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Post by Leighanne Galligan on Apr 13, 2009 14:37:16 GMT -5
Leighanne Galligan straightened out her shirt before she left her place to head over to the resturant her mother owned. She was relieved that her mother offered her a job there awhile back. After all, it was enough for Leighanne to get by and she liked to work there.
She arrived at the resturant before it opened so that she could make sure that everything was going to be in order before they opened for lunch.
Entering the resturant, a smile fell upon Leighanne's face. The people that worked there seemed to be part of the family in a way. She headed to the back so that she could get started setting the tables. Walking in the back, she tied her apron around her waist. "Hello mum."
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Post by Shelby Galligan on Apr 13, 2009 21:22:37 GMT -5
Shelby had just finished going over the specials for the evening with the kitchen staff and was just about to take a short coffee break before making final preparations to open up for the lunch crowd. At the sight of her daughter, she broke into a smile.
"Hey, Leigh," she said brightly. "I was just about to take a quick coffee break. Why don't you come with me for a few minutes? I have a few things I wanted to talk to you about."
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Post by Leighanne Galligan on Apr 13, 2009 21:32:36 GMT -5
Her dark curly hair was pulled back into a ponytail. The sliverware was already wrapped in the white cloth and all Leighanne had to do was put the sliverware on the table and make sure that everything was perfect.
"Er, alright. I'll start on the sliverware in a few minutes," she said. "What is it that you want to talk to me about?" Knowing her mother, Shelby could want to talk about a number of things.
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Post by Shelby Galligan on Apr 13, 2009 21:42:52 GMT -5
Shelby poured a cup of coffee for herself, and one for Leighanne. "Don't sound so worried," she said, handing the cup to her daughter. "It's nothing bad, I promise you. Sit down, relax. I swear, honey, you work harder than I do sometimes."
She slipped into a seat and began to stir some sugar into her coffee. "I hired a new waiter. He starts today, and I'd like you to show him the ropes."
She kept her voice light and breezy, but she it was difficult to hide the smile on her face. The new waiter... he was very good-looking, and seemed like an upstanding young man. Just the kind of boy she wanted for her daughter. Even if the boy had never waited a table in his life, Shelby would have hired him.
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Post by Leighanne Galligan on Apr 13, 2009 22:00:17 GMT -5
Taking the cup from her mother, Leighanne took a seat in a chair and let out a sigh. Working hard was something that her and her mother were known for.
Leighanne only added a small about of sugar to her coffee before taking a sip of the hot liquid. At the mention of a new waiter, she couldn't help but raise one eyebrow at her mother. Holding her coffee cup with both hands. She knew the look on her mother's face. Leighanne gave an audible sigh.
"Mum," she said knowingly. "Why am I the one that is showing the new person the ropes? Don't you usually do that?"
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Post by Shelby Galligan on Apr 13, 2009 22:10:47 GMT -5
Shelby hid her smile behind her coffee cup, taking a long sip before speaking again. "Because, Alfredo called in sick today, so we're going to be short-handed in the kitchen. I won't have time to focus on the wait staff tonight. And i trust you. In fact, I've been thinking it's time to start giving you more responsibilities around here. I know you can handle it, and it really would be an enormous weight off of my shoulders. You don't mind, do you?"
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Post by Leighanne Galligan on Apr 13, 2009 22:17:11 GMT -5
Of course, things always seemed like they worked out in weird ways. Leighanne fought the urge to shake her head at her mother.
She didn't mind having more responsibilities. After all, she preferred to stay busy rather than just sit around and do nothing and she was glad that her mother did trust her. "Alright," Leighanne said giving in. Some how it seemed that Shelby ended up winning. "When is this new waiter supposed to come in? And is there anything that I need to know beforehand?"
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Post by Shelby Galligan on Apr 13, 2009 23:00:26 GMT -5
Shelby hid another smile. "He's coming in soon... He should be here in about half an hour. I wanted him to have a chance to get settled in before the full lunch crowd comes in."
Someone who had lived the kind of life that Shelby had--divorced and left to raise a child alone at the tender age of 21--would have been justified to hate men. But not Shelby. She believed that there were good men out there, and she wanted her daughter to find the happiness that she deserved. She even believed there was someone out there for herself, but Leighanne was her priority. Once her daughter was happy, she could focus more on herself.
And she had a good feeling about the new waiter.
"No... I don't think there should be any issues. He seems like he knows what he's doing, he just needs to get adjusted to the menu and the procedures. You should be fine."
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Post by Leighanne Galligan on Apr 13, 2009 23:11:28 GMT -5
Leighanne knew how hectic the full lunch crowd could be. It was a constant running back and forth. Hopefully he would catch on pretty quickly and things wouldn't be so crazy. Lunch seemed to be crazy, but sometimes dinner was worse.
She wasn't exactly sure what her mother was going to try to do, but Leighanne was going to the job that was assigned to her. "Well, maybe my work will be cut out with this one." She took another sip from her coffee cup. The menu would probably be one of the harder things to get used to in the resturant. The procedures weren't that hard, but the menu was pretty much memorization and it could be a little overwhelming at what they all offered.
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Post by Shelby Galligan on Apr 14, 2009 20:18:33 GMT -5
Shelby smiled. "Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine," she said. "I wouldn't have hired him if he didn't seem like a competent waiter."
OK, that was a lie. But the fact was, he really was a competent waiter. Leighanne didn't need to know that she probably would have hired him even if he wasn't.
Taking a sip from her coffee, Shelby gave her daughter a sad sort of smile. "Oh. By the way, I forgot to tell you. I broke up with David last week. I just didn't think it was going anywhere."
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Post by Leighanne Galligan on Apr 14, 2009 20:28:23 GMT -5
Shelby's choosings were usually pretty good. Leighanne wished that she could be able to be like that.
She preferred to work with someone that sort of knew what they were doing. The ones that didn't know what they were doing and didn't catch on fast could annoy her quickly. Sometimes Leighanne just didn't have the patience for that kind of person. As long as the person she was working with was with a fast learner, things would be perfect.
"Really," she asked with her eyebrows raised before taking a sip from her cup. "You know, I didn't really care to much for him. I really thought that his eyebrows were far too bushy." Leighanne smiled at her mother.
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Post by Shelby Galligan on Apr 15, 2009 0:56:50 GMT -5
Shelby laughed. "Oh, you and your eyebrow thing!" she laughed. "Honestly, Leigh, you are just too picky, I swear. Nothing wrong with a good heavy eyebrow. It's a sign of character. Now, when they grow into one big eyebrow... yeah, that's when it's a good idea to steer clear."
She paused to take another sip of her coffee. "No, I broke up with him because he still keeps talking about his ex-wife. I don't think he's ever going to get over her, and I don't want to play second to a woman who dumped him, you know?"
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Post by Leighanne Galligan on Apr 15, 2009 8:09:46 GMT -5
"I'm not too picky," she said. "I'm just saying that he had extremely bushy eyebrows. And you know, I think he did have that one big brow thing, he just shaved part of it to make it look like he had two." Leighanne gave a laugh to let her mother know that she was only kidding.
"I'm proud of you mum. You do deserve a lot better than that. We'll find you a man that will be good for you, and not have a unibrow or have an ex-wife they can't shut up about." Leighanne finished her cup of coffee and held the empty cup in her hands. "Maybe we should go out one night. That would be fun, don't you think?"
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Post by Shelby Galligan on Apr 15, 2009 18:38:11 GMT -5
Shelby laughed. "Oh, you're probably right about the unibrow..." she said. "Sometimes I would notice hairs popping up in the middle of his eyebrows... they'd always be gone the next day!"
She loved how she could talk so honestly about men and dating with her daughter. She didn't even really need a best friend, because she had Leighanne.
"We've got to find you a man, too, you know," Shelby said with a smile. "I just know there's a great guy out there for you... maybe even closer than you think." Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "But yes, I think that's a great idea. We should definitely go out for a few drinks or something. We need to try and meet some new people."
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Post by Leighanne Galligan on Apr 15, 2009 20:16:12 GMT -5
"I'm not worried about finding a man. I'm fine single." Leighanne didn't want to put herself through a heartbreak again. It nearly destroyed her whenever she found out that Joseph cheated on her and plainly told her that he didn't love her anymore. She was still a little scared from it, even though it had been nearly three years ago.
There were moments when Leighanne did want someone, but she also was alright single. That didn't really bother her. She was more concerned with her mother's happiness.
"Meeting new people sounds like a good idea. Maybe we could do it one night this week or something."
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Post by Shelby Galligan on Apr 15, 2009 22:15:23 GMT -5
Shelby knew her daughter all too well. While Leighanne was insisting that she was fine and happy being single, Shelby knew that she was just hiding the fact that she had been terribly hurt by Joseph's rejection. Every time Shelby thought about it, she wanted to strangle that selfish boy. But in the long run, perhaps it was best for Leighanne that he had done it before the wedding, instead of after, as Leighanne's father had done.
He didn't want to get married in the first place, and Shelby had known it. But she had been pregnant with Leighanne at the time, and his parents were insisting on a marriage... so he did it. Shelby convinced herself that everything would be fine once Leighanne was born. As it turned out, they both regretted it. Their short marriage was miserable, punctuated by bitter fights and long nights alone while he went out drinking. It was almost a relief when he left. That didn't mean that the rejection didn't hurt.
It had taken Shelby a while to get up the strength--and the energy--to start dating again, too. As a single mother raising a child alone and running a business at the same time, Shelby barely had time for anything for quite a while. She started dating when Leighanne was six years old and the catering business was firmly established. And even then, she didn't really date regularly until Leighanne had started Hogwarts.
But what Shelby had learned, and what she hoped to teach her daughter, was that it did no good to hide away your heart to keep it from getting hurt. Only by risking great pain could you find great happiness. The fact that Shelby had yet to find that happiness had not deterred her from continuing to search for it.
"Well, now that I'm not dating Mr. Bushy Eyebrows, I'm available pretty much any night," she replied brightly. "Just tell me when is good for you."
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Post by Isaac Adelson on Apr 15, 2009 22:21:19 GMT -5
At that moment, the bell above the door chimed, and Isaac walked into the restaurant. It was very quiet, and serene almost. He was dressed well, and carried himself like he was very confident.
He spotted Shelby at a table with a girl who looked like she also worked here, and he smiled when he caught her attention. "Good morning, Ms. Galligan," he said, walking towards them. "I'm a little early, I hope that's all right."
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Post by Shelby Galligan on Apr 15, 2009 22:32:45 GMT -5
Shelby's eyes lit up when the handsome young Isaac walked into the restaurant. He really was quite adorable. And so unbelievably perfect for her daughter.
Like any meddling mother, she was already hearing wedding bells as she looked at the young man standing just behind her daughter. They would make such a good-looking couple...
"Isaac!" she said, standing up. "This is perfect, actually. I'm glad you're early. This way there'll be plenty of time to show you around. I'd like you to meet my daughter, Leighanne. She's the head waitress here, and she'll be showing you the ropes."
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Post by Leighanne Galligan on Apr 15, 2009 22:45:15 GMT -5
"Well, maybe we could try closer to the end of the week or something," Leighanne said. She never minded going out with her mother. After all, they always had fun no matter where they went.
When the new waiter entered, Leighanne turned around. She would have lied if she denied that he wasn't good looking. Looking to her mother and giving her a quick glance, Leighanne had to fight the urge to just shake her head. As Shelby introduced her, Leighanne cleared her throat and held out her hand for him to shake. "It's nice to meet you Issac."
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Post by Shelby Galligan on Apr 16, 2009 15:28:59 GMT -5
Shelby beamed and clapped her hands together. "Well. I think this going to work out great. I have to finalize some things for tonight's specials, so I'll just leave you to it. Isaac, welcome. I have a feeling you'll be a very good addition to our staff. If you have any questions all, please don't hesitate to ask."
She gave Leighanne a pat on the shoulder as she left the room and disappeared into the kitchen.
Yes, she had a very good feeling about this....
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