After he saw Liona get off her phone, she turned to his manager and spoke to him with the most condescending voice.
"Auntie Hannah will be here shortly, so you might want to take care to pack your things from the office. She says that people like you are the filth of the earth and are nothing more than the old oily puddles you used to see on the ground from gas powered vehicles. That's a pretty nasty comparison, considering environmental laws. And my Auntie says that my dad will be informed of the complaints that have been registered against you over your time working here. I can only guess what's been lodged against you for my dad to have to get involved." Liona just went on, completely destroying any chance he had of working here, since she was making his manager very, very pissed off.
"ERIK! GO CLEAN SOMETHING! DON'T JUST STAND AROUND!" His manager barked out at him.
"Yes, sir…"
"No… Better yet… You're fired! Get out of my restaurant and take that little bitch with you!"
Erik stood shocked and immediately fought the urge to despair. He needed this job! He couldn't afford to spend time looking for another! He wanted to blame someone, but the only person he could blame was himself. He had stood around talking to Liona instead of hurrying his ass out to the bus stop like he should have, this never would have happened if he had only not been distracted. He heaved a heavy sigh as he turned to see his other two co-workers staring at him and the scene that Liona and his manager were causing.
"Sucks to be you, man. Good luck out there." One of them said.
"Sorry man, you were probably the best man we had on our shift. Way better than the morning shift's lazy asses." The other said.
"Erik, you don't have to listen to him. He's no longer an employee here. My Auntie has effectively fired him. She'll be here shortly to take care of it in person."
"I have to listen to him, Liona. I don't think you understand how the working world works for plebs like me." Erik sighed as he went over to grab his bag.
There was no point in changing out of his uniform shirt, it was going to be docked out of his first and final paycheck anyway. It was at least a nice, thick polo shirt that would help keep him a bit warmer in the chilly air of this valley during spring. That is, if it ever stopped raining. He glanced out the large windows of the restaurant and saw that it was still pouring outside. The only difference was the darkening sky, as what was left of the afternoon light was fading into the evening inkiness of the darkened cloud cover.
As he grabbed his bag, he shrugged it on and prepared himself for a long walk in the rain to his next job. His grocery store shift didn't start for a few hours, so he had time to kill for once. Leaving the back area, Erik stepped out the door to the dining area and nearly bumped into Liona.
"Hey. Come on. Please give me the benefit of the doubt. You aren't fired. You didn't do anything wrong; I guarantee it! But boy, my siblings are going to arrive here in a few minutes completely starving, wondering where their food is at. I never got to finish ordering their food after all." Liona smiled, but it looked a bit sad to his eyes. It wasn't her usual bright and cheerful smile he had gotten used to seeing. The one that made his stomach flutter. In its place was one that made his stomach feel like lead. He hated to see her look sad, and he didn't know why it upset him so much to see that expression on her face.
"I'm sorry, but if Manager Jack says I'm fired, that's it. It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that he was my boss. His word holds more weight than yours in this situation…" Erik tried to move past Liona, but she was now crossing her arms and trying her hardest to block his path.
He would have pushed past her, if it wasn't for the untimely rumble of his stomach announcing loudly that his last meal was a long time ago. Before dawn, in fact. His school had yet to process the application for free lunch for his siblings and him, according to his mom, so it was still difficult to get any food at school. His first week the school had taken pity on them with a few free vouchers, but that was it. His younger sisters though, got sent to school with at least a meager lunch which was quickly taxing their food stores. He was counting on a free burger and fries as his lunch and dinner from here. Now he didn't even have that. He wanted to hide in embarrassment at the loudness of his stomach protesting, but there was nowhere to go besides past Liona.
He again attempted to move past her, but the sound of a group of people entering the quiet dining area that had emptied at the start of his shift soon brought life to the restaurant again. It looked to be a school team of sorts. They were all blazoned in green and blue colored team jackets and athletic pants. They all had Liona's school crest emblazoned on them, too.
"Hey Sis! Where's the grub? I'm starving!" One of the boys called out.
"Liona, come on! We texted you what we wanted ages ago! Is it not ready yet?" Another boy called out, and this time he did a bit of a double take. Didn't that boy just call her sis?
"Noah, Nolan, you'll have to wait with your teammates for food. I'm sorry, but I did try to order ahead for you two and the girls, but this asshole here denied my order and wouldn't let me place it with the person who was working the counter earlier."
"What?! I've never seen anyone deny you service, sis!" The same boy from earlier spoke.
"Man, does this guy have a death wish or what?" This boy speaking looked identical to the other one.
It then dawned on Erik that the two boys were identical twins. Now that he was taking a closer look at them, they did sorta resemble Liona a bit, but their hair was more of an auburn rather than strawberry colored like hers. Their blue-green eyes were wide with what might have been shock.
"Hey, did you use the card Dad gave you this morning? That usually shuts people up." Erik heard one of the boys speaking, but he couldn't tell who was who of the twins Liona had addressed.
"I didn't even get the chance to use Dad's card. But the good news is we'll get to see Auntie Hannah real soon!"
The door chimed again, this time another gaggle of kids came in. They all had on shirts with the same school logo as Liona and these kids from the sports team did. Well, Liona had said that this place was close to her school, so it made sense that these kids would be coming here after their school was over for the day, for food.
"Liona! I'm starving. Where's our food?" A pretty young girl that looked a lot like Liona piped up as she broke from the crowd of kids.
She had slightly curly blond hair, though, and had the most striking pink eyes he'd ever seen on someone. She had a smattering of freckles across her nose, which just added to her cuteness. She didn't seem that much older than Nikki in her appearance.
"Yeah, sissy! Come on, Rora and I are wasting away! We had orchestra practice today after school, and now we need sustenance!" An identical girl broke from the group to stand next to the first girl.
Erik saw Liona laugh, before she addressed these identical girls, "Aurora, Ariel, I just got done explaining to our brothers that food is delayed a little bit. There was a person that just couldn't mind his manners and decided that I wasn't allowed to order any food today. He even insulted my new friend in the process! But the good news is that Auntie Hannah is going to be here any minute to sort it out."
"M'kay!" The two girls said in unison before heading over to a table where the twin boys were now sitting.
"Yup, I can see those gears turning! I know what you're thinking!" Liona laughed genuinely this time. "Noah and Nolan are my younger twin brothers and then the girls, Aurora and Ariel, are my twin baby sisters. Aren't they both so adorable?!" She seemed to be radiating with beauty again to his eye with that smile that just lit up with her happiness. "So if you are fired, that doesn't mean that you can't eat here as a customer. Just wait a little longer, and I will make sure I get you something to eat as well. That tummy gurgle was almost as loud as the one I heard the other day!" She laughed again.
Erik just couldn't say no to her suggestion. Admittedly, he was thinking with his stomach right now. He really was hungry, and the food he didn't have to pay for was the best kind of food.