Chereads / The Little Café down by the Willow / Chapter 9 - Gossip & Understanding

Chapter 9 - Gossip & Understanding

It'd close to the end of fall now and it's beginning to get a lot colder with each passing day. My time spent looking for new hires seemed to be in vain but with the reputation that my Little Cafe down by the Willow has become something of the town place to escape. Life can be hectic and I give my hometown something or a place to unwind and enjoy a good cup of coffee or a calming cup of hot or cold tea. This was even true for me, on my days when it's slow I drink some of my own tea and I remember the days when I felt my happiest.

I always went back to the memories where I see only Amy and the fun we had down by the river or on the lake up north. Her Grandpa used to take us up there in spring when school broke out for a break. We spent the whole week camping and making fires near that big ole lake, we used to fish near the shore watching the wildlife run around. You could see the stupid look on my face with how I was smiling, even some of the regulars that came around noon saw me.

"Mr. Hall are you ok, you seem to be having weird thoughts with the way you're smiling there." The one older man said to me and I just told him, "I'm just thinking about old memories sorry if I disturbed you a bit." I looked back to my drink then I saw him get up and walk towards me, he sat next to me on my right. I was sitting at my favorite spot on the counter when he put his hand on my right shoulder. "Kid it's good to bring those memories up but don't dwell on them even if they bring a smile across your face."

When he told me that I saw James and a young girl were heading in my direction, the girl was a bit younger than James but she adult deminer. She looked professional with the way she was dressed and James had a smile on his face. "Sir this is Candice Ford, she just graduated from college and her family owned that restaurant in town you know that Pizza Italian place near the school. She's here to apply for the front-of-house position you posted about four months ago."

James handed me the resume, I saw her parents wanted her to work to learn how to be a host first. I looked at the woman and said, "I'm not much of an interviewer, but I can tell when someone is not going to live up to expectations. Tell me, why did you choose to apply with me, this place might seem small and calm but that's not always the case." Candice looked at me then she spoke up, "I choose this place because I hear you've been gaining a reputation for being the best Cafe in the county. With the times it might get busy that might be a good experience for me in the long run, I would rather work with my Family but this was my second choice."

I raised my eyebrow when she said, "Second choice" and she explained to me better why " I can't join my family because they have too many employees for me to join them. My father told me to join this Cafe if I wanted to be in a similar place, so that's why I call this place my second choice. It's not because you're not worse just not the first place I want to work. I'd rather be the one drinking the tea than try to make it."

I smiled then I looked at the teapot that I pouring my drinks from, I leaned over the counter and grabbed a cup from the other side. I poured her a cup and gave it to her, "I see then, maybe I can teach you what you need to learn, but I have a couple of conditions if you want the host job." She looked at me, then I told her, "You need to respect your fellow coworkers and be kind to everyone who walks in no matter what your beliefs are in life." Candice just smiled at me and held out her hand to shake mine. James then took her to the back and showed her the whole Cafe and a tour of the outside.

I sat at the seat on the corner of the counter looking at the picture of my Grandparents from when they first built the Cafe. I took it off the fall and saw the Cafe has been the same since the photo was taken, the date on the picture read March 15th, 1982. Maybe when I get more employees I'm going to update and build something to add to this legacy. Just when I put up the photo I heard a footstep behind me.

There stood a young man about Mary's age and he was thin like he never worked out in his life. "Sir, I saw this wanted ad in the paper I was wondering if you're still looking for people?" He asked me in a weird feminine voice. I turned fully to him and I asked, "I'm the owner of this place and yes, we are looking for a couple of extra people to help out around here. Also, how did you know to ask me about this job, I'm not that recognizable since I never leave the Cafe during the days it's open."

The guy smiled and said back, "Sir, you're more famous than you realize, everyone in town knows you. With your delicious food and very satisfying drinks, you are probably the most important establishment in the area. I ask to join to learn from you and I hear you're understanding and you don't have a problem with people from all backgrounds." I then noticed how he said in the last part, that he might be gay and from how he said, "I don't have problems with people from types of backgrounds." I put together that he might have had a hard time finding employment because of that.

"Well, what can you bring to the Cafe that we don't already have?" I said to him and he smiled at me and told me, "I can clean like no other and I'm pretty good at making fancy Coffee if that's needed. Though the most valuable skill I have is his work ethic, I use to work on this farm down south till I was cast out for my sexuality." I looked over to James and he was just coming into the Cafe, I knew he was going to welcome this guy no matter what. "I don't have a problem hiring you but you need to follow two rules in this Cafe," I said to him and he looked at me confused about what the rules were.

"Respect your fellow coworkers and you must be kind to our Customers no matter what happens, if anyone tries to give you issues let me or James know." The guy held out his hand and I shook it and he introduced himself to me after he realized that he hadn't done that yet. "My name is Tony and it's a pleasure to get a chance to work for you, Sir." I smiled and I had James take him after I took James to the side, "James you've been a hard worker for the last few months so I want to appoint you as the Manager of the Cafe. I hope this doesn't bother you, I also will be making your sister the assistant mg just in case we have off when she doesn't."

We talked about that for a moment then when he took Tony for his own tour of the Cafe, I told Mary about her new role and she was hesitant at first but when she thought about it she loved the idea. "Mary I wouldn't select you both for these big roles if I knew you couldn't handle it," I said to her, and she thanked me for the opportunity.

I went to the front of the Cafe outside to see what I could do to update it, I saw there used to be an outside seating area but since the weather changes fast it was abandoned. "Maybe you should bring up this area so more people can sit out here in the warmer seasons?" I heard a female voice behind me, there stood this tall curvy brown skin woman with deep red-dyed hair looking right at me. She was stunning and her skin in the sun looked even dark when she took a step back, "You might be right miss, oh by the way I am Jacob, I'm the owner of this little Cafe." I said to her holding out my hand for her to shake, she looked at me crossed her arms then said back to me.

"You look a lot taller than I was expecting, and your fit body doesn't really scream Cafe owner or whatever they're called. You seem like a fitness coach or work out for a living," She was rambling on about what, I have no idea then she stopped as remembered why she was here at my Cafe. "Oh, Mr. Hall I am here looking for a good part-time job, I model in the summer but I have nothing to do when the cold winters hit." I looked at her then I said to her, "Miss, we need people here to be and work, I will hire you when you are here and not out there mentally. My customers are like family and we provided a service that seems as of late more important than I thought. Could you do that and follow my two rules of the Cafe for the employees?"

She glared at me and then asked me, "So, what are the rules of the Cafe, are they something dumb or is it something to with how the area is?" I turned from her after seeing Tony getting to work whipping down the tables. "Here the two rules that I've established are, one, you respect your, coworkers because they come from very different backgrounds. The other one is directed to the Customers, be kind to everyone who comes into the Cafe no matter what. If you are dealing with a disrespectful customer you can call me or my Manager James. Would that be a problem, if not you can go find a different place to work during your off times?"

She stood there for a moment looking right into my eyes then I took her into the Cafe itself. She took a look around and saw how old-school it was, "My name is Sara by the way I don't believe I introduced myself properly, I was just testing to see what kind of person you were dealing with a person who might have acted like how I just did outside. I am semi-retiring from modeling and I wanted to keep myself busy. My old friend told me of this peaceful Cafe on edge of Easton and its new owner is a respectful young man. I see now that reputation is true, but that could be a front, I would love it if you'd let me work for you." She held out her hand to me and a smile crept over my face, I shook her hand and welcomed her to my Cafe.

After months of not finding people to fill the roles I needed them to, I found my three all in one day, the question though how am going to schedule days off for everyone? I went to James right before we closed at 2:00 and I had him set up a schedule for everyone, and I told everyone after seeing it. "We will be closed every fourth Friday of the month and every major holiday that's including if you're from a different religion. Everyone looked at each other after reviewing the schedule and loved it, since the Cafe wasn't open that long during the day it wasn't a problem.

We all left that day leaving the old days of the Cafe and heading towards a new adventure with my new employees and new seasons.