“Order up!”

  The afternoon rush was not a favorite time of day for anybody. Especially not with the constant bell ringing as those dreaded words echoed through the restaurant. Not only was it busy, but it was also a weekend. Which meant more people, which also meant more money in tips… which also meant more stress.

  “Come on, people! Hustle out there! Customers are waiting!”

  A collective groan could be heard by several waiters as each of them grabbed as many trays of food as they could. But once they reached the customers, those award-winning smiles would shine outwardly. The restaurant business was harsh and unforgiving at times but it was worth it just for the sake of getting the paycheck.

  Place an order, hand it over to the chef, wait on others until the food was ready, deliver said food… Rinse repeat!

  Once the rush ended, everyone simultaneously let out a sigh of relief. Finally the day was over.

  “Good hustle out there, everybody!” said the manager as he looked over all his employees. “You all did great today! Keep it up tomorrow, we’re expecting another full day!” Everybody groaned at that. “Hey! I don’t want to hear any more groaning, alright? We all have to put in some effort.”

  The manager pulled out a clipboard, going over the to-do list to prepare for the closing shift.

  “I want this place spotless by the time the night shift comes in! So, those who are staying for clean up are as follows:

  Kennedy…

  Benson…

  Charleston… yes, both of you!”

  He continued down the list, each employee mentioned groaning as their name was called. At least 14 employees were staying for clean up, leaving the remaining ten on edge as the last few names were called.

  “Daniels… Ryan… and finally…” The manager looked at the last name, squinting to get a better look at it. “Um… Hay… um Hide… rick?”

  A hand rose up from the cluster of waiters at that moment. “It’s pronounced ‘Heidrich’, sir.” said the waiter as the rest of the waiting staff moved to let him through. He looked to be a young man midway through his adolescent years, his skin as pale as a sheet though he certainly didn’t look sickly. Blonde hair touched his shoulders but his bangs were long enough to drape over his right eye, covering it completely but it wasn’t the oddest thing about him as all eyes fell on him. Every step he seemed to take sounded heavy, as if he was wearing metal boots.

  Despite the fact that the waiter had been working here for quite some time now, a few people still looked at him like he was a strange new hire. It didn’t help his confidence, especially when everyone was staring. The manager sighed, “Right… Anyway, you’re on clean up duty with the others. The rest of you…” The employees remaining flinched in dreadful anticipation. “… Are free to go home.” With that said, all the employees staying behind got to work while the rest went out the door after collecting their things, relief washing over them at the thought of going home.

                                                            --------

  Heaving out a long drawn sigh, the young waiter pushed the mop against the kitchen tiles, having been roped into helping the kitchen staff as they cleaned the countertops. One of the chefs saw the tired look on the boy’s face, chuckling in amusement, “Another rough night, huh Cedric?”

  Cedric looked up for a brief moment, a nervous smile plastered on his face, “Yeah… you could say that.”

  “Aw, you work too hard,” said the chef, rubbing the sponge along the counter in even strokes. “I thought most youngsters nowadays worried about school or something.”

  All Cedric did was shrug before continuing with his work. He pushed and pulled on the mop, making sure the floor was getting enough water before rinsing the mop head. He wouldn’t be the first to admit that using a mop was not easy; his movements were clumsy and only focusing on one spot. It wasn’t fun having to awkwardly push around a mop; the fact that he was also tired didn’t help much.

  Leaning against the mop for a moment, Cedric rubbed at his left eye, letting out a yawn as he did so. When was the last time he had proper sleep?

  “-then, right?” For a moment, Cedric didn’t realize he was being spoken to. “Hey! Kid!” The moment realization kicked in, he nearly dropped the mop in a panic.

  “Sorry!” the young waiter exclaimed, then cleared his throat to recompose himself. “Um… sorry…”

  “Don’t worry about it,” said the chef, looking worried but then shrugged. “Anyway, I was just asking if you were gonna do that thing again?”

  Cedric raised an eyebrow at that question, “What thing?”

  “You know…” The chef pointed to their own eye for emphasis. “The ‘eye thing’.”

  “Oh…!” Cedric looked away, feeling uncomfortable. “Not tonight… sorry.”

  The chef sighed, disappointed. “That’s a shame…” With that said, they continued their own work.

  Cedric gently touched over his right eye, pressing his bangs against it. He didn’t like bringing up his eye. It wasn’t that he couldn’t see out of it but the thought of doing ‘that’ again wasn’t something he wanted to do right now. He excused himself for the bathroom, not bothering to wait for a response as he walked off.

  Once he was alone, Cedric leaned against one of the bathroom sinks, staring at his worn out expression. He definitely didn’t get enough sleep last night. The dark curves under his left eyelid were evidence enough of that fact. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t eaten much this morning. Such was the life of a struggling teen living on their own.

  This job only paid minimum wage and it wasn’t that great but he needed the money. Especially if he wanted to stay for another night at the hotel. Ever since he arrived in the city, Cedric had already gone through three different jobs; he even took up dog walking to ensure he had enough for something. Considering he had wasted most of his starter money on upgrades…

  Cedric sighed to himself at that thought. He pulled his bangs back and looked in the mirror once more. Staring right back at him was someone with one blue left eye and one robotic right eye. A metal plate went over the socket, covering it up completely. Positioned right where the eye would be was a steel orb, the ‘iris’ a ring of red light; the ‘pupil’ a small camera.

  It moved like a normal eye would, examining everything in clearer detail. The only difference now was that it did more than a normal eye. Closing his left eye, the camera zoomed in his vision. The mirror looked closer now.

  Cedric let out a tired laugh, “What a mess, huh?” He knew better than to put himself down but the fact remained. He was a mess.

  The camera zoomed his vision back in, allowing him to open his left eye again. It would’ve been disorienting if he had kept it open.

  “You’ll be fine,” Cedric told himself, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. “Yeah. Today will be good. Today is great!” He smiled to himself. Still looked tired but the self motivation cheered him up, if only a little. Confidence renewed, Cedric straightened himself up and went back to work.

                                                            --------

  The rest of the cleanup duty went by without a hitch, as per usual. At least, it wasn’t bad compared to last week. Cedric shuddered at the thought. He did not want to think about the Spaghetti War on Gravy Mash again; it was horrendous enough as it was.

  Shaking the uncomfortable thought from his mind, Cedric looked up at the night sky as he walked down the street leading up to the hotel. Not many stars tonight- as if there ever were any in the city- but the lack of moonlight was aggravating to say the least. It must be cloudy tonight.

  Heaving out another sigh, he adjusted his backpack and huffed a quick upwards breath, blowing a few strands of his hair up. It hadn’t been a terrible day but it was still a tiring one. How much longer could he keep this job up? How much worse is it going to get tomorrow?

  Regardless, he’d have to blaze through it as always. What else could he do? Quit?

  …

  Cedric’s pace slowed to a crawl before stopping completely. He stood there numbly for a brief moment, listening to the bare sounds of traffic driving past him. It was a late night and very few people were out and about. If he had been in any of the busier districts there would be people lining up for some late night clubbing, friend groups hanging out on street corners, maybe some people were congregating for work or an event of some kind. But Cedric was more than thankful for being away from all the noise; more chance of him going to sleep with less noise.

  However, practically empty streets meant trouble. Thankfully, he didn’t have to worry about getting potentially mugged on this one. It gave him the calm he needed to think.

  If I quit now, Cedric thought to himself, gaze drifting down to the sidewalk. Where would I even go?

  Even if he could go back, there was no chance he would be able to. Not with the money he currently had. It was difficult making ends meet as it was. Now that he thought about it, he needed to find yet another job. He used to have two jobs but couldn’t properly juggle between the two, hence why he was stuck with the waiting staff at Carl’s Cuisine.

  Cedric sighed once more. Maybe he didn’t need the second job after all. He still had a few nights to spend at the hotel and what he was making was able to cover the next few nights as well. As long as he had that, Cedric didn’t need to worry at all.

  Smiling to himself, Cedric nodded, adjusted his backpack once more, and proceeded down the street. Everything was going to be fine.

  He was going to make it.