So the other day I went to a hookah cafe...
The other day I had gone to pick up my check from my old store. The company I work for has not updated their information on me for some reason. It has me listed still as working at a store across town, so naturally that means my checks are sent there. So I get off of work at four in the afternoon, go home and lie down for a while. I moved to this store because it is a seven minute walk, from my house to the store's back area with the punch in clock Well it turns out a while is about two hours, I was kind of zoned out, watching youtube videos and chatting with friends on discord. I had a laptop so I was in my bed. I was almost about to take a nap when my step father came home from work, he fixes radios for a living, bit of an odd job but from what I understand he is good at it. We talked for a while, I told him that the store I work at had gotten a bonus check for every employee, almost the size of their standard check. Well I had gone up to find out if they had one for me, I was correct in my assumption that they did not. However I was told that it was likely the case my old store, the one that got my checks, would have it. So I come home after work, rest a while, talk with my step dad and decided I'm going to go and get my two checks that day. I planned on picking up some dinner while I was out, the store I was headed too was in a nicer side of town and it was a Thursday so places would be open later than normal and the one I had in mind has a sale on Thursdays, the main item I like to get there, boneless wings, are on sale for like half a dollar for one wing. I tend to get a rather spicy sauce on my wing and eat some french fries with them and have a yellowish green drink, I was going to have some alcohol too. I'm of the age now that I can drink, I just recently celebrated a birthday meaning I was well over it actually. So I leave the house, walk down to my bus stop in practically a jog because the bus was soon but I had a okay amount of time to get there. So when I do actually get to my bus stop I wait and I wait, the time for the bus comes and goes and no bus. That's not too odd, these buses are normally “fast” and tend to come early, so I assume that is what has happened, there was no one else waiting for it at the time so that added onto my theory. I cross the street to get a red drink in a big cup. There's a woman ahead of my in line who is getting gas for her car. She pays and leaves then the woman behind the counter notices the woman told her a different gas pump then the one she said. The woman behind the counter leaves her spot and yells out to the woman who just paid to come back inside or to wait. I don't really remember and it wasn't directed to me so I paid it little mind, to add on top of that I was listening to a podcast at the time, I forget which but it was either the Glass Cannon podcast's Canon fodder, two men talking about their last episode of the podcast and how the battle in the role playing went or it was the podcast The Co-Optional Podcast with the hosts of another podcast The Jimquisition, so it was all together made up of five people, four men and one woman, one of the normal hosts was not on that week, talking about video games they had played that week and any news in the video game industry going on at the time. However with it being just before E3, a big video game convention in LA nothing was really in the news. But anyways I had to wait for the woman to go back behind the counter and for the other woman to come back inside to fix the problem. After that the woman behind the counter took care of my order and apologized for what had just happened. After I paid for my drink I stepped outside in time to see the bus that I had came early had actually been rather late and already passing my bus stop. I remember swearing, but to which swear it actually was I have no clue. After accepting my mistake I crossed the busy road again at the right time and waited, for even though that bus had been late I knew the next one was close for I had already seen it going up the street on the other side of the road. After a while of standing a sipping on my drink the bus decides to show up, I step inside the giant metal monster and pay my fee and sit in the back. My favorite seat was taken however, I enjoy sitting at the very back wall and on the driver's side, just something about it makes it the best spot. But a child was sitting there and their parent was sitting on the same seat but on the other side, making even sitting in the middle a challenge that I wanted no part of. So I sat down in one of the two front facing seats they have in the back besides the back wall seats. I was still on the driver's side though. I took the bus downtown, all the way to stop I would normally take to get to my old job, there was more than one bus route I could take to get there but this one was the most reliable one for being on time. However that did mean a half hour of standing in the sun light, downtown, after most people were off from work. But once that bus got there I knew I would be home free, as it took me right to where I wanted to get off, no walking down a rather steep hill for me that day. Unknown to me at the time, the store's gas station had one of my friends working at it, if I had known at the time I would have stopped by to see him. We share a number of things, from our names to what we like to do in our free time. But I didn't know at the time so I didn't stop by, I went right to the front desk of the store, after buttoning up my shirt, it might have been a hot day outside but that was no reason to look like a slob inside the store. I walk right up to the counter because luckily no one else was there at that moment in time. I talked with my old coworker about getting my check and the fact they still sent them here. When I only got the one check I asked if this store had gotten it's bonus checks yet, she seemed confused as there had been no talk of bonus checks at that store, she did however say I may want to speak with one of my old bosses, he might know more. So after cashing my bigger than expected check I walked down to where she said he might be, unfortunately he was not there but the next in the line for boss was there, I asked him about the bonus checks and where the second in command was. He didn't know a thing about the bonus checks either but did inform me that the man I was looking for was on break. I went to the break room, hoping to find him but only found another old coworker that I was friends with. I didn't bring up the bonus checks to her as I was wondering if this store had even gotten them, I did after exchanging pleasantries ask about the location of the second in command, she had no clue. After a quick trip the restroom I found the man I was looking for in the break room, he explained to me that this store was not given bonus checks for not performing well enough, which is odd due to the fact that many of the workers were nicer than the ones at my current store but different standards for different parts of town exist for a reason. He asked me if I was enjoying my new store, I informed him that I wasn't due to a lack of hours and a lack of care from coworkers and management alike, I also hinted at the fact I might be leaving a company altogether in a few months, he in turn brought up how I might be able to come back to my old store, which while it was a while away from my home I did earn almost double what I'm currently making at the new store. I'm still thinking that idea over and I'm still unsure if I am going to leave the company at all. After talking with him for a while longer I leave as I still had to get dinner and was trying to make it to the restaurant before the sun fell out of the sky, it was quite a walk but I did indeed do my task, passing by many homes. While on the way there I saw a man making a chalk picture outside a store, he finished as I passed by on the other side of the street, I yelled out to him it was a good picture, he yelled back to me “Thanks Brother”, for some reason I still find this funny but to be honest it was a really good picture. It was a picture of my city from across the river, so it was a view almost everyone around here knows well. After making my war down the street and passing by a role playing and board game shop that I thought about stopping in but decided not too I found myself outside a hookah cafe, the windows were blacked out but there were red lights making them stand out. I paused for a moment but remembered from my smoking days that it would have caused me to not really enjoy my dinner and went inside the restaurant that I had been thinking of for the past few hours. It was much busier than I was expecting but not as busy as I've seen in the past. I went too the bar after waiting for a few moments, I sat down next to a rather handsome man. He was a rather talkative fellow, we chatted about the sports on television, I remember seeing the US soccer team playing but I was more focused on a baseball game that I couldn't quite make out the teams playing on. I myself had gotten some boneless wings and french fries as well as my classic yellowish green drink, but the alcohol I was wanting to start with, a shot of fireball, was out of stock at the time, so I went with something the bartender suggested, a jager bomb. I had heard the name before but never had one or even the base components before. It was oddly sweet and gross tasting, but for some reason I couldn't find the will in myself to not finish it before I left the place. I paid my bill and gave a tip to the bartender and said goodnight to her and the man I was sitting with, after leaving I saw the hookah cafe was still open. Finding myself somewhat excited to try something new as well slightly drunk I entered the building.
So the other day I went to a hookah cafe the other day. It was nice.
