Caroline was dead.

  Okay, not literally, but she might as well be.

  Her skull felt like someone had taken a rolling pin to it and her mouth was drier than a week-old cupcake left out in the sun.

  Also… why was she upside down?

  Caroline slowly pried open one eye and immediately regretted it. The sunlight streaming through the window felt like a personal attack from God Himself.

  Groaning, she tried to sit up and realized something horrifying.

  She was not in her bed.

  She was on the floor, half tangled in a b, one leg flopped over the coffee table, and... wait!

  Why was there a half-eaten cookie stuck to her cheek?

  The events of st night came rushing back at an arming speed.

  Max.

  The tequi.

  The existential boob crisis.

  The cookies.

  The weed.

  "Oh, shit."

  Caroline shot up so fast she nearly fated into the couch. "Max!" she croaked, looking around wildly.

  Max rawled out on the couch like a gremlin, ay pte of cookies banced oomad a victorious smile on her sleeping face.

  Caroline groaned, rubbiemples. "I hate you so much."

  She fumbled around for her phoill partially vinced she was experieng an out-of-body halluation. The moment her fingers found it, she pressed the power button and—

  BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZZZZZZZZ.

  Caroline's eyes widened as her phone had what could only be described as a nuclear meltdown.

  Fifty.

  FIFTY.

  Five. Zero.

  Missed texts.

  Thirty missed calls.

  All from one person.

  Han.

  "Oh, double shit."

  Caroline's blood ran cold as she clicked on her messages.

  Han [6:30 AM]: Where are you? I told you st night the health ior is ing today.

  Han [6:45 AM]: You're te.

  Han [6:55 AM]: I'm gonna fire you.

  Han [7:15 AM]: Max isn't answeriher. Did you two die?

  Han [7:30 AM]: If you're dead, I'm g your funeral and spending the money on an espresso mae.

  Han [7:35 AM]: Also, the health ior showed up.

  Han [7:36 AM]: REPEAT: THE. HEALTH. IOR. SHOWED. UP.

  Han [7:40 AM]: YOU'RE BOTH SO FIRED.

  Han [7:45 AM]: Okay, you're not fired, but I am stress-eating sugar packets and pting arson.

  Han [7:55 AM]: If you don't show up in the 20 minutes, I swear on all that is holy, I will repce you with a teenager who still thinks minimum wage is a lot of money.

  Han [8:10 AM]: We're doomed.

  Han [8:12 AM]: So, so, so doomed.

  Han [8:15 AM]: I hope yht was worth it, because this m is pure, unfiltered hell.

  Caroliared at her s in horror.

  'The health ior? THE HEALTH IOR?!'

  She scrambled up and started aggressively shaking Max by the shoulder.

  "MAX. WAKE UP. WAKE UP, YOU MENACE."

  Max let out a groggy groan. "Mmmrgh, five more minutes, Mom..."

  "NO. NO MINUTES. WE'RE LATE. THE HEALTH IOR IS AT THE DINER. HAN IS GOING TO KILL US."

  Max blinked one eye open. "…What?"

  Caroline grabbed her phone, shook it in front of Max's face, and pointed violently at the texts. "WE OVERSLEPT, MAX. WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE AT WORK HO."

  Max stared at the phone for a full three seds.

  Then, in the most chillingly calm voice, she whispered:

  "…Oh. Shit."

  Instant panic.

  Max threw the empty cookie pte across the room. Caroline frantically scrambled for pants. Both of them were running around the apartment like headless chis.

  "WHERE ARE MY SHOES?!"

  "WHY IS THERE A BANANA IN MY BAG?!"

  "WHY DOES MY SHIRT SMELL LIKE TEQUILA AND... ARGG! I HATE YOU MAX."

  Somehow, somehow, they mao throw themselves together in five mi.

  Caroline looked in the mirror and winced. "Oh my god. I look like I was hit by a bakery trud the on fire."

  Max, who ulling on her hoodie, shrugged. "Holy? Kinda hot. The 'I-just-itted-a-crime' aesthetic is w for you."

  Caroline gred. "Focus."

  They sprinted out the door, dowairs, and into the street, practically throwing themselves into a cab.

  "STEP ON IT!" Max shouted.

  The cab driver raised an eyebrow. "Uh, ma'am, this is a Prius."

  "THERIFY IT FASTER."

  The moment they skidded to a stop in front of the diner, Caroline and Max practically flung themselves inside.

  Han was standing behind the ter, arms crossed, a murderous expression on his face.

  "You're te," he said ftly.

  Caroline held up a finger. "Teically, we're fashionably te."

  Han did not look amused.

  Max, ever the diplomat, grinned. "Would it make you feel better if we said we were up all night making business deals with billionaires?"

  Hawitched. "No."

  Caroline sighed. "Okay, then what if I say we were up all night eating weed cookies and passing out on the floor?"

  Han stared at them.

  Then he sighed, rubbing his temples. "You know what? I don't even want to know."

  Caroline and Max exged a look of relief.

  "But."

  Uh-oh.

  "The health iave us a warning," Han tinued, gring. "Which means if this pce isn't spotless by the visit, we're screwed."

  Caroline groaned. "Great. As if today wasn't already trying to kill me."

  Han ignored her suffering. "So you two are on ing duty for the rest of the shift."

  Max's smile immediately vanished. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's not be hasty."

  Han folded his arms. "Mop. Buckets. Now."

  Caroline sighed i. "I hate everything."

  Max pouted. "I hate manual bor."

  Han smirked. "Make sure the kit's floor is spotless.."

  And so, as punishment for their questionable life choices, Caroline and Max spent the six hours scrubbing, mopping, and questioning every decision they had ever made.

  Caroline made a mental o never eat anything Max handed her ever again.

  ...

  Caroline was elbow-deep in soap water, aggressively scrubbing the ter like it had personally insulted her. Max, oher hand, was mopping the floor with the enthusiasm of a sloth on NyQuil.

  "This is cruel and unusual punishment," Max whined, halfheartedly pushing the mop forward an ind then pulling it back. "This is a viotion of human rights. I'm calling Amy Iional."

  Caroline didn't even look up. "Tell them t snacks."

  Just whehought this day couldn't get any worse...

  "Ladies! My favorite hard-w, underpaid, overqualified, very bendy waitresses!"

  Caroline's stomach dropped.

  Max groaned. "Oh, God. Here we go."

  Oleg, the diner's walking HR viotion, sauntered in with a greasy grin, his mustache twitg with excitement.

  "I heard you two got in trouble," he drawled, leaning dramatically against the ter like he was starring in a telenove. "And now you're being forced to scrub every dirty crevi this diner." He smirked. "I love it."

  Caroline rolled her eyes. "Oleg, if you're here to offer us inappropriate solutions to our ing problem, I swear to God—"

  "Oh, but I am, my dear Caroline," Oleg said, waggling his eyebrows. "I have a proposition."

  Max gagged. "I already hate this."

  Oleg grinned. "Ladies, picture this: You. Me. Japanese maid outfits."

  Caroline dropped the sponge. "Oh, hell no."

  Max gagged harder. "Oh, double hell no."

  Oleg held up a finger. "Ah, ah, ah! I'm not done. You wear the maid outfits…" He leaned in. "But without the dress."

  Caroline blinked. "I..."

  Max stared. "Wait..."

  Oleg's grin widened. "Just the aprons."

  Caroline made a strangled sound. "OH MY GOD."

  Max wheezed. "OH MY GOD."

  Han, who had been walking past, stopped dead in his tracks.

  He turned, looking at Oleg like he was residering whether murder was woing to jail for. "Oleg."

  Oleg gri him. "Yes, boss?"

  Han exhaled sharply, ping the bridge of his nose. "For the st time, you ot propositioaff."

  Oleg gasped. "What? I wasn't propositioning them! I was to pay them!"

  Carolihrew her spo his face. "THAT'S WORSE!"

  Max was g from ughter. "This is it. This is how I die. Death by sedhand embarrassment."

  Han ched his jaw. "Oleg, either walk away or I swear I will personally staple your lips shut."

  Oleg put a hand over his heart, deeply wounded. "I am offended by the ck of appreciation for my generosity."

  Caroline grabbed the mop from Max and jabbed it at him like a medieval spear. "OUT. NOW."

  Oleg dodged it with surprising agility. "Fine, fine! But my offer stands. Any time you dies want to make a little extra cash, you know where to find me."

  Max gave him a deadpan look. "Yeah, in a courtroom when we iably file a restraining order."

  Oleg gave her finger guns before retreating back to the kit.

  Caroline colpsed against the ter. "I hate this pce."

  Max wiped fake tears from her eyes. "I hate how rich men just give you money for nothing and meanwhile I get sexual harassment and a mop."

  Han sighed, running a hand down his face. "Chop, chop, less talk more scrubbing."

  Caroline groaned. "So… how much longer are we on ing duty?"

  Han smirked. "Oh, you're just getting started."

  Max screamed into the mop.

  This was going to be a long day.

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  [9 advance chs] [All chs avaible for all tiers]

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