Game Theory × NH

095 | americium

× Mercury

"I ordered waffles, not pancakes."

"Right, I'll go fix that for you," I smiled before grabbing the plate of pancakes and heading to the back to make the correction.

I couldn't make it there before someone stopped me, asking for cream for their coffee. I told them I would be right back with it as the door of the bar opened and more customers walked in. I quickly smiled at them in greeting before I picked up an empty bowl sitting on the edge of a booth and made my way to the back once again.

"There's two orders ready, you going to deal with it or what?" the cook asked once I was behind the counter.

"Are you going to get them right?" I retorted, placing the pancakes on the ledge of the window between the bar and kitchen. "They ordered waffles."

The cook double checked the order and gave me a look. "How in the hell am I supposed to read your handwriting?" he sneered, holding the order list in front of me to prove his point. "That looks like pancakes to me."

"Just fix it," I said sternly.

I grabbed the two orders on the ledge along with the coffee creamer. I put some menus under my arms and went back out onto the floor. Someone asked for a refill on their drink as someone else wanted extra cheese on their chili fries. I quickly told them I would get right on it just as the door opened again with more customers. I didn't bother greeting them this time and continued to do my rounds, giving the lady her coffee cream and handing out the menus to the new comers.

Left and right I was being asked to get this, or to fix that; being ordered around like a puppet. But I wasn't complaining. It wasn't Finn's fault that he called in sick and asked me to manage for the night. It wasn't the customer's fault that it was only Jillian and I working on a Monday night. And it wasn't the cook's fault that all the breakfast dishes were discounted for today only.

Strange as it might seem, I wanted this. I wanted this hectic atmosphere because if I was to stop what I was doing, even for a second to catch my breath, I would think about Niall.

He wasn't in English earlier today, but I guess that was understandable. After what I did to him, I didn't blame him for skipping out to avoid me. But he also wasn't at practice, which was pretty much comparable to death in Coach's book. But I had a feeling Niall didn't care. I had a feeling he didn't really care much about anything now.

I was a horrible person.

I've never been on either side of the heart breaker or the broken hearted because I've never been in love with anyone before. But I was feeling pretty awful, to the point of making myself throw up, so I couldn't image what he was going through...

"Waitress!"

I suppressed a sigh and made my way over where I was called. "Do you know what you want?" I asked the group, forcing a smile.

"Do you have anything that's gluten free?" a woman questioned. She had short blonde hair, lips the color of blood, and a black dress that barely reached her knees. "I'm trying to lose weight."

I should have told her that there was absolutely no evidence that getting rid of gluten will result in weight loss, but I only smiled and told her what we had. She ended up ordering a glass of water. That's it. I quickly took the other people's order in her group and went back to put the orders in for the cook just as he fixed the waffle order along with three other plates.