Revealing Secrets
Chapter 1
“Here’s your milkshake, two straws, I hope you enjoy. Thank you for coming to Kings and Queens,” I exclaimed, with a practised smile. The couple nodded gratefully as I sauntered away from them and to the counter. I wiped the counter, but from the corner of my eyes, I observed the couple share the milkshake. I sighed, despondently and continued to do my job. It was ironic how I worked at a restaurant that served couples, yet I was still as single as could be. Kings and Queens was the only restaurant in Paxton Valley that served just couples. I sulked as I glanced at my watch and saw that it was 7:30. Half an hour till my shift was over.
“Juliette!” I turned around to find my boss, Christen with a panicked look on her face. “I need a huge favour,” she said, worriedly.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“One of the girls couldn’t make it to work, due to a severe cold…” I knew what was coming next. “Can you work till 9:00?” she asked, desperately.
“Christen, I need to-”
“Thanks, love! I owe you!” she called over her shoulder as she disappeared behind her office door. I groaned as I saw another couple walk in. I glanced around to see that all the other waitresses were busy with their own couple, so I pulled my brown hair into a long pony tail before striding up to the couple.
“Hello, how can I help you?” I asked, taking the order pad out of my pocket. When I lifted my eyes to finally glance at the couple, I was in for a surprise. The boy was charmingly familiar: messy, dark brown hair, piercing blue eyes and a warm smile.
“Julie?” he inquired, and I felt his eyes rake over my body before they met my eyes again. “Fancy seeing you here,” he said, nonchalantly.
“I work here,” I said, through gritted teeth. Throughout this exchange, the blonde that had arrived with him had squirmed uncomfortably, staring at the ground. “How can I help you?” I repeated, this time looking at the girl. She gave me a small smile before telling me her order.
“Two root beer floats-”
“One is fine, babe,” he said, cutting her off. I rolled my eyes, and nodded for her to continue as I wrote it down on the order pad.
“One root beer float, and two slices of red velvet cake, please,” she said, shooting an irritated glance at him. I nodded as she passed me a 10 dollar bill.
“I’ll be right back with your order,” I said, walking off to the counter, a little annoyed.
“Oh. My. God,” Ariella, one of my co-workers and my best friend exclaimed, taking a hold of my hand. “Is that your Romeo?” she squealed.
“He was,” I reminded her, putting their drink together.
“With another girl?” she asked, looking at me worriedly. I shrugged.
“Not my problem. He can date whoever the hell he wants,” I muttered under my breath as I added the ice-cream to the drink. “Two slices of red velvet,” I told her, and she resumed her work, icing the cake slices. When the order was complete, I piled it onto a tray and handed it to Ariel. “Can you take it?” I asked. She nodded, taking the tray from me. I decorated the red velvet cakes with the cream cheese icing, and couldn’t help but taste some for my own. Licking the tip of my finger, I let out a small groan, wondering why I shouldn’t just lock myself up and eat all of it. Ariel returned, frazzled, tray still in hand. “What’s wrong?”
“They refuse-Well, he refuses to take it unless you go and serve them,” she said, rolling her eyes and handing me the tray. I sighed, and walked back out front with the tray.
“Here you go, enjoy,” I said flatly, placing the food on the table.
“I heard from a friend that said that at Kings and Queens, you’re served with a smile,” Riley called out as I turned around. “Where’s your smile?” he asked with mock surprise.
“Riley…” his girlfriend warned. He rolled his eyes.
“C’mon Dee, I’m not paying 10 bucks to not be served everything I paid for,” he urged, looking at me. I raised my eyebrows. ‘Dee,’ gave me an apologetic smile, before staring at the ground.
“Fine.” I paused. “Here you go, thank you for ordering at Kings and Queens and have a great day,” I said loudly with a wide, crazy smile. I received quite the bit of attention as I stormed off to where Ariel stood. She burst out laughing, indicating that she saw my little show. I grinned in return.

It's half of the first chapter, it's not done, but I just wanted some feedback. I'm not an awesome writer, I know, but should I continue writing? Thanks for all your feedback in advance, xoxo, (:

Instead of layoffs, a growing number of employers are resorting to salary cuts as the recession drags on.

Full Story Here

I apologize in advance for length.

First, some background. I have B.S. degrees in aerospace and mechanical engineering and upon completion of my thesis, I will have a M.S. in aerospace. Recently, I got engaged. Weddings are not cheap and my fiance (also a graduate student) has significant student loans, so we decided that I should get a second job.

At this time, I cannot relocate so my options were very limited. I originally applied for a full-time technical assistant position which required no more "technical expertise" than proficiency with Visio and Excel. The compensation was $12/hour, and I figured that was okay for the expectations. Upon seeing my resume, they decided to interview me for a mechanical engineering position (which they had not yet listed as available). A couple days later, they offered me a "mechanical engineering assistant" position, full-time, $12/hour. The description sounded like the original tech asst. job description. I was told this position would last 3 months, at which point they may or may not make an offer to hire me as an actual engineer. We need the money and I had no problem with that payment for those responsibilities in the first place, so I accepted. I figured either I just bombed the interview or their work load wasn't quite yet big enough to justify hiring another engineer.

So my first day, I find they've placed me in the engineering department. My boss introduces me as an engineer. My duties include CAD, design of experiments, data analysis – the whole works. What's more, it was clear they really need someone who has more knowledge of fluid flow and controls than most mechanical engineers. I spent some time in the lab today, and it seems they need someone who has had some experience in designing test schedules. And from the sound of it, they expect the person to fill all those niches to be me. I was talking to the woman in the cubicle next to me after clocking out and she asked me how I liked it there so far. I told her the work was interesting, but different from what I'd been told it would be. She said a new guy is starting tomorrow in the tech assistant position.

Now, I do find the work interesting and I think it will be rewarding. But it seems like they've hired me as an engineer for $12/hour with no benefits. I know engineering salaries aren't what they used to be, but that seems low (equivalent to around $24k/year). Maybe that will change in 3 months, but at this point, I have no guarantee. Even if I did, I still don't think it's right to expect the performance that they are at that rate for any amount of time. Are my expectations unreasonable, or is this much lower compensation than normal? If it's the latter, do I have any leverage or did I give that up when I was willing to accept that pay for the tech asst position?
@Batman, the hiring was done through a temp agency. I was interviewed by an engineer at the company, though. I do wonder if there was some miscommunication between the engineering dept. and the temp agency, but I have no idea how to bring that up.

As for my responsibilities, I'm sure I didn't misinterpret. They're having a problem with one of their products that requires someone in fluids. My biggest fear is that they've only hired me to fix that, given the project 3 months, have no intention of extending a permanent offer, and are getting away with that rate of pay since I originally applied for the lower position.