[As much as I'd like to say otherwise, this story is entirely fictitious. If this offends you or if you are not of legal age to read this story, then please do not read any further. This story contains possibly graphic descriptions of consensual sex and masturbatory fantasies between males. None of this is based on any living person and any similarity to my actual job at a movie theatre is completely coincidental. Really, I mean that.]
Chapter 4 -
Food courts are an interesting and magical place. It seems that, no matter where in the country you go, they're all essentially the same. The names of the eateries may change, but the food remains the same. As far as southern California goes (I'm not sure about the rest of the nation) there are two food court staples that you can find in any mall at any time. In fact, I'd go as far to say that if they aren't in the food court, it's not actually a mall. Hot Dog on a Stick and Sbarro. One sells exactly what you think it would and the other sells moderately priced pizza things. Today we chose the goofier of the two, Hot Dog on a Stick. Mainly `cause we weren't that hungry, didn't have that much money on us, and we like to laugh at the people working there. No matter where you might work, or what uniform you might have to wear, you'll always be better off than the employees of Hot Dog on a Stick. It's like they still operate in the 60's, which is probably what keeps people coming. Brightly colored shirts and tall goofy hats, they're almost degrading. Even the guy in the Goofy suit at Disneyland has it better. At least he gets to hide his face.
Craig and I both got the same thing, a hot dog on a stick and a lemonade. You gotta have the lemonade, I mean, they have a large vat of it sitting there and somebody has to drink it. We find an empty table by the windows overlooking the freeway and sit down. After a few seconds silently munching on our deep fried phallic treats I speak up.
"So, how'd you know the girl working at the Gap," I ask dipping my hot dog into some ketchup.
"I used to work there, up until a few weeks ago, when the theatre opened." He explained that he left his job there for a change in pace, and it paid a dollar more. With the exception of a few people on the staff he really didn't get along with the rest of them. We talked about training so far and the people in our group, who we liked and who we hated. We both agreed that Shannon was probably a person best to avoid. Soon enough we were just sitting and talking, a pile of ketchup and two bare wooden sticks on the table.
"So let me ask you a question," I said. "I met your brother Brandon today at school, and he told me you were going to community college. But you told me you were going to that high school down in Van Nuys. Which is it?"
"My brother told you that? I think he likes to brag about me for some reason. I go to both really. It's this accelerated program where I take some bio classes at the community college a few times a week after school. It's supposed to help me get into college," he said watching the cars inch forward on the freeway outside.
"And did it work? Are going to college in the fall?"
"Yeah, I graduate in two weeks and then I head to UCLA in the fall," he said as I smiled. This means he won't be moving away anytime soon. I congratulated him and went on to talk about his major and what he wanted to do with his life. I was never a big biology fan, but Craig was sure into it, especially marine biology. "We should go down to the beach sometime, I can show you some pretty cool stuff." Craig plus beach equals shirtless and wet, I need to plan that trip soon, for my own sake.
"What about your girlfriend? What's she like," I asked intentionally prodding another conflict between what he said versus what his brother said.
"What girlfriend? When did I say anything about a girlfriend," he asked, shifting in his chair.
"A couple of days ago on the first day of training. You said you were gonna break up with her soon or something," I said as I leaned forward with my eyebrows raised. Craig paused for a second as he searched his memory.
"Oh, that, I just made that up. The girl sitting on the other side of me, Becky, she kept hitting on me and I just needed something to keep her away, even if for just a while. That and it makes me sound cooler if I saw I'm with someone."
"Yeah, your brother said you weren't dating anyone. Have you ever had a girlfriend?"
"No, not really. I mean, I took a friend to prom, and the occasional date, but it never seems to work," he said leaning back in his chair.
"Ditto," I said. I explained my whole romantic history and how nothing ever really worked out. We talked briefly about girls, though it seemed forced on both ends. Am I the only one here just pretending to give a shit about women? Is my gaydar going off here? Craig looked down and checked his watch.
"Crap, we need to go. We're due in ten minutes," he said standing up and grabbing his bag from the Gap. I scooped up the trash, dumped it, and we jogged over to the theatre.
Craig shoved his bag into his locker and quickly put on his work shirt, I shoved my backpack in my locker and did the same. We clocked in and headed to the meeting room where the rest of the group was already there. Shannon was staring at us and grinning, which can not be a good thing. Our supervisor came in behind us and we started our last night of training. It didn't take long before we had everything reviewed and were ready to hit the floor. Assignments were given out to various locations around the theatre. Craig and I were assigned to cleaning, which sucks. It's the worst position on the floor. Though, on the positive side, we would get to spend a lot of time together and had some downtime to mess around. More time to talk. Everyone got up and left the room. Craig walked up and patted me on the back.
"You ready Chad? These twenty theatres aren't going to clean themselves, and I'm going to need you to help me out," he said as he gave me one more good pat and started down the hall.
I get the feeling that this is going to be a good night overall.
[Things are primed up to get moving soon, and I can't wait to get there. Thanks for the feedback from the last chapter and, please, keep it coming: Multiplex84@yahoo.com]