New Hire

Miles Sonata opened the doors to Tormino's Family Diner. A couple of patrons sat in the restaurant, quietly keeping to themselves. He checked his watch as a waiter approached him.

"Table for one?" the waiter asked as he grabbed a menu from the host counter.

"No, actually, I'm here to see the manager. He called me in for an interview. My name is Miles Sonata."

The man looked at him curiously with his one eye peeking out from the hair that covered most of his face. The rest was pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck.

"I'll let the manager know you are here." The man put the menu away before walking to the back, leaving Miles near the counter. Miles glanced around, watching the various people hard at work, occasionally making friendly chatter with each other and the customers. The restaurant looked ready for the holidays. The mural near the cash register displayed a snowy scene with snowmen working and eating in the restaurant. He couldn't recall that any other Tormino's had such a painting, but maybe because he hadn't paid attention before. Overall, it looked like an average restaurant.

"Sonata!"

Miles jumped at the sound of his last name to see that the waiter from before had moved elsewhere, revealing a lean man with disheveled hair, looking rather unprofessional in appearance, despite the button-down shirt and slacks. If Miles had to guess, he would say the manager had been napping before he arrived.

"Cyrus Serrano, manager of this Tormino's. Call me Cyrus or Serrano. I don't care. Follow me."

Cyrus marched to the back, with Miles following behind, not noticing the other workers watching them.

"Your application said you are currently a second year in high school, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Cut the sir."

"Yes, s-"

Cyrus stopped to look back at him before continuing his march to the door.

"And you have permission from your school?"

"Yes."

"Any clubs I should worry about?"

"None. My parents emphasize studying, but they said okay to a part-time job to help with my social skills for the future."

"Then this will do fine," Cyrus huffed.

Cyrus opened a door into a room filled with a small desk, a comfy office chair, and a metal filing cabinet. Cyrus slid into the chair, grabbing paperwork off the counter. He glanced over the two pages before looking back up at Miles.

"You're hired. Paychecks come in on the 15th and 30th of the month." He spun around in his seat to face a cabinet tucked in the back of the office. The manager looked up at Miles before opening a drawer.

"Come after school, around now would be fine. I won't complain unless you miss the early dinner rush. Are you free on weekends?"

"Mostly, I do need time to study."

"Perfect, I'll set you up for weekends since some other part-timers can't make it then."

Cyrus pulled out button-down shirt and black slacks from the drawer and tossed them over to Miles, who quickly caught them in his arms.

"Your first day will be tomorrow. The floor chief, Chouteau, will show you how to do things, so ask for her. The boy you met earlier, Agate, isn't the most helpful, so don't bother asking him." Miles turned to where the rest of the staff would be, seeing no one nearby who might be Chouteau or Agate.

Cyrus shut the drawers before spinning around in the chair to face the wall next to the door. On the wall was a desk calendar marked in pencil with several names and times for various dates.

"You'll be training the rest of this week and then we'll adjust the schedule, so you don't have to come in every day. Unless you want to." He picked up a pencil and wrote Miles' name on a blank line along with his work days.

"I will come in as often as you need me," offered Miles with a smile.

Cyrus looked over to Miles with a raised eyebrow before continuing to write Miles in on the schedule.

"The schedule updates every Sunday. Unless I call to say otherwise, your hours will stay the same. Which will be afternoons, same as Mori." He whispered the last part to himself as he tapped the pencil against his chin.

"Hello," a female voice whispered as the door in the back opened. As Miles turned, his brown eyes landed on a young girl about his age holding a large basket.

"I brought the basket. Is this size fine?" the girl asked, lifting the metal basket in her arms. It had some books inside and displayed a cardboard sign.

"Uh-uh," agreed Cyrus, turning back in his chair to face the blacked-out computer.

The girl nodded to Cyrus, then Miles, before walking away to another nearby room.

"That's Mori. Don't ask her for help either," mentioned Cyrus, messing around on the computer until he pulled up a document with the schedule in it.

"The room behind us is the breakroom. We have female and male changing rooms, so please don't get them confused." Cyrus leaned back in his chair as he tried to recall the information Miles would need, "The bathroom is in the front. Don't go in the kitchen unless Rainier asks you, which he won't. You can't open the supply closet from the inside. When you come to work, enter and leave through the back door. I think that covers it."

He looked up at the ceiling, trying to recall anything else.

"Yeah, that's it. Take down the wanted sign when you leave and come in tomorrow after school."

The manager turned in his seat towards the computer before shutting his office door. Miles waited at the door for a moment, noticing something out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see Mori looking at him. She jumped when she saw him looking at her, then scampered off to the front of the restaurant with her basket as if she was a frightened rabbit. Figuring there was nothing else to do today, Miles headed towards the entrance; the other employees were still busy about their work. He walked to the front where the girl was setting up her basket, Miles pulling off the “help wanted” sign next to her.

"Hi, my name is Miles Sonata and tomorrow I start work. Please take care of me," he said and bowed. The girl's eyes opened wide as she jumped back, tripping over her own feet as she was about to fall to the ground. Miles didn't even think about it. He just reacted, reaching out and catching her before she could hit the floor.

She stared up at him, the ceiling lights reflected in her eyes between her blinks. The rest of the restaurant had turned to look at them; both teenagers turned bright red as Miles helped her to stand.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said before dashing out of Tormino's, only to run back in when he realized he had dropped his new work uniform then rush back out.

Mori stood completely still. She put her hands to her warm cheeks and started smiling.