Enthralled

Damsel In Distress

 "Hazel, you're late! There are piles of dishes undone and table three needs to be served NOW!" Mr Smith threw the apron at her and stormed off, bellowing at someone else. 

Honestly she didn't know what constituted late for her boss, the owner of Smith's Diners. She was already ten minutes early for God's sake! 

Hazel sighed as soon as she walked through the battered backdoor of Smith Diners. The usual smell of food and oil hit her nose - the exact same smell that stuck to her clothes and hair after her shift was over. She tied her white apron around her waist over her uniform - it was a short black skirt with a black polo-T-and walked into the dining area with a smile pasted on her face. 

Smith Diners would have looked rather nice and sweet if this was ten years ago. The floor with lime green and yellow tiles were now a greyish hue with streaks of mud and footprints. The sunny yellow wall paper faded, and the bottom of certain tables were hives for used bubblegums. (She of all people should know, since she spent the better part of her time trying to pry them off.) It was a diners where mostly disgruntled people hangout to rant about the sad story of their lifes and how their Maker didn't give shit about them. Or mothers with herds of wailing children they had no control over. And sometimes a group of rowdy students or two, loitering about before entering college. 

Hazel noted a puddle of some goo on the floor with a groan. She grabbed the mop and marched over, swiftly cleaning it up whilst holding her breath. The faster she did it, the better. Best to remain ignorant, she didn't want to speculate what the bloody hell was it in case she got all nauseous. 

 She hated her job. She hated her boss. And normally she wouldn't say this, as Hazel finds every other aspect of her life fairly pleasing. But whenever she thought about her horrible job she couldn't help but summarized that she hated her life.

She needed money for future college fees and although her parents already allotted a sum. She doubted it was enough. Hence, taking the job at Smith's Diners.

The pay wasn't terrific, the boss was awful, the customers were demanding at times and her co-workers were not all that great either. They were all lazy and she had to do all the work because she was 'young and strong' whereas they had 'bad bones'. They made themselves sound decrepit when they were in their thirties she thought with annoyance.

  However, it was the nearest to her house. Merely a walking distance. She didn't want to waste money on gas. Her parents weren't thrilled about her job but agreed it was for the best -her father found the place dingy what with the amount of rotten teens hanging out there, his words not hers.

 "HAZEL! WHY IS THE COFFEE POT EMPTY?!!!" she jumped and rushed to refill the coffee pot while balancing a tray of food. She looked down at her skirt which had ketchup sauce smeared on. It wasn't visible, only a slightly darker spot but it was darn uncomfortable. Children nowadays were like spawns of demons she sighed again.

That was another of the many downsides of this job, some of the customers were so demanding and they usually came with children that were equally rude.

 "Leave me alone!" Kim squealed. Hazel snapped up in attention and saw Kim's eyes were watery with tears as she tried to maneuver away from Billy with her hands filled with dirty dishes. 

Kim was her only friend in the whole diner. A petite brunette that would've looked pretty if it weren't for the constant worry etched on her face. She was two years older than Hazel -both of them always got the brunt of the other workers mistreatment. But she was as timid as a mouse which caused her to be Billy, Mr Smith's crude nephew's favorite target.

He was a drop out and his job here was to hit on everything that walks. Or at least that was what Hazel thought his job to be. He never did anything else. As proved, he was currently groping Kim in a most indecent way with his gangly limbs. An evil sneer on his sallow face.