A fool
The next day was just as challenging for Annalise as the first.
Dressed in the skirt and shirt Tina had provided, topped with an apron, she found herself at the restaurant again. Her ginger hair was swept into a messy bun as she dilligently cleaned the tables and chairs.
Despite the small size of the restaurant, the constant flow of customers left her drained, as the place buzzed with voices and laughter, both inside and outside, where patrons enjoyed quick meals.
Annalise found the noise overwhelming, but she resolved to push through it.
Following Tina's advice, she refrained from taking orders, knowing she wouldn't remember details correctly and would only frustrate customers. For now, her role was to maintain cleanliness—wiping tables, sweeping floors, and clearing messes left behind.
Watching Tina handle the rush with surprising speed left Annalise in awe, even as some customers voiced their impatience.
She wished she could assist, but yesterday's embarrassment lingered in her mind, reminding her of her limitations.
"Annalise, go and eat," Tina instructed a few minutes before noon. A wave of relief washed over Annalise, who had been starving since morning. She nodded and made her way to the corner, where a plate of rice awaited her.
Under normal circumstances, she might have frowned at the meal, but she recognized that Tina was no ordinary person.
She was someone who offered Annalise a lifeline, and complaining wouldn't change her situation. It was time to accept her reality, piece by piece.
After finishing her rice, she washed it down with water from a jug, poured into a cup before sipping it down. With a quiet sigh, she wiped her mouth and returned to Tina's side.
As Tina resumed her duties of serving and taking orders, Annalise dove back into cleaning. Her legs ached, and her arms throbbed from the strain of standing and exerting herself.
Surprisingly, she hadn't lost her composure yet.
Despite the restaurant's small size, the crowd remained steady, and fatigue began to set in.
Suddenly, a customer called out for attention. "How much is my bill!?" a middle-aged woman shouted.
Tina was still at the back corner. "I'm coming!" she responded, working quickly to arrange the meals for two tables before she could go to answer the woman.
"Someone come and answer me!" The same woman yelled.
"Why won't you stop shouting? You're disturbing us!" another customer challenged the woman.
"Was it you I was calling for? Mind your business!" the woman snapped back. "How much am I paying for goodness sake!"
Annalise bit her lip as she watched the commotion, she wondered if she could just go and solve the problem so that the woman would stop shouting and everywhere would be peaceful once again. After contemplating, she finally decided to just do it. It couldn't be that bad.
She approached the woman, and asked, "What did you order? I can help you calculate it."
"Oh well," the woman replied, easing her posture. "I had fries, chicken, salad, and a bottle of coke," she listed, looking at Annalise expectantly.
"That'll be $5000," Annalise stated firmly.
The woman's expression hardened. "How? Are you trying to rip me off!?" she exclaimed. "A pair of chicken wings is $1.6, fries are $3, salad is $2.5, and a bottle of coke is $1. How did it add up to $5,000?"
"Did you even attend school at all!?" The woman questioned sharply.
At this, Annalise's eyebrows pulled together. "If you knew the prices already, why were you shouting?" Annalise retorted, matching the woman's frown with her own. "Instead of just calculating it and paying?"
It baffled her why some customers felt the need to escalate situations unnecessarily. Tina had been alerted, and the woman could have easily waited for her to arrive but she just chose to disturb everyone.
"What are you mumbling about?" the woman shot back, her nostrils flaring with irritation.
Just then, Tina arrived, serving the customers before standing at Annalise's side. "I'll handle this," she whispered, signaling for Annalise to step back.
As Annalise walked away, the woman pointed at her threateningly. "You'd better fire that one before she drives away all your customers. What kind of brain does she have?" The woman scoffed.
Tina remained calm, offering a gentle smile. "There's no need to get upset; I'm here now," she said, trying to diffuse the situation as Annalise, now distanced, rolled her eyes in frustration.
Annalise couldn't understand why Tina insisted on being overly accommodating to customers who didn't deserve it. If it were up to her, she would have shot back at the woman and told her to leave. She despised being shouted at.
Once the woman finally departed, Tina glanced over at Annalise before striding towards her. "Annalise, I specifically told you to focus on cleaning and not engage with customers."
"I had no choice; she was yelling like crazy!" Annalise fired back, her frustration evident.
Tina crossed her arms, clearly unimpressed. "I understand, but you need to learn to ignore such behavior. Meeting with her didn't help at all; it only led to disaster. You should have just continued doing your work."
Annalise tightened her grip on the napkin in her hand. "So you see me as a fool like they do? A fool that cannot handle anything?" she inquired, puzzled.
Tina's expression shifted, her gaze flickering to the customers before coming back to Annalise. "That's not what I meant," she whispered firmly.
"Then what were you implying? That if I interact, it'll end in chaos because I'm not smart enough?" Annalise pressed, her tone escalating and drawing the attention of others nearby.
"I don't appreciate your attitude, young lady," Tina reprimanded sharply. "Just follow my instructions, and put in more effort to clean those tables; they're not even clean enough." With that, Tina turned to walk away, leaving Annalise fuming.
Annalise gritted her teeth and clenched the napkin tighter. If only her life had taken a different path, she wouldn't be stuck working in a low-end restaurant like this. It was infuriating to think that even Tina viewed her through the same lens as everyone else—she was beyond annoyed.