“Huh, let's see. Anything else? No, that should be it.” Piper leaned back in her sinfully comfortable chair. It took her well over two hours to wade through mounds of -virtual- paperwork that followed first training videos and since she at least tried to understand all that legalese, it made her feel groggy now. Groggy and maybe a little peckish.
There were several other videos queued up and a workplace safety quiz too but now she was drained. Perhaps another Yeng Cola could perk her up? When Piper recalled its invigorating effects from earlier, she rolled the chair over to the vending machine, swiped the card and punched it in.
As she sipped the bubbly beverage, she couldn't stop looking at the long list of snacks. Piper knew she shouldn't, she'd already eaten plenty this morning but those mozzarella sticks looked really inviting… Engrossed in her thoughts, Piper was startled when she heard a knock on the door. Was it a manager, here to check her productivity? Would she be in trouble? She knew she had to make a good first impression. “Who's there?”
“Umm, Rob Watford, may I come in?”
“Yeah, of course.” Piper quickly rolled away from the machine and bent down to hide the Yeng Cola behind her desk.
A young, portly man entered. The first things Piper noticed was an unkempt beard and plethora of dark hair. A ratty T-shirt with a weird logo stretched over his potbelly and his sartorial ensemble was crowned by tattered jeans. This was no manager. “Hi.”
"Hi. Are you… Ms. Black?” His last words turned into a squeal when he noticed her chest rise behind the desk. He opened his mouth again, only to spray chip crumbs all around. “Oops, sorry,” he chuckled sheepishly, his eyes still drawn to Piper's assets.
Piper sighed. How old was he, fifteen? “Yeah? What brings you here?”
“Uh, well, my office is next door and I found out that the canteen is already open so… Wanna go have lunch?”
“Already? What time is it, eleven?” Still, better go to lunch than stuff herself with junk food like her new acquaintance. Or like she was about to do but Piper pushed that thought away. “Yeah, sure.” She pushed herself upright, the hydraulics in her chair hissing as she vacated it. Standing, she found was a little taller than the boy which made his eyes swivel back into her cleavage. She seriously thought about punching him. But first day at work popped up in her mind so instead she pointed at the door to make him look away. “Lead the way.”
“Uh, I don't know the way either but the orientation video said it takes up most of the third floor.” Rob pointed at the lift.
Her door clicked behind them, locking itself. Piper checked if she had her card on her. “I haven't seen that video yet,” she admitted.
“Yeah, well, I haven't seen most of them but this one's important! You need to know where you're getting your grub!” He emphasised his words by grabbing a bunch of chips and stuffing it into his mouth.
“By the way, why are you eating chips when you're going to lunch?”
“Why not? They're almost gone anyway. Oops, sorry. Want some too?” he offered her the family bag.
Piper knew she shouldn't. The jiggle she felt at every step told her so. But the guy was friendly, if nerdishly awkward, and she didn't want to alienate him this early. “Sure, thanks.” She took a handful and poured it into her mouth.
***
Piper had been expecting something like a school cafeteria – she'd seen plenty of those in her life. And she wasn't that far off a target. Sure, this one was clean, spotless even, and at this hour almost empty too, but she spotted only two major differences. One, throughout the hall there were so many square pillars or columns or whatever, each table had one in its middle. And two… “Uh, Rob? Can you see where we're supposed to get our food?”
“Oh, right, there aren't any serving tables… Look! Over there!” Piper followed his pointing hand to a skinny employee who was here even earlier than them. She was just taking her tray out of an opening in one of the columns. “You order at your table and they serve it to you through one of those shafts. Now that's what I call high-tech!”
“But how do you order?”
“Uh, we'll find out at a table? Come on, let's go there.”
Now Piper noticed another difference from a school canteen. This place smelled nice. Their pace and beat quickened as they hurried to seize a table nearby. “I wonder why they're so big. They could've easily put two chairs to each side, not just one.” She was right, there was enough space for 8 or even 12 people at each square table but there was only one chair on each side.
“Huh, perhaps the building's half empty since they're still hiring? Anyway, who cares. I want to know how I am supposed to order. I don't see…”
“I do.” Piper was happy that this time she was the attentive one. “Look, there's a touchscreen under this wooden panel.” It lit at her touch, offering her a complete menu. As her upbringing taught her, she looked at prices first and soon exclaimed: “69 credits for salad?! Now that's absurd.”
Seated diagonally across the table, Rob chuckled. “Come on. You weren't going to order a salad, were you?”
“Well, no, Rob, but still…” She settled for lasagna and another Yeng Cola, nothing else. At mere 14,25 credits it was the cheapest meal on offer. Frankly, she was worried she might still be a tad hungry – but no, she'd had all those snacks before! This must be enough for her lunch.
Soon enough the middle column chimed and opened and two trays rolled out. And she found out she needn't have worried. Her portion was an entire pan of lasagna! A small pan, to be sure, but she doubted she'd be able to eat it all.
Her thoughts were interrupted by an exclamation. “Let's chew!” and she saw her companion eagerly attack a huge steak. Piper followed his example. It was so tasty, delicious and greasy. Only once before she'd eaten homemade lasagna, made by Dakota's mother, and this was… this was even better. Sorry, Dakota's Mom, she thought as she shovelled the pan contents into her mouth.
Piper ate like possessed, lost in a trance, not seeing nor hearing anything or anyone, not even Rob Watford. She was surprised when her fork picked up last scraps, she couldn't believe she'd already eaten it all. Her trance broken, she raised her head to look around.
The lunch room was filling with people, it was over half full now, but there still wasn't much noise. She supposed most people were too busy eating like her new friend. He seemed to be struggling, pink in face and leaning back in his chair, but he still kept laboriously chewing a bite after bite of a huge cheesecake portion.
Its smell was so enticing, Piper realised when she noticed it. And given how much Rob was enjoying it… almost against her will she brought up the menu again. Only 4 credits? I can easily afford that. It's my first day on the job, I can splurge a little.
***
/and character limit strikes again/ | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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