Safety

Chapter 4

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Soundtrack

Song for a Friend - Jason Mraz
Because when you play the fool now
You're only fooling everyone else
You're learning to love yourself

Blackbird - Sarah McLachlan
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life

***

"Nice uniform," Jace comments teasingly, nodding his head towards my white blouse, a bow on the bustline, tucked into a black A-line skirt.

"Shut up," I laugh, climbing into his car. "You know I'm perfectly capable of driving myself, right?"

"I'm aware. But, this is your first day of work and we're going out to celebrate afterwards," he chuckles.

I tilt my head, intrigued. "To a bar, hopefully."

He rolls his eyes. "You know no one would serve you."

I fold my arms over my chest, pouting. "Well, what do you have in mind?"

"We're going to the movies to watch a cheesy rom-com and loudly make fun of it till we get asked to leave," he tells me, giving me a pointed look.

A broad smile spreads over my face. "You know me so well."

"Well, duh."

We pull into Café Rosada, and I start to climb out of the car.

"Your shift ends at 7:00, right?"

"Right."

"I'll be here."

I lean in a give him a quick peck on the cheek before bounding off towards the entrance.

I head straight back the Charles' office, lightly knocking on the door. After the brief shuffling of feet, the door swings open.

"Grace Adams," he exclaims, a broad smile across his face. I ignore his use of my full name despite the fact that I find it peculiar. "I see you found your uniform."

I smile, glancing down at the ensemble.

"I have your nametag back here somewhere-" he says, his voice trailing off as he proceeds to tear through his cluttered office in search of the nametag.  Suddenly, he pulls out a thin piece of metal from under a stack of paperwork, his face lighting up like a small child's. "Ah-hah!"

When he hands it to me, I pin it onto my blouse, smoothing out my uniform.

"You're now officially an employee of the Café Rosada- I'm going to go find Trinity quickly, wait here," he says, before disappearing and leaving me standing awkwardly alone by the office.

I pretend to examine my nails for a little while, but as the minutes drag on I end up pulling out my phone and briefly skimming through my texts, before turning it off altogether. We aren't allowed to use them during our shifts.

After five minutes or so, Charles returns with Trinity in tow.

"Trinity, this is Grace. Grace, this is Trinity."

We politely acknowledge each other, pretending for his benefit that we don't already know each other's names.

"Trinity, could you show her the ropes today? Take her on your first few tables, show her where everything goes-"