I woke up hoping it had all been a dream, but the dust all over and around me made it clear that that still wasn’t the case, and all the problems I had tried to ignore yesterday were still present. I didn’t have any food, changes of clothes, or a functioning bathroom. Alright, what can I do? At work I could use the restroom, and employees usually a free meal at the burger house. One meal isn’t a lot, but it would work for now. The only problem is I wasn’t expected until 10 and It wasn’t even 7 yet. Tom wouldn’t mind if he came early, right? Deciding on my next course of action I started the walk to the former burgurhouse, and a bit over half an hour I was there. Now I had a new problem, the burgurhouse was still closed. Well it looks like I would have to get comfortable for a bit. At least I could forget about the condition of my home for now. And let’s keep it that way, I thought to myself, forcing myself to think about something else as well as I could.
Half an hour later around 7:50 Tom’s truck rolled into view. A moment later he walked round to the front of the building, keys in hand. Noticing me loitering by the entrance, his brow furrowed slightly, the creases deeper than I remembered.
“Ethan, I didn’t expect you until ten, is everything alright?” Tom asked. I tried to think of an answer that wouldn’t make him suspicious.
“Umm, I just realized I didn’t have the internet set up again, so my usual stuff isn’t ah, usable yet. thought I would get some stuff done, maybe get a bit more practice with the new recipes, you know?” I thought it was obvious I was hiding something and he would call me out, but he just accepted it. His expression brightened as he remembered something.
“Well I can’t get your house wifi, but Johnsons still has working wifi, same password as the day you vanished.” Tom explained. I pulled out my phone to connect while he unlocked the door.
“Oh, great, thanks.” I thanked him slightly awkwardly, at least it sounded like it to my ear. Tom didn’t seem to notice anything off so it was probably just me. Tom’s voice pulled me back from my self doubting session.
“Alright, Paul should be here in a few hours, so you're my chef today, so remember rule 2 and rule 24.” And with that Tom started toward the counter, and I racked my mind for what those had been. I remembered the lessons, not the number assigned to them. I hadn’t realized there would be a test. After a moment of indecision I made up my mind and decided to just pretend I knew what those had been. I would look incompetent if I had to ask .
I went past Tom into the kitchen, and waited there in silence for a bit. There were no customers yet so I had some time to burn.
A nagging voice in my head reminded me that Tom was fine with asking questions. In fact, I was pretty sure that had been one of the rules: if you don’t know, don’t hesitate to ask, or something like that. Which one had that been? and then it clicked, rule 24! We and I immediately felt rather silly. Maybe I needed a refresher on the rules after all. After a bit of wracking my brain I remembered rule 2 was always wash your hands which I immediately did, washing twice because it was the beginning of the day. Shortly after I finished that I heard the bell ring. I walked out from the kitchen and got the order from Tom. Once I had the order slip I walked back to the kitchen to get started on the order. The process was still a bit unfamiliar but I managed to finish without burning the omelet, and that was enough of a win for me. The bell rang again and I got started on the next order. I kept working like this until 12, when Paul arrived. At the same time business picked up rapidly. I quickly found my newfound omelet skills left in the dust as Paul pumped out order after order, and I eventually just went to the kitchen to make sure that Paul was supplied with already prepared ingredients the whole time. Around one Tom pulled me aside to outside the burgurhouse. I noticed most of the people in the shop were doing the same. I was about to ask Tom what we were looking for when a familiar tearing filled the air. It was far quieter than I remembered, but I still winced at the sound. I felt my heartbeat speed up as I watched faintly glowing white shapes descend from the tear in the sky. The glowing figure, the Primordial, was nowhere in sight.
“It’s the second return of the year, I thought you might want to see it.” Tom explained. Looking around I noticed several people from the ONRR setting out to find returning people. After a minute the tear silently mended itself without a trace and the crowd dispersed, leaving just me and Tom standing outside the shop.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“I should probably get back in, a lot of those people went in johnsons, Paul is probably getting swamped.” I was turning toward the door when Tom spoke.
“Why don’t you take the rest of the day off, I can help Paul, and I’m sure you have some stuff to get in order after being away, did anyone other than me reach out?”
“No.” I lied.
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe someone you know will return later this week, right.” Tom said hopefully, but that wasn’t why I felt down; Jake hadn’t contacted me. I didn’t know why he would ask the ONRR to let him know when I returned and then just not contact me. My mind jumped to the worst case scenario, what if he had realized how pathetic I was and decided he didn't want to be my friend anymore. I quickly shoved that thought away. That wasn’t something Jake would do, I couldn’t completely banish the thought from my mind. It’s been years, how did I know what he would and wouldn’t do?
“I think I’ll just keep working today, if that's okay with you.” I said.
“Yeah, alright, just remember not to overwork yourself.” Tom requested, and I relented
“Alright, I’ll try.”. Once that was done I got back to work prepping food for Paul, who was well and truly swamped. The work felt good and it was easy to push aside my fears and concerns about home and Jake's absence for later. I barely noticed the time was passing until a few hours later Tom pulled me aside again.
“The main rush is done, and you worked through the whole thing. why don’t you take a break, no you don’t have to leave, but I haven’t seen you eat anything the entire time you’ve been here. grab a bite, actually try our menu, and then if you want you can keep working, remember rule 12, don’t make food on an empty stomach.”
I almost said I was fine, but my stomach rumbling reminded me that I was in fact, starving. Hadn’t eating here been my plan in the first place? I had just let myself get caught up working so quickly I had forgotten. I made myself an omelet really quick and went to one of the tables.
I had been making them all day, but the omelets were even better than they looked. It felt wrong on a deep level to put fruit in an omelet, but my taste buds insisted I was the one who was wrong. I managed to pack away the entire meal in no time, and after a refill of water (hydration is important) I rewashed my hands and returned behind the counter to resume working. Soon enough it was 6 and Tom practically forced me out the door.
“You’ve been here all day. A lot has changed, and some of it is pretty cool. Go enjoy your day, explore what’s new. If you still want to come early tomorrow, come over at 7:30 next time and we’ll cover what's changed about opening, kay?”
I agreed and started to leave, but Tom abruptly told me to wait a moment and ran to the backroom. He came back a moment later with a white envelope marked with a few scribbled equations and my name and gave it to me. I accepted it, giving Tom a quizzical look.
“It's your paycheck, you just got back so I thought it would help to have some physical cash to fall back on, it took a bit of digging to find, but that should also have the money from your pre-vanishing paycheck too.”
I didn't know what to say. How far would he have to go back to find a four year old incomplete paycheck? I pocketed the envelope and gave an awkward thanks. Tom smiled.
“No problem, it's the decent thing to do, just let me know if there is anything you need help with.” I had a skip in my step leaving for home, and I decided to make use of a bit of my newfound money immediately. With some looking on my map app I found an open general store nearby, where I purchased a new toothbrush and other general hygiene items. After that I started on my way back home, by paycheck in a little bag with the other items. I was feeling almost happy when I finished buying the toothbrush, it was a bit on the cheaper side, but it was something that I had bought for myself. I had taken control of my future, but every step lost more and more excitement as I remembered the sorry state of home. What good was a toothbrush without running water? I pulled out the paycheck out of the bag, opening it and looking at the cash inside. What was the use of one little paycheck when my house was caved in?
I paused, looking back at the toothbrush. It wasn’t a lot, but it was a start. I could brush my teeth at the burgurhouse restroom, and hopefully I could think up a better solution to the rest of my problems tomorrow. For today maybe just a paycheck and a toothbrush was enough. I arrived at home and laid down for the night, my envelope beside me, and the little bag of my purchases on the floor next to my bed. I gradually fell to sleep, my doubts and my hopes fighting for control in my mind.