Bill and his wife were happy with that first paycheck. It was enough to pay the rent and have money left over for groceries and more. It seemed to Bill that they were going to be okay.
Friday and Saturday nights were bitches. The only ones happy were the waitresses. They were happy because they made a ton of money. Bill knew this because he and Rosie ended up taking a break together in the ramp. Bill had come to smoke a cigarette. Rosie was already there. She was sipping a soda. When Bill leaned against the wall next to her, she handed him her cigarette without saying a word. Bill took a deep draw on it and leaned heavily into the wall. He’d brought a coffee with him, sipped it, took another draw on the cigarette and handed it back to her.
“What a night, huh?” Rosie said.
“Jimmy didn’t get a chance to run off.”
“Yeah. Right? He worked the whole night.”
“You make money?”
“A fortune.”
“Good for you.”
“Me and Eddie are gonna take you out. We already decided.”
“I can’t wait,” Bill said.
“Sarcasm will get you everywhere,” Rosie said.
“Everywhere?”
“Anywhere.”
“Was I being sarcastic?”
“Naw,” Rosie said. “You wouldn’t do that.”
They both had a good laugh.
“Boy am I tired,” Rosie said.
“Me too,” Bill said. “I’ve been here since ten.”
“See your girlfriend?”
“I thought you were my girlfriend.”
“I am,” Rosie said.
They laughed again.
“We do a new record?”
“I’m willing to bet we did. I’m willing to bet we’ve set a record for the week so far too, and I’d bet we set a new weekly record after tomorrow.”
“Well, that’s a good thing,” Bill said.
“It’s the way the kitchen is running.” Rosie looked at Bill. “The more the kitchen performs well, the more word goes around that the food is really good.”
“I know. It’s a cycle,” Bill said. “So more people keep coming.”
“Bet the chef is happy.”
“What about your boy?” Bill asked.
“Caesar can go, well, he can you-know-what himself.”
“Yeah,” Bill said. “I know what.” He smiled at Rosie, gave her a good looking over. “I have to get back,” he said.
Back in the kitchen an espresso was waiting for him. Jimmy was reading his Greek newspaper. Caesar was nowhere to be found. It was all good.
Bill and Jimmy took their time. They waited as long as they could before cleaning up. Kalista brought them her home-made Greek pastry and a fresh double espresso. Jimmy sat in his usual seat and smoked a cigarette. He kept it low down so no one from the dining room could see it. In turn, Jo Ann came to say good night, Caesar came for his dinner, Rosie and Edelgarde finished with their last customers and closed out all the work.
Then Jimmy G and Bill mustered up the energy and started into their closing routine. They were a good team now, efficient, swift. One could read what the other was doing and work around it. In just about no time they had the truck loaded and were ready to head over to the main kitchen. They said good night to Rosie and Edelgarde, packed up Kalista’s main kitchen items on their truck and headed off.
