Part 18 – All Red

Kat

Tomato sauce splashed as a ladleful fell onto a pale crust. She spread it, suddenly reminded of her own face, and how red it must have been.

Kat tried to focus on the task at hand. She had an order of four medium pizzas to get into the large industrial oven, so she didn’t have time for self-pity. She couldn’t just stand there frozen, staring at uncooked dough, worrying about how badly she’d messed up.

But what would Lucy think? She’d had a full-blown episode in front of her. Went to absolute crap as she was just trying to help.

She looked over her shoulder. Lucy was at the register, checking out a group of teenagers.

She was finally being nice.

Rubbing her arm, Kat felt a familiar pain. It was a different cut… but you never forget your first.

On some level, it was a comfort that the scar never really faded. It was a connection to the past, a reminder of sorts, even if it was grim. Now, there was another.

What if it scarred too? Altering the reminder. Diluting the memory.

As long as she had the scar, she knew she couldn’t forget.

She couldn’t forget him.

“How’s it going over there, dear?”

Kat turned to Daisy. She was standing near the window, phone receiver pressed against her shoulder.

How could there be another order? They were already two behind.

“Sorry, got, well… lost in the sauce,” Kat said, faking a laugh. “I’ll have these in soon.”

“That’s my girl,” Daisy said with a wink as she turned her attention back to the phone.

She was being so patient with Kat, and when she was making pizzas, she seemed to be going in fast motion. It was like she had infinite energy.

Meanwhile, Kat – a young woman of maybe a third the age – was struggling to keep up. She could see enjoying this work, the reliance on muscle memory and precision. She liked this sort of repetitive work.

But she wouldn’t achieve soft focus that night. It was too new, too stressful. She had too many eyes on her.

Another order lands on the metal counter next to her.

Just as panic was setting in, she saw Daisy’s kind face.

“Let’s trade places,” Daisy said. “I’ll finish that order while you get this one started.”

Kat nodded and made space on the counter.

“Just one pepperoni and one three cheese?”

“Yup,” Daisy confirmed. “Easy peasy.”

A glimmer crossed her tired grey eyes.

“Bet I can still race you, though.”

Kat smirked and snatched the ladle.

“Not without this!”

The two laughed as they scrambled to horde necessary tools and ingredients while they raced to get their pizzas in the oven.

Kat won. She had two fewer pies to make after all, and opened the great furnace of an oven to slide her pizzas in.

She was instantly sweating. The industrial-sized convection oven blasted her with a full sun’s worth of heat. She couldn’t imagine how bad this would be once summer was in full gear.

A memory from high school hit her. That was when she ordered the most pizzas with Andy. It wasn’t a summer night without a high calorie meal and a gossip session.

Those were the days…

She shuttered as she closed the oven and moved on to the next order.

“How’s the large donair order?” Daisy asked without looking up.

“Oh, shoot, right!”

Damn, a little burned. She’d been off by only a minute or two.

Kat pulled out the large donair pizza, Halifax style with a sweet garlicky sauce and the large garlic-fingers it came with.

“I’m not sure about these ones. They’re a bit burnt”

Daisy gave them a quick glance.

“It’s okay. They’re more than good still. In fact, call them charred. It makes it sound intentional.”

Kat smiled and began slicing.

It was weird, cutting directly into the boxes. She was worried she’d go right through the pizza and the box, but she never did. You can’t argue with results, and it was certainly fast.

Just in time, too. A young man carrying a delivery bag walked in. She recognized him – she’d gotten Chinese delivered by him only a week before.

He strode up.

“Hey, I have two large pizzas for order?”

Kat nodded.

“Should be a donair pizza and a garlic finger. Let me see your order.”

The order was checked out and they accepted payment. No problems, everything in order. All they had to do was pass on the pizzas.

As she handed him the stack and caught his kind brown eyes.

“Chinese order?” he asked, smiled at her.

She tried her best to look surprised.

“Oh, yeah… small world, eh?”

His smile was infectious, but she felt caught in a lie. She’d recognized him all along… but she never said hi.

I should have just said hi.

“Yeah, small towns, at least.”

“Yeah… I bet… but you deliver in Hermit’s Rest too?”

“Yeah, I live in the middle, so I catch shifts where the action is.”

Why was he still talking to her? The longer he was there, the more likely she’d put her foot in her mouth.

“Like us… stuck in the middle…with you?”

There it was.

But he laughed.

Why did he laugh?

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

He picked up the bag.

“See you round Kat.”

“Yeah, see you around… wait..”

She’d forgotten her name tag. Luckily he pointed to it, walking backward towards the door.

“I’m Jake, by the way.”

He opened the front doors.

“Nice to meet you, Jake…” Kat called after him.

But he was already gone.

“Cute guy,” Daisy said nudging her shoulder. “No wonder you were nervous.”

Kat shook her head.

“It’s not that…I mean, he is cute… But it wouldn’t have mattered.”

“Social stuff makes you nervous then? You’re great with customers, though.”

“Those are official interactions,” Kat said, leaning against the counter. “I have a layer between us. But the minute they know me… there’s, well, expectations.”

Daisy leaned in beside her.

“Well, let me know if you ever get an attack or whatever ever and I’ll stand between you and the people.”

“So you’ve been there before? Nervous with people, I mean.”

“Nope, never,” Daisy said quickly. “I can’t say I get it, but I’m always happy to help. You don’t have to understand something to be supportive.”

Daisy put an arm around Kat and gave her a kind of sideways hug.

Kat was usually suspicious of people who were so familiar so quickly, but with Daisy, it seemed sincere. Maybe it was her mannerisms or her voice. Maybe it was her eyes, so warm, and yet, so tired. Maybe Kat believed her because she recognized the look in her eyes.

Stop projecting. Not everyone is weak.

Kat ignored her mother and enjoyed the hug.

The phone rang, again, splitting the quiet moment in two.

“Sorry, dear. Guess our break is over.”

Kat quickly looked at the next order. Two medium pizzas and a small garlic finger… and… wings?

Shoot, she hadn’t made those yet.

“I’ll grab that stuff from the fridge.”

Kat turned to see Lucy leaning over the counter.

“You sure?” Kat asked. “Aren’t you busy, too?”

Lucy shrugged.

“When it’s busy here we have to share the load. I saw wings a small and a medium curst right?”

Kat nodded and watched Lucy disappear into the back.

“She’s a good girl and she’ll warm up,” Daisy said. “She always does.”