Jocelyn looked at her watch. Two more hours before she could leave and get on with her other per time job.
Mallory's was usually busy at lunchtime, especially since it was located in a very busy place.
"Hey, babe. I'm kinda flooded in my section. Care to give me a hand?" Jon, one of the guys that worked with her asked. He was trying to balance a tray on his right arm while the left already had one there. Jon was still new at the restaurant so Mallory Canaan had asked the other employees to cut him some slack.
"Yeah, sure," Jocelyn smiled at him. "What table?" She didn't exactly want to help out. Especially since the last person she had helped cover for had kept on relying on her for help and taking advantage of every opportunity to dump work on Jocelyn, probably thinking they were some sort of friends. Jocelyn had pushed Marie away after a while. She didn't want the girl to get hurt after they became buddies. However, Jon was new so she agreed.
"Um, take this," he handed her the tray he was struggling with. "For table fifteen. Shane Malcolm is quite intimidating, don't you think?" He asked, pointing to where the man was seated with a gorgeous redhead. He was sort of a regular here, and he never ate alone. If she didn't recognize him as a patron, she would certainly recognize him from the countless headlines he made. He was the tabloid sweetheart, and also graced the cover of many magazines as one of the youngest billionaires, or on numerous lists of eligible bachelors. Some even referred to him as the playboy prince, not because he was actually royalty, but because he rarely attended social functions with the same woman. He was in the papers too, along with so many countless online articles.
Jocelyn shrugged, she could care less if he was intimidating. As far as he paid for his meal and kept his distance, she was good.
She used her free hand to adjust the ridiculous short skirt Mallory made them wear, then carried the tray out.
Table fifteen was empty when she got there, he had made it out along with his date in the few minutes it took to get to his side of the restaurant. She looked towards the door in time to see him walk out. She sighed and turned to return the tray. Her eyes caught on something on the table, a slim wad of notes were on the table. He had more than paid for the meal leaving double the amount as tip.
She picked up the cash, grateful that Mallory allowed them to return meals if they were rejected or something. Now she could at least use the money to transport herself to the library where she worked the afternoon shift two times a week. She had originally planned to walk the few miles.
Some people could afford the luxury of paying for a meal without eating It, she sighed.
Her phone vibrated in the back pockets of her jean. Only few people apart from work had her personal number. She hastened her footsteps, then returned the tray before running into the bathroom.
She pulled out her phone, checking to see that it was Samantha, the matron of the orphanage where she had grown up. Samantha was in charge of running things in the orphanage, suffice it to say she was their surrogate mother.
"Sam. I told you not to call when I'm working," Jocelyn groaned.
"You are always working. Besides this is urgent," Sam's voice was hoarse and raw, making her usually smooth and thin voice sound cracked.
"Are you crying?"
"Oh Josie, they are shutting the orphanage down. They gave us a week notice. I dunno what else to do, please come as soon as you can," Sam sobbed.
Jocelyn felt her heart stutter. The orphanage was the only place she could call home. She worked her ass off to provide the little she could for the orphanage. If the orphanage was shutting down, she didn't know what to do with the twenty four kids there.
"I'll be there within the hour," Jocelyn replied in a steady voice, masking how she felt. She couldn't break down, she had to be strong for Sam and the kids.
"Thanks Josie."
"Did you call Ian?"
Ian was the only other person who still wasn't under the care of the orphanage but still managed to care. He was still struggling in law school. There was not much he could do, except trying to understand the reason they were being shut down.
"Yes, he'll be here tomorrow," Sam replied.
"Alright, just hang on tight. I'm coming," Jocelyn assured her, then ended the call. She rushed out of the bathroom in search of Mallory, hoping she'd not left the building yet.
"Jocelyn? Can I talk to you?" Marie ran after Jocelyn.
She sighed, she had been avoiding Marie for a few weeks, and Marie had been crushed. She stopped if only to let her know she was busy.
"I'm so sorry, Jocelyn. I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry. Please stop avoiding me," Marie pleaded. She pouted abd looked really disturbed at the idea of Jocelyn avoiding her.
"I'm not. I'm just so busy. Look, I have to meet Mallory. Do you know where she is?" Jocelyn asked, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
Marie considered her for a moment. "Um, yeah. Her office," she muttered.
"Thanks. We'll talk more later, okay?" But Jocelyn knew she was going to try extra hard in avoiding Marie anyway.
Marie smiled in response, then turned to pick up a tray.
Jocelyn knocked at Mallory's door.
"Come in," was the muffled reply.
She pulled the door open and got in. Mallory didn't even look up from the computer in front of her, this level of concentration was usually reserved only when she was going through the books or playing minesweeper on the computer. Either way, Mallory hated to be disturbed.
"I'm very sorry, Mallory, but I have to go. There was an emergency." Jocelyn focused her attention on her fingers. Mallory was a lot intimidating most of the time. What she hated more than being disturbed was her employees cutting their day even if it was just by thirty minutes.
Mallory looked up from the screen she was focused on. She frowned at Jocelyn, looking at her from head to toe before returning her attention to the computer monitor. Her brown hair was pulled into a tight bun, making her look very stern.
"You still have an hour left, Linnet," she glanced at her watch. She had never gotten anybody's name correctly. Some of the employees said it was to mask the fact that within the stern exterior was a much more caring person, but Jocelyn didn't buy that. Mallory had never been nice to her in the time she had worked here, sometimes she was just plain polite, other times she was rude.
"I know, Please, I'll work an extra hour tomorrow," Jocelyn pleaded, watching Mallory. The woman cocked a brow. "Ok two hours, I'll work an extra two hours tomorrow," she amended, it would put a strain on her entire work schedule for the next day, but she would figure that out later. What mattered now was getting to Samantha.
"Okay. See you tomorrow, Linda," she dismissed Jocelyn, turning back to her screen.