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Chapter 3

"Hey Lukas." Barely had I emerged from the locker room before I was greeted by Kieran coming from the opposite direction carrying a box. The young black wolfie looked at me with curious eyes, if a bit reluctant. I could never figure out what the frat wolf was thinking when he gave me that look.

"Oh hey Kieran, do you need help with that?" I finished buttoning up the arms of my long white sleeved shirt that was part of my waiter uniform, complete with black jeans and a black apron. I may be the assistant manager, but I was only good for serving customers or cranking numbers. I'd do either of those jobs whenever Felicia required me to, and right now I had floor duty.

Kieran on the other hand... paw, was doing the odd jobs, mostly doing the dishes and wiping the tables and restacking the napkins, since he wasn't trained for the floor yet. But that would soon change I reckon, as Felicia had been brainstorming ideas to increase efficiency of the staff. And I'm pretty sure she would want me to teach the young wolf at some point, which I half cringed at because of the age difference...

I mean, I was only twenty-eight so I wasn't that old but... I just felt awkward around him because he looked up to me so darn much because I was his senior in both college and at work. 'Course, three years of college education for a chef job landed me a job waiting tables.

"Nah I'm cool, just a bundle of new napkins. Not that heavy. Thanks though." Kieran said with a smile and a drastic waft of his fluffy wolf tail.

"Aight..." I said after a slight hesitation and gave him a slight nod as I turned to walk up to the machine where we clock in. Kieran followed in my footsteps eagerly and brushed past me when I stopped at the clock to punch my card.

"How's it looking out there?" I murmured, turning my head sideways to glance at the black wolf's back, his tail wagging as it usually did in my presence. Right above his perky rump, which I admit I have stolen a peek at more than once.

What can I say, watching tail wagging, tight, rear ends was my thing. I had great admiration for the lower posterior of furry guys. Especially muscular ones, firm looking such as Kieran's or Matt's. Not too flabby or flat, but just... right. Pouting mounds of flesh and muscles, with a coat of soft fur and an enticing tail for emphasis.

"A bit crowded, but the girls got it covered. Still waiting for the dinner rush yeah?" Kieran sounded chipper enough as he looked over his shoulder at me while was unpacking the new napkins. His brilliant lime green eyes had this expectant look, as if he wanted praise for his appraisal of the customer service. Hrrmm... well maybe he's earned a gold star, just because I was feeling generous towards him today.

"Quite right Kieran, quite right. Thanks, I'll just pop by Felicia real quick before I make my rounds." I flashed a smile his way and earned a brisk tail wag from the young wolf, along with a broad fanged smile back at me.

"Gotcha boss." Ah, calling me boss again. I suppose its right in theory, but it doesn't sit right with me yet... I was made assistant manager last year because of my many years of service, but I still only felt like a part of the floor team. No more, no less.

I nodded to Frank and Helen in the kitchen when they acknowledged I was passing by, and they gave me a nod and a smile in reply. Damn it warmed my heart, if only for a bit. Everybody was so friendly here, and it really helped with my depression.

I pushed the door open to Felicia's office, and found the poor little calico cat lady figuratively crying over the mountain of paperwork she had to do. I say figuratively because she was just a drama queen, hiding her face in her arms and making loud overdramatized Booohooo sounds.

"Hush now sweetie, it's not fit for a lady of your posture to be crying." I put on my happy face and my best voice as I approached the moping calico cat.

"Charming, oh, please, please, pleeaasse..." She pleaded and looked up at me.

"Give me a parfait." She tried the puppy eyes on me, with the lip and everything. Had I been straight I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to resist her pleading face. Even now I was having trouble because she was just so darn cute. You could never tell that the ridiculously short calico cat was close to 38 and pushing.

"But sweet cheeks, it'll go right to your hips. You wouldn't want to ruin your perfect figure would you?" I petted her head, brushing my hand through her curly red hair.

She didn't break her teary eyed stare down with me, despite my best smile. She was nothing if not tenacious.

"Tell you what kitten, if you finish all this paperwork before my break. I will make you a Charming Deluxe parfait, aight?" Yay, my licensed parfait bribe put fire in her eyes.

"Ohh! Charming Deluxe! Let's do this!" She made a little fist pump, rolled up her sleeves and put the pen to work in frantic writing. Felicia was stubborn as a mule, no insult intended... But I had her wrapped around my little finger with my Charming Deluxe parfait, white chocolate, some candied nuts, caramel sauce and some blueberries and strawberries neatly tucked away inside.

What had started out as an experiment during my lunch hours had became The Lounge's new parfait specialty. Felicia had graciously named it after my famed nickname.

"So was it anything you wanted Charming?" Felicia asked with a flick of her spotted tail, not taking her eyes of the paperwork she was nose deep in.

"No, I was just making sure my kitten was working properly." I mused and was out the door before she would retaliate with her own words. Which we both knew would be pointless because I was right. Every time I would clock in, I would always check up on Felicia. Find her doing no work whatsoever, and then bribe her with a parfait. Or relieve her of her duty, depending on what I was clocking in for.

Today however... I had floor duty, and I'd be damned if I was going to let my soured mood bring down everybody else.

As I arrived out by the cash register and our direct approach to the floor, a couple came inside and I went to greet them with my happy charming smile.

"Good day, welcome to the Lounge." I did the expected polite bow, and looked between the tiger guy and the poodle woman.

"A table for two I take it, will that be smoking or non-smoking?" I kept my smile as best I could.

"Non-smoking please." The poodle lady said quickly, shooting a quick glance to her partner. Who, to his credit, didn't do as much as a flinch. Poor guy, having his girl carry his balls in her purse. Or he was just trying for a better life. Whatever, it was none of my business.

"Yes of course, this way if you please." I made an eloquent wave with my hand to have them follow me. In the process I snatched up two menus and as soon as the couple had taken their seats I put down the menus in front of them.

"Here you are, please take your time browsing our menu. When you are ready to order just push that button and a waiter will be ready to take your order." I used my hand to gesture to the large round button tuckered against the wall, which the customers would push and we'd be alerted of which table was in need of service.

"Thank you, we'll do that." The poodle spoke up again, half smiling at me. I didn't falter and returned the smile tenfold.

"Splendid, please enjoy your stay at the Lounge." I bowed again and took my leave. Upon my return to the cash register I crossed path with Simone, a leopard woman who like Kieran also was also a college student. Though she was perhaps a tad more laidback than the overly eager wolfie, and had a greater paw with serving customers with a smile.

"Hello Lukas." She greeted me with a genuine smile and a nod of her head, taking up her position by my side as we awaited our next orders.

"Afternoon Simone, Kieran said there was some crowd this evening, how're you holding up?" I turned my head sideways to look at her while keeping my peripheral vision peeled on the door so I would notice any customers entering.

"Oh it wasn't that bad really, I'm sure Kerry is just making it sound worse than it is. We've had no trouble so far." She mused most delighted, swaying her tail in a gentle way. She, just as everybody else in the restaurant, had taken notice of Kieran's way of looking up to me and constantly trying to gain my approval.

"Still, good work on your part. I trust Kieran's earlier judgment, and I trust you to do a good job as always." I snuffed, making a sort of smile sort of grin. If I had a tail I would most definitively be nudging Simone with it.

"Well, I try." She said in a bashful voice mixed with pride.

*Ding* A small sign lit up with number 12 on it, indicating table 12 was ready to order.

"I'll take it." I offered before Simone had the chance to counter offer. Slinking my way over to table twelve where I found a lion mother and her cub, with her paw on the big button, ready to order.

"Yes, so what will it be miss?" I took out our electrical notepad and pressure pen at the ready with my best happy smile. The lion mother had a bit of trouble taking her eyes of me for just a moment before she managed to push a single word out of her mouth.

"Well I'll have the curry chicken, uhh number six? And some lemon water." She had to look at her menu a couple of times before the right words found her.

"Ah yes, a splendid choice miss. I very much like the curry chicken myself, very tender and melts like butter in your mouth. Our chef Helen is most talented and I can assure you won't regret your choice. And what can I get for the young lady here?"

I talked while operating the notepad at the same time, eyes fluttering back to the mother so I could hold a normal conversation with her. Once I finished my rambling I turned my attention to the little girl, who was hiding behind a fort built of her menu.

"I..." She said quietly.

"I want the... salmon..." Her eyes peeked up over the menu fort and ogled me for a moment.

"Excellent choice miss, most excellent. Don't tell anyone I said this but." I leaned in only slightly and lowered my voice. "The salmon is my favorite, it's super tasty." I gave her a wink, and earned a fierce blush from the lion cub.

"What would you like to drink? A soda perhaps? A juice?" I tempted her to make the order by herself, under the approval of the mother who encouraged her daughter to tell me what she wanted.

"Go on Rita, tell the gentleman what you want to drink." The mother said.

The girl Rita fidgeted in her seat, before she managed to look up at me quickly.

"I want a Pepsi." She said and hid behind the menu again.

"Very good, very good miss. I'll make sure to bring you your drinks right away and I'll be over with your food as soon as it's ready, alright?" I smiled while I pushed the Finalize button on my notepad which sent the order directly to the kitchen where the staff would take it up as soon as they're able.

"I will just be a moment." I bowed down before I left the table to go and get their drink of choice. It felt good to be working again, keeping my mind busy. Distracting me from... unpleasant thoughts.

I rounded the corner between the floor area and the kitchen counter, where we would pour the drinks and prepare the desserts. I put two glasses on a tray, one slightly smaller than the other, and poured the drinks in two swift motions practiced over the years.

Picking up the tray and turning around I had to take a few dancing steps while holding up the tray to avoid spilling it all over the promised land that was the bosom of Alice. The fox had to take hold of her melons and hold them aside so she wouldn't bump me.

"Oh Jesus God Charming, you can't just turn around when I'm trying to surprise hug you from behind." Alice folded her arms under her breasts once they would stop jiggling. Alice was the kind of woman that every straight man, and lesbian, would never fail to stare at. Whether they were married or not. Her breasts were just so... perfectly round and large, that at some point everyone would look at them.

I admit even I looked at them, mostly because they fascinated me but also because if I imagined it really hard I could pretend it was a rear end she had strapped to her chest. Which was amusing in its own way.

"My apologizes muffin, had you been a moment earlier you would've caught me in the act. But alas, you were too late." I winked at her and she pouted while looking away. "You snooze you lose." I bumped her with my hips as I walked past with the tray, now safe from the onslaught by her feminine goodness.

She gave my rear a quick pat, no sexual groping or excessive contact, just an ordinary flirt friendly pat. Much to my amusement, so to pay in kind I swayed my hips in a flamboyant style as I went my way over to table 12 and delivered the waiting mother and cub their drinks.

"Here you are, hope this'll quench your thirst. But don't spoil your appetite, okay?" I closed one eye and smiled at the little girl, earning another blush from her.

"Your food will be ready in just a few minutes, just take the time and relax for a bit." I excused myself with a bow and slugged my way over to the cash register again. There was nobody manning that station for now so I filled in while I waited for the order to finish.

Between greeting guests and taking their orders, I took the responsibility to cover where I could, whenever I could. Like any responsible employee would. And as if on cue a very responsible wolf slinked out from the floor, holding a dishcloth and a package of napkins.

"Yo boss." Kieran said with such a bright shining smile, making me question the wolf's sexuality. Not that he strut around saying I like girls but he wasn't saying I don't like boys either... hrm... He certainly acted like a typical fraternity dude, so the idea of a gay Kieran was rather farfetched. It doesn't matter anyhow, none of my coworkers actually know I'm gay anyway...

"Hey Kieran." I said, flashing a smile back at the wolf.

"Hehe, everything running smoothly, yeah?" Kieran said with a slight chuckling grin, his tail wagging to the max behind him and showing how happy he really was.

"So far yeah, though I worry..." I said solemnly, giving a longing look out the glass doors. Trying my best to look brooding and mysterious.

"Eh, worry?" Kieran said with a confused tone on his voice.

"There's a storm coming." I said and punctuated my sentence with a deep drawn sigh, adding to the dramatic effect.

"Whut? Storm? But it's so clear outside..." The wolf scratched his head and look outside with a quizzical expression.

"Order's ready." Frank called from behind the kitchen counter.

"It's alright Kieran, you'll understand when you're older." I said with effort trying to sound like an old sage. When I walked past the confused wolf I patted his shoulder and flashed another smile and left him to his thoughts. Hehe, it was always a delight messing with him.

"You're not much older than I am..." Kieran said quietly to himself, remaining standing still for a few seconds before he got moving again.

I came up to the counter and looked at the two plates of food that was ready to be served. I moved them over to a tray along with the number brick indicating which table the food was designated to. Though I didn't need to look at the number badge as I remembered the order I had taken previously.

Looking up I could see the blue scaled lizard chef already looking at me with his slitted amber eyes and flicking his long slithering forked tongue at me in my acknowledgement. Picking up the tray I nodded and smiled back at the lizard, holding the tray up professionally with one hand and walked it over to the table with the lion family outing.

"Here you are, a curry chicken for you miss, and the salmon for the young lady. Please enjoy your food to the fullest." I made eye contact as I handed out each dish, keeping the happy smile to give off the proper attitude. Afterwards I did a court bow and left their table. Walking the floor I looked around to see if there was anything that required my attention, such as empty plates to take away, desserts to offer or complaints to deal with.

Thankfully there was none of that at the moment, and I decided to steal a glance at the clock on the wall. Hrm, already past two and yet it barely felt like twenty minutes had passed. That was good and all, but this could also mean there was soon time for -that- to happen.

The oncoming storm, coming walking through those glass doors any minute now.

And sure enough, there he was.

"Sun is in the sky, oh why, oh why would I wanna be anywhere else?"