More Coffee, sir?

Lou's Diner, located in the Gish in the heart of Kings Row, has been a family favourite for decades. The food is greasy, but tasty. The waitresses are well-endowed and have pretty faces, and the prices are low. Lou's is one of the few successful, thriving businesses in Kings Row, and the community loves it. Ruby, of course, hates it.

Ruby Phoenix is a waitress at Lou's Diner. Every day, she pulls on that terrible frumpy green uniform, and ties a ghastly stained apron around her waist. No amount of cleaning is ever able to get the grease stains out, and Lou is too cheap to provide new aprons until the old ones are unbearably disgusting. As far as he is concerned, the men who frequent the diner aren't paying attention to the aprons.

***

Today wasn't very different than any other day. Same perverted weirdos salivating at her breasts, their grubby hands "accidentally" brushing against her behind. She repeated her mantra, over and over again. Don't punch 'em out, Ruby. Yeh need this job. It's a shit job, Ruby, but jus' hang on. Somethin' better'll come along...

She cleared the table that one of her regulars sat at and collected the tip. As long as she kept smiling and didn't punch anyone in the face, she'd at least get some good under the table cash.

Ruby set the dishes on the counter and leaned precariously over it to grab fresh cutlery and napkins. Someone came up behind her and pressed against her bent-over form. Ruby froze.

"Unless you wanna die RIGH' NOW, I would suggest getting the FUCK OFFA ME!" The man grabbed her hips and tried to lift her up, but Ruby twisted her torso and threw a punch at the man's face. The man stood a foot taller than she did, so her punch connected directly with his clavicle.

The man staggered backwards with a shocked choke. Ruby grabbed a fork from the cutlery basket and ran after him. The man, who had gathered his wits about him by now, was ready for Ruby's attack. The two circled around a neatly set table for several moments before Ruby stepped on one of the chairs and jumped over the table at him, fork wielded.

Strong hands grabbed her skirt and tethered her. Ruby came crashing down on the table before she could clear it. Silverware and napkins flew all over the floor, as Ruby started cursing at her restrainer. She screamed with rage as fire engulfed her entire body. The hands holding onto her swiftly let go. She whipped her head around to glare at the man who had originally grabbed her, but he had promptly exited the diner while she was distracted. She slid off the table and whirled around to face whoever stopped her.

"WHAT the FUCK do you think you're doing, Ruby? Jesus Christ! I should fire you RIGHT NOW!" Lou stood 4 inches taller than Ruby's five feet. His greasy pock covered skin was always slimy from a thick layer of perspiration, and he was always wearing the same tired uniform with his name embroidered on the pocket. At this particular moment, his flabby face was a particularly brilliant shade of crimson, and his black eyes were bulging with panic. "You got thirty seconds to tell me WHY I SHOULDN'T fire you!" He stared at her, his laboured breathing shaking his shoulders and chest, his hands lightly rubbing each other where his fingers were singed by her aura.

Ruby calmed her rage until the fire surrounding her vanished. She grabbed him by the shirt collar and dragged him into the kitchen, away from the deathly silent customers and her worried whispering coworkers.

"Lou... I fuckin' told ya, if any of yer fuckin' pervert customers try anything, that I would fuckin' kill them!" She shoved him roughly and stepped close, her nose almost touching his. "I'm yer best waitress, Lou. Unlike any o' those other bitches, at leas' I got a brain in my head. I know how t' count th' till. I know how t' make th' best coffee. Best of all Lou, I don' talk to th' cops 'bout yer operation."

The fat man's eyes widened momentarily, and he stepped backwards until his back rested against a prep station.

"That's right, Lou. I know all about yer smut ring. I know where ya get these girls. I'm yer only legitimate worker, Lou. If ya fire me, yer SO fuckin' busted, it ain't funny! So lemme tell you how it's gonna work Lou." She crossed her arms and stared him down for a few minutes. He dared not speak, in case Ruby noticed the knife block on the counter next to her. "I'm gonna work here. Yer perverts ain' gonna grab me. You ain' gonna fuck me over no more. An' best of all Lou, yer gonna start showin' me some proper respect."

Lou's face, which had turned an ashen shade of white, started filling with blood again. He soon resembled a fat sweaty lobster as he lifted a finger to shake in Ruby's face. "You can't tell me what to do, you little bitch! This is my diner! I've been running it for twenty-three years now, and I can do whatever the fuck I want!"

Ruby grabbed his finger and twisted it. She smiled sadistically as the bones in his fingers snapped like a fresh stalk of celery. Lou screamed in agony and dropped to his knees, ripping his hand out of hers and pressing it into his bulging belly. He glared up at her scathingly, unable to speak.

"So, Lou? Do we have a deal? Cos, y'know, I can jus' finish this conversation righ' now." She grabbed a particularly large butcher knife from the block and traced her finger along the edge. "This one's pretty dull, Lou. I'd have to use extra force with it." She slightly pouted, but her jade eyes burned with the promise to inflict serious, if not mortal, damage.

Lou trembled with rage and defeat. He nodded very slightly to her. "Take the rest of the day off, Ruby. It.. it won't happen again..."

"Tell me you won' fuck with me anymore, Lou." She paused. "I think I deserve a raise, too. Don't you? Been here over a year, workin' my ass off for ya, takin' shit from every single one o'yer customers, Lou. I get my raise, I don' get fondled, I go home and I don' smoke a pack a day cos you stress me the fuck out. An' in return, I don' give you up to th' pigs."

She approached him with a small smile and held her hand out to shake his. His dark eyes glanced at the butcher knife in her other hand, then to her face, before he got up on one shaky leg and shook her free hand with his good hand.

"One more thing, Lou. If you break yer promise," she yanked him close so their faces were inches apart. "I'll fuckin' kill you." She shoved him away and slid the knife back into the block with a victorious smile. She fished a mangled cigarette from behind her ear and lightly blew fire onto the end of it to light it. She waved lightly and blew smoke at him as she left the kitchen to go home. "Ta, Lou. Don' forget our deal. I'll be back t'morrow mornin' on time, bright an' early." The door swung behind her, and Lou stumbled into his office to hide his shame.

He'll have to make a few phone calls. Ruby Phoenix was now officially out of control, and someone needed to deal with her. The question was... who in their right mind would take on Ruby Phoenix?