See You in Hell

3

Louise tugged impulsively at the worn drawstrings of her favorite sweatshirt. She was trying to resist the overwhelming urge to pull on the familiar hood and enclose herself in its warm embrace. She might have given up her ears, but when she was stressed out her need to cover her head returned. Her Mom wasn't there to scold her for the habit, but she didn't want to give into this adolescent urge with Logan around. He didn't need any more ammunition. They'd been on the clock together for only 2 hours but the time seemed to stretch on for an eternity.

It had been two weeks since her Mom had left for Florida. The house felt low without Linda's bustling maternal presence. Ordinarily, Louise longed for peace and quiet from the near incessant humming and questions. But now that Linda was absent she felt the loss, especially with her dad. Louise and her Mom were the two remaining buoys for his spirits, now she felt their full weight fall on her shoulders alone.

Bob's spirits had been on a down slide for some time. His aches and pains had grown worse over the last few years, especially his back. Business was just as erratic as ever, but the ups and downs that had always seemed to invigorate her Dad, were harder on him now. His declining physical health and the loss of two of three kids compounded on him with a crushing weight. He'd taken Gene's announcement that he would be touring this summer with his band especially hard. Gene had always been vocal about his dreams of making it on the stage, but deep down Bob had still harbored a hope that he'd change his mind. Now he just had Louis.

The current atmosphere in the diner was icy. Logan and she were doing their best to keep away from each other - a tricky business in an enclosed space not much larger than a generous walk-in closet. If one was at the counter, the other made themselves scarce in the cramped kitchen, and vice versa. At least she got to order him around. Being in charge had its perks.

"Your boyfriend is here." Logan came into the kitchen to announce this with a giant shit eating grin on his dumb face. It was the third time Jimmy Junior had come into the restaurant that week and it was really starting to get on Louise's last nerve. It was bad enough she had to work with her sworn enemy, but now she had to deal with this bozo every shift.

"Can I get a protein shake?" Jimmy could barely squeeze his beefy thighs between the stool and the counter.
"We don't have protein shakes." She always tried to keep her tone as icy as possible when she had to interact with him, but her disinterest seemed to go unnoticed. Not even the total disregard of his text messages had made a dent in his persistence. Either this guy was even dumber than she thought or he was just way too used to having every girl drool over him.
"Oh man, really? That blows, you should totally add them to the menu. Super important if you want to bulk up."
"That's not the kind of clientele we're trying to attract." Louise almost snarled, but Logan jumped in.
"Hey now, we got all the right ingredients, just cause it's not on the menu doesn't mean we can't do it. I can whip you up something!" She shot daggers at Logan who returned her glare with a wicked smirk.

He already got to watch her squirm with amusement every time Jimmy lumbered into the diner, but now to add salt in the wound, he was actually egging him on. She wasn't going to stand for it. She stormed after him into the kitchen.

"What the hell are you trying to do?!" She hissed as the door swung behind her.
"The customer is always right Louise." He sang out playfully.
"Like hell they are! You can't just make up new menu items - that's a health code violation!"
"Since when do you care about any of that?"
He had assembled the ingredients for a banana smoothly and was just tucking his hair into the mandated battered milkshake hat before running the blender.

Louise marched across the kitchen and flicked off the power switch on the outlet. The defining whirl of the blades sputtered out.
"Ah ah ah. Hair net." He dangled one in front of her nose teasingly. She snatched it out of his hands and sent it flying across the kitchen.

Logan seemed unconcerned by her rage. He casually reached a hand down to tap a finger on the big tub of Miralax Bob kept next to the coffee creamers. Sometimes her Dad's morning meeting needed a little extra '"inspiration"..

"Ya know, one major side effect of steroid use is constipation."

Louise stopped in her tracks, suddenly finding Logan's wicked smile infectious. For a moment their eyes met, glinting mischievously with glee at the prospect of this delicious prank. Louise was only disappointed she hadn't come up with it herself.

"I think we have peanut butter in the basement." She offered. "You know, for protein or whatever."

Louise watched on as he diligently assembled the shake. When the 'natural' ingredients had all been incorporated he opened the laxatives and held out a spoon to her.

"You can do the honors boss."

At least they could join forces this once for the sake of their common passion.