The Opera's the Thing/Chapter 4

The waitress droid, WA-7, rolled out on her single wheel and showed me to a table. Hermione Bagwa, the blonde human waitress in the revealing blue uniform and knee-length boots, came out from behind the counter.

“Hey, Kontad! Long time no see!” she said. Usually a regular at the diner, I hadn’t been coming for at least a week due to the opera.

“Yeah, I’ve had rehearsals”, I replied.

“Oh, really? What is it this time? Hairdresser of Alderaan? The Cracked Nutbucket?” Hermione had always poked fun at my profession; opera actor wasn’t a common profession among the lower-city dwellers.

“Escarlata”, I replied. “You know, you could almost play the lead. The only thing missing is looks.”

She smiled good-naturedly. She had plenty of looks, and she knew it. “So what’ll it be? Slider? Soup? A knuckle sandwich?”

Ignoring the jibe, I replied, “My usual, as always.”

Hermione shouted into the order stylus on her hip. At least twenty years old, the device had seen better days. A shout to it in the dining room resulted in barley more than a whisper behind the counter, but somehow the four-armed Besalisk chef always managed to complete every order to perfection. I nodded across the room at Dexter, or Dex as he is known by his regulars, as he simultaneously added garnish to a slider, put the dressing on a salad, stirred a pot of soup, and stacked plates onto WA-7’s serving tray. As the droid sped past on her unicycle wheel, I sat back. The hustle and bustle of the diner was one of my favorite environments; I could get away from it all better by watching the two scurrying waitresses, droid and human, in their never-ending battle for dining room supremacy. Dex shouting orders to the other two cooks, who frantically tried to keep pace, it all seemed to fit together nicely. I smiled appreciatively and thanked WA-7 as she set my vercuppti-sgazza slider, cup of Jawa-juice, and large bowl of nerf-cheese soup down in front of me. Digging in, I savored every bit of it. Polishing the last morsel off of my soup, I reached into my pocket to pay the bill. I happened to glance up just as Korlit and his buddies walked in. I ducked my head, hoping not to be noticed. Hermione saw me doing this, saw the bruisers at the door, and got the message loud and clear. She tapped me on the shoulder, and indicated the back door. She beat WA-7 to them, and led them in the opposite direction. Placing the credits on the table, I slipped out the back door. Passing large disposal bins (which smelled like something had died in them), I found my way to the front. Hailing another taxi, I asked him to take me back to my apartment. Flipping him the credits, I ran back to my apartment, and as soon as I was in, locked the door. I flopped down on the sofa to catch my breath. When I was breathing normally again, I flicked on the holoprojector in the middle of the room and began scanning the channels for something good to watch. Settling on an old mystery holodrama, I watched until my eyelids got to be heavy. I was soon in dreamland.