Maya needed to sleep. Her dad made her and Rowan get jobs, to ‘teach them about work ethic,’ or something. Rowan let it slip to her while they walked to their respective jobs one day that he highly suspected it was to boost his popularity in the polls, having his kids working like any other teenager. Maya couldn’t bring herself to disagree.
She had been working three closing shifts in a row. Jenny, her manager, didn’t care that she was an Astor, she just scheduled Maya for whatever shifts needed to be filled. Maya appreciated that, but maybe a little nepotism would be nice if it meant she wouldn’t be scheduled closing shifts anymore.
Today, though, was interesting. Jenny wasn’t on shift today - instead, it was Lillie, who was exceedingly chill. Maya was taking orders at a breakneck pace, only managed by the cup of coffee she wasn’t technically supposed to have on the floor, but that Lillie turned a blind eye to, drinking from her mocha. She sipped her drink, and a familiar voice rang through her headset.
“Can I get a number two, small, with a large water?” The voice asked. It was her boyfriend, Jason. Sometimes, Maya felt bad for him. She’d been his best friend since childhood, and only recently started to date him. Without telling him about Maddox. Her real partner, the one she’d gladly throw herself into a burning pit of lava if they asked. He was nothing but sweet to her, and she was technically cheating on him. She knew she was gay, but it didn’t excuse infidelity. She knew she should have told Jason no when he asked her out, but if she did, and told him she was a lesbian…She would be kicked out of her dad’s house so fast, she wouldn’t know what to do with herself. So, she dated Jason. Although, sometimes, dating him was funny. Like when she could mess with him over the speaker at work, because he was so… serious. She was supposed to be serious, too, but they were close enough she could afford to crack a few jokes at his expense.
“Sure thing. A number 5 with a large Coke.” She snorted to herself, before punching in the order he said. Instead of his usual scoff, Maya could have sworn the mic at the drive-thru picked up a soft “yes!” before his car pulled up.
“No charge for you, love. I’ll cover it.” She always did this. She could justify it to herself with the fact that she did care about Jason and that she liked doing favors for her friends. Even if Jason was supposed to be more than a friend. A voice scoffed from the kitchen.
“Maya, stop hitting on the customers!” Lillie’s voice rang through the kitchen. Maya spun around on her heel.
“This is my boyfriend! Not that you’d know what that looks like!” She shot back, before turning to fill Jason’s cup with water and grab some cash out of her pocket. By the time she turned back to Jason, he was grabbing something out of his car’s center console.
She handed him a cup of water, and he shoved something cold and small into her hand. She was prepared to tell him off for tipping her when she knew he knew she didn’t need it. But she glanced in her hand and paled.
A ring.
“Will you marry me?” he asked, slightly too loud. The back of the restaurant went silent. Jason was quiet, looking expectantly at her for an answer. Her coworkers seemed to be waiting for her to answer.
She was supposed to say yes. She’d be the first Astor kid to get married, the perfect daughter marrying her perfect boyfriend. It was supposed to be perfect.
But Jason broke the expectation of perfection. In the perfect scenario, he’d not be proposing in a Burger King drive-thru. So, the expectation of her perfect response flew out of her head, and she scoffed.
“What the fuck? Jason, take your food and go to bed. It’s 1 am. I’m covered in burger grease. I’m at work. You don’t even like staying up this late. I’ll say yes, but take your food and go. Home.” She slipped the ring on her hand, on the opposite hand as the promise ring he had bought her in freshman year.
Jason looked shocked and cracked a smile. Before he could say anything, someone slammed their hands down on the counter in the kitchen.
“Why are straight people like this?” Maddox shouted, their voice exasperated. In the heat of the moment, Maya forgot that Maddox worked with her and were clocked in to work this shift. “We’re working! Why would you subject the rest of us to this bullshit? What could have possibly made you two think this was a good idea? What is wrong with you? We’re working! We shouldn’t be held captive to this! Ugh!” Their voice got angrier and more hurt the more they talked. The kitchen went dead silent, and Maya’s heart pounded erratically.
“Whatever. Can I take a smoke break? The rush is over.” Lillie must have agreed to let Maddox step outside because they stomped out the back door to where the employees were allowed to smoke.
Maya needed to talk to them.