Waiting to run

"What can I get you?" I asked a fine young man. He stared at the menu a bit longer and looked up at me. "A plate of fried rice with chicken." he replied almost immediately looking away. "Alright would that be grilled or fried chicken?" I asked again, scribbling on my pad. "What?" he asked absent-minded. "Grilled or fried?" I said. He nodded. I put my hand on my hips. "Oh the chicken, fried. Sorry." he finally said. I gave a fake smile and nodded. I rolled my eyes as I walked away. The bottle of beer on his table was untouched. It was busy, getting warm too. The weird guy was just staring at his phone on the table. He seemed eager for it to ring or something. I shook my head and walked to clear another table. A couple had finished eating. I noticed they left a tip and smiled. Guys usually left tips to impress their dates.

Mr. Odd's food was ready. I went for it quickly and set it on his table. He looked up at me and smiled very broadly. It surprised me when he said thank you in addition. I nodded and walked off. He started eating with such speed. Maybe he was just very hungry. I felt bad for calling him names. "If you need anything else just let me know ok?" I said and smiled back. I walked out the back door to take a short break. I took out my phone to call my cousin. We planned to meet after work but I decided to take another shift to make some more money. "Hello, yea Kaf it looks like..." I started but was interrupted by my boss. "Linda are you on the phone?" he asked sternly. I turned around quickly. "Ok mum I will get them for you." I said. I could hear Kafui laughing in the background. I hung up before she made me laugh too. "Sorry sir it was my mother she needed me to buy her some drugs on my way home." I lied. He shook his head and said, "get back to work." I nodded and went back inside

The restaurant was not very busy. It wasn't lunch time yet. I was 30 minutes into the second shift. The weird guy had gone back to his old self. He held a piece of chicken in his hand for a long time while staring into thin air. Then he dropped the chicken down and wiped his hands with a tissue. His phone finally rung and he almost dropped it in his rush to answer it. "weirdo." I whispered to myself. A couple walked in and took their seats. I was walking to hand them our menu when Mr. Strange called for his bill. I signaled for him to give me a minute. "No no I want my bill now!" he yelled. I honestly didn't see that coming. I looked at the couple and they smiled at me, indirectly telling me to see to him first. I smiled back and went for the bill. I was tempted to slam it in front of him but I thought about how much my boss had been on my case this week and tried to smile.

When I put the bill on his table the odd guy took a quick glance at it and put some money in the menu pouch. He got up and left in a hurry. He didn't even make eye contact. "Goodbye to you too." I whispered to myself. I rushed to cater to the couple. As I walked to deliver the orders I noticed Mr. Abnormal had overpaid. He had left 5 times the amount. I turned around and he was gone...

To be continued...