Bill smiled at Lorraine. After putting the beer bottle down he went to drop the onion rings and pick up the fries. She’d come into the kitchen to see if her order was ready. Seeing it was close and knowing where she was at with her customers out in the dining room, she decided to wait.
“It’s coming,” he said.
“Which one?”
“Burger table.”
“Good. Wish I was coming.”
“Wish I was going,” Bill said. Then, “Soon as I put it up, I’ll cut some more rib. Bring in another beer when you come back.”
Bill plated three steaks on three plates he’d laid out on his board. Two were medium and one was rare. One medium and the burgers took fries, the other two steaks took a baked and veggies. He spooned the veggies onto the plates, then put the buns under the grill to toast.
Quickly, he slid down the line to get the fries. Basket in hand, he scooped up the buns, just golden brown, and plated them, then he plated the fries, went to put the basket back on the fryer, slid back to the grill and plated the burgers.
Ordinarily, in the midst of a meal service Bill would have speared one of the steaks with a colored arrow to indicate how it was cooked. If there were two rare and a medium, he would have speared the medium, and so on. For this order, with Lorraine standing there, he just told her which was the rare steak from the two with the same sides. She acknowledged and deftly hoisted all five plates into her hands. Two she took in one hand. With her free hand, she balanced a third plate on those two using her wrist to keep the balance. The other two she took up with her free hand. Off she went.
Bill flipped the steaks that were left working. He lit a cigarette, took a long drag, put the cigarette down on the shelf under the steam table near him. Then he sipped a beer. Then he flipped the steaks again, took the two rare ones and moved them where they would get warmed but not cook much. On the way to drop the pickerel and the onion rings and get one more basket of fries, he took another drag on his cigarette. All that done, he cut the rib and cubed it for him and the waitresses. Like before, he used his spatula to plate the cubes of meat.
For a moment, in the midst of what was going on, both Lorraine and Victoria stood at the end of the line by him. They ate the rib, sipped his beer. Marie came over and reached down to where he’d left his cigarette. She took a drag on it.
“How about a beer for me?” she said.
Bill began plating the rest of the orders. First he took off all the steaks. Then he got the pickerel. Then he put the sides on including the fries. Two at a time, one in each hand, he slid all the plates under the warmer lights.
Once the orders were up, both Lorraine and Victoria jumped into action. They quickly swallowed whatever they had in their mouths, went around to the front of the line and waited as Bill sorted their plates for them by pointing and speaking. In a matter of seconds, they were heading out the door with their food.
Bill bent down and took up his cigarette. Marie snuck over behind him and goosed him while he was bent over. Surprised by her, he bumped his head on the server shelf as he was getting up.
