Chapter Text
I'll just have to deal with it. Akari frowned as she scrubbed at her face. A new skincare regimen. Was that really essential? Whatever pays the bills, I guess.
She wasn't thrilled with the new job, but no-strings-attached wasn't Papa Louie's thing, and she knew she should have read the fine print. Even so, living rent-free in the second biggest city in the country was an offer no one in their right mind would pass up. So she'd deal with the job, even if it meant the stupid skincare routine and cameras following her as she worked.
The apartment was cute and decently sized. Even furnished. Why does Papa Louie want a documentary? Must be some... ego thing. She unloaded her suitcase, tentatively, not wanting to put things away until a few days had passed. The offer seemed too good to be true, and for Pete's sake, in the last restaurant Papa Louie'd opened, a scammer was offering a place for rent. Her old friend Koilee and her then-boyfriend, Carlo, had ended up stuck working for Papa L or risk being homeless.
On the topic of Koilee, they hadn't talked in a while- Akari used to frequent the ice cream shop where she worked, but since it shut down, they hadn't so much as passed each other on the street. Shame. Not only was Akari a sucker for the trademark gourmet deconstructed ice cream sandwich the Scooperia was so popular for, Koilee was fun to talk to. She used to work at the Sakura Bay Aquarium, and she had plenty of stories to tell about it. Akari made a mental note to check up on her sometime.
After she'd brushed her teeth and inspected the bed carefully for bedbugs or stains, Akari made sure the windows and doors were locked. Even if it was only about a half-hour ride away, New Pepperton was a considerable change from Tacodale, and home invasion was always a phobia of hers. She climbed into bed and hoped for sleep, trying to ignore the thousands of thoughts flitting around her head. They're like moths. How can I sleep with moths in my head? She groaned, turned over to her other side, and tried counting her breaths. Tomorrow is just training, she reassured herself, Training and meeting the film crew. Getting used to the area. Nervous thoughts sprang up at what was meant to be a calming run-through of the day, and she grimaced as she suppressed them with the volume of her counting. Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen...
Akari awoke to a horrible banging sound. The sun was already shining through the uncovered window, and her eyes stung and she fumbled with the alarm clock. It was large and heavy, clanking and shaking ferociously as Akari, still half asleep, struggled to turn it off. I didn't even set an alarm? Annoyed and slightly concerned at what was undoubtedly Papa Louie's way of insuring she got up on time, she got ready and headed downstairs.
She was greeted by Papa Louie, cheery as always. What is he on to make him so peppy? It's like six in the morning? He sat at a small table in the empty lobby of the shop, beside two people dressed in all black who, Akari was glad to see, looked just as tired as she felt.
"Hello, my dear, are you ready for your training?" Papa Louie's voice felt forced and insincere, like someone trying to engage an uninterested toddler.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Akari gave a small smile that was as insincere as Papa Louie's voice and sat down in the empty chair in front of the trio. In truth, she wasn't mad about the coffee shop job. She liked to cook, and drinks were fun, right? She'd be a good barista, but she was just on edge. The whole situation freaked her out a bit.
"This is Didar," Papa Louie gestured to the man on his left, "He will be the main cameraman for the duration of the documentary production," Didar gave a small wave and a tired smile. "And this is Simone, she will record audio."
Simone gestured to a boom mic leaning against the wall. "Hey."
Akari hoped it didn't show on her face, but Simone's voice surprised her. It was deep, and smooth like satin. Hell, she should be in front of the microphone with a voice like that, not behind it. Narrating audiobooks and stuff. Akari smiled at the two of them.
"I'm Akari," she said, awkwardly extending her hand to shake theirs. Papa Louie clapped his hands together.
"Okay, Akari, with me, to the kitchen. Didar and Simone, get the stuff ready to film." He ushered her swiftly through a door beside the counter, and into a small kitchen.
"First," said Papa Louie, "The milk and coffee." He pointed to a large orange machine, built into the wall. "Pour the coffee beans into this funnel here. Choose the size of the shot, it'll grind them. Here we do it in numbers, one, two, or three. Got it?"
"Yes. Got it."
"Good."
Akari couldn't help but notice his change in demeanor. She didn't mind it too much, it seemed more straightforward and professional, but it was odd. Who was he performing for out there?
"I'll demonstrate. You pick your coffee..." On the shelf right above the machine were two jugs of milk and two bags of coffee beans. He grabbed the bag labeled City Roast and poured some into the funnel. "It's a touch screen," he noted, tapping the 3 button, "That'll grind the beans."
It sure did. "After they're ground, you need to tamp them. This is how you do it right." He demonstrated the tamping and asked Akari to try. She wasn't great at it.
"You'll get it in time, I promise. When you're done with that, just put it on the brewer and it'll do its thing. No need to worry about overdoing it or anything." Akari nodded, and gulped. It wasn't that complicated, but the way Papa Louie explained it made it quite overwhelming.
"Onto the milk. Just take a jug-" he grabbed the one labeled Strawberry and unscrewed the lid, "Pour it into the cup. There's markings on the side, one, two, three, just like the coffee." He poured to the third line. "Then put it in the frother, and make sure you set it to heat if the customer wants that. They won't always. Oh, and you have to watch this one. Don't let it froth too long, the customers won't like that."
"Yes. Okay." Milk, one to three shots, hot or cold, watch the frothing. Coffee, one to three shots, tamp it, don't need to watch it.
"While we wait for that to finish, let's make a cannoli, okay?" He led her to another spot on the counter, where premade cannoli shells were stacked in a container, alongside hulking bags of whipped cream and shakers full of toppings.
"Take a shell, and you pipe on each side. Boom, boom." He wielded the whipped cream bag with ease, and gracefully piped a dollop of whipped cream into each end of the cannoli. "Then add the toppings... aaaand done." He shook the jar of cocoa powder onto each side of whipped cream, and set the cannoli on a small plate he seemingly whipped from nowhere. Looking closer, the plates were stacked right next to the cannoli, but still, it confirmed for Akari that she would never be as good as Papa Louie was now, and she honestly felt quite intimidated.
They finished the rest of the walkthrough- don't pour too fast, add syrups and powders in order, ice is last, whipped cream in the center, toppings poured evenly- and were about to leave the kitchen when Papa Louie asked, "Any questions?"
"Yes, actually, if you don't mind me asking- where's the rest of the ingredients? I don't mean to be rude but-"
"Oh, don't worry, they'll show up. Now, you don't need me here anymore. I'll leave you to talk to the film crew. Tomorrow you'll have your first customer! No worries though, she knows you're a trainee and won't be too hard on you."
"Who is it?"
"Ah, a good friend of mine. Janana, do you know her?"
Did she. Janana was as sickly sweet as the fruit she adored, and just as spoiled as it had to be to get there. She was the kind of person that Akari was ashamed to share a favorite fruit with. But she could understand why Papa Louie was her friend, they both had the same fake cheery personality. At least Papa Louie didn't smell of banana-scented perfume- there's liking something, and then there's Janana.
"Lovely, thank you."
Papa Louie left, and Akari rejoined Didar and Simone, who were back at the table, their cameras and microphones blinked with lights to show they were on.
"Are you filming me already?" Akari asked, caught off guard. She became conscious of her glum expression and the whipped cream on her apron, and moved her hand over the spot.
"No, not yet," Simone mused. She chuckled at Akari's flustered-ness, and Akari blushed.
"Oh, good. Ha." Akari forced a laugh and sat down, "Sorry, I'm sorta out of sorts. This wasn't what I was expecting."
"I get it, I wasn't quite expecting this either." Simone sighed, and Didar let out a surprised exclamation.
"Out of battery? Already? Good lord..." He got up from the table and went into the backroom.
"So, how'd you get this job? Papa Louie hunt you down?"
"Nah, not really. I'd been interested in audio work for a while, I want to do voice acting eventually, but-"
"You have the voice for it," Akari interrupted.
"Really? Thanks," Simone smiled, "But this was my best bet right now. Working in the industry is better than nothing, right?"
"Right."
"So, Akari, what do you like to do."
"Motorcycles. Um, I like to ride my motorcycle. I do races and stuff."
"Nice. What brings you here?"
"I like the city, I needed money... I love to race, but it doesn't really pay well, and, well..."
"The free rent?"
"The free rent." Akari laughed.
"Well, nice meeting you, but I should probably go and help Didar."
"Yeah."
"Excited to work with you."
"Same." Akari took a deep breath. "Could I have your number?"
"I mean, if we're gonna be working together, you'll need it, yeah. But I'm not interested in dating anyone, if that's what you mean. Not my thing."
"No, no of course not." Akari knew she must be bright red, and lying through her teeth wasn't going to do anything, but anything to spare the embarrassment she felt. A stupid question, really, besides, they'd had one conversation. Can't fall in love with every pretty girl I meet, no matter how lovely their voice... god, why'd I do that?
Simone looked sympathetic and jotted down her phone number on a piece of paper.
"There, mine, and Didar's too. See you later?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
Simone waved as she walked to the backroom, and Akari waved back weakly, got up, and headed back upstairs.
Off to a great start.