word count: 1350 words
Saturday 24th October 2006 -3:58 pm
I hate working at this café. My feet hurt from walking around and waiting tables, my back aches and I really just want to go home. Aunt Luella says I'm fine to be running the café on my own because I'm 20, therefore she hardly ever comes in. When she does, it makes this boring job just a tad bit better, as I have someone to talk to. She hasn't come in today, she's on holiday. I am bored with out her.
The café is called The Bakery. Ironic I know.
I see a woman walk past outside. Her hair looks a little windswept so I subconsciously smooth down may hair and look at myself in the reflective surface of the coffee machine, waiting for a customer to come in. It's never really that busy on a Saturday. That's a lie, its busy but its never busy at about 4pm. After all, the café closes at 4:30.
I turn to the door as I hear the little bell ring which indicates someone has come in or left. I see my twin brother Jamie with his friends Matt, Nick and Alex in tow. His friends are nice, except for Alex. He's nice but just a bit patronizing. He lives across the street form me, his mum and my mum are best friends so Alex comes round quite a bit. His mum is lovely. I love Penny.
Jamie and his mates sit in the back right hand corner, all their eyes on me, almost saying to me "are you coming to take our order or not?". They never actually said that to me but the looks on their faces did.
I grab the little note pad from my pocket and I also grab a black ball point pen from my other pocket. The plastic on the pen has cracked. I ought to buy some more.
I begin walking over, whilst doing this, I keep my eyes glued to my shoes. I always look down when I walk. The laces of my converse are undone yet I have no interest in doing them up right now, I'm just going to hope I don't trip over them. I get to their table and take the lid of my pen. "what can I get for you guys"
"A tea please Jules" Jamie loves a good cup of tea.
"can you make that 2 please" matt asked.
"I'll have an apple juice" Nick loves his apple juice.
"I'll have an caramel Frapuccino please love" of course he asks for something that's hard to make.
Alex calls me love quite a bit, as well as sweetheart and darling, yet it annoys me every single time. What is he trying to achieve when he does this? Is he trying to get me to fall helplessly in love with him? He's my brothers friend. That's weird and besides, I couldn't put up with him for more than about an hour max.
"is that everything?" I ask.
Matt and nick reply at the same time
"yeah". Nick's voice is just that fraction of a bit lower than Matt's so they almost harmonise which makes me laugh a little.
I walk back to their table, the drinks on a tray, which is in my hands. As I walk briskly to their table, I stumble a little over my untied shoe laces. Fortunately, I don't actually fall to the floor or spill an of the drinks. Unfortunately, everyone is looking at me as I stumble.
"Fuck" I mumble.
"You should do up your shoe laces, don't want you tripping over now do we darling?" Sarcasm. Honestly Alex, you'd think I'd know that after I nearly just fell over. This is what I mean by when I say he's patronizing.
"Alex, its fine."
"No. Do them up."
"But why, its fine."
"Because I don't want you tripping over darling."
"Just do them up Jules." Jamie chimes in.
"fine" I give them their drinks then kneel down and do up my shoe laces, then I begin tidying up so I can lock up the café and go home.
I mop the the floor, wipe down all the tables and chairs, wash up the dirty plates, cutlery and anything else that needs washing, clean the coffee machine and get my coat on ready to go. Every one is waiting for me. I fish the keys out my pocket and turn around to lock the café door. Nick and Jamie are talking with each other, Matt is on his phone and Alex stares at me, as if judging my every move. I turn to the group and Matt puts his phone away.
"Ready?" he asks
"Mhmm" is all I can be bothered to say. I just want to go back to bed.
On the journey home, I pull my earphones out my pocket and plug them into my phone, open Spotify and play Married with Children by Oasis. I've been listening to that song a lot, its a good song. I turn the volume up, high enough so I can't hear what my brother and his mates are saying, just mumbles. I pull my deep red hoodie tighter around myself, its really cold for October.
I look at my shoes. I've always looked at the ground when I've walked. Mum says it might be because I have anxiety but dad says that I just don't want to fall over. Apparently its what a sensible person would do but a sensible person would look to see where they are going. That's me though. Sensible, mature Julietta. Jamie's sister. The sensible one.
We cross over. I'm walking quite slowly. I look at my phone to skip to the next song, I skip three songs so that I can listen to Hate to say I told you so by The Hives. I like that song.
Just as quickly as I skip through my playlist, an arm snakes round my waist and pulls me the direction in which the arm came from. A car hares past the position in the road which I was once stood in, hadn't I been pulled away from that spot. I look up to see who's arm was still holding my waist. My eyes were greeted my Alex's concerned ones. He's never concerned. At least not for me.
Jamie stomps over angrily and yanks my earphones from where they were sitting comfortably in my ears. He's probably more terrified of the thought of what could've happened to me. But I was fine right? Right?
"Julietta. Be more careful next time, yeah?" That's all he said. Thank fuck that's all he said. No surprises by Radiohead started playing and if Jamie had said any more, I think I'd start crying. Not because of what he could've said to be but instead because that song makes me cry.
I quickly skip through until Song 2 by Blur comes on. I put one earphone back in and Alex quickly removes his hand from my waist almost as if he forgot it was their. He is still staring at me, concerned. I'm starting to get scared. He never gets concerned for me.
"You okay sweetheart" he asks cautiously as if I'm a mouse trap and he's a mouse just trying to get cheese without setting the trap off. I doubt that's how he is actually thinking of me but that's just the way I perceive his worried expression.
"yeah, yeah. I'm fine" The group of us begin to walk home.
Once Jamie and I have walked Alex to his door, Matt and Nick had left by this point, we turn and walk into our house which is opposite to Alex's.
"had a nice time with your friends Jamie?" mum asks
"yeah" he replies.
"how was your shift at the café Jules?"
"it was alright, I guess"
Seeing as my mum couldn't get much of an answer from both me and Jamie, she told us that dinner would be in half an hour and with that, I left to my room.
I enter my room, drop my bag in the door way, close the door and curtains, throw myself into my bed, pull the covers over my head and go to sleep.
YOU ARE READING
Your shoelaces are undone
FanfictionJulietta Cook, the twin sister of Jamie Cook, hates her job. The café she works at is owned by her Aunt. It's just her and Aunty Luella who work there but now that Julietta is 20, her Aunt barely ever comes in for a shift. She finds her brothers fri...
