Liona looked back at Erik who seemed shocked and out of it as Jack was escorted out of the building. She decided that she would fill him in on what just happened, "So I've told my aunt before that the manager here was giving my friends and I the creeps. Then there's also the fact that I've been told by a few of my classmates that he was acting creepy toward them in the past and wanted to know if my dad could do anything about it. So, I told my auntie that the next time I came here that I would inform her and keep her in the loop from the eye of a customer. This way he would act normally, rather than if she had come here and seen the guy on his best behavior. I just didn't expect him to be quite this scummy. Auntie Yui is my dad's best worker so of course he sent her here while he's swamped with other work matters."
Erik just seemed to be taking it all in. His shocked expression didn't change much, except for the fact that his stomach grumbled loudly again as the manager Jack was escorted outside to a waiting detainment vehicle. The fellow students from her school all seemed to be whispering in hushed voices, while her siblings were just acting like nothing had happened and were chatting at their table.
"Goodness me! What a gurgle! Let me jump on the grill and get you something to eat, Mr. Norman! I can't let my best employee go around with a grumbly tummy! I'd be ashamed to call myself your boss if that were the case! Come now, and tell me what you want to eat, and I'll fix it right up!" Liona watched as her aunt took off her suit jacket and started to roll up her blouse sleeves.
"What?! You can work the grill?!" Erik sounded astonished.
Aunt Hannah just laughed. "Goodness me! Of course I can! I didn't become a CEO overnight you know! I worked my ass off when I was just a kid your age! I started out in my parent's coffee shop and worked my way through college, experiencing all that I could as I worked toward my goal. Eventually I started out by buying my parents' coffee shop from them and managed that for a few years before I had enough capital to expand the business. I then opened up that small drive through coffee shop near the school I attended as a girl and saw that become successful. I know all the ins-and-outs of any business I run, if I didn't, I wouldn't be where I am today!"
"Auntie Hannah is a good cook! She also bakes the best coffee desserts in the world!" Liona grinned.
"I learned from the best after all!" Auntie laughed again as she headed to the back of the restaurant.
"Wow!" Was all Erik seemed to manage to say.
"Hey! The sooner you tell me what you want to eat, the sooner I can get it made and help the rest of these poor guys back here get everyone else's orders made! These two are swamped with the flood of orders and I'm now down a manager!" Aunt Hannah encouraged lightheartedly.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I thought I was fired! I should be on the job right now! Let me get my hands washed and I'll jump back in to do my work properly!" Erik seemed to panic as he realized that he was just standing around doing nothing while his former boss's boss was doing his job for him.
"Hey! Not until you get something in that tummy of yours! I won't have any of my employees fainting from hunger. You're a growing boy, you need your strength!" Auntie insisted.
"Oh… Well…" Erik seemed to hesitate. "Then just a Junior Cluck and a small fry…" Erik seemed to choose the cheapest option on the menu like he was trying to be considerate.
"Hey Auntie! Upgrade that to the Deluxe Cluck, a large fry, and large drink with a side of your famous apple tart for him, would you?" Liona couldn't bear to see him eat the cheapest kids' menu meal.
This kind of meal was a pathetic little chicken burger and fries, meant for tiny appetites, nowhere near what a guy his age should be eating. She was starting to wonder a little about his eating habits. She had only seen him eat a tiny burger before while he was at work here, and after that he had seemed to be constantly hungry every time she saw him. Was he getting enough to eat? Were his three jobs enough to feed him? Was his mom really mean and taking his money to feed her other kids? She was kind of worried and wondered about him and if he had problems eating enough at home.
"I can't afford that!" Erik practically squeaked when he heard her tell her auntie to make it the deluxe version.
"It's on me. Don't worry about it. Besides, I told you earlier that I was gonna pay for a meal for you anyway. I can't let my friend go hungry when my siblings and I are going to be eating!" Liona tried to reassure Erik.
Something about the way he said that he couldn't even afford a small kid's meal here, was a bit concerning. Yeah, prices here were a little higher than most fast-food places, but those fast-food places don't employ people to work them and are instead fully automated. There was no personal touch with the service at those places. so it was worth the little extra cost to support living, breathing people. Her family often supported small or local businesses, but she didn't think that the prices here were that outrageous.
Her dad had once had a conniption over her spending on clothes that she had bought when she entered high school. He had wanted to know why she had spent several hundred dollars on just a single outfit. She had been pretty thoroughly scolded about wasting her money on such things. For the most part her mom and dad didn't care what she spent her money on as long as it was within reason. She had quickly learned that her purchase had pushed the definition of reason for them. After that incident, she had been a little more reasonable and responsible with her clothing purchases, but still tended to spend a lot on clothes.
She just loved to wear cute things and wanted to feel pretty on the outside when inside she didn't feel that way. She of course had never told her parents that, it was just stupid since she knew they would just tell her that she was just as beautiful on the outside as she was on the inside. Her parents were required to think that she looked pretty. Her mom would think a potato sack was pretty if she had birthed it! That brought a smile to her lips, thinking about her mom having a potato sack baby.
"Alrighty! Here you go Mr. Norman! One Deluxe Cluck, a large side of fries, a large drink, and one of my dad's famous apple tarts!" Auntie set the order on the counter with a smile before she turned to help the employees in the back get orders made for the rest of the people waiting.
Erik looked awed at the large chicken burger and the large fry. He looked about ready to cry as he said, "I can't eat all of this…" It struck Liona as odd though. This much food should be nothing compared to what she'd seen her fellow classmates and especially her brothers and sisters pack away. Even herself could eat this much and still have a bit of room for a Moo Surprise Shake.
"Hey, just eat what you can, no one is forcing you to eat it all. Although not as good, cold, you can save the rest for later." Liona tried to comfort Erik in her own way. She really wanted to find out what it was about food and him that made him feel so anxious. She didn't think it was just the cost of the burger that was affecting him.
Erik didn't answer since he was quickly stuffing his face with the fries. She let him be so that he could eat and instead focused on Aunt Yui who had come back into the restaurant.
"Hey, kiddo. You're gonna be 18 soon. What do you want for your birthday this year?" Auntie Yui asked.
"I don't know, maybe a day where Mom and Dad aren't overwhelmed with work?" Liona sighed. She did miss having family days with her parents. As it stood, lately both of them were barely home for breakfast or dinner. It would be nice to spend a little more time with them before she was too grown up to hang out with them. She also knew that her little brothers and sisters were also missing them. It had been forever since they all went somewhere as a family for the day.