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In the state of Texas, there is the city of San Antonio. The city could be viewed as both beautiful and ruined. The perspective would depend entirely on the person and the time of year. Currently, it is Spring. Of course, anyone who lives in Texas knows that there are only two types of seasons. Summer and Winter, but let's say it is Spring. It is a nice clear evening with a lovely breeze.

People were moving to whatever destination, whether work, school, or home—even bars and clubs. Everyone was going with their own flow with or without company; of course, this did not exclude our protagonist. In San Antonio, our protagonist had one of the most stressful jobs: Food Service.

Yup, the lean-built man wearing the uniform of an unknown fast food restaurant was standing behind the counter, getting his face yelled at by an ogre... I mean a woman with a cheap brushed-over haircut. His brow twitched as he listened with a fake smile on his face. If one looked, one could see a couple of scars: A nice long one coming down his right cheek and a more minor, barely notable one across the bridge of his nose just under his eyes.

"What the hell kind of food is this? This crap is cold! It tastes like shit! I paid for fast, hot, and ready food! Do you know how long I have been waiting? I have been here for over forty minutes! I demand you replace my food at once!" The woman's spit splashed upon our protagonist's face as he listened to the woman. "Yes, ma'am. I apologize for the inconvenience. Allow me to replace your order." Our protagonist looked down at the tray on the counter with a nearly finished burger and a half-empty box of fries. There were also ketchup swirls on the tray, showing that she dipped her fries in the ketchup.

"Just allow me to--" Just as our protagonist was about to say something else, the woman groaned before yelling again, "I need it right now! Do as your told! It isn't so damn hard! It's like you people are stupid or something. This is why you people are paid such low wages! You can't even fix your own mistakes!" Our protagonist's brow twitched even more with frustration and annoyance.

"Right away, ma'am." Our protagonist would respond before taking hold of the tray; however, as he was about to take the tray, the woman took hold of his wrist. "What do you think you are doing?" She glared at him. He wished not to respond, but at this point, he needed to. "I am going to replace your order, ma'am." Our protagonist wanted to set her aside and deal with the line of customers behind her who were all waiting for their orders to be taken.

He could not call anyone to help since their back-liner was busy getting the orders out for drive-thru, and their drive-thru taker was busy taking the orders and preparing drinks. The person cashing out the customers was also busy doing her own thing. They had an expediter, but he was also busy doing his own thing. As for the manager, well, he was trying to finish up paperwork that needed to be turned in ASAP, leaving the counter to our protagonist.

"Leave this here and replace my order. It isn't that hard... Don." The woman had peered over our protagonist's name tag, revealing his name as Don. "Perhaps they should just name you moron instead since you can't even do your own job right." The woman added. Sadly, this was it. Don had lost his patience.

He exhaled heavily before glaring at the woman as if she were the scummiest person in the world, which made the woman flinch. "I see that it wasn't simply a stereotype or meme. Honestly, I knew all along, but I decided to give you a chance to prove me wrong. So listen here, Karen. You can take your replacement order and shove it where the light doesn't shine for all I care."

The woman was suddenly surprised due to Don's reaction; a few of the customers behind her were as well; however, no one spoke up. "Why I'd never... How dare you--" Karen started up but was shut up when Don overtook her with a voice that shifted to a low growl. "No, how dare you; walk up into this place like you are some Queen. You are nothing more than an insolent human, just like the rest of us. So you can kindly shut the fuck up, and before you talk about never coming back here and how you will complain to corporate, allow me to tell you something. I do not care for your shitty business or attitude so kindly fuck off before I make you."

With those words, Karen's eyes widened, and she released Don's wrist. She stepped back before turning away with a hmph and walked off. Don exhaled heavily before taking the tray and dumping the food's remains into a trash bin in the back. He tossed the black tray into the three-compartment sink before heading back to the front to attend to the next customer who said nothing to him. However, the look of amazement on how Don shifted from a scowl to a smile in a matter of seconds did frighten him quite a bit. Nevertheless, he carried on with his order, and eventually, the dinner rush ended.

Once it did, a stern yet calm voice calling from the back office for Don could be heard. Don looked to a small redheaded girl who was quite well endowed by the window. "Jennifer, since the rush has died down. Take care of taking orders as well as cashing them out." He shifted his attention to John, a large and tall man, black hair in top-knot fashion for some reason and scrubs for a beard. "John, take over the front counter and help Jennifer take orders when you are free. Make the drinks if you can as well."

Don walked through the breezeway and spoke to a shorter stature man but nicely built with short brown hair and a pair of spectacles. He had similar features to John, making it easy to mistake them for siblings. "Josh, since we are slow, help John with the front counter if he is taking an order for a drive-thru. If not, then help make the drinks as well."

Afterward, he passed through the breezeway and looked toward a rather boney-looking man with a brown ponytail sticking out of the back of his hat. "Jake, keep up the good work. If you can help expedite if needed. I'll be back after seeing what Boss wants." With that, Don continued his way to the back office, passing by the various equipment. Prep tables, ovens, the sink, and the drying rack. Eventually, he came across the back office to his left; in front of him was the rear storage area. To the right of him were the cooler and freezer doors, respectively. A little further was the back exit which employees used after the store was closed down or to take a smoke break since no one would see them; of course, there was also a camera back there and a motion sensor in case of break-ins.

"Yes, Boss?" Don looked at a tall, well-dressed, cleanly shaven man with a pair of glasses to match his intelligent look. His short blond hair complimented his appearance well. If he was standing, you could tell he was well over six feet, but since he was sitting, it was a bit harder to know. The man looked at him.

"Don, the way you handled that customer. Do you realize what I have to do, right?" The Boss's voice was strict when he spoke with Don, who nodded with a response, "I do. Allow me to take the shirt home and wash it. However, I can leave my name badge and hat here." As he removed his hat and took off his name badge, the Boss had a perplexed look on his face. After a moment, the Boss realized something and shook his head.

"No need Don. You are being promoted."

Don's expression shifted to pure shock when the Boss spoke these words. "P-pardon?" Don stuttered from confusion, and the Boss nodded before going on.

"Yes. I am promoting you. You see, while we are a fast-food restaurant. We do not abide by that silly, 'The customer is always right.' nonsense. If the customer is unsatisfied, we can correct the mistake. You can go so far as to say we are obligated to; however, when they try to pull a fast one on us, we kick them out the door."

Don's jaw was on the floor at his point, and he was dumbfounded. Sure this place wasn't popular as other fast-food chains; however, he thought it held the same principles. So to be told that their doctrines were a bit different was new to him.

"Of course, I watched the entire ordeal. You tried to help that customer, but in the end, she wanted free food. I was going to step in, but it seemed you handled it rather well. So much so that the flow of customers afterward was clean and efficient. Not only that, but your leadership skills these past few months have really shined. All of your co-workers have nothing but praise for you and even say that working alongside you makes everything feel smooth and efficient. I have witnessed this as well. You know everyone's strengths and weaknesses, and you even go far enough to help them improve their weakness. Therefore, keep your hat and badge. I thank you for all of your hard work and look forward to working alongside you, Don."

Don was still in shock, so much so that the Boss had to call out his name a few more times and wave a hand in front of his face to get his attention. "Y-Yes. Of course." Don nodded with a half-hearted smile before turning away and sighing heavily. "I need a cigarette..." Don muttered to himself as he headed back up to the front. The back-liner Jake called his name when he noticed Don pass by. He stopped cleaning his station for the moment to give Don his undivided attention, "So what did the Boss say?"

Don glanced at Jake and his station.

'Jake, the quick hands. For someone standing at 5'8, he is so skinny yet moves extremely fast. From what little he has told me about his personal life, I would wager that he was a thief in high school. Wrapping up the sandwich alone doesn't show off just how fast his hands move. Before the order is even finished, he is already wrapping it up, and by the time it is on the chute, the next order is done. His sleight of hand is so damn near unseeable that one would think he had superpowers or something.'

"Nothing special. Just a promotion." Don answered with slight disappointment in his voice. Jake's brow rose at this, but another voice came forth before he could question Don. A more deep voice from the giant man. John, alongside him, was Josh, the shorter one.

'John and Josh could easily be confused as brothers; however, they are cousins. They do view each other as brothers, though. John standing at 6'0 would be the older one. He took wrestling while overseas. Judo, I think it was called. Don't let all that flabby exterior fool you; he has a lot of muscle. Even if he appears scary, everyone around here calls him Big Cuddly Bear because of how nice he is.

As for Josh, he stands 5'7, a bit shorter than his cousin. Unlike John, Josh took boxing classes during high school. He even went into an in-town championship once. He is pure muscle, but that isn't all; the guy is a bit flexible. If that wasn't the only difference between them, it is also the intelligent look that Josh gives off. The man is a mini version of our Boss with how cleanly shaven and professional he is. Regardless, I once watched them take on a group of thugs. They didn't fear the knives and beat up the thugs easily, then called the police afterward. Josh isn't as nice as John. Though friendly, you have to gain his trust first. I haven't bothered to bug them about why they decided to take up Judo or Boxing, and I do not plan on it. Everyone has their reasons for their choices.'

"Why the long face?" John inquired.

"Yeah, figured you would be jumping for joy," Josh replied.

"Yeah... no," Don replied.

"Mind explaining why?" A voice that could seduce even a demon peered forth from behind John and Josh. They made a path for the super short redhead to make her way through when they noticed she was coming through. The tiny redhead looked up at Don.

'Jennifer. The woman was pretty much a gremlin with her 5'2 standing. A sexy imp... She had her curves in all the right places, but she was clearly lethal. Everyone knew not to try to pull anything with her. Not because it was unprofessional, but because they knew how much a badass she was. She could hold her own in a fight and wasn't afraid to play dirty.'

'We all saw that when someone was trying to pick her up in the parking lot on her off day to get her check. She kicked them in the balls then bashed their face in with her knee. Afterward... well, I had to go out there and break up the fight... Actually, fight; isn't the correct word, more like torture. The look on her face was all I needed to know that something traumatic probably happened to her at an early age, or maybe while she was in school. There was a time when I felt my soul was going to be sucked away simply by looking into her eyes, and honestly... I would probably let it happen.'

With the beeping echo to signal that a car was coming through the drive-thru, Don spoke up, "John, Josh, Jake... I'll tell you all later. Jen, follow me." John and Josh headed back to the front, and Jake started getting ready to make the order. Meanwhile, Don turned around to head outback since he finally found his pack of cigarettes. Nothing special, just a pack of menthol cigarettes. He enjoyed the minty cold feeling in his lungs more than the burning ashy feeling.

Jen followed him as Don kept the door open since it automatically locked once it was shut. Pulling out a cigarette from the pack, Don slipped the butt between his lips and used his teeth to hold the cigarette in place while putting his box away and pulling out a cheap store-bought lighter. Don flicked the lighter a few clicks, but nothing except brief sparks were coming. A groan rumbled from his throat since the lighter was not doing its job.

A brief ray of hope lit up in his eyes when the lighter finally lit with a flame, and he was about to bring the flickering flame to the end of the cigarette; however, a gust of wind put the flame out, which caused Don's brow to twitch in annoyance and a groan to escape his throat before he tossed the lighter away shouting, "Fucking piece of shit!" Jennifer giggled a bit before pulling a custom zippo-lighter from her pocket and flipping it open.

She struck the flint, which caused a decent flame to light up. Using her hand to shield the flame from the wind, and brought it over to Don, "Here." She commented, which caused Don to dip his head down to light up his cigarette, taking a few puffs to get it going. When he did, he inhaled deeply before exhaling the toxic fumes. Jennifer closed the zippo-lighter with a flip, extinguishing the flame and placing the lighter back into her pocket.

"So..." She urged Don to speak up now. Don flicked his cigarette ash away from her and nodded while looking at the evening sky. A few stars could be seen alongside a faded moon. It was beautiful even for what it was—an atmosphere filled with smog.

"Yeah. I never wanted to be promoted. I only took this job because it was an easy way to make money. If anything, I wanted to get fired. My little roommate is moving soon, so I was saving up enough money until then. I already have more than enough, and since the date is already set in stone, I planned on putting in my two weeks next month." Don answered before taking another deep drag from his cancer stick and exhaling the toxic fumes afterward, away from Jennifer.

"Hmmm... That makes sense." Jennifer leaned against the brick wall and looked at the ground. "Though, you could always just quit without warning, ya know," Jennifer added. Don shifted his eyes in her direction with a pity laugh. "Not my style. It would be disrespectful to all of you who have earned my respect." Jennifer glanced at Don when he spoke of respect. "Respect, eh? Is that why you haven't asked me out yet? Don't think I haven't seen you looking at me." Jennifer commented with a smug and somewhat lewd expression.

Don smirked and closed his eyes while leaning against the brick wall. He flicked his cigarette to remove the ash from the tip before bringing it to his lips. As he brought his cigarette to his lips, he responded, "You are in the same boat. With all those times I dropped you off at home, you haven't once asked me to say the night."

A blush crept upon Jennifer's cheeks. She was thinking of a response, but before she could get it out, Jake's voice could be heard calling for their help. Don finished off his cigarette and dropped it into a small tin can filled with water where other cigarette buds happened to be. Exhaling the last toxic fumes, he reached for the door but was stopped by Jennifer, who took his wrist. He shifted his attention to her.

"Then perhaps I'll take you up on that offer of yours sometime soon." A playful wink came from her. Don was a bit shocked since he didn't take her for someone to take the initiative regarding that sort of thing. So Jennifer pulled open the door and moved under his arm to enter the building before him.

Another smirk curved across his lips before he made his way into the building glancing at Jen's swaying hips and plump rear. As he passed the breezeway, Don started giving orders, "Jennifer, you are still on drive-thru. Jake and Josh keep up the flow with the orders, and John makes sure you give Jake and Jennifer aid when you can. I'll do what I can in between the customers upfront. Let's get finish this day off strong, only a few more hours!" As Don led the team, a proud smile could be seen on the Boss's face.