Two Arrivals

Posted on Sat Oct 22nd, 2016 @ 12:44pm by Camille Ross & Sam Elliott III

Mission: Beyond The Wormhole
Location: The Nexus Club

* The Nexus Club *

It was still a few hours till opening time but Sam had arrived early to do inventory. Even the early wait staff wasn’t in yet. The only sound reaching him in the liquor storeroom was faint conversation from the kitchen staff peppered with Hillaire’s French accent as he issued orders. He turned back to his padd and began entering numbers as he counted. Most of the bottles were kept track of by the computer but the personal brands were all done manually, as was the supply of Jackson’s family label. Today was the day to call Woody back on Earth to place an order, since it took three weeks to get here once it left the distillery. He sang a soft tune as he worked, one of the songs from Jan’s set, and was soon lost in his job.

Walking into the club, still in her converse, Camille could hear Hillaire in the kitchen as usual, but she wasn’t the first member of floor staff to arrive in as she could hear singing coming from the storeroom. Forgetting that her footsteps couldn’t be heard when she wasn’t in her heels, Camille left her things in the office, and made her way to the storeroom to check on how Sam was getting on. “Hey Sam, how’re things lookin’?”

Hearing her voice suddenly, he jumped and dropped his padd. “Sneaky shoes,” he laughed. He looked from her sneakers up to her cocktail dress and shook his head. “Interesting look. Maybe you should add some rhinestones.”

Striking a model pose with her footwear she replied “I’ve thought about it as wearing’ heels all day are killer, but alas the dress looks better with heels.”

“There’s a fellow up one level on the Promenade who custom makes shoes,” Sam informed her as he picked up his padd. “Jan swears by him for her heels and says they are like clouds. You should go.” He made a quick count about the next shelf and tapped the number into his padd. “So what’s up so early?”

“I must remember tae check ‘em out next time I get enough time off tae do somethin’ other than sleepin’,” she said with a small laugh. “And I’m in early to get things organised as we haven’t got a new hostess yet and helpin’ Jackson and Jan out now around the place so thought it best to come in and get a head start on the day. Not sure if that makes much sense tae ye, it’s still early after a late night,” she apologised.

“Got it. I did call Francis though, and hinted that we were looking for a replacement for me. He said he would stop in before we opened if you want to see him,” Sam offered.

“Ahh brilliant, you’re a wee star y’know that? Having you around has and I know it will be, a great help. And with hopefully Francis taking over from you, it should ease up the pressure on everyone. I can’t believe how busy we’ve been lately.”

“Me either.” Sam finished counting the Banning bourbon, then tapped the padd once more. He then entered the command to send it on to Woody and nodded. “That’s done. I’m going to get to the bar.”

“Thanks. I’m going to check over the reservations for tonight in the office. When Francis comes in can you send him my way?”

“I will. See you soon.” Sam waved and hurried out of the storeroom.

Camille made her way into the office and pulled up the night’s reservations on her padd. Flicking through them, she recognised a few regulars on the list, and there weren’t too many others booked in so far. However she knew that could change between now and opening, but it looked like it could be nicely busy tonight. “Things are looking good for tonight,” she said to herself out loud and she put the padd down and shut her eyes. A quick 20 minute nap wouldn’t hurt anyone, especially since Sam seemed to have set up sorted.

A few minutes later the doors to the staff office opened and a tall man who looked to be in his mid-twenties stepped in. Seeing Camille dozing on the sofa, he debated whether to wake her or not. However, his experience in the business told him that she likely needed to get moving soon. He remained where he was and called to her.

“Camille?”

Jumping at hearing her name, Camille was briefly disorientated to her surroundings and called out “Pat?”

“Umm, no, not Pat,” Francis answered. He recognized her of course but they had never really been introduced. “I’m Francis.” He smiled, noticing her shoes now and held back a laugh. “Sorry to wake you.”

Coming to her senses and realising she was in the Nexus, Camille sat upright. “Sorry Francis, must’ve dozed off and forgot where a was fur a second.”

“Sam said to come on back and I figured that, given the time, you might need to be more...uh...vertical.” He smiled back at her. “I heard you were looking for a head waiter.”

“Thanks. And yea I am. We need someone tae take over from Sam in taking the lead with the waiting staff. Is it somethin’ you’d be interested in takin’ on fer us?”

Francis sat down in the chair by the sofa and rested his hands on his knees. “I’d love to, really. Where I am now is great but Sam twisted my arm a little. Not that it took much. I’ve always wanted to be here.” He smiled back at Camille.

Camille smiled back at him, with some nostalgia in her eye. “I dunnae know what it is with this place, but there’s something special about it that just draws you to it. It was completely different to place I used to work in before I moved here, but as soon as I started, I loved workin’ here. Anyway, enough reminiscin’ from me, I suppose I need to give you some sort of interview for the position,” she joked with him.

Sitting up a little straighter, and trying to make her posture seem important she began in a pretend serious voice “Now Francis, what makes you suitable for the position of head waiter here at the Nexus?”

“I’ve been the head waiter at Portin for two years now. I run a pretty tight ship with the wait staff but not not in a dictatorial way, if that makes sense. I just expect things to run smoothly and I make sure they do. You can’t have it otherwise with the sort of customer volume you have both at Portin and here,” he answered.

“That’s very true. Well then Francis, the job is yours,” she said reaching out to shake his hand, before breaking into a giggle. “Sorry, I cannae put that serious person on any longer, and if Jackson could see it, he’d probably be doubled over laughing. The job is yours if you’d like it. Of course I have to say that there’ll be a probation period, but we never really worry about those.”

He shook her hand and laughed with her. “If you want another reference besides Sam, talk to Hillaire. But I’d suggest waiting till closing time. You likely know as well as I do no one dares venture into the kitchen when he’s prepping for the evening rush.”

“Oh yea, references. Eh, we’ll worry about those later but for now, welcome to the team! If you’d like a tour, grab Sam and tell him I said he has tae show you around or else!” she said with a laugh.

“For now though, I gottae run and make me-self look more presentable,” she said as she looked down at her shoes. “Oh, do you mind startin’ tonight or would you prefer time ae get things sorted at Portin and get settled in here?”

“I’m off the next two days there so I can be here to get a feel for things and jump in mid-week if that is alright?” Francis rose and offered her his hand to helped her up.

“Thanks,” she said for the hand up, “and that’s nae a problem, whatever works for you whilst you get sorted.”

“Good enough. I’ll run change and be back in a few minutes.” Francis crossed to the door and hurried off with a wave.

Waving him off, Camille left her heels in the office until she needed them, and headed towards the door to do her final checks before opening. As she reached the door, she almost collided with a solid mass. Taking a step back, she looked at who the mass was.

“Sorry Jackson, wasnnae expectin’ you tae be there.”

“Whoah, hey there. Sorry didn’t mean ta nearly run ya down.” He looked her up and down and smiled. “Not that I’d mind gettin’ run over by you.”

A look of disgust appeared on her face. Her and Jackson had a great boss/employee friendship, but that was taking things a bit too far. What has gotten in tae him? she thought to herself. “Jackson you know Pat wouldnae be pleased hearin’ you say that, and before he got tae you, Oz would have you hung, drawn and quartered.” she said in a stern tone.

“Jackson?” The man before her stopped and began to laugh, finally wiping his eyes. “Sorry. I don’t mean ta seem rude but that’s funny. Sometimes I forget. I’m not Jackson, I’m Evan, his brother. Twin, obviously.”

“Sorry Evan, it’s been busy here lately so the grey matter isn’t fully functioning, it shouldae clicked with me you werenae Jackson, he’s too scared of Oz tae even joke around with other women. Anyway, nice tae meet you Evan, I’m Camille, one of the managers.”

“Camille. One of my favorite flowers.” He took her hand and raised it to his lips. “Don’t feel bad, Oz once saw my weddin’ photo on Jackson’s desk and thought it was him. It didn’t go over well.” He laughed once more. “Then again, neither did my marriage...for long. Pleasure ta meet ya.”

“I can imagine her reaction. Please tae meet you too. Anything I can help you with? Jackson isnnae around here today.”

“He isn’t? Ah well, I can find him at home then. I just got off the transport and came straight here ta say hello before I go get cleaned up. Got a spare table for me tonight? Or Jacks table if it’s open?”

“With havin’ me around tae help him out now, I’ve encouraged him to enjoy not havin’ tae be here 24/7. And we’ll get you booked in one way or another,” she said with a smile. “When you arrive tonight just tell Desta our new hostess and there’ll be a table for you.”

“Thanks.” Evan gave her a snappy salute. “Can ya deliver a coupla messages for me in the meantime? Tell Jan to check her dressin’ room and for Sam, tell him that we sent an early shipment. They’ll deliver it once it’s off the transport and cleared but that will likely be tomorrow.”

“Will do. Although, Sam should be floatin’ about somewhere out there if you wannae catch him on your way out he can do with a quick break.”

“Sure. Well, I”ve kept ya long enough, I’ll get outta yer hair. See a back here in a while.” Evan smiled once more and turned, making his way back down the corridor, a cheery whistle on his lips.

Camille let out a sigh. What a day this has been already and is hasnae even started yet,” she thought to herself with a giggle. She made her way out to the console at the front desk and entered Evan’s reservation for that night, placing him at Jackson’s table when she realised how busy they were going to be.

Checking the time, she realised it was about time she shifted herself into gear and got her heels on, ready for the busy night ahead.

***********
Sam
Taking Inventory

Camille Ross
In Need of Caffeine

Francis
Coming Onboard

Evan Banning
Not Jackson