I had to work tonight, so I jumped in the shower and scrubbed down. Sometimes I hate showering before work, knowing that I will need another one after standing at the grill, but I hate going to work dirty even more. I should have asked if Stephanie had to work, but it had not crossed my mind at the time, and I did not dare call to find out. She had made it clear she would talk to me when she was ready.
I thought about what Dennis had said regarding Mrs. Stilinski. Had my switches turned her into a nymphomaniac, or just given her the ability to live out that lifestyle? She had told me she used to be a swinger with her late husband. I wondered if she had suppressed her sexuality as she aged until I used my switches to help her body feel younger.
It was my first night back to work since leaving for winter break, and Stephanie was indeed working. However, she did not pay me much attention. I tried to talk to her, but she only gave me a small smile before turning away, her dyed red hair flaring out as she walked. It hurt to be treated like that after pouring my life out to her earlier, but there was little I could do about it, short of using my switches. A quick sense of her happy switch informed me that she was slightly more happy than not, which was at least something. Unless she was happy about me being miserable. No, that was not like her.
Mikel was just as ornery as ever. There was a new waiter whom he actually made cry after a simple mistake on a drink order. When another mistake happened at one of Stephanie’s tables and Mikel started to chew her out, I stepped up and claimed it.
"Sorry, Mikel, I misread the order. It’s not her fault." It really had been her fault, but I was trying to win her over. Though, with the way she was treating me tonight, I was not sure why I was bothering.
"It’s coming out of your paycheck, then," Mikel informed me heatedly. "And you, Stephanie, make sure your orders are clear enough that this does not happen again." Our boss turned and stormed away to start berating someone else. I could not remember the last time he was this miserable to work with, and for the life of me, I could not figure out why. The place was hopping, the orders were flowing smoothly, and there was a thirty five minute wait just to be seated. He should have been ecstatic.
"I don’t need you to fight my battles for me," Stephanie told me as she turned to go back to the front. "Thanks, though," I barely heard her add before she passed through the doors separating the kitchen from the dining area.
I felt a bit warmer inside after that, even if she still refused to talk to me.
However, I was so distracted by Stephanie, the demons, and the impending talk with Tina that I actually did screw up an order, cooking a steak medium well when the customer had ordered it rare.
"Where is your head tonight, Nick?" Mikel nearly screamed after Stephanie brought the plate back. "That is twice now you have screwed up. I can’t believe how incompetent you are tonight. What did you spend your vacation doing? Giving yourself brain damage by running into walls? Smoking pot? Or were you smoking someone’s pole instead? Someone is going to have to cover the cost of that steak, and since I know it is not me who screwed up..." He was nearly spitting in my face, he was so angry.
Suddenly, everything came to a head. It was all too much. Stephanie testing me and then ignoring me, Mikel chewing me out, the world likely ending soon, and angels expecting me to save it. Did they not understand that the weight of the human race was on my shoulders? Mikel did not, but Stephanie did. I was just so sick and tired of listening to my bald boss rant and rave that I almost blew up. I just wished he would quit yelling.
For a split second, I considered walking away and leaving them all to their fate. Who knew? Maybe the world could take care of itself. The human race had made it this far without my help or interference. Why should I be the only one to defend it? I was just a geek, after all, not a military strategist or a skillful negotiator. What chance did I really stand against technologically advanced and violently alien demons?
The moment passed, and I saw Mikel still staring at me, waiting for an answer. Looking around, I realized everyone was staring at us. A part of my mind wondered why. Mikel was almost always yelling at someone. Why should they stop and stare now?
Then I realized the big man was not just staring. His mouth was moving and his arms were flailing, but no sound escaped his lips. Everyone watched in shock as the man tried to scream, but no volume came out. He was not choking. I could clearly hear him breathing heavily. Then I felt it, the switch I had inadvertently created in him, shutting him up. I had, in effect, switched off his vocal cords.
I could not help but laugh. The whole thing was just too comical. Here was a man I had feared since I started working here. With shoulders wider than mine, even with the extra muscle I had gained, he stood taller, and his shaved head usually gave him an intimidating demeanor that put me in my place. But as he tried to talk, his arms waving, his face turning red, and his hands pawing at his neck, he no longer scared me. Somehow, the loss of his voice removed any sense of threat. Like Rand al’Thor, I had remembered how to laugh.
"I quit," I told him calmly, getting my laughter under control. "I’m sick of dealing with your attitude. You run around here yelling at everyone, chewing them out for perceived issues, and I’m done with it. Take that steak out of my paycheck too, but I’m through." His eyes bulged in shock as I added the next line. "Better yet, shove that steak up your overbearing ass along with my last paycheck. I’m done."
I calmly untied my apron and threw it at his feet. Stephanie stepped up next to me, untied the apron she used for her tips and orders, and threw it down right next to mine, after removing her tips, of course.