Moments in Time 02 - Moment Of Truth Read Online Free PDF

to learn. Questions, ask the kitchen staff. There’s a quiz in an hour—not kidding. Then one of the servers will take you around and show you how we set tables, where we bus dishes, all that good stuff.”
    She snapped her fingers again and ushered me and the other new guy to a table on the side of the room. She handed us each a menu, then rattled off a list of house favorites, tapping each section with a bright orange fingertip before leaving with a swish of her dress. She headed straight for Tanner, who threw me a small wave before she sent him packing out the side exit.
    “How’d you land this job?” the guy asked.
    I wasn’t sure how to answer. What did I call Tanner? My roommate?
    My boyfriend? While my brain raced for an answer, the guy kept talking.
    “My friend Ashley got me in. She’s the short blonde.” He pointed to a girl with a pixie cut who was folding napkins on the side of the room.
    “She’s worked here two years. I bussed tables at the Seaside Inn last summer, but my ex still works there and I didn’t really feel like dealing with seeing him every day, if you know what I mean.”
    Him? His ex was a guy? I sucked in a deep breath. “My roommate, uh, boyfriend, worked here last summer. We go to school up in Connecticut. He talked to Dorothy for me. She hired me over the phone.”
    “Cool.” He seemed unfazed by everything I’d babbled out. “I’m Jason, by the way.”
    “Collin.” He shook my hand. I tried not to stare at the tattoos that twisted from his wrist all the way up his arm.
    “So which one’s your boyfriend?” His pale gray eyes flitted around the room, then landed on mine. His gaze was open, friendly.
    “The one that just left to go work at Oz.”
    “Oh wow. He’ll be raking in the bucks. I hear the bartenders there clean up.”
    “Bartender?”
    “Yep. Before you got here, I heard Dorothy talking about how one of their bartenders quit this morning. Modeling gig at some magazine. Oz is known for their hot staff. That’s why they make so much in tips.”
    Jesus. Not that that should have surprised me. If Tanner was my bartender, I’d probably hand over my paycheck to get his attention. My stomach wiggled in a way that made me wish I’d eaten less breakfast.

Chapter Eight
    JASON WAS definitely the highlight of working at Dorothy’s. The other servers were nice, but it was clear they’d worked together before and had already formed cliques. With Jason and me as the new guys, we were left to do a lot of the grunt work. Making salad dressings, restocking the walk- in with seafood and salads, precutting the cakes, gathering up the laundry.
    We were earning our spot on the floor, working our way toward tables in the better sections of the restaurant. Having him to talk to made it all bearable.
    Our first major task was learning the menu, which included passing the short quiz on the first day and a more elaborate one at the end of the week. Not only did Dorothy expect us to have the menu and all possible specials memorized, we needed to know what allergens they contained, how they were prepared, and what wine we should recommend with them.
    I wasn’t the only one with homework either. Tanner came home from his first night at Oz with the master list of Great and Powerful Concoctions—their signature drinks, which he needed to know how to prepare for an on-site exam before his first shift behind the bar.
    Luckily the house had a pretty well stocked liquor cabinet, so all we had to do was buy some juices, milk, cherries, and spices. Tanner’s goal was to have us all order off the menu, and then he’d have to see if he could remember and prepare the proper drinks. Needless to say no one balked at this except Suzanne, who whined that she couldn’t drink but perked up as soon as he offered to make her a special nonalcoholic drink instead.
    Playing Tanner’s assistant was my job. I liked watching him toss the cocktail shaker around as he practiced his routine. In no time he