“Oh, no, it’s not that,” Riley said, smiling slightly. “I get that it was a busy night and normally I never would have even taken the call, much less taken more than a couple of minutes.”
&nb
sp; “So what’s the story?”
Riley shrugged, blushing slightly without knowing why. “I’ve been offered—well, it’s a more secure, full-time opportunity,” Riley said, remembering that she wasn’t allowed to provide any details—no matter how much she might like to tell the icy front-of-house manager that she was quitting for a role in Galaxy Wars 3. “And the job starts in two weeks, so…”
To Riley’s shock, Jill’s cool demeanor dissolved even further, and the older woman looked genuinely saddened.
“Well, if you’ve found a better opportunity then obviously you need to take that,” Jill said, nodding. “I’m glad you’re able to give me notice.”
“You’ve been good to me here,” Riley said, smiling. “I thought it would only be fair to give you the chance to get someone new hired and at least partially trained before I go.”
“I appreciate it,” Jill said, smiling slightly. Riley’s shock at the emotional display from her supervisor deepened as the older woman moved to hug her. She was so surprised that for a moment all she could do was stand there and accept the embrace; a second later, however, she wrapped her arms around the older woman’s shoulders to return the hug. “And of course, if things don’t work out at your new job…”
“I will reapply and hope you haven’t hired someone better than me,” Riley finished, smiling at Jill.
The manager nodded and hesitated for just a moment before turning to continue her trek back to the office.
“Get back to your side work already,” she called gruffly over her shoulder, and Riley moved to obey, smiling to herself.
FOUR
Riley had thought that the two weeks between getting the call and the first day of filming would drag; instead, as she got ready for her last shift at the restaurant, she stared at herself in the mirror for a moment and tried to understand how the days could have gone by so quickly.
She pulled on her uniform and swept her hair back into the low, smooth bun she preferred to keep it in at work, reviewing the script section she had spent the previous evening memorizing. Her part in the film was tiny, but Riley knew that there were opportunities in any big production to grab a few extra minutes in front of the camera, and that was especially true in a film where a large chunk of the cast would be in special effects makeup. If some of the extras couldn’t be on set on a particular day, or if something came up, Riley hoped she would be in a position to offer herself as a replacement.
Riley looked around her room, taking a deep breath as she tried to collect her thoughts. How weird is it that I actually feel a little sad about this being my last shift?
Riley smiled to herself. She’d done all of her laundry over the course of the last few days; she didn’t want to have to worry about anything other than getting to and from the set for at least the first few weeks of shooting.
Some of her friends had organized a get-together after the dinner shift, to celebrate Riley’s new job, and although it was a Sunday night and she had to be on set early in the morning for makeup, Riley had gone along with the plan.
“Maybe if I lay my clothes out now, I’ll be able to get enough sleep and still show up tomorrow morning looking professional,” Riley mused out loud.
She pulled an outfit out of her dresser and set it aside on the chair in her bedroom; even though she’d be put in costume once she arrived, along with having hair and makeup done, she wanted to arrive looking clean, sharp and ready to work.
When she had no further excuse to dally, Riley hurried down to her car. Pulling out of her assigned parking spot, she thought ahead to her last shift. Since it was a Sunday night, Riley thought it would likely be at least a little bit on the slow side, but it was hard to be sure until the shift actually started. For the most part, Sunday nights didn’t attract too many patrons, but there were rare occasions when people would flood through the doors. At least, she thought as she got on the freeway towards the restaurant, even if it was busy, the night would end earlier than a Friday or Saturday, as the kitchen closed at ten-thirty on Sundays.
The drive to work went faster than usual, and almost before Riley could mentally prepare herself for the shift, she was pulling into the employee parking lot. She climbed out from the driver’s seat and checked to make sure her uniform was still spotless, her shoes clean, everything as it should be. It was going to be her last shift and she wanted to make a grand exit, and that meant being absolutely on point, since she had already decided against flouncing out in a huff.
Riley had expected that maybe her coworkers would say goodbye to her at some point during her shift; but she hadn’t believed that anyone, apart from maybe one or two of the staff at Le Roi would actually miss her very much, or notice her departure in any real, substantive way. At first, as she strode through the employee entrance and hurried to clock in for her shift, Riley’s conclusion seemed to be valid; everyone was busy on side work in preparation for the dinner rush to come, and no one even mentioned that it was her last shift.
For once, everyone who was scheduled for the shift came in, and as Riley began to focus on her work, the restaurant seemed to be running like a well-oiled machine. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if on my last night here, five people called out and a fire started in the kitchen and everything that could go wrong did? Riley smiled to herself as she rolled silverware, shaking her head at the thought. It was definitely for the best that everyone—from the hostesses to the bus boys, the wait staff to the bar to the kitchen staff—was in, and apparently completely focused on