Status: Completed, after a three day mad rush trying to get this finished as a friend's birthday present.
Thank You for the Coffee
~ 56 Days Until Hand In ~
Frank hip-checked Beth out of the way so that he could open the fridge and get out a new cake for the counter display. She whipped him with a tea towel in response. He’d only worked this shift twice so far, but he was already beginning to see that midway through the night the students decided they were a little bit peckish, or more accurately in need of a sugar boost. Coffee with added syrup and a slice of cake were the best choices to satiate this particular craving, so Frank laid out his favourite sponge, incidentally the most expensive.
“That’ll bring in the dough” he grinned at his colleague.
“You just want them to have the best cake, you old softie.”
He couldn’t deny she was right. But in the back of his mind he was aware that they had to make sure Gary still saw this shift as worthwhile. Now that Frank had had a couple of days to think about it, he was more attached to the idea of time and a half than he thought. Gary had warned him it would probably be a bit slow for the first week or so, just while people were still finding out about the change in opening hours, and that it would pick up soon enough. He hoped this was the case.
It pleased him to already see the beginnings of regular customers; the frazzled redhead in the corner, the muscular laptop dude. Those were the people he needed to make sure his niche was still open. He and Beth had already made the executive decision to provide evening meals for anyone who wanted it. They would just assure the day workers that they’d clean the ovens when it was quiet later on and keep serving up fries and hot sandwiches until about 9-ish. No problem.
The bell above the door tinkled as someone opened it, and Frank was happy to see yet another regular here for the evening shift. He’d turned up the previous night looking a little dubious, but Frank had slyly noticed him scribbling an awful lot in that massive sketchbook of his, so he had obviously got at least some work done. The guy had chosen one of the booths for his seat the previous night, needing the extra table space to lay out his paper and materials.
“Third day in a row” Frank beamed at the guy in greeting. “Have we got you in the bag?”
The student laughed, perhaps a little more loudly than necessary. He had shaggy dark brown hair, not of a length to be described as full on ‘long hair’, but Frank was willing to lay a bet that it was the sort of hairstyle his older family members would bug him about cutting. He also had quite prominent sideburns, the sort that Frank was quite sure were going out of fashion, but managed to not look entirely ridiculous on the man. He dressed all in black, and wore clumpy boots that thudded on their wooden tiling.
“I think you might. Black coffee, please.”
“Oh, are you a student?” Frank asked redundantly, having forgotten the past two days. “If I scan your student card in you get 10% off.”
“Oh!” The guy’s eyes positively lit up, and the velcro of his wallet loudly scratched apart as he tore it open to search for the card in question. “Here.”
Frank checked over the details on the front before scanning the barcode on the back and ringing up the price change. He passed the card back before moving to pour the coffee.
“I figured you were SVA from the sketchbook” he smiled as he took the guy’s money – Gerard Way, it had said on the card, born the same year as him –and handed over the mug.
“Yeah, it’s a bit of a giveaway” Gerard smiled, tucking his card back into one of the slits in his wallet. “Thanks.”
Gerard made his way back over to the same booth at the back and Frank turned to Beth, high-fiving her before picking up a cloth to go clean up another table.
“That’ll bring in the dough” he grinned at his colleague.
“You just want them to have the best cake, you old softie.”
He couldn’t deny she was right. But in the back of his mind he was aware that they had to make sure Gary still saw this shift as worthwhile. Now that Frank had had a couple of days to think about it, he was more attached to the idea of time and a half than he thought. Gary had warned him it would probably be a bit slow for the first week or so, just while people were still finding out about the change in opening hours, and that it would pick up soon enough. He hoped this was the case.
It pleased him to already see the beginnings of regular customers; the frazzled redhead in the corner, the muscular laptop dude. Those were the people he needed to make sure his niche was still open. He and Beth had already made the executive decision to provide evening meals for anyone who wanted it. They would just assure the day workers that they’d clean the ovens when it was quiet later on and keep serving up fries and hot sandwiches until about 9-ish. No problem.
The bell above the door tinkled as someone opened it, and Frank was happy to see yet another regular here for the evening shift. He’d turned up the previous night looking a little dubious, but Frank had slyly noticed him scribbling an awful lot in that massive sketchbook of his, so he had obviously got at least some work done. The guy had chosen one of the booths for his seat the previous night, needing the extra table space to lay out his paper and materials.
“Third day in a row” Frank beamed at the guy in greeting. “Have we got you in the bag?”
The student laughed, perhaps a little more loudly than necessary. He had shaggy dark brown hair, not of a length to be described as full on ‘long hair’, but Frank was willing to lay a bet that it was the sort of hairstyle his older family members would bug him about cutting. He also had quite prominent sideburns, the sort that Frank was quite sure were going out of fashion, but managed to not look entirely ridiculous on the man. He dressed all in black, and wore clumpy boots that thudded on their wooden tiling.
“I think you might. Black coffee, please.”
“Oh, are you a student?” Frank asked redundantly, having forgotten the past two days. “If I scan your student card in you get 10% off.”
“Oh!” The guy’s eyes positively lit up, and the velcro of his wallet loudly scratched apart as he tore it open to search for the card in question. “Here.”
Frank checked over the details on the front before scanning the barcode on the back and ringing up the price change. He passed the card back before moving to pour the coffee.
“I figured you were SVA from the sketchbook” he smiled as he took the guy’s money – Gerard Way, it had said on the card, born the same year as him –and handed over the mug.
“Yeah, it’s a bit of a giveaway” Gerard smiled, tucking his card back into one of the slits in his wallet. “Thanks.”
Gerard made his way back over to the same booth at the back and Frank turned to Beth, high-fiving her before picking up a cloth to go clean up another table.