Jesse was tired, sitting at the fast food restaurant. There was nobody in the lobby, nobody in drive-thru... and she was still reeling from the train wreck she had stumbled into at five. Coworkers had never done a thing in lobby, not one damn thing and it had driven her ballistic.
Trash had yet to be changed after a few spurts of customers, leaving the remnants of food and their wrappers overflowing and spilling onto the floor. Tables were riddled in crumbs, and yet... even in the dead state of the store, the two people assigned to the front were piddling around, talking about their plans for the weekend. And the manager-in-charge, Tony, was furious and trying to cool down in the back. She knew she should go and talk to him. She had a way with people at the store, something that was an anomaly to most of the lower-ranked employees. Not to mention her young age of only eighteen.
However, it helped that her mother was the assistant manager of the place, and was best friends with the general manager for years. She had been called her mother's "mini-me" more than once and with good cause. She was very similar, and it had drawn the attentions of a few of the male employees, and two of the females on staff. The latter had given Jesse unwanted shivers, just because of the close quarters. But there was one... the one she was supposed to close with... alone. Tony.
Tony had become her favorite manager and he knew it. He adored her and wasn't very quiet about it. He was quite tall, about 6'3" and darker skinned from years of sun exposure. He wasn't overweight, but he had a bit of a gut on him from being well-fed, though he still maintained his otherwise muscular form. His black hair was short, with an ever-present five-o'clock shadow. He was the biggest and scariest member on staff with a white-hot temper. But Jesse had given him a nickname, calling him it often. She called him her "teddy bear." When his temper was reigned in, he was sweet and kind, and Jesse was always doing things for him when he needed something small to keep him going throughout the day. And Jesse didn't know, but he had referred to her often as "sweetheart," something he didn't call anyone else.
She grabbed a rag and roll of trash bags and began to work on the lobby, still agitated as all hell that she was the only one doing her damn job. Trashes were worse than she had thought, and Tony came blazing out of the kitchen.
"Why the hell is Jesse the only one working?!" he snapped at the other two working. Jesse kept her blinders on and continued to work without incident, just trying to avoid Tony's wrath, though she knew she would never be subject to it.
Jesse moved into the small, glass-windowed room at the corner of the store and began to work on tables in there. She didn't even notice when Tony walked into the room. He had always been exceptionally quiet, and loved to make Jesse jump. He got some enjoyment out of something, but she wasn't sure what. And sure enough, she went to turn around and ran smack into the immovable wall that was Tony. Her arms instinctively wrapped around his frame to steady herself. And then he did the same... and she felt absolutely amazing in his arms, the feeling of strong arms around her. And then, just as it had began, it was over.
"You scared the shit out of me, Tony," she said, trying to avoid how the last few seconds had been.
"I saw that. Jumpy much?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and giving her the same smile and sly look that he always did.
"Well, you'd be jumpy, to, if you turned around and ran into a ten-foot-tall wall," she replied sarcastically.
"Hey, I am not ten feet tall! And you liked it."
"You cannot prove that, dirty ol' man."
"That's MR. Dirty Old Man to you. And I'm not that old either!" he protested, feigning mock hurt. He winked at her. "All right, time to get back to... yeah, this hellhole."
She and Tony laughed before exiting the room. She couldn't stop thinking about how it felt in his arms, though. How much she wished she were back in them. Little did she know, he would be proving something when it was just them
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
It was two hours later and the store was dead... absolutely dead. So Tony made the decision to let everyone else go home or to their respective places. Only another hour or so until close anyways and permission had been granted to close early if there was no activity within half an hour. There were major events going on at the complete opposite side of the city where other chain restaurants conveniently sat. It was doubtful that anyone would appear.
Everything was as done as it could be for the time being anyways. Ice had been stocked, freezers and coolers were filled to the brim and all that remained was the food preparation line. That could not be cleared until doors were locked anyways. Even all the dishes were clean, which was a first.
Tony sat in the office, busy mulling over paperwork and anything guest-related. It was a boring, tedious task that wasn't envied by anyone. Samantha was bored and on her phone. Both had on headsets in case things would become randomly hectic, but Jesse stood dutifully at her post nonetheless... waiting... and waiting... and-
"Fuck it, we're closing," came Tony's rough voice over the headset. Jesse jumped about a foot in the air, a camera aimed at her and all she heard after that was Tony's booming laughter from the office. He came walking out of the back looking like a dog that found his bone. Jesse flipped him off with the hand that wasn't covering her chest.
"Jesus, Tony! Don't DO that!"
"Don't be so damn jumpy," he chuckled.
"I can't help it! I mean, come on. have you SEEN you? You're, like, eight feet tall!"
"Minor exaggeration..."
"Okay, but still..." Jesse huffed.
