Duck into the kitchen

After a moment’s thinking Jen realized that if it was the janitor approaching, he might carry the bin of garbage outside. She’d be stuck there as he removed the trash bag by bag until he discovered her. The more she considered that option the less she liked it.

She quickly got up and moved to the open door. She glanced back inside and saw no one, but she could still hear voices further into the room. After a second she noticed a few collapsed boxes leaning against the wall across from the trash compactor. Without any additional hesitation she ducked inside before whoever was coming down the hall stepped into her line of sight.

Jen scurried to the cardboard boxes and eased them away from the wall. Squatting down she placed them in front of her. She felt like she was low enough that the top of her head wouldn’t show, but if anyone took more than a casual glace towards the boxes they would see that they obviously weren’t leaning against the wall any more. This was a short term hiding spot at best.

On the plus side she was in a position to get a better look around the room. A short distance away, a large drain was set into the floor with a hose attached to a spigot above and a few dispensers of different cleaning detergents. Beyond the store room and in the kitchen, she saw one employee, a woman in her 30’s, moving a mop around the floor. A large steel door stood wide open. Jen couldn’t see what was in the room it connected to, but that mystery was soon answered when a second employee stepped out of it.

“Okay, that’s the rest of the food put away,” the employee said. He was a young teenage man, his uniform dotted with food stains.

That leads to the refrigerator, Jen realized.

“Alright,” the lady working the mop said, “head to the front and clean up the counters. We’re almost done.”

The teen began walking towards the front of the restaurant, grabbing the steel door as he passed and pulling hard to close it. Jen watched as the door slowly swung around on its hinge. The teen kept moving towards the front of the restaurant, and didn’t notice when the fridge door didn’t close.

As he reached the front he bent below a counter where Jen couldn’t see what he was doing. She heard a slight swish of liquid and then the sound of rapidly pouring water. The teen stood back up and Jen could now see that he was holding a rag, still dripping with water. He then stepped to the counter where customers gave their orders and began quickly wiping them down.

“Did we re-stock the napkins yet?” the lady asked.

“Oh, not yet. I’ll get them once I finish the counter.

Looking around her immediate surroundings, Jen realized that one of the shelves nearby held large packages of napkins. She was going to have to move again.

Peeking back towards the door she’d entered through, she could barely make out the edge of the trash bin. After a moment’s pause she could still hear a voice out there, a male voice, but she couldn’t hear what was being said.

Let’s just assume it’s not safe out there, Jen thought.

She turned back to the kitchen and began studying it. She immediately knew the refrigerator was an option, but not a pleasant one. The woman had said they were nearly done, but Jen had no point of reference for that. Was that another two minutes of work, another ten? If it was even longer, the cold temperature would get unpleasant in a real hurry.

Continuing to peer around the kitchen Jen continued to search for a hiding place. The tables used for food preparation were all open on the bottom. Jen considered hiding underneath and trying to lean to one side or the other as anyone passed by but quickly dismissed the idea. From a distance people would be able to see far enough under the table it would offer little protection.

Leaning out of her hiding place Jen was able to see the last part of the kitchen. Additional prep tables lined the wall, and these ones weren’t open underneath. They all held cabinets with steel sliding doors. One of these sat open and from what Jen could see it looked to be empty.

That might be a tight fit, Jen thought, would my hips squeeze into that opening? I think so. I might be too tall to fit but I really think I could manage. And it wouldn’t be cold in there…