september 2015
houston tx
For the next hour, Ashley avoids table fifteen by any means possible.
Anthony clearly isn't happy about the staffing change, and begins shouting demands at Jacob— she hides in the kitchen while that happens, but she feels guilty for passing the burden onto him.
Jacob doesn't mind at all, because he could see the relief in Ashley's face when he offered to take over the responsibility of the table.
Ashley is wishing away the rest of her shift, and before she knows it, there's only an hour left.
Thankfully, for the last hour, Anthony and his friends at table fifteen have gone, and Ashley feels like she can breathe again; not for long, though, because as she nears the end of her shift, she has another customer yelling at her for yet another thing that is completely out of her control.
Ashley is drained and fighting back tears while taking whatever verbal abuse the man in front of her is throwing, before he finally gives in and asks for a manager.
She hurries off to the back of the restaurant to tell Greg that a customer wants to see him; at first, he asks her to accompany him while he solves the issue, but Ashley refuses.
"It's the end of my shift," she replies, flatly, having glanced at the clock behind him on the wall. "I can't deal with anymore shit today," she adds, honestly, clearly exhausted.
Greg hesitates, before his expression softens, and he nods.
Ashley takes that as her cue to leave. She clocks out and grabs her things, exiting the restaurant from the back, to avoid going through the front.
When she opens her phone, she immediately feels guilty that she hadn't got the chance to text Awsten back earlier; there's a few more messages from him, but she doesn't even bother opening those— instead, she calls him straight away.
"Hey, Shelly," he greets, softly, as soon as the line connects, and Ashley finds herself letting out a sigh, just at the sound of his voice. "You okay? What's up?"
"Sorry, I just—" She begins, before pausing and taking a breath. "I've had the worst fucking day, and I didn't bring my car because I thought it'd be nice to walk this morning, but now I'm really regretting it because it's just been a day from hell, and I—"
"Slow down, it's okay," Awsten interrupts, gently, sensing that she's getting herself worked up as she falls into a ramble. "I'll come pick you up, yeah?"
"You're the best," Ashley mumbles, graciously.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," he assures her, before their call comes to a close, and Awsten gets in his car straight away.
It's takes Awsten no longer than ten minutes to arrive, and he pulls up around the back, avoiding the front as Ashley had instructed him to do.
She looks visibly relieved when she sees his car, and Awsten wonders how bad her day must've been— she looks exhausted.
"Hi," Ashley sighs, quietly, as she gets into the car, clipping her seatbelt in.
"Hey," Awsten replies, gently, a soft look of concern on his face.
Ashley doesn't say anything after that. Her eyes are fixated in front of them, as Awsten drives away; he keeps glancing towards her, his expression soon twisting into a worried frown.
