Builder Brothers' Pizza is Kinda a Weird Place

Drei

Morgan usually liked working the night shift. By the evening, all the crazies would have gone home and the only people there were the sane ones, made calm by exhaustion. Morgan really didn't understand what it was about working the night shift that was so bad. Sure, it was late and people were probably tired. But the tiredness is what made it better. No one would act out because they're too tired to do so. There were also way less customers at night. For Morgan working the night shift was an overall good experience. Usually.

Tonight, however, it was horrible.

Morgan got the first sign that this would be a terrible shift right as she walked up to the front door of the pizza place. A sign was taped to the glass that read, "Worker strike. Budget cuts and extra hours for all remaining employees. Caution is advised when entering the restaurant. -Sarah McCoy, Current Manager"

Oh boy.

When Morgan walked into the building, at first nothing seemed off. There was a man in his mid-to-late 20s with dyed purple hair working at the counter. Morgan had seen him before. From what she could tell, he had a pretty random schedule. His schedule was basically, "Go to work in the morning and see what happens". Morgan couldn't remember the man's name but she knew he had been working at Builder Brothers' for a fairly long time.

"Oh, the night shift people are here," The man murmured.

"Um, hi, if you're here should I go work in the back or should I take over for you, or..." Morgan trailed off.

"It doesn't really matter, just as long as you're working, although, I would recommend that you stay out here, since the back areas are kind of a mess right now," The man said, scratching his head. He didn't have a name tag, so Morgan still couldn't figure out his name. He wasn't wearing the uniform, although that wasn't a terribly rare occurrence around here.

"Alright, I guess I'll just work the counter, then," Morgan said, more to herself than to the man.

"Cool," Was the man's only response before heading into the back area to do who-knows-what.

Now Morgan was alone. Though this time, the pizza place seemed quieter than usual. Usually, there were at least sounds from the other employees chatting or moving around, but now there was nothing. Probably has to do with the workers strike. Hardly anyone's coming to work.

Morgan yawned. The worst part about working as a cashier during the late shift was the boredom coming from a lack of customers. That's why she usually didn't work as a cashier during her shift. But that man seemed to know what he was talking about and Morgan knew that he had been working at Builder Brothers' for a long time since she had been working there for two and a half years and the man was already working there for a while by then. If he told her not to go in the back, then he probably had a reason for doing so.

So there Morgan stayed, half-asleep and groggy. She should have brought a book, or a crossword puzzle, or something to fill up her time, but she didn't. I mean, it's not every day that workers go on strike and you're stuck manning the counter alone.

Morgan was almost asleep when the bell rang, signaling that someone had entered the establishment. In walked a man wearing a black blazer with a matching tie and pants. His dark brown hair was slicked back and glistening under the light. Overall, he looked very professional and commanding.

"Hello there, could you please point me in the direction of the manager's office?" The man spoke in a smooth voice.

"Sure, just go straight back to the boxing area, it's the door across from the table," Morgan replied, still a bit disoriented from being woken up, "Oh, uh, what's- what's your name, please? And could you tell me what you're doing in the manager's office?"

"Of course, I'm Sean Gates, and as for what I'm doing in the manager's office, well, I suppose it's my office now," Sean smirked.

Wait, he's the new manager? And there's a new manager in the first place?! Jeez, I guess that woman really hated her job!

"I really need to get my things set up in my office, my flight was delayed and I came in quite late, far later than intended, and I really would like to get some good sleep tonight. It was very nice meeting you... Morgan, but I will have to cut this conversation short," Sean said, yawning. Morgan didn't bother saying that they weren't really having a conversation; she was too tired.

"Yeah, cool," Morgan murmured, suddenly understanding the man from earlier's tired demeanor.

And, once again, Morgan was alone. Tonight, it even seemed like there were less customers than usual, not that there were usually very many at such an hour. Maybe they heard about the strike, Morgan didn't know. She didn't really care, either. She was just really, really tired.

Maybe I could take a nap, or maybe just sleep forever, who knows really? Man, this counter is already starting to feel like a pillow...

"Sleepy?" Suddenly, a voice rang out behind Morgan.

"Jesus Christ! You could at least try to wake me up gently before barging in here with your- your- loud shoes and your stupid voice, stupid... asshole!" Morgan tried to insult the man from earlier, who was now leaning in the doorway, a hint of a smile on his face. She, obviously, failed miserably.

The man just chuckled quietly and said, "If you think I was being loud, there's something wrong with your ears. I don't exactly have a loud speaking voice."

And it was true. Now out of her disorientation, Morgan found the man's low voice to actually be somewhat calming.

"You see the new manager?" The man asked, tilting his head down.

"Yeah, he came in earlier. Sean, right? Sean Gates?" Morgan said, looking over at the man.

"Yeah. What do you think of him? I think he's kinda a dick."

"Oh, uh, I don't really know, he seemed fine, but I didn't see him for very long."

"Well, he did make a joke about women being dumb, so..."

"Ouch," Morgan whispered, wincing.

"Yeah," The man grimaced.

"By the way, what's your name? I've seen you around before, but I've never seen you wearing the uniforms so I couldn't catch your name," Morgan asked.

"Isaac," The man stated shortly.

"Well, I've gleaned that you're a man of few words, Isaac," Morgan smirked.

Isaac chuckled, "Well, I can't deny that... Morgan Callahan."

A comfortable silence followed. Morgan looked towards the front of the pizza place. Not a single customer had come in during the entire six hours Morgan had been there. The sun had started to come up, signaling the end of her shift.

"Well, it's almost the end of my shift so-"

"Not so fast," A voice said behind Morgan.

It was Sean. Oh no. "I don't know if you read the sign, but because of the strike, all of the remaining employees are getting extra hours. That means your shift isn't over yet, Morgan," Sean had said it with a smirk on his face, as if he had been happy to tell it to her.

"What? Why did no one tell me? At least tell me where to look for schedule changes!" Morgan protested.

"Yeah, yeah, well you should have read the sign," Sean dismissed her.

"I did read the sign, and nowhere on there did it say anything about where to look for schedule changes! So you don't get to dismiss me like that!" Morgan tried to argue, but it looked like Sean didn't want to listen.

What the fuck?!