Six Feet Apart

Chapter 3

Keyspring Bay is a bustling little town, full of life and good food. It's known statewide for its extreme diversity. Which accounts for the amazing variety of cuisines. People flock here from all over the world, and why, I don't know. It's close to a few major cities, while still having affordable living prices and near the ocean. Also being full of all kinds of new people makes people more comfortable to move here, since there are so many new and newly immigrated people. So I guess that might be why.

People are constantly moving in and out of the area, people of all ethnicities. Last year, a couple moved in across the street from us who came from Albania, while, for an idea of what this place is like, their neighbors are Guatemalan and Philipino. Next-door to us are a sweet little Korean family, and Rowen's family, who I'm guessing came from Ireland based off of the muted red hair and the accent I hear from the man who I assume is Rowen's dad, as they converse while getting out of the white car parked in his driveway.

As I walk across the front porch, I notice Rowen step out of the driver's side of the car, and I wave. He sees me and a smile lights up his face as he waves back.

I make my way across the lawn, and get into my car. As I shut the door, I take in the smell of the aged leather. This car is about 30 years old, and I got it for a steal. While many find it outdated and ugly, I love the older feel of it. Yes, it only plays cassette tapes and squeaks when I make a three-point turn, but there's no other car like it as far as I've seen.

I start the short drive to Daphne's Diner, the restaurant that I work at. Right at the center of town, it's one of the most significant parts of the town. Legend has it that it was the first restaurant built when the town was just being founded. Grannies gather for Saturday brunches and teenagers meet up for date nights and milkshake hangouts, making it an easy favorite for most people in town. I love it for the warm, gooey brownies they serve and the cushiony red bar stools lining the counter. I still love working here like I did my first day.

As I park, I remember that I haven't tucked in my polo shirt we are required to wear for our work uniform. I step out of the car and shove the ends of my top into my pants. Struggling to achieve a perfectly smoothed fit, I look up through the hairs that have fallen out of my messy ponytail and see Kai staring at me, raising his eyebrows and pretending to look me up and down. "Lookin' good there, Auv," he breaks the smolder and starts laughing hysterically.

Well, that's Kai for you. Your typical cocky, joking, teenage boy. Kai is visibly strong, with raven black hair. With his solid jaw line and bronzed skin, many girls adore him, and you can tell he fully knows it. He happens to be yet another example of the great diversity Keyspring Bay holds, as he is full-blooded Hawaiian.

My first day on the job, I didn't know anyone or how to do anything. The manager, Daphne, (yes, they've named their daughters Daphne since the first generation and pass down ownership of the diner through the name), put Kai to the task of training me. He'd only been working there for a few months, but is apparently a really quick learner, and, to my suspicions, also might've had a bit of help from his good looks and popularity, but we won't worry about that right now.

I recall being nervous that day, because, while I had cooked and baked many meals and desserts for my parents at home, neither of them had ever judged very harshly, and I felt very underprepared for the job. Knowing this, Kai had decided to take advantage of the new girl's worry. Showing me how to use the fancy electric mixer for the pies, he had pretended to be very upset when I couldn't immediately understand his directions for how to use it. I remember being almost on the verge of tears over the right combination of switches to make it mix at a high speed, when he, to my surprise, immediately took off the strict face and comforted me. "Hey hey! It's all good. I was just teasing you, you're doing absolutely fine." And with a wink, he left me flustered.

Now we were good friends, except for the frequent moments he pretended to flirt with me and I showed my disgust.

I lock my car and head towards the diner, and Kai comes up and walks beside me.

"What's cookin' good lookin'?" he teases, his white teeth contrasting his dark facial features.

"Good morning to you too, Kai" is my reply.

He chuckles lightly. "Did you prep your vocal chords this morning?" In response to my puzzled look, he explains. "Some girl named Ruby scheduled to celebrate her birthday here with her friends, Josh reminded us when we were closing up last night." Josh is the diner's manager, and has a policy that whenever it's a customer's birthday, all the employees must sing happy birthday to them.

"Yes, I sang operas all night long."

He plays along. "Of course you did! I practiced my scales the entire drive here, so I'm almost as ready as you are."

My lips curve upwards. "I'm excited to hear you show off your skills!"

He opens the door to the diner for me, and says "after you, my lady". I roll my eyes. What a dork.

We walk in, and since it's before opening time, no one is sitting in the booths or being served, but there are employees up and down the place, mopping, sanitizing tables, and setting out salt and pepper shakers, all clad in the same pink polo shirts, white pants, and black masks that I wear. We make our way into the kitchen, and one of the chefs asks me to help her start baking some bread, while Kai gets assigned to wiping down the booths and bar stools.

When we open and customers start to come in and order, I get put on waiting duty. Due to social distancing guidelines, only every other table is open to keep customers at 6 feet apart from customers at other tables. I grab my notebook and pen, and head to the first table I see.

"Good morning to all you lovelies!" I greet the group of what I predict are 6 or 7 year-old girls and their moms. "Are you all ready to order?" A mom with platinum blonde hair tells me yes, so I say, "Awesome! What can I get for you today?"

While waiting for one of the girls to decide if they want their egg fried or scrambled, I look up and see Kai carrying a coffee over to a table of elderly men, roaring about something apparently hilarious. He strides so confidently and gracefully while managing to keep a smile plastered on his face and not spilling the very full pot, how does he do it? No wonder all the girls swoon over him, my goodness.

The girl decides on scrambled eggs, and after the rest of the group has ordered, I take my list back to the kitchen. Kai pushes through the door hurriedly and picks up a shaker. "Apparently there wasn't enough sugar in their coffee!" he laughs, and quickly goes back out into the dining area.

He comes back a minute later, and leans against the counter next to me. "Today's customers are picky! First the coffee wasn't sweet enough and now my table's upset that their waffles are taking so long," he sighs.

"My table just took about 10 minutes to decide what they actually wanted to order," I agree, and he looks at me with an understanding expression on his face.

His face lights up suddenly. "Hey how about we see who can finish serving their table first?" The two of us always like to come up with little games and competitions to make our jobs funner.

"Oh you're on!" I agree enthusiastically. A chef named Ajola sets down a plate of french toast and hash browns and another of blueberry scones, both for my table's order. With a smirk, I pick up the plates and hurry out through the swinging doors. He's left alone, to wait impatiently for his food to come out.

After rushing past each other several times to grab the food from the kitchen and bring it to our tables, I've finished serving my table. I return to the counter and lean with my back against the edge and fold my arms, waiting for him to come back and see my victory. He sees me done and pretends to look very disappointed, dramatically dragging his feet the whole way back.

I gape at him. "Bro you're totally embarrassing yourself in front of all our customers! Pick up your feet like a normal human being!" I hiss at him quietly.

His face transforms from mopey to smiley in a quarter of a second. "And why does that matter anymore, I've already embarrassed myself in front of you.,"

I roll my eyes and he nudges my ribs playfully. "You dumbo," I mutter to him, and he pretends to be sad again and trudges his way back to the kitchen, looking back at me with sad puppy dog eyes. Trying to hide my laughter, I see a couple sit down at a table and start looking through the menu, and head over to offer them drinks.