Haru has been practicing colored latte art in his free time for months now, and when the theme for the meeting was brought up, he told Kyoko about including it in their special menu. The owner agreed to it right away and even told him that they could permanently include it in their regular menu depending on the customers' feedback that day.
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Nana and Ayaka were already being interviewed on the second floor of Café Ai. The special interview would be featured in Ralmé's video channel and website, and it would also be included in a one page spread in their fashion and lifestyle magazines.
While the two were busy upstairs, the remaining baristas on the first floor were also busy as bees since most of the employees ordered food and coffee before the meeting commenced. The tasks were already divided, and Kyoko helped with the preparation of food, while Kiyoshi and Haru prepared the beverages.
Pastel pink colored ceramic cups with golden handles, tools, and food colorings were already readied on the counter. Haru folded the sleeves of his shirt before pouring one shot of espresso into the base of the cup. He then steamed the milk using the frother and put a foam of milk on top of the espresso shot. He started drawing a cherry blossom tree at the center of the cup, which took him around 10 minutes to finish.
All orders were served subsequently while the meeting was conducted, and when Sakura's coffee was served to her, a bright smile appeared on her face as she stared at the colored latte art. Haru saw Mei speaking to her, so most likely, she told Sakura that he was the one who created it since she glanced and beamed at him thereafter. Of course, he felt happy deep inside when he saw her delighted expression. He smiled at her and continued on with the remaining orders.
Generally, the responses were great based on Ralmé's employees' reactions. They especially checked Emi's reaction, and they were very pleased to see her loving her espresso macchiato alongside the chicken focaccia sandwich with honey mustard sauce.
As the meeting proceeded, some employees started to sneakily capture photos of the handsome baristas whenever the speaker in front was not looking. Haru and Kiyoshi, who had just finished cleaning up by then, didn't bother at all since they were used to their regular customers taking pictures of them.
"Sakura looks lovely today, isn't she?" Haru mentioned as he took a glimpse of Sakura who was listening intently in the meeting.
"She's always been lovely. What are you talking about?" Kiyoshi also glanced at the pink-haired lady and shifted his gaze to his girlfriend.
"It's prolly because of the theme, don't you think?"
"You know what?" there was a long pause before Kiyoshi spoke again, "Why not just admit that you found her lovely ever since the day you met?"
Kyoko suddenly approached the two and informed them that the ingredients and the other stuff they needed were already set.
"Yo, you don't look like the Kyoko I know," Kiyoshi smirked. "I thought you were a different person."
"Just want to let you know that you're not getting a bonus this month," Kyoko rolled her eyes at him, but still stood next to him.
"I also just want to let you know that you're doing a great job as the owner," he commented.
Kyoko cracked a big smile and slightly messed up his hair, "Fine, I'm taking back what I just said. You might get a bonus this year, but don't expect too much."
While the three quietly conversed, Kiyoshi noticed Haru stealing glances at Sakura, and the latter also did the same. It was supposed to be a furtive look, but they didn't know, he caught them in the act. He then remembered that Haru hasn't responded to his query since Kyoko came, so he thought of asking him later on.
An hour before lunch time, Nana and Ayaka took over Haru and Kiyoshi's positions after their interview, and relief was evident on their faces. The other baristas started taking the orders for lunch wherein they could choose from pasta and sandwiches. Almost every employee was looking forward to trying the dessert plate consisting of fluffy sakura chiffon cake, sakura cheesecake, sakura white chocolate & cheese mousse, and sakura jelly.
Meanwhile, on the second floor, Haru and Kiyoshi showed the interviewer, the photographers, the cameramen, and some of the staff their specialty drinks, and they all watched the charming baristas with their mouths agape.
Using aesthetic drinkware, Kiyoshi first made a cherry blossom jelly soda with sakura flower jellies. Then, he created a three color gradient flower lemonade with edible flower ice cubes by mixing lavender lemonade, lemonade, and strawberry lemonade. Following that was a red velvet blue milk tea, and lastly, the matcha tiramisu latte with mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, and vanilla sugar on top.
Haru, on the other hand, recreated a famous Japanese painting "The Great Wave off Kanagawa", and drew two colored latte arts with beautiful intricate designs of the storefront of Café Ai and a half body of a woman wearing a pink kimono holding a red oil paper wooden umbrella.
The staff of Ralmé waited for an hour before trying the artistic and floriated beverages set on a circular white table. They feasted their eyes on the stunning specialty drinks with a spring color palette of pale pink and blue and delicate red and green. They also enjoyed the delicious and mildly floral taste of each drink. With all the food and drinks they tried that day, they were truly impressed with the creations of the baristas of Café Ai.
Kiyoshi and Haru were interviewed following that, and they were asked basic questions such as how they started and how long they have been working as baristas. They revealed their favorite coffee drink, how they like it brewed, and the technique they like doing the most. Further, they talked about their coffee and food recommendations.
"I've heard that you two are the closest friends of the owner. Can you tell me more about how you came up with the name of the café?" the female interviewer, who was sitting across from them, inquired.
"Kyoko is actually a hopeless romantic, so we were just pitching in names related to it until Haru suggested 'Ai', which means love and affection, and we all agreed to it," Kiyoshi replied.
"I wonder why, Mr. Yagami?" she smiled at Haru.