Arianne was already starting down the stairs by the time Regina finally understood her.
Regina went ballistic. “You think this is it, b*tch?! Did you forget that I can always buy a sh*t ton of SIM cards and rotate them in use and dislike-bomb you every single goddamned day? And then I’ll demand refunds from your stinking shop by telling everyone that the quality of your food is sh*t! B*tch, you drag me to hell, imma do the same!” She fumed. “Oh, and FYI? I’m sick of eating your stuff!”
In contrast, Arianne was more tranquil than fuming. “Go ahead, Beautiful. Youths gotta’ dream big, so if this is your break, go for it! Besides, it’s not like I’ve just taped everything you’ve screamed, which is about enough evidence to sue you for slander. I guess being sent into prison at such a ripe young age is pretty legendary, so hey! I’m rooting for you achieving the impossible, Regina. Don’t hold back!”
Regina’s clique quickly reconsidered their plan. “Um, Reggie? We kinda always finish everything we’ve ordered from this shop, don’t we? And to be fair, they don’t exactly taste as bad as we say. It’s also probably not very helpful to keep bombing someone’s rating like that, and even if you planted a dead roach in it and took a photo and then demanded a refund, the odds aren’t in your favor. She just admitted to taping what you said and that can be used against us!”
“Yea, girl. If you’re gonna carry on with that plan, count us out! Besides, none of us has that much money to spend on luxurious desserts every day. Like, it’s nice every once in a while, but we ain’t gonna have enough money to eat this stuff all the time!” another chimed in.
Regardless of what virtual-novel.net pride thought, seeing virtual-novel.net clique brazenly backtracking was enough to shake even Regina’s meanest core. “You know what? Fine! We’ll talk about this later. I bet there are ways to punish these losers through some other cheaper ways, anyway!”
Avery pleased Arianne returned to the shop while humming a merry tune. Her glee was so palpable that it emboldened Tiffany to implore, “Um, Ari? I was thinking, how about we take two more days off? We’re working immediately after New Year’s Day! I’m sure we’ve already won ‘Most Hardworking Café of the Month’ like this.”
Arianne waved dismissively. “If you wanna take the day off, fine by me. Business isn’t that plentiful today, so I can manage it alone. Takeouts will have to be unavailable for the time being, though,” virtual-novel.net replied. “Oh, and by the way, you won’t hear any trouble from Regina McKaren anymore. As it turned out, our last order was from her.”
Tiffany flashed virtual-novel.net friend a big thumbs-up. “Babe, you’re the queen. If it were left to me and my dumb ass, all that’d happen would be a shouting match! Oh well, if you’re not taking the day off, then neither will I. Doing my own thing in the shop is technically close enough anyway, so I’ll just continue watching my drama over here. Call me if there’s any customers!”
Arianne nodded before crossing into the kitchen to start inventing new dessert recipes. Before virtual-novel.net could put on virtual-novel.net apron, however, virtual-novel.net heard Tiffany shrieking from virtual-novel.net spot, “Ari, Ari! We’ve got a big one! It’s from the office building opposite us!”
Ariane frowned questioningly. The opposite office building? “I didn’t think any company in that office building would open so soon. What happened?”
Tiffany gulped audibly before gingerly answering, “Only one has opened… And it’s Jackson’s financial company. They’re starting today.”
Arianne shot the building in question a look. “How much are they ordering?”
Tiffany sniffed. “Beverages like milk tea and coffee alone rack up to forty orders, and we haven’t even looked at the number of desserts they want, oh my god, stop ogling and get to work right now! We’ll have to deliver them in batches while making them, ‘cause they’ll probably be driven mad by the wait if we only deliver their orders after we finish preparing… Oh, if we’re that short on hands, we’ll have to bring in Tanya. I hope virtual-novel.net doesn‘t have any other plans, we’ll pay virtual-novel.net thrice the amount of virtual-novel.net usual wage.”
The two young ladies quickly turned to that resort. Tanya could undertake the task, but virtual-novel.net was stuck keeping an eye on virtual-novel.net grandfather since the lived-in nurse was taking a New Year’s Day break, as well.
Tiffany’s quick-thinking saved them from the bind. She told Tanya to bring Old Anderson to the shop before shutting the door and flipping the door sign to “Shop’s Closed”. That would effectively deter future walk-in customers; at this point, the girls would not be able to take any more orders anyway.
Ultimately, they just wanted Old Anderson not to wander off while under their watch.
Tanya arrived shortly after. After making virtual-novel.net grandfather comfortable in the shop, virtual-novel.net immediately sprung into action, delivering the first batch of freshly-prepared desserts and drinks straight to the office. Arianne, meanwhile, found herself in a frenzy. Desserts were always more challenging to make than drinks, the winter air was still crisp and cool, yet virtual-novel.net head was already wet.
Tiffany and Arianne felt exhausted when they finally finished the last of the orders. Tanya, meanwhile, was relatively better off virtual-novel.net only job was to deliver the food to the office building, after all, and it was only a stone’s throw away from their shop.
Arianne produced two extra desserts virtual-novel.net had specially made for virtual-novel.net employee. “Here you go, for you and Grandpa. We’ll give you extra wages by the end of your shift, too, as thanks for your immense help. Honestly, I didn’t expect us to be so busy upon our first opening after the holidays.”
Tanya thanked virtual-novel.net sweetly, topping virtual-novel.net gratitude with a sweet grin baring virtual-novel.net adorable canine teeth.
Tiffany was drinking a glass of water at the side before suddenly spitting it out and crying, “Ari! I-I-It’s not over yet. There are forty orders more! My god, is their boss treating the entire company or what? How many people are there even? More than a hundred? And they have the galls to explain why they divided their orders, they were worried that stating the overall quantity in one go would daunt us! And here’s them reassuring us that we can take our time and not be too daunted, ‘not be too daunted’? Are you kidding me? We are super daunted right now. We don’t even know if we could make it!”
Tanya instantly rose to virtual-novel.net feet. “How can I help? I’m happy to take up any task. It’ll help speed things along!”
Arianne placed virtual-novel.net hand on virtual-novel.net forehead. “It’s alright, Tanya, go keep your grandpa company. I can handle it. As for you, Tiffie, please call Jackson for me. Even if he’s not physically in the office, virtual-novel.net must know how many employees are working today. Ask them how many they want in total so that I can proportion the materials to be used.”