There's the way it ought to be. And there's the way it is.

Sam finished the last paragraph of his book as he looked outside the shed to see if anyone had come. Usually if there were several orders a server or a cook, would come outside to get them. He had told Kevin he was going outside, but it was hard to tell if it had registered. The Diner had been open for two weeks and Kevin had just started and Sam still wasn't sure what to make of him. Sometimes he would be on time and seemingly with it, easy to get along with. Other times he would show up late and give strange long convoluted excuses. He had heard he was Zach's friend which had probably gotten him in.

He had checked the time on his phone when he went out and he checked it again. Five minutes, good he thought to himself. The shed was more clustered than usual with a several stacks of the local paper, some from several weeks ago. 'Hey, Sam?!' He heard a voice call. 'Can you come help me with these orders?' he got up closing the book and putting it on top of a box of paper towels. Breaks had been a strange issue the whole night. Whenever he went outside, told Kevin he was going, Kevin would go outside also. This in turn led to one of them having to return, usually him, to cook what was up there. Still whenever he went out for any amount of time Kevin would come out and ask him to help. Sam walked back up through the back door putting back on his apron as he walked out unto the line. Two slips. A burger and a fry and two large fries, the fries had already been dropped. What the fuck? Sam thought.

'Do you mind if I run to the store real quick?' Kevin asked. 'Sure.' Sam said but Kevin could sense the hostility there. He had checked the time it was 10:55 but the store in town was only about a minute away and he knew he could make it if he left now. Kevin took off his apron and walked through the office to the back door. As he walked over to his car he thought about the whole night. It had been one of hostility and mistrust, Kevin had thought. First of all when they had been introduced, Sam had been seemed hostile towards his very presence there, he just didn't seem to like him for some reason. When it had gotten busy he had gone outside not telling him he was leaving, and had been out there for a while.

Kevin drove past the graveyard towards town, finally pass the Chinese restaurant and then the liquor store. His girlfriend works here, he remembered vaguely. They had met before in the meeting before the Diner was going to open but Sam acted like he hadn't remembered that when they met at work. Could just be an anti-social person, Kevin thought. 10:57, the time read on his dashboard, perfect, Kevin thought. He strode into the store, going straight to what he was looking for 3 22 once twisted teas, he walked over to the singles cooler and grabbed them. As he walked to the cooler, he recognized her, it was Andrea. She was on the short side, blond, with a few tatoo's, Kevin walked up to the counter and put his merchandise down. 'Hey, II know you.' He said. 'Oh yeah,' Andrea replied. 'You're Kevin who works with Sam.'

'Yeah,' Kevin replied. Feeling the urge to elaborate, 'I don't think he really likes me.' She laughed a soft lilting sound which sounded good to his ears, 'I don't think he really likes anyone.' She replied. She's feisty this one, he thought. She rang up his order and bagged it. 'I'll see you around.' He said mainly just as a simple pleasantry. 'Yes, you will.' She replied, in a tone which suggested something more. He walked outside feeling the cold air on his face, it was late December and although no snow had fallen the cold had set in. He checked his phone. It was only 10:59, if he was quick he could still grab a quick beer at Afterwork's across the street and make it back without taking too long. Kevin got into his car and parked across the street. Just one beer, he thought, I go in, have a quick one, no big deal.

Sam looked over at the clock above the cash register, 11:45, at first he had thought it was some kind of typo there's no way this guy has actually been gone for that long of an amount of time, he had thought to himself, but not impossibly, it was true. A little past 11:00 the orders had started coming in, small things at first. A large fry here, and burger and fry there, an omelette, then a little while later it had gotten worse. Table's of 5 or six had started to arrive, large groups. Almost an entire hour, this fucking guy. Although to be honest it was really hard to tell if he would even come back at all. Sam flipped a couple burgers and pulled up a basket of fries, as he poured them into a hat he saw a familiar figure, 'Hey sorry I'm late.' Sam said nothing, and they worked in silence for a long time, finally the ticket's were clear.

Sam walked over to the time clock and punched out. As he walked outside he wondered, not too much has changed has it, he thought as he walked over to his van. Still the same idiots being hired, the same attitude being accepted. Sometimes he thought he brought it on himself, that he let these things happen because he refused to better himself, to remain where he was in his station.

He dialed her number, the only person lately would bring him out of states like this. 'Hey,' She responded sounding tired, weak. 'You up?, I want to stop by.' 'Sure, of course.' She said, thank god.