Babygirl and the Mean Boss

Copyright
© 2012 by Pepper Pace. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Pepper Pace.

FOREWARD

I had a dilemma in deciding to separate this story from the collection that it appears in entitled Love Intertwined vol. 1. It is a short story with approximately 30,000 words. I wasn’t certain if people would want to purchase a short story. And then I realized that several people have asked to re-read some of their favorites that originally appeared on my blog or on Literotica.com. Many don’t realize that they appear in a collection or they only want the one specific story.

If you find that you enjoy this short, as well as some of the others that appeared on Literotica.com, and are interested in purchasing them in a collection please see my books; Love Intertwined vol. 1 & 2. Thank you for your purchase.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I find myself acknowledging the same folks in each of my books; the people that have followed my writings at Literotica.com and Blogspot. Without your feedback and encouragement this book would not have happened.

Thanks to my family and friends for their encouragement and patience. I’m sure there were times when I was supposed to be doing things with you but I was preoccupied with my writing.

Nicole hopped off her bike while it was virtually still rolling.  Quickly she secured it to the bike rack and hurried into the restaurant, hoping to go unnoticed.

             
She hated being late for work. 
H
er Boss, Marty, was an asshole.   She didn’t like giving him a reason to turn his critical eye on her.

             
She entered through the back door and hurried to the coat rack where she hung up her things.  She slipped on an apron and hit the floor.

             
Marty was at the huge
grill
, which was his permanent station.  Rarely did he allow anyone to take over
his
realm, which meant he worked
almost
every day
from opening to closing.

             
Nicole didn’t understand him one bit.  He owned The Down Home Calabash, but never had the free time to enjoy the benefits of being a business owner.  Maybe that’s why he was such an ass!

             
She washed her hands.  Marty called over his shoulder without even looking at her.

             
“You got three orders in Nicole.  Stat!”

             
Annoyed, she thought to herself, ‘What do you want, clean hands or quick food?’

             
Fred was at
their shared work
station finishing up a
Caesar
salad
. He worked days while she did nights. Nicole and Fred worked the cold bar and prep station, which other then the grill was
the
most important position in the kitchen.
 
He ga
ve her a big crooked smile
which she returned. 
The tall lean black man was her best friend at the restaurant
—and probably her only friend. He was someone
who treated her with the respect that she was unaccustomed to. If she cared to look back on her short but rocky life
Nicole would see that all there had
ever
been was fighting and scratching to survive.
Maybe s
omehow Fred was able to see that
because
he
never missed an opportunity to make li
fe at The Calabash easier for her.
 

             
She quickly
assessed all the things she was running low on.
 
“Dinner plates!”  She yelled over her shoulders.
Fred was careful to never let supplies run low for her, but she knew that soon they
’d get hit with the dinner rush and she wanted to be sure that she wouldn’t run out.

             
“Thank you!”  One of the dishwashers replied.
  Marty insisted they all use the polite acknowledgement-
-
although he seldom did.

             
Even though his shift was technically over, Fred continued to help her with the few orders she had waiting.  She could have whipped them out eas
il
y but appreciated
his company. 
When all of the orders were up, Fred dabbed at his brow with his apron.  “Take it
easy, Baby Girl, I’m outtie.”
Fred was only about
three or four
years older th
a
n her.  She didn’t understand how it was that everyone started calling her Baby Girl
, especially
when
she wasn’t
even
,
by far
,
the youngest female that worked there.

             
When she asked him once, he smiled and replied that she looked like she should be someone’s baby girl.  Somehow that had touched her. 
He was very wrong. 
She had never been anyone’s baby
girl
,
not even her Mama and Daddy’s.
  She worried after that his treatment and his words meant that he wanted the role, but then she relaxed when she overheard a phone conversation he was having with his roommate and he said he loved him. 
When he discovered her in the room, his normally handsome face was filled with worry.
Evidently it was a secret he wanted kept.  Though she felt it wasn’t her place to bring it up or to make assumptions,
she
did have
a little pow wow with him behind the restaurant
before he left
and she promised that it wouldn’
t be mentioned.  Whatever Fred’s story was, Nicole never asked…he
,
l
ike she had never offered up his
story
.
  There were c
ertain things friends already knew and didn’t need to discuss.

             
Nicole gave him a quick hug goodbye.
             

             
“Two trout dinners!”  Marty
bellowed
.

             
“Thank you
...
”  Kendall
grumbled
. 
Nicole glanced at her with a
n amused
smile.  She knew
Kendall
was not going to be happy.
The youn
g
spoiled girl
did the food p
rep for meat
which meant she mostly worked out of the walk-in freezer handling
cold,
raw meat.  It was a job that she thoroughly
hated thinking it was too dirty for someone that looked as good as she did.
  But she was a horrible waitress and wouldn’t dream of doing the clean up.  The position she had her eye on was Nicole’s.  Nicole had even offered to swap positions but Marty said no. 

             
Nicole grabbed two dinner platters and prepared them for the trout.  She placed them on Marty’s wait table and moved on to her next order.

             
It went like that for the next hour and a half,
order upon order with no time to take a breather in between.  But Nicole never complained because at least it
made the
day go fast
er
.

             
“Nicole, Kendall, take a break.”  Marty
eventually ordered.

             
It felt just like someone had turned a switch off and she went from ON to
instantly
exhausted. 
A
t least the rush was over for the night.
  Days like this when she had both college and a full day of work was especially hard.

             
She and Kendall went
out
front and
found a ta
ble out of the way of the waitresses.

             
“
Did you see how many trout dinner’s Marty called back?!  I mean I got a date tonight and I don’t want to be anywhere near some damned raw fish!”
Kendall complained.  She was 25, had long auburn hair and almond shaped green eyes.
  Nicole thought of Kendall as one of those white girls that thought she was a black girl.  She talked like one, dressed like one and even though she was
already
gorgeous, she probably wished she looked like one.

             
Nicole
shrugged
unable to sympathize.  In her
32 years of
life she’d done a lot worse tha
n cut fish.  “Yo
u are in the wrong job, Kendall,
”
i
s all she could say. 
The two weren’t quite friends but
w
orking closely together
for the last two years
had
allowed them to
f
orm
a
fondness for each other.

             
Kendall made a face.  “I’d
hate
Marty
for making me cut fish
if he w
asn’t
so damn good looking. 
Isn’t he
so sexy?”  Oh here we go again, she thought.  Kendall had the biggest crush on Marty.  Why did so many women gravitate towards the assholes?