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Toppings on the Floor By Anel Viz © Anel Viz 2009 It was clumsiness, pure and simple; the same stupid carelessness that had plagued him all his life. And his first night on the job, too! They had stopped taking orders and started to clean up before heading home - sweeping the floor, scraping the counters, stacking the unused boxes. The boss had begun tallying the day’s receipts and checking them against what had been entered in the spread sheet. Trevor removed the four last pizzas from the oven, then with a triumphant cry of “Perfecto!” he made a sweeping gesture with the wooden paddle as he went to put it back in place. The long handle knocked into two open cans, sliced mushrooms and pepperoni, and sent them crashing to the floor along with a half-gallon glass jar of tomato sauce. “Jesus Christ! Can’t you watch what you’re doing?” “Sorry.” “Just get those pizzas in their boxes and clean up the mess you made.” He turned to the delivery driver. “Guy, when you get back, will you check that klutzo here has done a proper job on the floor? Then put what you’ve collected for the pizzas in the gray change bag in the till and move it all to the safe and lock up for me. I’m going home.” “Sure, boss. And you,” he added, turning to Trevor with an annoyed expression, “you had just better have this place spic ’n’ span when I get here. Don’t make me have to hang around longer than necessary. We’re paid by the hour, but after closing don’t count.” So that was another thing he’d screwed up. Up till then Guy had seemed to take an interest in him, shown him the ropes and treated him more friendly than the other workers, who’d largely ignored him except to bark orders and tell him to hurry up. He’d been between deliveries when Trevor had his half-hour supper break, and had shared a small pizza with him, pepperoni and mushroom, of all things! And Guy had been working there longer than the others and you could tell the boss liked him - a useful ally for a newbie. Trevor wanted more than anything to get on his good side, have him for a friend, someone he could hang with, and not just in the workplace. He spent half an hour picking up the pepperoni, mushrooms and larger pieces of glass, sweeping what he could into the dustpan, then giving the floor a thorough mopping. He worked quickly, and had to wait another ten minutes for Guy to return. The delivery driver didn’t look angry anymore when he got back. He smiled at Trevor and gave one of those “It happens” shrugs, then glanced at the floor and moved the day’s earnings to the safe before he did a more careful inspection. “Not bad, kid,” he said. “I thought I’d still find a couple of toppings on the floor when I got back. Spills won’t hurt it. This floor has seen plenty of toppings in its day.” Guy placed his hand on the seat of Trevor’s jeans and gave a friendly squeeze, working his middle finger between Trevor’s buttocks. Trevor was surprised, but not put off by it - quite the opposite. Taking a chance, he squirmed back into the hand and hummed suggestively. “Whattaya say to another kind of topping of the floor of the shop before we call it night?” Guy murmured, his lips close to Trevor’s ear. “I’ll go lock the door and pull the shades.”
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