Julie sets the trays down on the counter and looks up at the clock and smiles. Yes! The kitchen closes in twenty minutes. She has plans to meet up with some friends after getting off of her shift, and she can’t wait to be done.
Five minutes later, she watches in terror as a family of four walks through the front door. She begins screaming internally. Every time!! Why can’t this happen when Brenna is working?! She thinks, referring to her sister, who also works at the restaurant.
She watches as the hostess seats the family at a corner booth, and begins to make her way over. The hostess leaves them with menus and, shooting Julie a sympathetic look, heads back to the front area to begin closing.
Mustering her best “customer service smile” Julie walks over to the table. The group appears to be a typical upper-class family, typical for the high-end establishment. Both adults look to be in their mid-forties. The father is wearing dark jeans, a light blue button-down shirt and a navy suit jacket. The mother is wearing a navy form-fitting dress and a generous amount of makeup, with her blonde hair pulled back into a tight bun.
Their two children, who she guesses to be in their late teens, have their eyes glued to their phones and don’t look up when she arrives.
“Good evening!” Julie greets them in a cheerful voice. “I’m Julie and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. Can I get you started with some drinks?”
The family barely looks up at her, the parents choosing instead to peruse the menu and the kids continue scrolling on their phones.
After a moment, the woman looks up at her. “I’ll have a Belvedere martini. In a chilled glass” she says, with an pretentious look on her face.
“Oh, sorry, we actually don’t have Belvedere. Is Grey Goose alright?” Julie asks.
The woman rolls her eyes. “If I had wanted Grey Goose, I would have just ordered that” she sasses. “But fine. If that’s all you have.”
Keeping a professional demeanour, Julie maintains her smile while inwardly rolling her own eyes.
Without being asked, the daughter mutters “I’ll have a Coke.”
Shit, of course you will, Julie thinks. “I’m sorry, but we only carry Pepsi. Will that be okay?”
Just like her mother, the daughter rolls her eyes and says “Fine. I guess.”
After another trying minute with the father and son, Julie leaves the table to fetch their drinks.
Finally, after debating over their menus for what seemed like forever, the husband announces they’re ready to order. “I’ll have the steak” he starts to say, before Julie can even reach for her pen “Medium rare. If it’s done rare or medium, I will send it back. Did you write that down?” He finishes condescendingly.
Fuming, but not letting it show, Julie replies “Absolutely. Medium rare.”
She proceeds to listen to the woman and children describe their orders, and her page fills with a list of substitutions and - in the daughter’s case - a completely off-the-menu demand.
The kitchen, also wanting nothing more than to go home, produces the meals in record time. Julie watches in a state of anxiety as they begin to eat, just waiting for something to be “wrong”.
Sure enough, the daughter sets her fork down and says “This sauce is gross. Can I get some ketchup?”
Julie goes back into the kitchen to get her some. Returning with a small dish, she sets it on the table. “Finally” the girl grumbles.
Contemplating a job-ending slap to the girl’s face, Julie instead just smiles and asks the group “Can I get you anything else?”
They all shake their heads silently, and she leaves them to eat. Miraculously, they make it through the rest of their meal without complaints. And, mercifully, they decide not to order dessert.
Finally, Julie brings them their bill and the family gets up from the table. “Have a good night!” She chirps, resisting the urge to shove them out the door.
Checking the bill, she is irate to discover they left only a $3 gratuity. “You’ve got to be kidding me” she whispers through clenched teeth.
It was her night to host and her friends had been waiting at her apartment, so she texts them: Sorry I’m so late! I'll be home in twenty minutes.
Okay! Her friend Lucy quickly replies.
After cleaning up and driving home, Julie unlocks her apartment door and steps inside. Calling out she says “Hey guys! I’m really sorry. This awful family came in at the last minute…”
Coming around the corner into her living area, she stops suddenly as her eyes widen in shock and her purse drops to the floor. The family from the restaurant is in her apartment!
“What…what the hell…” she stammers. “What are you doing in here!”
The mother scoffs. “Well, young lady, we weren’t very pleased with our meal and wanted to give you some additional feedback.”
Julie stammers in a mix of shock, anger and panic “What the fuck! Get out of my apartment!”
In another surprise, the entire family in front of her breaks out in laughter. In only moments, the daughter has tears running down her face as she cackles.
The husband howls “Look at her reaction! We really got her!” He sees the look on Julie’s face and holds his hands up in apology. He stops laughing and says “Alright guys, the show’s over…”
Still not comprehending the scene in front of her, Julie watches as he lifts his hands up and into the collar of his shirt. Her eyes widen further as he pulls out a skin coloured flap and starts working his fingers underneath it. Mesmerized, she sees his fingers work their way underneath his face as it starts to buckle and stretch. In moments, his entire head seems to snap off with a loud sucking noise, revealing a very different person underneath.
“LUCY?!” Julie exclaims, upon seeing her best friend’s head sitting atop the “father’s” masculine body.
Lucy grins back at her, holding the empty, floppy mask in her hands. “Gotcha!” She squeals.
Stunned, Julie barely notices the two “teenagers” going through the same process. After some pulling and stretching, their faces snap off as well, revealing her friends Molly and Rachel underneath. The two of them start to giggle, amused by the bewildered look on Julie’s face.
The “mother” turns to her with a gleeful expression. “Sorry for hassling you, sweetheart. It was just a prank. Drinks are on us this weekend, to make up for the awful tip.” She says with a wink.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Julie can’t help but smile. Her group of friends had always playing pranks on each other, but this was a whole new level. She looks at Molly holding the angsty girl’s deflated face in her hands, and marvels at how she’d been completely fooled by their disguises.
“They had better be!” Julie huffs. Looking at the “mother” she asks “And who are you?”
The fake woman laughs, then adopts a more stern expression. “My name is Victoria Montgomery. What was your name again? I’ve already forgotten” she replies with a sneer.
Julie rolls her eyes. “Very funny. Now take that mask off.”
Breaking character, Victoria smirks and reaches her hands around to the back of her head. Julie hears the soft sound of a zipper being pulled, and then watches as the fake woman tugs her hair up over the top of her head. Her face crumples then, like the others’ had, it snaps off with a loud pop.
“Oh my God, Ryan?!” Julie gasps. Her friend’s head looks completely ridiculous sitting atop the curvy, feminine body.
Ryan grips the mask by its tight, blonde bun and laughs. “Gotcha! What do you think, do I pull off this dress?” He turns around, showing off “Victoria’s” shapely ass.
“Unbelievable. But why did you and Lucy swap? Felt like doing a little cross-dressing, did you?” Julie asks with a grin.
Ryan smiles back. “We thought it would be a little more fun this way. Kind of like a challenge. I was all about the drama club in high school, remember?”
“I remember. Let me see that thing” Julie says. Ryan tosses her the mask and she examines it closely. It’s perfectly lifelike, down to the tiniest hair follicles and pores. Whatever material it’s made from feels just like real skin. Glancing over at the mask in Lucy’s hands, she can see that it even has traces of stubble.
“Where did you get the masks?” Julie asks, still marvelling at their realism.
Ryan replies “Oh, you know my brother works for a special effects company. He made them for us last week. It’s amazing what they can do with voice changing tech now. Then we went online and bought some other stuff, like body shapers and padding.”
“Incredible” Julie murmurs, handing him back the mask. He tosses it onto the couch, next to the other empty, discarded faces of the “Montgomery” family.
“So, did you think we were, like, the worst people ever?” Lucy asks with a big grin.
“Totally. I wanted to slap you all and throw you out of the restaurant.” The statement gets a big laugh from her friends, who - from the neck down - are all still in disguise.
“That’s hilarious. I knew we’d get you! I was immediately on board when Lucy came up with the idea” Rachel says.
“Oh, I’ll get you back” Julie states with confidence. “Believe me!”
Lucy, still grinning, says “I’m sure you will, but in the meantime, isn’t your sister working tomorrow night?”
“Yeah, why?” Julie answers, a little confused.
Lucy reaches into a bag sitting next to the couch and extracts a mass of skin-coloured material and wavy blonde hair. She tosses it to Julie, who catches it and takes a closer look. The hollow face of a young woman stares up at her. Pretty, and looking to be right around Julie’s age, the face shares a noticeable resemblance to “Victoria”.
Julie suddenly understands the meaning of Lucy’s question.
“We were thinking our oldest daughter ‘Emma’ should join us for dinner tomorrow” Lucy says with a wink. “Same time and place?”
Julie smiles back at her, holding the mask in her hands. “Oh, I’m so in.”
THREE HOURS LATER
Julie and Ryan are hanging out on her couch, after the other girls had left. He’d taken off the “Victoria” disguise shortly after the big reveal, and was now just wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Ryan is her oldest friend, and the two would typically be the last to separate after a night of hanging out.
“So, are you already thinking of ways to get Lucy back?” He asks.
“Oh, I’m going to get you all back. Just you wait.”
“Fair enough. Although it was mostly Lucy and Rachel, I accept responsibility as well” he says with a smile. “But, in a show of good faith, I may be able to help you out.”
Julie watches as he reaches over into his bag. “I had my brother make a couple of…extra…items after the girls left” he continues.
He tugs out two floppy masses, one with dark black hair and one with light brown. He drops the dark-haired one in Julie’s lap.
Astounded, Julie stares down into a hollow face belonging unmistakably to her friend Lucy. She glances over at Ryan, who is holding up a perfect mask of Rachel by its curly brown hair, its mouth hanging open wide.
“I’m sure we can figure something out with these, don’t you think?” He asks, with a big grin on his face.