Helen watched the cola foam slowly inside the paper cup until it reached the rim, then deftly capped it and placed it onto the red tray on the counter. Without conscious thought she added a straw to the tray and reached round to grab the baked potato waiting on the hotplate, its topping of beans glistening under the strip lights. Thanking the customer she smiled a well-practised goodbye as he took his meal and she looked to the next customer in the queue. A young man stepped up, eyeing the menu.
"Hi, Can I take your order please?" She gave the customer a once-over. Not bad, she thought.
"Er, yeah, can I get a jacket with coleslaw please?"
"Sure, can I get you a side-salad or garlic bread with that?" Her fingers sweeping over the keyboard of the till, she entered the order without looking down, instead concentrating on the cupids-bow lips of her customer. Having been stuck behind the desk at the fast food restaurant all afternoon, she was bored beyond redemption and had resorted to her favourite pass-time. Every customer was ranked out of ten for attractiveness, and this guy definitely got an eight and a half. Leaning her head to one side she made sure that she looked him directly in the eyes as he spoke.
"Thanks, but I just want the jacket potato, and I'll have a lemonade too."
Adopting her most innocent of expressions, she looked down to the customer's crotch and said simply, "Is that a large?" before returning her attentions to his face again. Her quick assessment indicated it definitely was.
"Um, no, thanks," the man was clearly a little astonished that she could be flirting with him. "Just a regular thanks."
Grinning, she turned to get his soda. Modest, she thought, he has to score extra for that. Reaching up to the pass, she looked into the back of the store. One of her colleagues, Dave, had his back to her, hard at work in the kitchen. Definitely another nine with that lovely behind, and she paused to appreciate the tightness of his trousers for a moment. It was amazing how much fun you could have on a Saturday afternoon earning minimum wage, she thought, and returned to her duties.
Staring at one of the most beautiful cleavages she had ever seen, Helen handed over the last order of the day to the young female customer. It'd had been non-stop, and everyone was eager to get the clean-up done and go home. Her colleagues busied themselves with wiping down counters and restocking cutlery trays while she took the containers of fillings into the back kitchen. Labelling them up with the date, she thought back to some of the day's highlights.
Between her legs she throbbed and she pulled out her mobile to send a quick text, ensuring that one of her numerous "friends" would be available later. If only phones could talk, she thought, and laughed out loud. Her boyfriend worked as a chef and six evenings a week would be out working. He never came home before four in the morning, and was always drunk upon returning. She had spent one year being faithful until she could cope no more, and started giving in to her natural instincts. Being a student gave her all sorts of opportunities for mischief and she had compiled a "little black book" of friends who could be relied upon for sex of all kinds.
There was Ben, a history student with a penchant for long, slow and sensual evenings; Jack the biology third-year, for quickies at the back of the lecture theatre; Danny always loved going out clubbing, his addictions to illegal substances provided an erection that would last six hours or more; Felice the French erasmus student who would spend all evening purring like a cat on heat around her, completely oblivious to the fact that every pair of male eyes was glued to her... the list was a good twenty people long, and Helen was spoilt for choice.
Her pocket vibrated, and she moistened to read the message, "Meet me at my halls of residence by 11. Hard already at the thought of you. Bring toys, Amy already here, G x" So Amy was playing out tonight too, that made things all the more exciting. When Helen's mother had told her that going to university would open her eyes to the world, she didn't think that meeting with Ged and Amy was quite the eye-opener that her mum had in mind.
Stacking the remaining boxes of baking potatoes in the corner opposite the ovens, Helen was met by the duty manager of the shop. She looked terrible, and promptly burst into a fit of hacking coughs and splutters before she spoke.
"Hel, is there any way you could come in early in the morning and help restock? It's been so busy today there's no way we'll be ready if we all come in at normal time, and I could really do with a hand from someone who I can rely on." Melissa started coughing again and tears streamed down her face.
"Er, to be honest, I don't think I can. I've got plans for tonight and I might not get to bed til late. If I said yes, I might let you down." Helen looked round the store at the empty shelves and counter. The other members of staff were gathered around the exit, chattering while waiting to be let home, Dave was sweeping the last of the crumbs from around the shop floor. Helen's eyes watched him absent mindedly for a moment, the muscles of his arms flexing rhythmically with each brush stroke. A devious idea rooted itself in her mind and she came up with an on-the-spot plan.
"If you wanted though, I mean, you look terrible and it's obvious you need to go straight to bed. How about I stay behind and re-stock now, then lock up and I'll meet you back here in the morning at the normal time? Maybe Dave might be kind enough to stay with me and help?" She said the last line just loud enough for it to reach Dave's ears, and waited for his response.
"Yeah sure, I don't mind stopping for a bit." Dave looked at Helen and smiled widely. "I'm sure we can get stuck right in and be home in no time."
"Well, if you're sure?" muffled Melissa. "I know I should lock the shop up myself but you guys know what you're doing." She wrote the code for the alarm system down on a post-it and left the keys on the desk.
Saying their goodbyes, the rest of the staff left through the back door and Helen hurriedly followed them round to the stock room. Grabbing what she needed, she spent the next fifteen minutes setting up for the Sunday shift. Stacking plastic cup-tops and napkins in the trays, she watched Dave surreptitiously through the corner of her eyes. He was busy in the kitchen sorting through the fridge, and she imagined what he would look like underneath his uniform. The black tshirts they had to wear did the staff no favours, and he remained a hidden secret waiting to be discovered.
Peering round the fridge door, Dave watched Helen as she wiped down the cupboard doors at the front of the shop. Black hair tied tightly back, she had removed her company cap and was knelt on the floor, scrubbing furiously at cola stains which had dribbled from the machine above. Her tshirt wobbled and the outline of her breasts pushed through the cloth, hanging down underneath her and swaying with each movement of her arm. Her black jeans clung to her and a strip of flesh was visible above her waist band where the tshirt had ridden up. He imagined stroking over it with his fingertips; the warm flesh warming them after their time spent in the fridge, but looked away quickly as she went to stand up. A few seconds later and she walked past behind him; brushing against him and making him step forwards, pressed up against the shelves of the fridge.
"Sorry! I guess I'm tired, I totally didn't notice you were there." Helen smiled as Dave closed the refrigerator door and turned to face her. "I'm sorry I kind of dropped you in it tonight, I hope you didn't have plans?"
"Actually, I was meant to be going out tonight to the cinema, then for a few drinks with friends. I think I might miss the film but I can go out later for a beer. It's no bother."
"I feel guilty now for ruining your evening. Just didn't fancy coming in any earlier in the morning, I might not get much sleep tonight." Helen tried to stay nonchalant but thinking about the fun she had in store for her back at Ged's place made her skin prickle with excitement. "I'm just going out to a friend's house though, nowhere special" she reached round and pulled her hair out of its ponytail, letting it flow over her shoulders and down her back.