When the Manager Works

Miles watched as Cyrus emerged from the back of the restaurant after refilling his cup of tea, then returned to his closet office. It seemed odd that a manager wouldn't help during the dinner rush. Instead, he kept to his office and left only to refill his drink. As far as Miles knew, he hadn't seen the manager rinse the cup when switching between coffee and tea.

"Does the manager ever work?" Miles asked Oliver, who was helping him wipe and put away clean dishes.

"Not very often."

"Only if she shows up," teased Sierra.

"Who, you keep mentioning her."

"Are you talking about…?" started Anita as she approached with an order in hand.

"She hasn't come in a while, so Miles hasn't met her yet," informed Sierra as she took Anita's order slip.

Anita widened her eyes in realization, her mouth forming a small "o."

"Oh, you will like her; she is delightful and very patient."

"The patience of a saint," Oliver agreed.

Miles furrowed his brow, confused by the pronoun game they were playing.

"Speak of the angel," commented Shasta. Everyone looked to the door at a female nurse in her late twenties entered the restaurant. Since Miles was closer to the entrance, he moved to greet the woman. Ramona rushed over, almost tripping over the woman. Miles dove forward and swept Ramona up before she could fall on the nurse.

"Thank you," she mumbled as Miles stood her back up.

"No problem," answered Miles.

"Wow, quite an impressive catch," the woman smiled. "I'm used to Ramona nearly falling on me, so I was ready just in case." The woman winked at Ramona.

"You know each other," asked Miles.

"Yes, I'm Linda Nordic. I work at the hospital next door and am Ramona's contact for the Christmas donations."

"Oh, you're the nurse that helps with," Miles pointed to the basket. Linda turned to see the basket, looking back with a smile.

"Yes, that would be me. I take it you're the new waiter Tormino's has hired."

"Yes, Miles Sonata."

"Sonata? That name sounds familiar?" The woman frowned, crossing her arms to think.

"Probably another patient had the same last name," guessed Miles.

Linda nodded, still not 100% convinced, "Wouldn't be the first time." Linda's frown changed immediately to a smile, but then she turned bashful.

"Um, could you let Cyrus know I'm here?"

"Sure."

Miles was a little confused by this request but figured she was the one the others had mentioned. Miles headed towards the back while Linda and Ramona walked over to a table.

"He seems nice," commented Linda, winking at Ramona.

Ramona immediately turned pink in the cheeks but nodded.

"He's taken excellent care of me. With my clumsiness."

"I'm glad to hear it. That explains why you haven't been visiting the hospital lately."

Linda took a seat in a booth a little removed from the entrance, looking around for her requested person.

"Do you want me to get you tea, or will you wait for him?"

Linda immediately blushed.

"I'll wait for him."

Ramona left the nurse to peruse the menu, Miles returning from the back, followed by Cyrus. He looked over at the manager to see him sigh then walk over to Linda.

"She likes him," confirmed Miles when Ramona returned to the front. Ramona nodded.

"Hello, Cyrus!" Linda became immediately all bubbly the moment Cyrus turned up at her table.

"Hey, Linda, you haven't been here in a while."

"Work has been keeping me on the late-night shift, so this was the first time I could finally come over."

"Ah, makes sense. Don't work yourself too hard, though. Can't have a nurse getting sick."

Linda immediately blushed, her head looking down as she squiggled in her seat.

"I'll try. Not to get sick, that is. Because then I couldn't work. Or see you."

"Yeah, getting sick, you definitely wouldn't be able to work."

"Right." Linda had lost her blush and seemed a little sad by his comment.

"So… drink?"

"What?"

"What do you want to drink?"

"Oh, um," Linda looked back at the menu, trying to select something.

"I'll get you a hot oolong. You always get that anyway," Cyrus sighed as he went back to the bar. Linda immediately began beaming. He found all his employees at the bar, and Oliver was already making the tea.

"Don't you have other customers to help," Cyrus snarled, taking the cup and returning to Linda, who looked excited Cyrus was returning to her so soon.

"Here you go," Cyrus set down the cup.

"Are you on break soon?" she asked as she took the cup, blowing the steam off before taking a sip.

"No. I still got some work to do. But it was nice seeing you. I'll let Ramona handle the rest of your order."

Cyrus waved before heading back to his closet, his employees watching him. When he was gone, Linda pouted as she set her cup down, rested her head on the table, facing away from other customers. Ramona immediately stepped out from behind the bar, walking over to Linda.

"Are you alright?"

Linda turned to look at Ramona.

"At least I got to see him for a little bit today."

Ramona nodded.

"Maybe next time we can have dinner together," Linda sighed, turning her head to face the wall.

Ramona patted her hand in consolation. Miles looked between the scene then back to where Cyrus had disappeared.

"So Linda likes Cyrus, but he doesn't know it," guessed Miles, looking to Oliver for an answer.

"It's a little worse than that," grumbled Oliver, cleaning a menu with renewed enthusiasm. Even the kitchen staff had gone back to work, cooking furiously.

"Unfortunately, they used to date back in high school," informed Anita. Rather than her calm and collected self, she looked anxious, tapping her toe as she waited for her order.

"So, she brings back sad memories?"

"She thinks they're still dating," clarified Shasta, setting the plate down on the window. "And the stupid manager thinks they broke up years ago."

Miles opened his mouth to say something, then closed and opened it again, trying hard to fathom the situation, while Anita scolded Shasta for calling their manager stupid.

"How does that even work?" he finally managed to ask.

Anita and Shasta stopped their arguing, and both looked at Miles.

"Poor communication skills," answered Oliver for them. Anita and Shasta immediately returned to their work. Miles frowned but went back to work. These people were getting stranger by the day.