[Academy RP] Nightshift

[Rallingen]

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Be-

I stop the fifth beep with my fist, smacking the top of my radio before I get a migrante from it. Ugh, I can't believe I have to be the one to do night shift again. I mean it means less people coming in to bother me, sure, but I'm really trying to not mess up my sleep cycle any more. Whatever... I only now just blankly glance at my alarm clock. 20:30. Oh- nevermind, 20:31 now. Well okay, an hour till my shift begins. I get out from under my covers and stretch before only now just noticing the terrible taste in my mouth. Every time... I ask myself why in the world the terrible taste only ever comes when I wake up for the nightshift but not for the dayshift as I get up and walk into the bathroom.

Toothpaste. Check. Thoothbrush charged? Check. I pour some cold water over it before putting a generous slab of toothpaste on top. As per usual, I start mindlessly walking around my apartment as I do. This time I decide to just keep the lights out however. I'm gonna sit in enough artificial light behind the reception anyhow, might as well not mess up my eyes more. Which reminds me, I still have to give these incompetent bastards a call about my new glasses. 3 bloody weeks and still nothing! God, what am I even paying them for at this point? At this point I would almost pray for a rule with every business like with pizza delivery. Then again, who orders pizza? The ones from the supermarket to pop in the microwave are gonna be better anyways soon enough with that whole ingedients check the goverment is doing on pre-prepared meals. I just kind of feel sorry for Torsten. He did say he wanted to start his own pizza restaurant. Oh well... I'm sure he'll just have to advertise it right and people will love it. If the government can push for healthier food, so can Torsten. Speaking of him, I see my phone spring to life on my bedside table as I walk in with a message from him. I quickly spit the toothpaste out in the bathroom, wash off the toothbrush, put everything back where it belongs before cleaning out my mouth and walking over to check what he wrote.

"Hey, wanna come to the casino with me today? I got a gooood feeling todayyyy :P" Oh, of course you do, you hopeless gambler... I let out a soft sigh. What am I supposed to do with you, Torsten? That's also exactly what I write to him in reply. Then again, It's hardly his fault that he's been gambling since like age 7. It honestly begs the questions why they don't put an age restriction on gambling. Thankfully my parents never let me as a kid but Torsten didn't have that luck. Oh, he replied. "Come on! I know you're not into gambling and stuff but just this once!" Even if I wanted to, there's nothing getting me away from the night shift. "Sorry dude, I got nightshift to cover." Almost instantly I get a message back. "Again?? Is that even legal?" Pfft, I wish I knew. Regardless of my rights, I reply. "No idea but b*tching's not going to change anything." It seems as if I've trapped him to his phone now, since he's replying so incredibly fast. "Well I mean b*tching seemed to work when these idiots wanted bigger airplane seats." Wait, what now? "Didn't they tell the fat dude off though?" I just realize I'm wasting way too much time on my phone. I put it aside, letting Torsten heartly reply with about 20 or so texts as he always does as I continue getting ready.

As I get dressed, I can hear my phone vibrating on the bedside table as if it were to explode. Poor Torsten and his phone bills... I wonder how long his parents are gonna still pay for that. He's earning his own money by now anyways. Granted, working in retail is not exactly letting the Shillings flow in like crazy but are they really going to let him live under their wing for this long? He's 25 for crying out loud! My parents would have straight up kicked me out the door and told me to go find my luck if I'm just going to sit on my ass and expect the perfect flat to just come around like that. Or house. Whatever. Point is, he's lucky to have parents like that. Well I suppose Religious parents can either be a blessing or a curse. In his case, a big big BIG blessing.

Once I had my uniform on, I glance past my phone, which is honestly dangerously close to the edge from all the vibrating Torstens messages are to thank for. I grab it, put it in my pocket and check the time. Still more than 40 minutes left. Might as well see what Torsten wrote. Bla bla, bigger airplane seats, bla bla, fat people have to pay for 2, bla bla- "So, casino now or nah?" Is he just retarded or really that persistent? "I told you already, I got work." I expect a grace period from him now I can comb my hair as well before heading out. But as soon as my fingers come into contact with the brush, I feel my pocket vibrate. After three strokes through my hair another. Two strokes later another. God, he must have gotten unlimited SMS recently or he's just really pissed at me for not coming. Or both. God forbid... Either way, I suppose it's best if I just ignore him. There can't be any good coming out of this if I just let him constantly pester me with his messages. I grab my keys for my motorcycle on the way out, kill the bathroom ligths and off I go.

As much as I hate working nightshifts, the night is always beautiful. So much more serene than the day. I unlock the compartment under my seat to grab my helmet before heading off. The hotel isn't 30 minutes away anyhow so I just take one of my favourite scenic detours through the town and not directly past it. It's nice to just spend some time admiring the scenery. Past the old opera, the Saint George cathedral and over the Telga. It's really serene, even if it's still just about 9 in the evening. I did expect more commute. Hm... I suppose the trends are true that more and more people want to move to the Narichei. "Get lost in the wilderness." Pfft, sure. If I wanna get lost in the wilderness, I'm gonna be every tourist ever and drive to Üppingen. After a while, I finally see it yet again. "Hotel Moser", the bain of my existence but also the reason for it still being there. I sigh as I park my motorcycle out back and stow my helmet back inside. Once more, I just make sure I'm looking ready for work in the reflection of my phone. As I do, I feel like the light blinking at me to remind me of Torstens messages is somehow mocking me. I disregard it however, stuff my phone away and walk inside to begin my shift. My colleage for the day, Maria, is already standing behind the reception. I knew she was always early but wow, this is new even for me.

"Oh look, I'm not the only one early." she says to me as I walk behind the reception with a glance at the clock. 10 minutes until my shift actually begins. Oh well... "Yeah well, I was pretty quick this evening I suppose." I reply. She smiles, obviously happy that she's not alone in this world when it comes to punctuality. I then strap in for a long night of staring at my computer. But not in a bad way. Just browsing social media mostly. Honestly, I find it hillarious that this is really what they pay me for. Sitting behind a desk, talking to some people here and there and the rest is just memes and news. I love my job. Sometimes. Most of the times. Honestly, I have no idea how I should feel about this. My boss is an asshat but at least the job itself is alright. As I was daydreaming, I hear the door open. I take my feet off the table as quick as I can to look professional and-... wait. "Rudi, what the f*ck??" says Torsten, right in front of me. "I've been messaging you for the past 20 f*cking minutes, what the hell??" Uh-oh. "I-.. well I'm sorry, my phone died." Classic excuse. Plus, I never opened his messages after I left home so he can't say I left him on read. He instantly calms down. "Oh.. sorry, my bad. I thought you were ignoring me again." Yes, this happened before. And yes, it was intentional that I didn't open his messages this time around. I learn from my mistakes after all. "It's all okay, no worries. But why are you here?" I ask him as he dejectedly glances between me and Maria. "To go to the casino, duhh?" Wait. "Dude-" I start with, gesturing all around me. "Work? Ring a bell maybe?" He however simply shrugs and plays it off. "Oh please, come on I know you don't wanna be here!" As a matter of fact, I don't. I could be at home continuing with my book. I could be eating a cheese platter with Maria if we weren't at work. But the point is... "I don't wanna go gambling with you, dude." Maria meanwhile keeps quiet, timidly watching this entire situation from the sidelines. "Go alone. Or- like not at all, I don't care. But I have work and I'm not leaving." The more time passes, the more pissed off I sound. Probably because, even though I'm a receptionist and I'm supposed to be good at concealing my actual emotions, with Torsten? Honestly, I have lost my patience. "Dude, what's the BFD? You're missing a shift, wow." Before he can continue, I interject "The BFD is that I'm doing that on no valid grounds whatsoever. And frankly, I don't want to get f*cking fired you asshat! If you had any f*cking consideration for me, you wouldn't have come here in the first place! Piss off!" Wow, that came out of nowhere. Even Maria seems surprised, since I never usually do this... and Torsten seems equally confused, hurt and a little angry now that that all came out. "Ooookay, calm down. Message recieved, damn... I'll piss off. I'll just go alone..." And with that, he leaves. Finally. Once the door falls into it's lock, I sigh and apologize to Maria. She says it's fine and goes back to working. However, the air remains rather thick for the rest of the night.