Sophomore Lolita (Closed for Inspirinious)

[CarnivalBarker]

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Bleep! Her phone warbled in her front pocket as she looked at the seating chart and spoke to the similar-looking, identically-dressed girl in front of her.

"I need you to take 10 and 13," Lindsey told the girl. "Can you handle it?" The girl looked at the seating chart as well, noting the four top and the two top, abandoned when one of the waitresses had to go home ill. Bleep!!! the phone sounded again before Lindsey reached into her pocket and turned it down.

"Yeah, that's fine," the girl said, then shot a quick follow up her way. "Do they have any drink orders?" Lindsey now held her phone in her hand and thought for a moment. She squinted slightly, unable to remember.

"Check with Ty in the bar." The girl nodded and then headed out to do as she was told. Lindsey looked at her phone and smirked at the two messages:

Are you coming over after work. Said the first, from her boyfriend, Matt. The second was from him as well, and far less polite.

I'll let you fuck me.

"Oh you will?" She said, silently to herself as she opened the phone's keyboard.

No, I have to close. She responded, then put her phone back in her pocket. In reality, she did close, but she didn't want to go to her boyfriend's because it was only midweek and she was exhausted. And while he was eager to please, and indeed often pleasing, she didn't feel like putting up with the burden of getting him off only to be poked and prodded in some haphazard way for only a few minutes before he wanted her to go home. She didn't feel bad for telling him no. She had not lied. For three years, since since she turned 17, she had worked at the local Italian food Ristorante, working her way to Chief Hostess and eventually onto the waitstaff. Now, as s shift supervisor, the money and tips helped give her spending money for weekends and also gave her something to do most days when she wasn't working on homework, going to labs, or drinking on a weekend. She had dated Matt a couple of months, and while she found him endearing, she suspected he was not a long term solution. He did have a nice....

The door chime rang as someone entered the restaurant, stripping her away from her thought and noticing another customer she somewhat recognized but couldn't place. Something about him looked familiar. She wondered if he had been to her shift the week before and vaguely recalled that she had.

"Someone will be here in a moment," she told the man, leaving to find the hostess. A bit later, she found a rather cute, very young girl dressed in black from head to toe, the typical hostess attire. "Shelly, there's a man up front waiting for a table." The girl nodded and moved quickly in the direction of the hostess stand, as Lindsey returned to the back, and into the kitchen.

"Order up!!" The line chef said when Lindsey entered. She simply nodded and grabbed the plate, then found silverware and returned to the floor to deliver dinner to a couple of patrons near the bar. After checking if everything was okay, she returned through the floor to the hostess stand. As she did, she noticed the man from a few moments ago, sitting in a corner section that had been the sick waitress' earlier in the eventing.

"You sat someone at number 5," she told the young girl, failing to reveal that she was asking a question. After a long pause, she continued. "That's Macey's section and she went home."

"Your section is full," the young hostess said. Lindsey looked at her failing to understand. "I needed to seat him in your section." Lindsey sighed, not even stopping to ask why she needed to do so.

"Great," she said, saying nothing else, as she pulled her hair up and out of her hair, into a messy ponytail. She glanced at the clock before she headed to her new table. It was only 8pm. She sighed, knowing it would be a long night.

 

[Inspirinious]

. . . . .

 

[CarnivalBarker]

"I'm Lindsey, and I'll be your waitress," she said as she approached the man's table and filled his glass with water. She noticed he looked handsome in the way a man who took care of himself did. She also noticed a wedding ring. It was something she did for no certain reason. Though she had a boyfriend for some time, she always found herself looking to see if a man was married. It had nothing to do with attraction, and perhaps more to do with simple curiosity and voyeurism. As a waitress, she often found herself putting someone's story together in her head. Perhaps a customer was getting divorced, since they were eating along but had on a ring. Maybe he was part of a cartel, stopping to enjoy the local faire with his latest deal. Perhaps he's simply an accountant taking a break before another late night of work. It was always a way to pass the time and bring some flavor to the rote and sometimes grinding job.

Lindsey took the man's drink order and returned to the bar, tapping the ticket into the automated screen. From where she stood, the man sat at the far wall, her back turned to him. She looked over her shoulder to see if her other tables looked low on water or attention, before punching the rest of the drink information and setup ticket into the system.

Bleep!! Bleep!! Her phone warbled once more and she pulled it from her pants pocket.

How about I come to your place AFTER you close. She grinned at Matt's persistence. He really was a sweet guy. At the same time, she knew good and well he didn't JUST want to visit and say hello after a long day of class and work. She put her phone away, prepared to think about it. If she got done by 1am, maybe. She refilled a water pitcher and turned to go refill her tables' glasses. She did so at a four top, then for a nice older couple. One more round of refills for a party of four, and she had returned to the stand near the bar. Her phone warbled once more.

Please?? She rolled her eyes. Matt was being needy, and it wasn't attractive. He had made her decision for her.

Not tonight. But I'll see you tomorrow and then this weekend. She sighed. She liked him, but sometimes she was tired and he was just too much. Yet she always felt bad telling him no. The bartender slid a drink to her and she placed it on a circular tray, remembering to secure her order pad for the new guy at the far table. She turned and walked slowly in his direction, in no rush. Placing the drink in front of him, she stood tall once more and finally spoke to him once more.

"Are you ready to order?"

 

[Inspirinious]

. . . . .

 

[CarnivalBarker]

"Uh....hello," Lindsey said in responde to the man's suggestion that she might remember him, which she didn't. She wondered if he was fishing for something or some angle. She sort of shrugged as if to suggest she simply dan't recall everyone that comes in, and she had no way of knowing if he even had been here before.

"Can I get you anything?" She asked, still standing nearby, waiting, though now suspicious that this stranger would "specifically ask for her." Her guard went up, though at the same time, she did notice that he was handsome and didn't seem like danger. But he continued to give her no means to escape the now awkward place they were both in.

"Yes, I am ready to order," the man began. Thank god, she thought. "I will have the spaghetti with meat sauce and a glass of the house red wine," the man continued.

"Right away," she said, pivoting again and heading to the bar. Moments later she had put in the order and returned with a carafe and an empty glass, placing both on the table before filling his drink.

"The red is a sweet Cabernet tonight. It's very good. I buy it for parties," she offered, a secret conspiracy she would share with him. She had learned years ago that if she endeared herself to a customer, tips would grow. She sat the carafe back on the table and turned away once more. Returning first to the kitchen and then to the bar stand, she put in some notes to the system, then looked again at the man at the far table. There was something about him, she thought to herself, unable quite to pin it down. At least he's cute, she thought, giving him a smile the next time their eyes met.

 

[Inspirinious]

. . . . .

 

[CarnivalBarker]

The man at the far table seemed to be looking at her and while it normally bugged her when men at the restaurant did this, this particular man looked handsome and a bit rugged, and attractive in a way that caused her to be intrigued. As she looked over the floor to glance at the glasses of her tables before making another round with water, the man suddenly winked at her and waved.

Oh great, she thought. Almost imperceptibly and without conscious thought, she ran her hands over her little black skirt, as if making sure she were put together and looking great for her approach. She took several steps onto the floor and quickly arrived at his table.

"A good wine," the man said. "Sweet and pleasant, just as you are." She rolled her eyes, but took the compliment.

"Thank you," she smiled, just as he changed subjects.

"Is that the latest Micros point-of-sale system you are using? How do you like that? I designed the circuits inside of it, and I hope it is better than the older model system." She turned and looked over her shoulder at the screen where she put in orders.

Really? she thought. He wants to know about the computers. She felt a bit robbed of some small pleasure she got from flirting with customers for the sole purpose of amusing herself while on the clock. "I ahh...." she stammered. She winced a bit as she turned back to face him, shaking her head. "I really don't know. The circuits......seem to...work?" She typically didn't uptalk, though here she had no idea what to say. "Can I get you anything else?" she asked, returning to her duties. Her phone warbled in her pocket twice. She reached down and silenced it, then put it away. "Sorry about that," she said, giving him opportunity to respond to her question.

 

[Inspirinious]

. . . . .