I walked into Steve's diner. It was 9:30 at night and Steve had called me saying that he was holding a meeting for all of the employees. I pulled my coat tightly around me as the chilly late November air bit at my face.

Life had slowed down for me in the past month or so. Classes had kicked into full gear and I found my exams and projects creeping up on me. On top of that, Steve had let off a couple more employees, which meant that I got more hours at the diner. This was a good thing because I was now able to make my tuition payments on time as well as hand in my rent before the apartment tenant shut off my hot water and electricity. It was a bad thing, though, because I was falling behind in my school work. Additionally, my insomnia had been getting worse and worse. I found myself writhing in the few hours of sleep I did manage to get, jolting awake because of another nightmare.

But I now had a source of income, even if it was just minimum wage. At least it was consistent. And with Jaime's help, I was always able to scrap up enough tips to keep me going.

Steve's Diner, though, wasn't doing so well all of a sudden. The new cafe that had opened up, the rival to La Bonne, called The Bean Scene, was attracting a lot of customers. I had been in there a few times and even I had to admit, it was trendy. The walls were painted in bright oranges and lime greens and the floors were a slick and shiny dark brown. There were geometric designs all over and the place exuded an aura of homeliness. This was a bad thing, though.

Because The Bean Scene was doing so well, the owners expanded their services beyond just coffee and tea snacks. They began making sandwiches and salads, wraps and burgers. Since this place was new and the latest thing, people were more intrigued to go there and try out some new food, which, word on the street was, was amazing.

The lunch and dinner rushes at Steve's Diner had slowly gone down to a couple dozen loyal customers like Oliver and Reese and Caleb. So Steve had no other choice but to get rid of a few employees that didn't work too often.

Among the full-timers were our dishwasher Gavin, our second-chef Jimmy, Jaime, and Luke. The only part-timers that were left were me and Randy. All of these people were in the diner when I walked in.

"Hey, Nicole. Thanks for coming," Steve said when I walked inside.

The tables had been pushed aside and some of the chairs were stacked on top of them. The rest of the chairs were used by the employees. I took a seat next to Jaime at the bar, who smiled meekly at me.

"What's going on?" I asked in a low whisper.

"Beats me, but whatever it is is bad news," she said. I frowned and looked at Steve, who was looking around the room.

"Ok, I think everyone's here, so we can start," he said. "First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for coming, or staying late if you were working," he said, looking at all of us. "I'll try to be as brief as I can, but I think you all need to know what's been going on in the past few months and what's going to happen in the future," he said.

"First off, you may or may not know this, but there's a new place that opened up a few blocks down from here called The Bean Scene. According to Nicole and Jaime who went there, it's a pretty trendy and popular place, so it's attracting a lot of people," he explained. "At first, this didn't affect us because we serve food and they only served coffee and tea snacks. But now, they've expanded and they're selling food, too. This is a problem because instead of coming here, or to other older restaraunts, people are going to The Bean Scene," he continued.

"Word on the street is that the food is pretty good, too," Luke piped in. Jaime and I nodded.

"So the problem for us is that they're taking our customers, which is an issue for the restaurant. That's the reason that I had to let go of so many people. We're down to two full-time waiters and two part-time," Steve said.

"Well, honestly, between the four of us, I think we've got it under control," I said.

"At the moment, yeah. But what happens when Luke or Jaime can't make it in one day? What happens when you and Randy have finals?" Steve asked.

"Good point," I mumbled.

"The only solution I had was to make all of you part-time and then make do with that," Steve said. Luke and Jaime began protesting. "But I can't and won't do that because this is your job and I won't cut your paycheck," Steve said. The two fell silent. "So I'm stuck, now. Business isn't doing that well and I've got bills to pay plus run this place," he said.

"The only practical solution is to get more people to come here," I said.

"But how are we going to do that?" Jaime asked before Steve could.

"Spread the word?" I suggested.

"But people already know about this place," Gavin pointed out.

"Make some specials?" Luke offered.

"Like what?" Steve asked.

"Umm. Well, I don't know. We could check out the prices that the other place has for their food and change ours so that it seems cheaper," Luke said.

"Kind of like, if you buy a meal, then you get a small dessert free?" Jimmy asked.

"But it costs money to make dessert," Steve interjected.

"Or you could do like a combo meal deal or something. Add it up so that it totals out to be just a little bit less than what it would cost separately," Jaime said.

"So like, have a sandwich, a drink, and one other item for a certain price, but make that price like, fifty cents less than what it would be if the person got the items separately?" Randy asked.

"Yes! Like that," Jaime said.

"That actually might not be a bad idea. Because fifty cents isn't that much of a difference, but if more people buy the combo, it'll actually be profitable," Steve said.

"So that's what we'll do," I said.

"Ok, sounds good. I'll work out the numbers and get back to you guys about it. We'll try it out and see what happens. If this doesn't work, we're going to have to come up with another strategy," he said.

"It'll work," Jaime said. Steve looked at her, his eyes weary.

"I hope your right," he said.

I felt bad for Steve. He was really stressed out. He had told me once that his dream was to open up a diner when he was younger. His father had been a great chef that worked in a prestigious hotel, but had passed away due to a heart attack. Steve had always loved cooking and his diner was his dream come true. But now it was struggling and he was watching as his dream slipped away from him.

"It'll be all right, Steve," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh! I almost forgot! I did hire a new part-time employee because we are a little low on staff. I think some of you may know him. He comes here all the time to eat," Steve said.

"Oliver?" we all asked at once. Steve chuckled.

"Nah, that guy has a crazy life of his own. I'm talking about Caleb," Steve replied.

I choked on air. Jaime started laughing hysterically. Everyone else looked at us.

"What?" Randy asked, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

"Nothing," I muttered, glaring at Jaime who was struggling to contain her laughter.

Jaime had personally viewed mine and Caleb's awkward interactions whenever I was his server. She thought it was the funniest thing ever and kept insisting that we would be really good together. I told her that I hated his little brother and couldn't stand the two of them. But recently, after the night we had shared on the cliff, we had dropped the arguing and stuck to just being extremely awkward around each other.

I still hated Liam, though.

"When did this happen?" I asked Steve.

"What?" he asked.

"When did you hire him?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level. Jaime's eyes glittered with glee.

"Umm, a few nights ago. Why? Am I missing something here?" he asked.

"I think we're all missing something here," Gavin said. Jaime started laughing again. I pinched her arm and she squealed.

"Would you cut it out?" I hissed. She covered her mouth with her hand, still giggling. Steve looked at me, finally catching on.

"Will this be a problem for you?" he asked. I looked back at him, wanting to answer honestly.

"No," I managed to get out.

"Good," he said. "You all can go home now. Thanks for all the ideas," Steve said.

The others filed out the door. Randy offered to drive me back to my apartment in his scrap-metal of a car and I complied only because I was too tired to wait for the bus. I just wanted to get home and get my stuff and go to La Bonne for some steaming hot coffee.

"Whatever happens, the next few months are going to be a lot of fun," Jaime whispered in my ear.

"When are you and Steve going out?" I asked her. Her cheeks flushed red.

"We're not! Shut up!" she said.

"Now you know how I feel," I said. She rolled her eyes.

"Your prince awaits you. You better get going," she said, nodding at Randy. I glanced at him and then glared at Jaime.

"You're obnoxious," I said.

"You love it," she replied.

"You wish," I said. She winked at me and I turned and went to Randy.  "Let's go, Randy," I said.

"Ok!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. I could tell he was extremely excited to be given the chance to drive me back to my place.

"Why was Jaime laughing when Steve said that Caleb was going to be working with us?" Randy asked once he started the car.

"I think Jaime is mentally unstable and she can't control herself sometimes," I replied. Randy's eyes widened.

"Really? She seems pretty stable to me," he said.

"I was kidding, Randy," I said.

"Oh," he paused. "I knew that," he said. I shook my head at him and he turned the radio on. After flipping through a few stations, he decided to put a CD in. The sound of loud guitars and drums filled my ears.

♫"What the hell's going on? Have you gone undercover? You were here, now you're not. Been replaced, by another. 'Cuz it's still your face but there's something strange. Not the one I remember. Can you please explain? Did they wipe your brain? Is this gonna be forever?"♫

"Who sings this?" I asked.

"Simple Plan. Have you heard of them? They're a band from-'" Randy started saying.

"Canada, right?" I finished.

"You've heard of them?" he asked.

"I have," I replied.

"Which one is your favorite song?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know, Randy. I've only heard of them," I replied.

"Oh. Well, I can give you a CD of their's if you want," he said in his quick tones.

"That'd be great," I said, just to get him to stop talking. He smiled cheekily as he drove, content with having another CD to make for me. I shook my head slightly. This kid was so easily satisfied. I sat back against the weathered upholstery of the passenger seat and let the music fill me.

♫"Wake up, wake up, wake up, snap out of it. Wake up, wake up, wake up..." ♫

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A/N: Another chapter yay! Now the story's rolling. I've got the problem out there so there will be more to write now.

In regards to when I'll update next, I have no idea at this point. Since mid-terms have passed, school has kicked into high-gear and I'm prepping for finals and end-of-semester projects and papers. I've got quite a bit to do, so when I have time I'll update.

As always, comment and vote! I love reading everyone's comments. They make my day. =)

Song is Freaking Me Out by Simple Plan ft. Alex Gaskarth (from ATL!)

XOXO