Chapter Text
Chapter nine
Veterans’s pov
All the veterans charge into the room pushing and shoving to try and get the best seats. Seniority doesn’t exits in the room right now. Someone opens the bags of popcorn and pours it into bowls and someone else puts the energy drinks on the table. Everyone makes their way over to the whiteboard sitting at the back of the room discussing various options for the bets. The captains taking everyone’s money and writes down the bets. Several people bet Jack will lose his patience first after the face he pulled having to wash cars, everyone agrees Orion will be the last man standing when it comes to patience. Most people bet Orion will be the best at making the orders simply because he’s gay and gay people know coffee. Everyone bets Orion will be the first to realise somethings up as he’s an observant player. Eventually one of the coach’s connects the surveillance cameras and a loud whoop echoes around the room and everyone zones in on the screen.
Orion’s pov
Where standing In the devils cafe and the mangers standing there with yet another sadistic smile placed firmly on his face.
Great
Just great Looking at the chairs on the tables It’s pretty obvious what today mission will be. Cleaning
Manger: right this is our cafe today you lucky gits will be helping out. Orion you will be taking inventory Jack you will be washing the machines David washing the floors and the rest of you will be doing the morning routine. Don’t worry you’ll get instructions.
Oh thank god at least there not just throwing us into the deep end, well not completely. We all split off to work. I force myself not to laugh as I pass Jack who’s glaring confused at the coffee machine then back at the instruction then he nods his head once confidently and throws the instructions onto the bench beside him and starts to work looking completely calm
Rookie mistake
I make sure to keep an ear open for when that inevitably turns into a disaster. I reach the back push the door open and
immediately panic
it’s a mess
Shelves everywhere I quickly look down at the instructions
my instruction make no sense.
No come on Orion. I slowly walk around the kitchen trying to think logically. No it makes sense it’s just because Ive never been in a kitchen like this before. I walk down several isle trying to figure out my map
There is no system no reasoning no
no logic
I take a deep breath forcing myself to calm down
I stare at the list and then back at the shelves I don’t even understand what half the ingredients are.
Yes that’s the problem I don’t understand the ingredient. I look at the names forcing myself to try and figure it out. I sigh deeply and start walking around hoping they will eventually make sense. They don’t. I have walked around the place twice ‘calmly’ flicking through my instruction I have turned them upside down left and right and they still make no sense they do seem to be in some sorta code but not one I recognise. I’m standing in front of what should be ten crates og coco beans which is in fact two fridges
Okay think. The instructions must be old. Or dodgy
Maybe… no I’m thinking about it like a hockey player this is the staffs arena, where the baristas, chefs and waitress have domain not hockey players. They wouldn’t use hockey player logic. This is their domain so I need to use their logic. I walk back to the double doors and take a deep breath and close my eyes. Right
Logic. Milk and diary and things like that would need to be in the fridge so if I find the fridge it could give me a hint on how to understand this map. I walk to where the map says the fridge should be, it isn’t there. Of course so I keep walking tracing where I’m going on the map and eventually I bump into the fridge. Then I walk back to where they’re supposed to be.
I turn back and forwards twice. Okay. It’s a riddle it has to be
I counted the shelves. Four shelves over
Interesting
Then I pick another object that’s supposed to be on the other side of the room and go to where it’s supposed to be and follow the same direction I just had and find where it’s actually located
Four shelves over. Ahah. That’s it
Veterans pov
Nico: can we bet on jack breaking the machine
Coach: no bets have been stopped several loud boos
Nico smirking at Orion after figuring out the code: Clapping loudly that’s my Rio. Dam kid that was fast.
Veteran 2: whispering who moved the shelves
Veteran 3. No idea
Veteran: no idea must have been Nico
Orion’s pov:
I grin widely looking at the map. Unfortunately. I don’t have long to celebrate as I hear a loud bang coming from the front desk. I quickly rush back to the front and come face to face with a soaking wet jack
Again
And a whole load of well… a mixture of stuff coating the floor. The machines on its side and making angry hissing noises. The instructions are coated in…well presumably coffee. Ironic. The glass cup thing is half way across the floor but not shattered.
That’s something at least
I force myself not to laugh and immediately lose the minute jack glares at me.
Then someone coughs a loud deliberate cough we both turn slowly towards the sound
A women
A women is standing in front of us tapping her long finger nails impatiently on the desk in front of us I shrug and force on a warm smile
Orion: hi miss what can I get for you
Women: about time I’ve been standing here for twenty minutes I have other things to do today you know
We’ve only been open ten minutes at the most
I make sure to keep my smile warm and the confusion out of my voice Jack makes an slightly unimpressed sound
O: I’m really sorry Mrs but I think the coffe machines broke
Women: so fix it I want my ice caramel latte and I expect it to be free for the inconvenience
O: eem unfortunately we are unabl..
J: gestures to the machine its broke
O: we are are currently having a technical problem and we are unab..
Women: she glares at me I want my coffee it’s not my fault your staff are incompetent
I can see Jack pasting on a smile and leaning forwards casually
J: I’m sorry mrs but we are unable to provide you with your coffee today but just for you I can get you a croissant
The lady smiles slightl, jacks charm seems to work.
Another man walks in takes two handfuls of the milk packets, then he decides to help himself to the sauce and spills sauce all over the table he turns around and yells at us about the music. I see Jack looking annoyed I gently pull on his arm and shake my head it’s not worth it. The man leaves. I start looking around for a dish cloth.
Then three young children come charging through the doors literally shaking them. There all yelling at the top of their voices demanding different things and then changing their minds seconds later their mum calmly walks over still on the phone and starts ordering without looking up from her phone. The children’s voices are overlapping and their charging around almost colliding with tables. I feel myself opening my mouth to get them to stop before they run into something and get hurt I want to ask them to sit down and be careful. I realise to late that the children’s mums already started talking. I quickly focus on her trying to read her lips and looking at the menu trying to quickly piece it together it’s difficult thought as there to many factors, why on earth are there so many different types of coffee. What happened to just adding sugar and milk. I hear Jack let out a triumphant sound as he passes me a note pad with a big smile. Well this is something at least. I note down the order best i can, making a few assumptions and making sure to focus solely on the women and not the children, who are still yelling and running faster. I read it back to her focusing carefully to make sure I get it right. Jack somehow got the coffee machine to work, although it’s still making angry hissing noises.
I see Jack run his hands together and confidently approach the coffee machine I carry on looking for the dish cloth, apparently we were going to need it. Then of course several other people come in and all tried to order all at once I politely asked them to que and focused on taking orders, every single one of them wanted a different type of milk or something added or taking of their drink order or a specific measurement of whatever.
I shoot David a smile as he cleaned up after the man before. Eventually jack and I found a weird but effective Rhythm I took the orders, Jack made the drinks David cleaned up. It wasn’t easy and for everything that right three things went wrong. Jack looked like he was plotting how to jump over the counter at one point to murder a women who didn’t want ice then complained she didn’t have ice, then complained we haven’t used oat milk (she hadn’t asked) then whined about the prices and demanded the drink free. I honestly didn’t want to stop jack from jumping over the desk at that point but I had to. Eventually after several awful customers it clicked (and totally not because I recognised several players kids and wives, or the fact that the building was supposed to be closed to the public considering it was the of season) this was another rookie test. It must be testing our resilience and patience and how we handle stress and the customers, as in the media. I whispered my theory to jack and we both looked at the security camera Jack looked annoyed and I pulled a stupid face at the camera making jack smile he then pulled one two. Time ticked on. I finally got the hang of inventory and was dashing between that and the front.
Slowly
Extremely slowly
The machine broke again.
We ran out of ice
I couldn’t figure out the coffee machine
A women demanded a new drink for free after spilling it trying to take pictures
and many many other things
Eventually our shift ended. My bones ached, I had a piercing headache and I both couldn’t feel my feet and they felt like they were on fire. Jack collapsed on the floor and I sat down next to him we glanced at each other and then burst out laughing with pure exhaustion. Jack copied one of the women’s orders and snooty attitude, we couldn’t stop laughing and the time my chest aches pleasantly from laughing.
Veterans pov
Nico: I think we can all agree Orion a great stabiliser and very observant
Veteran one: So jack totally lost his patience
Veteran two: no he didn’t he charmed his way through the whole thing
Veteran one: he totally wanted to jump the table at Steve’s wife
Veteran three: the drink delicious by the way
General chaos