The Rugby Player and Me

5. Attack of the Nuclear Flour

Liv

Ping!

My hand tapped the bell sitting on the counter. A woman with two young children bickering over her stood up and grabbed the package of fish and chips that I pushed towards her. She smiled at me gratefully and herded her brood out of the shop.

I leaned onto a bench, wiping my face with my forearm.

It was 8:15pm and I had been working since 4:30. I still had another half an hour before my shift ended and I could collapse into my soft, warm, comfortable queen-size bed. I sighed wistfully.

Another customer stepped up to the counter.

"How long will my order be?" he asked, flashing his receipt with the number 112 on it.

"About ten minutes." I replied. Satisfied, the man sat down in one of the chairs just metres from the till.

I had been working at Main Street Takeaway's for almost two years now. I really enjoyed the working environment because I got treated the same as the kids of the family who ran the place. I also got paid just over minimum wage, which was pretty good for a place that gave me dinner free of charge too.

It was my job to man the cash register and refill the buffet trays when needed, but sometimes Jamie-Lee asked me to help her with filling orders.

A voice called out from the back. "Olivia!"

Shaking my head, I walked to the back room. Jamie-Lee was standing next to a shelf, on her tip-toes with her arms outstretched. A box full of cooking oil bottles teetered on the edge of the top shelf, dangerously close to falling and hitting Jamie-Lee in the face.

It wouldn't have been the first time, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

"Let me help." I told her.

Just like we had done multiple times before, I grabbed Jamie-Lee by the waist and hoisted her into the air. My upper body strength was pretty poor, but she was light and graceful, probably due to the many years of ballet she had done, so I could hold her up for about three seconds before my arms would give out.

I had tried ballet once when I was nine. My lack of co-ordination had resulted in a rolled ankle, the memory of which I had tried to suppress due to the embarrassment.

That had been the last sort of physical activity I had participated in. Now I just went running when I had enough of my mother telling me I'd put on weight.

Jamie-Lee snagged the box and I put her back onto the floor. Turning to look at me, she gave me a big grin.

Jamie-Lee was a shy girl, but not around me. Since we were the same age and had attended the same primary school, we had developed a bond. It had been an unlikely friendship. I was the trouble-maker and she was the smart one.

Smart enough to land a scholarship to the Girl's College.

Jamie-Lee was like the angel on my shoulder, telling me things like no, Olivia, you can't just cut the strings of Caleb's violin, that's evil and he needs to practice! And I listened to her. Sometimes.

Even though we went to different schools, we had managed to stay in touch. So, when she had told me her family needed someone else to help deal with the sudden boom of business, I had immediately volunteered. Now her family was mine as well. They certainly treated me like it.

"Thanks." Jamie-Lee said, pushing her thick, dark-framed glasses up her nose. Her unruly curly hair was tied up into a bun on top of her head, much like mine was. We wore the same black shirt that displayed the name of the take-away shop in cursive across the left part of the chest.