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Episode 17: The Morning After
The morning after the exciting day in Atlanta, Chris heads to his job at a local fast-food restaurant. To his embarrassment, he finds himself spending most of the morning with a stubborn case of the hiccups; but thankfully, he's not the only one with them today! --The Author
When Chris Beloit went to bed after getting home from Atlanta, he hardly needed to dream. He had been in a dream all day! With his girlfriend Hannah and both his sisters all having the hiccups for the better part of the day, he hadn't even been able to focus on the baseball game! Sarah and Amanda were his sisters, so it wasn't quite the same with them as it was with Hannah or other girls, but they were very cute girls nonetheless, and Chris still found their hiccups enjoyable. For all the fun the day had been, the best part for him had been on the ride back home. He and Hannah were cuddled together in the back seat, but even in the dim evening light he could still see Amanda's head jerk and clearly hear the cute little "huck" with each of her hiccups, as her second case of the day didn't show any sign of letting up. At least she had enjoyed them this time! Then, as Hannah sat next to him, with her head on his shoulder, slowly drifting off into sleep, she began to hiccup again as well! She was almost asleep by that point, so she didn't react to the hiccups at all, except for slightly changing position in her seat. Chris kept one arm around her, and put the other hand gently on her stomach to feel the soft bounce of each adorable, sleepy hiccup. They didn't last long, because they stopped soon after she fell asleep, but the experience was amazing, especially combined with Amanda's louder, stronger hiccups coming from the front seat! So clearly, whatever Chris dreamed about that night - and of course he couldn't remember by the morning - it wasn't half as exciting as his day had been.
Chris awoke the next morning to the ever-unpleasant sound of his alarm clock, telling him that it was time to get up and get ready to go to work at his summer job. It was hardly the most glamorous of jobs - working at the drive-through window of a popular fast-food restaurant - but it made some extra money, which was always welcome. So Chris dragged himself out of bed and got ready for the day.
Despite the early morning, Chris was still feeling quite happy, and his co-workers noticed that as he greeted them upon his arrival at work. "What's got you all cheery?" asked Julie, the girl who worked the cash register for eat-in customers.
"Had a great weekend!" Chris replied. "What about you?"
"Eh, it was okay," Julie answered less enthusiastically. "Dale and I fought like all of yesterday, so it wasn't really the best."
Dale was Julie's boyfriend of just a couple months. Chris was already very familiar with the drama of Julie and Dale's relationship, as it seemed she talked about it endlessly.
True to form, she continued to elaborate on her relationship problems for quite some time until finally admitting, "But I should stop whining about my life; so tell me, what made your weekend so great?"
Pretty confident that Julie wouldn't understand what was particularly exciting about his girlfriend and sisters getting the hiccups, Chris simply stuck with, "My sisters and Hannah and I went down to Atlanta to see a ballgame. Sarah's boyfriend was playing in the game, so it was pretty exciting to see."
"Oh, awesome! Does he play for the Braves?" Julie asked.
"No, he plays for the Cardinals. But the Braves won anyway," Chris explained. "It was a really good game, though; very close!"
Julie smiled. "Cool, glad y'all had such a good time!"
It was time to get to work, so that's where the conversation ended. The morning was uneventful, with the usual flow of people dropping by on their way to work. Taking orders all morning wasn't a particularly exciting job, but Chris didn't mind it too much. He liked it a lot better than being back in the kitchen making the food, and his customers were courteous and direct, for the most part. Between customers, which wasn't too often during the busy breakfast hours, Chris thought about the previous day, reliving the excitement over in his mind.
About ten o'clock, Chris got a short break, during which he had a quick breakfast of his own, as he usually did. Halfway through his egg muffin, he must have taken a little too generous of a bite, because it made him hiccup sharply three or four times in rapid succession. For a moment he wondered if the girls' hiccups of the previous day had worn off on him, but to his relief, they didn't continue, and he finished his breakfast in peace. By the time he was done eating, it was almost time to get back to work. There was just time for a quick stop in the restroom.
As Chris was washing his hands before leaving the restroom, he felt himself hiccup again. This one was stronger and deeper than his brief muffin-induced attack had been. Unlike before, it was not quickly followed by others, so Chris thought it might just be a random straggler. But as he took hold of the door to leave, he felt his chest jump and his throat contract sharply with another hiccup. "Oh no, not me!" he thought aloud, now waiting to see whether they would continue.
Continue they did, and after a couple fruitless attempts to stop them, Chris had to head back to his post, bringing a slow but strong case of hiccups along with him. Because they were slow, he was able to hide them pretty well, and no one noticed them, as he took the next few orders.
But it couldn't last. Jeff from the kitchen was the first to notice, as Chris accidentally let out an audible "*hup*" as Jeff gave him the bag containing a customer's order. Jeff didn't care, though, and didn't say anything about it.
Over the next ten or twenty minutes, he continued to keep his hiccups mostly unnoticed. Every once in a while he would hiccup while saying something to a customer, but he would simply apologize and go on. He didn't really mind the hiccups themselves, so as long as no one noticed, he wasn't too upset. But he had always gotten so embarrassed when anyone would mention his having the hiccups, especially if they made a big deal about it.
If there was anyone who would make a big deal about Chris's hiccups, it was Julie. As the flow of customers slowed to just a trickle, Chris knew it was only a matter of time before she would wander over to see how things were going.
He was in the middle of filling a drink cup for a customer when Julie surprised him. "Hey, how's it coming over here?" she asked.
With any luck, the surprise would have stopped his hiccups right then and there. But that was not to be. In fact, before he even answered, an especially loud, strong hiccup escaped his slightly-open mouth.
Julie burst into laughter. "Got the hiccups, hun?" she giggled.
To Chris's utter embarrassment, another hiccup, just as loud as the previous one, found its way out of his body, as if in reply.
The second hiccup only made Julie laugh all the more. "Chris's got the hiccups!" she announced in a singsong voice, as Diane from the kitchen came over to see what the all the fuss was about.
Diane was a large, motherly woman, significantly older than Chris or Julie. "Aww," she sympathized. "I had those stupid things all last night. You want some water to get rid of them?"
As much as he loved hiccups from Hannah, other girls, or even his sisters, Chris couldn't stand his own hiccups being the center of attention. His face was red as a beet, and he just wanted to disappear. Before he could answer Diane's thoughtful offer, a bell rang, notifying him that a customer was ready to order at the drive-through. "After this *hulp* customer, maybe," he answered sheepishly before attending to the customer.
As he repeated back the customer's rather lengthy order, he hiccupped loudly two or three times. "Sorry, I've got bad hiccups right now," he apologized. With the customer still on the line, he tried his best to ignore the fact that Julie and Diane were both totally cracking up right behind him. Finally the customer moved on to the payment window, and Chris could take the headset off and address the two hysterical women.
"Two large Cokes and a *HYULLLK* water!" Julie laughed, imitating Chris's attempt at repeating the customer's order, albeit with a slightly exaggerated fake hiccup.
Even Jeff came back over to see what all the commotion was about. When he saw that Chris still had the hiccups, he just offered, "Hold your breath for like 30 seconds; that's what my girlfriend does." Being offered cures was slightly better than being laughed at, but Chris still just wished everyone would disappear and let him suffer through his hiccups alone.
* * * * *
Believe it or not, Chris wasn't the only one with hiccups that morning. It was approaching noon - and Chris's hiccups were approaching two hours in length - when out in the parking lot, two other people, both with hiccups, got out of their car to come into the restaurant.
"Mom, this is SO *huck* embarrassing! Can't we wait u-*huck* until mine stop, at least?" seventeen-year-old Ellie Benson wailed, as her mom, who had just gotten the hiccups as well, prepared to go inside.
Her mom just laughed. "Come on, stop being si-*ulk* silly!" she said. "It's just hiccups. *hic* It's pretty hilarious *hic* that we both have them!"
Ellie wasn't amused. "Well I'd rather n-*hic-ulk* I'd rather not be the *huck* one that everyone thinks is *huck* hilarious," she declared.
Mrs. Benson was undeterred. "Let's go. They'll probably *ulk* stop when you get your drink, any-*hic*-way."
So the hiccupping mother and daughter entered the restaurant. Now it was Ellie's turn to want to disappear. Ellie was a relatively attractive girl, with dirty-blonde hair and green eyes. Slightly short, she had a bit of "puppy-fat", but was still quite athletic, and certainly not obese. Her hiccups weren't extremely loud, and were actually quite cute, but she still couldn't stand them. Each one made her stomach jump and her head jerk back a little. "I never get the hiccups like *huck* this! This is sooo-*hic* embarrassing!" she whispered to her mom.
Her mom just chuckled, clearly seeing the humor in the situation a lot better than her daughter was. By the time they reached the counter to order, it was just before noon, and Julie was minutes away from finishing her shift. Before she even greeted Ellie and Mrs. Benson, she could see that Ellie had the hiccups, as she seemed unable to keep them silent, even when she closed her mouth. Julie just burst out laughing again. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized, seeing Ellie was quite embarrassed. "You know Chris, right? He's had the hiccups all morning back there, it's been hilarious; and you've got them too!" she giggled. As Julie spoke, Mrs. Benson hiccupped as well. Julie gasped, "You too?"
Julie laughed even more at the sight of mother and daughter with simultaneous hiccups. Mrs. Benson laughed also, and they both continued to giggle as she and Ellie, who was not enjoying the situation half as much her mom or Julie, placed their orders. Once Mrs. Benson had paid and they had moved on to wait for their food, it seemed like everyone was looking at them, after all the commotion Julie had made. Ellie couldn't take it any more. After a sip of her drink did nothing to stop the hiccups, she whispered to her mom, "I can't take this, I'm *hic* going to the bathroom. *huck* I'll be back."
Just before she reached the restroom, Chris emerged from the men's side. He had just washed up after finishing his shift. "Hey Ellie! How's it going?"
Ellie sighed and rolled her eyes. "OK, but I've had the *huck* stupid hiccups for like twenty minutes n-*hulk* now."
Now it was Chris's turn to chuckle. "I'm sorry, that sucks. I had them all morning! I think they just stopped, though."
"Yeah, it's pretty *huck* much the worst," Ellie continued. "Mom's got them *hic* too, and she's out there laughing like it's *hic-ulk* the funniest thing ever."
"Well, for your sake, I hope they stop," Chris said sympathetically. "But don't feel too bad, your hiccups are cute," he assured her with a smile. They really were adorable, as most of them gave a quiet, girly "hic" or "huck". Every now and then a stronger, two-syllable one would interrupt her; and the way they made her head jerk, along with the annoyed look on her face after the stronger ones, was just priceless.
Ellie laughed in spite of herself. "How did I know you w-*huck* would say that!" Still, it made her feel a little better.
"I don't know, you're psychic?" Chris teased.
"No, you're *hic-ulk* predictable!" Ellie giggled. "Oh by the way," she suddenly remembered, "You and *huck* your sisters are coming out to our new place *huck* tonight to play soccer, right?"
"Yeah, we are," Chris answered. "Hannah and Juliana, too. Sarah's excited about playing once more before she leaves for college."
Ellie took Chris by the arm, as if no one else was to hear what she was going to say. "I haven't told any of your family *hic* this yet," she whispered, practically hiccupping in his ear, "But it's not just *hulk* for soccer. It's a good-bye party *hic* for Sarah, too! But *huck* don't tell her, ok? It's a surprise!"
Chris nodded. "I won't tell! That's so nice of y'all, though. I know she'll have a great time!"
"Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun!" Ellie agreed excitedly.
"Is there anything Amanda or I should bring, and does Hannah know about the surprise?" Chris asked.
"Of course Hannah knows!" Ellie answered. "She and I were the ones who planned it! And no, I think we have all we need. Just when you get there, be sure to come around to the back deck, that's where we'll be. We're gonna have, like, watermelon and all," she explained.
"Awesome, it sounds great!" Chris said. "And by the way, I think your hiccups stopped!"
Ellie paused for a moment. "Did they?" Several seconds of silence convinced her that they had indeed stopped. She gave a sigh of relief. "Now the only question is how long am I going to have to endure Mom's?"
Chris laughed. "Lunch will probably cure her. Anyway, I better get going; we'll see you tonight!"
"OK, bye Chris!" Ellie walked into the restroom. She stood for a moment, wondering why she was there, before remembering she had only come to the restroom to hide her hiccups! "Oh well, so much for that," she laughed aloud, and headed back out to find her mom.
* * * * *
Chris had figured it was inevitable that someone would get the hiccups at the party that night, be it Hannah, Sarah, Ellie again, or, heaven forbid, himself. To his surprise, there wasn't a single hiccup to be heard the whole evening. Then again, maybe it was just as well. After all the hiccups yesterday and again this morning, it was time for a break!
The party was a lot of fun. The Bensons had recently moved out into the country, and had a large field behind their new house that was perfect for soccer: Ellie's favorite sport, as well as Sarah's. Mr. Benson had even made goals to put at the two ends of the field. Since Sarah and Ellie were easily the best players in the large group that showed up, they picked two relatively equal teams, and played a friendly match, after enjoying their watermelon and other snacks. Although the party was for Sarah, Ellie's team won the game with surprising ease. Still, Sarah enjoyed it immensely. Chris could see the exhilaration in her face as they played together.
For her part, Sarah knew she would miss her friends and family when she went off to college. She was also a little anxious about returning to school after a year off working and saving for college! Fortunately, she wouldn't be too far away, and would be able to come home for weekends often. Of course, she would make new friends at school, and she expected to have a wonderful time there, but in the end, there's nothing that takes the place of home; of simple pleasures, friends, and family. So for the evening, she put aside her thoughts of the new chapter to come in her life, and enjoyed filling out the final pages of the chapter that was closing. It truly was a chapter full of cherished, wonderful memories.