Kalista had neither the time nor the inclination to tell Bill about the waitress and Caesar. They had all worked all the way through mostly non-stop and they were still working. Their work was less harried now, less manic, more steady. But they worked continually.
Late orders came in steadily but the later it got the more the orders switched over to less specials more grilled items like steak and hamburgers. Bill and Jimmy G worked it all together neither one of them leaving the kitchen except for getting things needed or to go back to where Kalista was for more espresso.
Everyone had had a lot to drink. No one was drunk, not even high. What they had done was start early and maintain so that like stale beer, they were stale and tired. Near closing it was definitely time to go home and get into the shower. Despite having changed shirts twice, Bill could smell himself, and if there were one thing he really didn’t like it was smelling himself.
Not only was Bill feeling stale and tired and smelly and weary, but he was getting cranky too. Caesar was the last of the staff he had to feed and when Caesar came for his meal, Bill didn’t feel like making it. He told Jimmy G he really had to pee and asked him to fix Caesar’s plate.
Rosie met Bill at the bathroom. It was quite by accident this time. They had both found their ways to the near bathrooms for the staff.
“Goddamn we had a day,” Rosie said just before she went into the ladies room.
“Yeah,” Bill said. “Been here, done this before, worse than this.”
“New Years is pretty good too,” Rosie said.
“It is what it is,” Bill said.
They both went in to do their business and since Bill was faster, he waited for Rosie so they could walk back together which they did. Wasn’t much to say except how tired they were, but being tired was a given.
“Be glad to get into the shower when I get home,” Bill said.
“Yeah, me too,” Rosie said. She smiled at Bill.
When they weren’t so tired physically and weary overall, Rosie would have made a comment about how she would have liked Bill to be in that shower with her. The lack of a comment of that nature on her part was obvious to Bill and maybe wanting to start something he said “Not gonna make a comment?”
“Nope.”
“Nothing?”
“Nope.”
“Good girl,” Bill said.
“Don’t you like my comments?”
“Course I do.”
“I like the way you react to them,” Rosie said. She tapped Bill on his arm. “I’m gonna shower and then I’m gonna sleep until I have to get up for work tomorrow. We’ll be busy all week.”
“You think?”
“That’s the way it’s always been. I know they have a lot of little parties again.”
“Banquet schedule is pretty full.”
“End of the season,” Rosie said.
“Wanna drink?” Bill asked.
“Why not?”
They were back to the ramp. Up at the top, at Kalista’s station, Bill found the whiskey bottle Kalista had. He poured a good shot into a coffee cup and handed it to Rosie. She downed it quickly, thanked him and Kalista and went back into the dining room. Kalista just shook her head, but she didn’t say anything.
“We didn’t do anything,” Bill said. “Honest mommy.”
Kalista smiled. “I make last espresso for the day.”
“Good,” Bill said. “I didn’t feel like fixing Caesars’s dinner, so I went off to pee. She just happened to be there. We didn’t dilly dally. We peed, we came back and here we are.”
“Yes,” Kalista said. “Here we are.”
