corner me for the hundredth time to talk about nothing, I stepped out into the night. Moxie and the college was in a good area so I didn’t think I should be worried walking back to campus alone despite the fact that it was so late. The street was still bustling despite the late hour. I got the sensation once again of eyes staring at me but when I looked around I didn’t see anyone in particular paying attention to me. Shivering, I hurried back to campus. After I arrived back in my room I eagerly counted my money. $700. I couldn’t believe it. I squealed loudly and did a dance. Tomorrow I was going shopping.