*Sammie’s POV (After Hannah Boards)

Well that’s it; I’m officially alone for the summer. All of my friends have left and now I have to go back to an empty apartment. And I won’t even have that apartment for much longer if I can’t get a job again. I head out of the airport and drive home. When I get to the apartment I go online to check my email and voicemail just in case I’ve heard from Applebee’s or Hollister. I check the voicemail first and there’s not even any missed calls. Wonderful. I’m almost wondering if I should even bothering checking my email.

I decide to be brave and check it. I log in to find that I have two emails. One from Applebee’s and the other from Hollister. I guess this is it. I’m about to find out if I’m no longer unemployed. I open the one from Applebee’s first. I can’t believe it…Applebee’s wants me as a part time waitress! This is so exciting! They want me to work the dinner shift. That means lots of tables, and therefore lots of tips, plus the two paychecks per month! This is great. But I still have the Hollister email to read. What if Hollister wants me to work the same hours as Applebee’s? Then I’ll have to choose between them.

It’s now or never. I open the email and carefully read it. They want me to be either a cashier or a model. I don’t really want to be a model though, because I would be standing outside of the store trying to get people to come into the store and taking pictures with strangers who could hit on me and make me feel really uncomfortable. The problem is the modeling pays more than the cashier job. This is a tough decision to make. I’m able to choose my own hours whichever one I pick. So I could work at Hollister in the morning and Applebee’s at night. Then I’d get four paychecks per month, plus tips at Applebee’s.

No matter if the modeling pays more or not, I can’t do it. I gotta take the cashier job instead. I call both places and find out my hours and basically my weekly schedule. I’m gonna be working at Hollister Mon/Wed/Fri 10am-2pm and at Applebee’s Mon-Fri/every other Saturday 5pm-12am and always have Sundays off. Applebee’s said that once I start school again, they can cut my hours so that I don’t have to quit. This has got to be a dream. I’m able to work two jobs this summer. I’ll have the money to keep my apartment and do whatever I want! …but my friends won’t be here. That’s the catch to my perfect summer. Hopefully, I’ll just be so busy that I hardly think about it.

I’m able to start at Applebee’s tonight if I want. I think I will just for something to do. I have a few hours before I’d have to be there so I guess I’ll find my pair of black pants for my uniform. After at least an hour I finally find them buried in my closet. Next I need my good black shoes. There goes another hour of my time. They told me to just wear a plain black polo for tonight until they can get me an Applebee’s shirt. By the time I find the shirt it’s time to go and I quickly throw my hair up in a ponytail and put on minimal makeup. I grab my keys and go out the door to start one of my two awesome jobs!

At Applebee’s…

I’ve been observing other waiters for an hour or so and basically all I gotta do is when a new table in my section arrives, I have to get them menus. Then after a bit, get their drink orders and bring them out when they’re ready. Next, take their food orders, and bring it out when it’s ready, refill their drinks when necessary, and take plates when they’re done. I also learned how to ring up the bills. It’s really not that difficult. What’s difficult is on busy nights when there are lots of tables and I need to do all that for more than one table at a time. Hopefully, I’ll get really good at that.

My boss comes to me and asks me if I’m ready to try doing a table now. I tell her I am and I go to the table I’m assigned. I introduce myself while I pass out the menus and tell them to let me know if they need anything. My boss gives me a reassuring thumbs up. She seems to have confidence in me because she asks me if I can handle another one. I say I accept the challenge and go to the other table doing the same thing I did at the first.

I then go to the first table and get their drink orders. I get there drinks to them and then get the other table’s drink order. Things seem to be going well so far. I have the tray of drinks for my second table and I’m on my way there when the worst happens. Someone accidentally bumps into me and the drinks spill all over me. Just great. Plus a table of rowdy guys saw and are whooping and hollering at me because you can clearly see the outline of my chest. I could just cry right here.

I cover my face with one of my hands and try to hold back. All of a sudden there’s a voice in front of me. “Hey are you all right?” “No, I’m really not.” I say looking up to see..Louis?! “Louis! What are you doing here?” “I come here a lot…when did you start working here?” he asks.

“I just started tonight if you couldn’t tell. I’m so embarrassed.” “Hey it’s gonna get better. Don’t worry.” I love this guy. I just got an idea. “Louis..can I talk to you after my shift?” “Um…sure. I don’t have anything going on. What about?” he asks. “I’ll tell you later. I gotta get back to work.” I say walking away to get the drinks again.

The rest of the shift goes a lot better and no more drinks are spilled. The customers love me and the tips are great. By the end of the night, I have at least $50. Louis was at one of the tables waiting for me just like he said he would be. I sit down across from him and he greets me. “Hey Sam. How was the rest of the night for you?” “Much better than it started. No more drinks spilled and no food went flying either.” I say laughing. “Good…now what’s going on? What did you wanna talk to me about?”

At this point, I ask Louis if he remembers my friends from that night when we met. I tell him that all of them are gonna be gone all summer and that they’re my only friends I have. I tell him all about my past and how I have literally no family left.

“Wow…I didn’t know all this stuff happened to you. And you’re only seventeen! Look, if you ever need someone to talk to or hang with this summer while your friends are gone, let me know. If I’m not doing a show, I’ll answer or get to you as soon as I can. I care about you, Sammie. I don’t want you to be upset. I’m happy for you that you got this job and the Hollister one. Just let me know if you need anything.” Louis says.

“Thank you, Louis. It means a lot to me to have someone like you behind me. Here’s my number.” I say handing him a napkin. “All right awesome. I’ll text you later so you have mine. I’ll see you soon, Sammie.” “See you soon, Louis. Have a good night.” I leave the restaurant and head home feeling great.

I love this job and I’m sure I’ll love Hollister too. Four paychecks per month plus tips is definitely gonna be awesome. The girls may be gone, but at least I have Louis to keep me company now. He is such a sweetie. I see him and me becoming really good friends this summer. It feels nice to have things going my way for once.

Notes