Blowing off some Steam: Adagio and You

Blowing off some Steam: Adagio and You

Chapter 1 (Third Person): Retail Sucks

“Welcome to Swell Burger, home of the Swell Burger, may I take your order?”

Adagio softly whimpered as she said that phrase. This was not supposed to be her life. It wasn’t that she minded working, or even being without pendants. Actually, her singing voice returned, as did Sonata’s and Aria’s, but they just couldn’t feed on the negative emotions anymore, or attempt to enthrall anyone. If she was able to concentrate enough she could get some adoration for what she was doing, but it wasn’t enough to get everything handed to them.

Before she was able to get a house rent free, groceries, for free, meals for free, anything and everything she could ever want just handed to her. Now, now that her talent had been returned to what it once had she could bring some joy to those listening, and maybe, just maybe, get someone, that was kind anyway, to give her enough of a chance to get a crappy job.

That’s how she’d finally managed to get this job, and the one at the Taco Hut… The same Taco Hut that Sonata constantly came to and ate her free meal, every day, right before she’d take her lunch. There was times she wanted to scream and punch something. Of course that was more Aria’s arena than her own. She looked at the customer, a pink haired woman that seemed to have her hair styled up like frosting, and her two ankle biters.

At least the two kids were behaving. Most of the time she had to deal with super bratty kids screaming about how they didn’t get the toy they wanted. No, these two were behaving, but their mother was looking at the menu behind her like she was trying to read ancient Equestrian text. She had to keep her eyes from rolling. She needed this job, she needed this job, she needed this job…

“Hmmm, what happened to the Swell Burger Kiddie Combo number six?”

She kept the smile on her face, “I’m sorry Ma’am, the Kiddie Combo Number Six was removed in place of the Super Kiddie Combo. If you’re interested it has enough fries, Swell nuggets - chicken or veggie, and dipping sauce for two children.”

“Oh, well I’d think about it, but I want Pumpkin and Pound to get their own toy surprises. I’ll take a Super Swell Burger with Cheese Adult Combo number two, onionrings instead of fries, Sweet Tea for the drink, A Swell Corndog Kiddie Combo number three, and a Swell Cheese Burger Kiddie Combo number one and both of those with Apple Juice please.”

“Okay, just to make sure we have this, you want a Super Swell Burger, with cheese, Adult Combo number two, a Swell Corndog Kiddie Combo number three, and a Swell Cheeseburger Kiddle Combo number one, both with apple juice, anything else?”

“You know, actually, instead of that Super Swell Burger with cheese, could I get a regular Swell Burger with Cheese combo?”

“Of course.”

She started to ring it up.

“No, I’ll take the Super Swell Burger with cheese.”

She bit her tongue, canceled the current order, retyped it in, and prepared for the massic ass chewing that Golden Arches was going to give her for putting the order in before ensuring the customer was fully decided.

“Thank you Ma’am, your order is number fifteen.”

She watched as the woman walked away with her two anklebiters, and she turned around to see him. His impossibly red hair, pasty white skin, and those red glowing eyes like some kind of imp or devil staring directly into her soul. She was thankful that Golden Arches was just a human, because if he any kind of magic she’d been scared to death of him.

“Dazzle, what’s the first rule of taking an order here at Swell Burger?”

“Check to make sure that the customer is actually ready to order, I know, I did…”

He stopped her with a glare, “No. You didn’t, because if you would have been sure then you would have known that she wanted a Super Swell with cheese instead of a regular swell with cheese. Your mistake has cost Swell Burger seventy-five cents in prep. I’m deducting it from your pay.”

“That’s not fair! I checked!”

“Uh huh, oh wow… I noticed that you were getting close to forty hours this week. Clock out.”

“Y… You said that I could work forty hours this week! I need the extra…”

She stopped when he glared at her, “It’s not my problem. Clock out, and leave.”

She rolled her eyes, walked toward the back, and saw the Swell Burger with cheese, onion Rings, and drink cup that had been prepped for the first order. It was sitting on the counter, ready for the trash, and she picked it up. If she paid for it, then she was going to eat the damned thing. She grabbed the cup, filled it with coke and ice, wishing it was something stronger, and walked to the timeclock. She swiped her badge, walked out, and unwrapped the burger.

The first bite at least tasted decent. That meant that Junebug was working the assembly line. She looked at the ground, her mind going back to the battle of the bands, their losing, and then heading back to the house they had rent free. They were there less than a hour before the couple that let them stay came by. They couldn’t work their magic, and soon they were out on the street.

Luckily there was a church on the same street that offered shelter for the homeless. She was awake all night, listening to a woman moaning and crying about her husband. She heard children whimpering, and she could do nothing but mourn her previous life. The next day had been just as hard. A trip to the part of town where those without money got a bowl of soup, a slice of bread, and told that it was lucky they could have that.

That cycle lasted for over two months before she was able to get Short Stack, the owner of this place, and a Waffle House apparently, to decide to give her a chance. From there she saved back the money and managed to get them into an old run down mobile home. It was better than nothing, but so far she was the only one working. Sonata didn’t have the attention span to do much, and Aria… Aria tried to have a job. They were lucky that the employer was willing to drop the entire thing and not press charges for her punching a customer that was being a douche.

She finished her burger, the onion rings, and sipped on her coke. She looked at the pavement, staring at it, and realizing that this had to be what it felt like to be just above rock bottom. In a way, she wondered if this was what her life was going to be like from now on. Was she forever doomed to work a job she hated, two jobs she hated, just so that she could afford a place that was little more than a roof over their heads? It sucked, the entire thing sucked. Retail, working, managers, customers, and right now sisters sucked.