
Jess pootled back into the
main restaurant area to see Hannah chatting to Natalie.
�So, we could have
vegetarian lasagne this evening and I�ll do pasta tomorrow,� Hannah was saying.
�Mmm. Scrumaroonie.� Natalie
replied.
�Excuse me,� Jess stomped over.
�We have CUSTOMERS to serve.� She
frowned.
�Oh, yeah. Sorry.� Hannah
smiled at Natalie and went off to take more orders.
�Bitch.� Jess muttered.
�What?� Natalie asked.
�I said WHICH meal would you
like?� Jess said, sweetly.
�The soup?� Natalie replied.
�Hmm, nice choice, for a
FRIEND-STEALING BASTARD!�
�What?!�
�I said, nice choice, but
I�d have the green salad basket.� Jess said, innocently.
�Oh.� Natalie looked slightly
put out but said nothing.
The doorbell sounded once
more.
Jess, bloody confused, opened the
restaurant door. �We�re FULL! Please leave and come back when there are spare tables!� She
went to slam the door.
Someone put their foot in
it. �No! Wait-�
�NO!� Jess insisted. �I
don�t know when people will finish eating!!�
�No! We�re the PRESS!�
Jess paused trying to shut the person�s
foot in the door, considered this, then opened it up. �Oh really!?� She raised an eyebrow.
�Yes!� Jess saw that there were about 15
press photographers. �Can we take your picture, please?! Your restaurant is
famous all-over Earth!�
�Well, I suppose so�� Jess
walked outside and stood, posing in front of her restaurant.
Hannah burst out of the
restaurant looking very flustered with reams of orders hanging off her notepad.
�What�s going on?� She blinked in the sunlight which had just appeared from
behind the Earth.
�Nothing that matters; you
go inside and finish the orders.� Jess said.
�Ok�� Hannah ran inside.
�Why has the restaurant
become so popular on EARTH?� Jess asked.
�Word of mouth.� A
photographer said, in-between flashes.
�Ok�� Jess posed a bit more
then got pissed off. �Ok, bored now.� She went back inside and bolted the door.
�Bloody paparazzi.� She muttered.
Hannah came running from the
kitchen carrying 17 bowls of soup stacked on top of one another and promptly
dropped them on top of a man sitting on the nearest table.
�Oops.� Hannah blushed.
�Well�erm�there�s your soup, sir!� Satisfied that she had covered her tracks,
she ran off.
Jess had just started mopping the man up
(literally. She rubbed a mop in his face.) when Hannah came over looking
unusually shy and evil (ok, not THAT unusual).
�What?�
�Look at table 22.�
Jess looked around randomly.
�Help me out.�
�Little table by the
window.�
Jess looked around again.
�Left a bit. No�LEFT. OTHER left.�
Jess finally looked in the
right place.
�Oh, God.�
�See him?�
Jess sighed. �Yes.�
Sitting on a table by the
window, and looking out into the crowds in the corridor, was the navy-haired
dude who had been following Jess around.
�I thought you LIKED having
a secret admirer?!� Hannah said, giving Jess a nudge.
�No, it�s just creepy now.� Jess whinged.
�Must be nice
to have one though�� Hannah said in a depressed voice. �Not even the nerd
kid likes me�� Hannah nodded her head towards a table where a hairy,
ugly, mad-looking boy with foam coming out of his mouth was sat.
�Please,� He lisped. �I have standards.�
Hannah looked sad.
Jess shrugged. �Creepy
dude.�
�What are you going to do
about him then?�
�Who, the nerd-kid?� Jess
asked, confused.
�No, your secret admirer.�
Hannah explained.
�Oh.�
Jess shrugged again. �Drop a plate on his head?�
�So
mature.� Hannah said sarcastically.
�That�s how I work!� Jess
grinned. �Now get out of my way so I can get a dish.� She barged off to the
kitchen.
"BAD
idea!� Hannah called after her.
�DON�T CARE!� Jess called back,
reappearing with a plate. �Right.� Jess began sneaking over to the table the guy was
sitting at. He was fiddling with the black thing on his wrist whilst looking at
the photographers outside.
�Jess��
Hannah looked around nervously.
�Sshhh!� Jess continued
creeping up, still clutching her plate.
Suddenly, Jess reached his
chair and held the dish up above his head.
Hannah�s conscience got the better of
her. �Jess, NO!�
Jess, surprised, dropped the
plate before she was ready, and instead of dropping it on his head, it missed
and hit his hand with the black wristband on.
�DAMMIT, HANNAH!� Jess
yelled in annoyance.
�What the-?!� Hannah pointed
at the guy, who seemed to be sort of flickering.
�Oh, God � I�ve killed him.�
Jess took a step back. �I�I denounce all responsibility.�
Finally, the dude stopped
flickering. But he didn�t look like a dude anymore. In fact, he looked a lot
like�
�KURT?!�
Jess exclaimed, leaping several feet back.
Kurt looked very red
(well�purple, really) and looked down at his shattered wristband, which it was
now apparent, had been an image inducer.
�Es tut mir leid. [Sorry]� Kurt disappeared in a puff of
blue smoke.
�Blimey.� Hannah summed up
the feelings of everyone in the room.
�Oh, NO.�
Jess put her head in her hands and slumped down onto the chair where Kurt had
been sat. �I�ve ruined everything��
�Tonight�s going to be
difficult.� Hannah said, walking over.
�What?� Jess looked up.
�You�living in his house��
�Oh crap.� Jess laid her head on the table in a pile of soup.
The photographers outside ran up to the window and tried to snap pictures of
her.
�Can I have some of that
soup?� A man asked Jess, pointing at it under head.
Jess looked disgusted and
got up.
�SOUP! SOUP! SOUP!� Several
people chanted.
Jamie emerged from the
kitchen holding a hose with soup of tap.
�YES!� He announced. �I AM the MAN
with the SOUP.�
�Bugger bugger bugger.� Jess ran off into
the kitchen.
Several hours later, Hannah
was shutting up the restaurant.
�Right.� She ran through her
mental checklist to make sure she didn�t forget anything. �Doors locked,
candles out, dishes in dishwasher, Jamie chained up, oven off�� She gasped.
�The oven! Bugger!� She ran back into the kitchen and went over to the oven. To
her surprise, the door was slightly open. �What the-?!� She opened it to see
Jess inside.
�Shut the door.�
�Why are you in the oven?�
�I�m sleeping here.�
�You can�t sleep in the
OVEN.�
�Well, I am."
�Why?�
�Well, I can�t go HOME, can
I?!�
�I don�t know�mightn�t be too bad�� Hannah said, supportively.
�What? How can it possibly be �not
too bad�?! It�ll be AWFUL! I�m NOT going.� Jess tried to pull the oven door shut again.
�Jess-�
�Turn the gas on.�
�NO.�
| << BACK TO CHAPTER SIX | ON TO CHAPTER EIGHT >> |
� Jess and
Hannah 2003-2004
(Yes, that's right, it took us 18 months)