Class Of Desire (Contemporary Romance) by Linda Wilson Page A

classical beauty. Yet
surprisingly she seemed oblivious to the fact that she was so attractive.
    Cathy on the other hand was a cocky, loud spoken brute. Short
tempered, with a crude southern accent. She had moved to New York in the early
nineties from a small town in Southern Texas. Often she used the fact that she
was the oldest employee on staff to boss her co-workers around. Although Elizabeth
didn’t agree with her actions most of the time, there was an undeniable level
of mutual respect between the two women.
    Perhaps she got along with Cathy because she was never
really perturbed by the older woman’s authoritative behavior. Elizabeth usually
kept to herself in a desperate effort to avoid confrontation. In the back of
her mind she always knew that she was meant to be more than just a low level
fast food worker. She dreamed of being in a court room presenting convincing
evidence that would help a jury or judge put some jerk in jail for his criminal
offenses.
    “Don’t worry about her Lizzy; it’s been a rough morning here.”
Allen stepped up to the order window, a few inches from Elizabeth and picked up
his ear piece. “Welcome to Jimmy’s Burgers may I take your order?” he spoke
with such flamboyance and flare that one would think he made thousands per hour
and was very content with his job.
    “So how are you going to do school, work, the kids?” Allen
asked with a doubtful expression on his face.
    Lizzy shot him a pensive look as if trying to decide whether
she should even answer his question. Was he being sarcastic or did he genuinely
care? She couldn’t tell.
    “I’ll be going to night school for now, and I’ll see how it
goes from there. My neighbor will watch the kids for me...” she paused for a
second before finishing her statement. “As for work - well, I hope Sam goes
easy on me with the schedule. I really need to get the day shifts from now on.”
    “Wow, work during the day, college at nights . You
sound like you’re about to be a very busy woman Elizabeth Carter.” The young
man chuckled lightly, cutting the air of tension between them.
    A soft smile touched Lizzy’s lips as she elbowed her
co-worker, playfully referring to herself as “superwoman” in the process. Allen
Cryer was the youngest guy at the restaurant, yet he’d been the one to warm up
to her the most. Surprisingly he was very mature, even more mature and
intelligent than some of the other employees who were twice his age.
    The sound of keys jingling caught their attention and
immediately they straightened up and grew serious, like two children caught in
some act of foolery by their teacher. Sam approached them stealthily with a
crossed look on her face.
    Lizzy’s heart pounded as she feared what her supervisor Sam
Locke would say to them. Sam was huge, and although she was not much older than
Lizzy, her manly stature made her seem very intimidating.
    “Where’s your hair net Allen? You know the rules; don’t make
me write you up.” Her voice was stern and it sent a shiver through Lizzy.
    Thankfully Lizzy had always been one to follow the rules and
so she never forgot to wear her hair net or gloves, and she always washed her
hands before service. Lizzy moved away quietly to the back of the kitchen, busying
herself with an order of 2 burgers, fries and a small drink. In the background
she could hear Sam and Allen’s voices growing louder and louder. They were now
having a heated argument right there on the job.
     “You’re dispensable. Don’t you EVER forget that!” Sam
barked at Allen, brushing past Lizzy with so much rage, that she almost knocked
her over.
    Lizzy gripped unto the counter instinctively in an effort to
steady her body and avoid what could have been a really nasty fall.
    “Oh yeah, I’m dispensable huh! Well I’m gonna make
this real easy for ya,” Allen’s voice cut through the air like a knife.
    Turning to him, Lizzy watched with curious eyes as he
furiously ripped the pair of latex