February 2005...
Amanda made her way towards her car, before getting in. Now that she was a alone, she felt a different kind of nervousness, she felt a bit pressured and stressed out, she felt as though this was her last opportunity to get a source of money.
With a heavy head, she took a deep breath before repeating a few words in her head, 'calm down, everything's going to be okay', she said to herself a few times before finally starting the car.
The car engine roared for a while before Amanda began to drive. Amanda had the address from the business card in her purse, so she knew the way there. The road to the Café was a bit far compared to what she expected but she managed to get there on time.
The Cafe looked a lot different from what she saw on social media. It was a bit of a big building that had a big sign on top of it saying, A Slice Of Heaven Café. At the entrance, you'd see a few tables and chairs arranged vertically which lead to the actual building.
Amanda took a deep breath before making her way towards the building . Her heart beating hard in her chest with each step she took. She felt like she was re-living her first day of work in Bentley Bakery. She still remembers how nervous she felt , but everything turned out fine.
As she walked past all the costumers sitting and enjoying themselves, she couldn't help feeling a little awkward and out of place, like an ordinary girl walking into a ballroom filled with royals and important people.
As she stepped inside the building, her eyes widened with awe. The place looked bigger on the inside than on the outside. The tables were scattered in a zigzag pattern pattern vertically across the room leaving a pathway for people to walk through. And just like outside, the inside was also packed with people leaving only about two tables open and there was quite a line inside with people scattered around the pathway. The walls of the Café were a mix of red and white with drawings on the wall of people drinking tea, flowers and a few splashes of red paint here and there. The outside was a plain cream and pink so someone who just came there for the first time will be shocked by how big and beautiful it was.
Amanda was still standing by the entrance, staring at the place when she feels a slight tap on her shoulder. She turned a bit abruptly before spotting a young lady of about 30 something of average height standing next to her, smiling warmly. She was a bit dark in complexion with her hair curly brown hair tied up in a bun. The lady wore a suit with a tag on her shirt with the words, 'Anne Jerman' and underneath were the word's, 'Secretary', written in bold letters so by that, Amanda could guess the woman's name.
"Good morning and welcome to A Slice Of Heaven Café , you must be Amanda Hilton right?" Anne said, warmly.
"Uhm,yes. I got a job offer here a few weeks ago".
"Oh yes, welcome in". Anne said as she lead Amanda to a door by the counter with the words, 'Staff Only' written in bold letters . The door lead to the kitchen, well not technically a kitchen just the place where they make the pastries and coffee." Our old pastry chef moved to another state so he resigned. We needed someone to fill in for him and when we saw a newspaper review on your baking, we decided to give you a try". Anne said as she showed Amanda around the kitchen, where all the ingredients were kept and all the rules that should be strictly adhered to.
The kitchen had a demacation dividing where the pastries are made and where the coffee is made." This is Maya and Jacob, they are also pastry chefs but aren't baking. Maya is incharge of the desserts consisting of cream like ice cream , milkshakes, hot chocolate and so on. Jacob over here is involved with the desserts that you fry, like churros, onion rings and so on. I'll give you guys some time to to introduce yourselves ". Anne said before leaving the kitchen.
"You must be Amanda right?" Mary said with an unsure look on her face. Mary was slim and fair with long straight black hair almost reaching her waist. She has big brown eyes and small pink lips. In other words, she was beautiful and looked like one of those teen models on magazines. Amanda wasn't sure, but it looked like Mary was a few years younger than her, maybe even a college student.
Jacob on the other hand was tall, taller than Mary and maybe even taller than her. He was slim and had curly brown hair, just like Anne. He also had hazel brown eyes and light brown skin. Somehow, it looked like the both of them were a lot younger than Amanda, but what Amanda noticed was that the both of them were a lot younger than Amanda, but what Amanda noticed was that the both of them wore uniforms with their name tag on their shirts. Their uniform was basically a white t-shirt with the cafés logo on it, which was basically the silhouette of a girl drinking hot coffee. The both of them also wore black jeans with a black apron tied around their waists.
"Yeah". Amanda said after a moment of silence, and without hesitation, she continued. "How old are the two of you?" Amanda asked out of curiosity.
Mary smiled before replying, "Well, I'm 22 years old and I've been working here for a few months, I think 5 months, I'm not sure. I'm not sure about him, he's been working here before I came". It didn't really come as a surprise to Amanda because she partially expected it.
"I'm actually 24 years old, and, she's right, I've actually been working here for about 8 months". Jacob said, not long after Mary spoke.
Amanda looked around the place for a while before finally speaking, "This place... it's beautiful".
"That's why it's the number one café in the US". Mary said abruptly.
"If you have any questions you could ask us". Jacob said .
Amanda stopped looking around the place and turned to look at them before walking over to were the oven was. She looked at it for a while before turning back to look at them, "When do we actually start making the pastries?" Amanda asked out of the blue.
"When someone orders for a pastry, we receive a note stating the order from this space. The people making the coffee are the ones who give us the note". Mary said, pointing towards a little slot right until of the counter.
"So what do we do during the meantime?" Amanda asked.
"Actually, we don't have much of free time these days, people usually order pastries with their coffee ". Jacob was the one who spoke.
Almost immediately, someone pit a note through the slot and left, just to come back with another note. The notes kept increasing until it reached 7orders.
"See, there's not much of 'free time' ". Jacob said before rushing to the counter to get the notes. " One churro for table 6. Two strawberry milkshakes for table 2. Two cupcakes for table 10. Two donuts for table 9. One vanilla ice-cream for table 4. Two tarts for table 3 and lastly, Two onion rings for table 5. Jacob read aloud before rushing to the counter. Amanda was stunned at first but shook off that feeling and decided to get to work.
After finishing up her first order, shr kept the plate on the counter, before saying," How do we give the orders to the customers?.
"Oh, you just ring the little bell there, like this". Mary said as she demonstrated how it's done to Amanda. Almost immediately, a guy wearing a different uniform walked into the kitchen. Amanda gave him the plate with the cupcakes and he walked away, without saying a word.
"Who is that guy, and why is he wearing a different uniform?" Amanda asked, after the guy left the room.
"His name is Ryan, he's one of the few waiters here. There are actually 4 of them, 2 for pastries and 2 for coffee". Mary said before continuing her work.
"So when do I get my uniform?" Amanda asked while rolling the dough with the rolling pin.
" You'll have to discuss that with Anne, she'll probably give you by tomorrow or so". Mary said while mixing the ice cream.
After a long while of working, it was finally Lunch break. Amanda, Mary and Jacob sat down for a while to eat...