NaNoWriMo Story Snippets

40. Excerpt from Coffee Shop AU

Subject to editing, etc. From a request for a story in which Becky works for Seth. It'll be timeline AU, since I'm setting it at his cafe, but in the story, Becky's still out of wrestling because of her injury.

When he had finally decided to invest in a coffee shop and a space was available right beside Black & Brave, Seth thought it was a blessing in disguise. Not only would his two businesses be side by side, making commutes easy in the winter, but he'd be able to get good coffee and smoothies right after a workout. It should have been the best of both worlds. In reality, though, it often meant he never got away from the tiny details of being a business owner—and since he was home in Davenport so rarely as it was, he had to work on not letting it irk him. Most of the time, the managers of both places were good about respecting his time, but every once in a while, Marek would track him down at the cafe with some academy problem or Jay might come over to the wrestling school with a billing question from a vendor. Seth liked the challenge in general, but it was also a stark reminder that he had focussed so wholly on wrestling that some of his other skill sets were lacking.

When he walked into 392 Davenport, the seating configuration looked odd to him. Normally customers were gathered in cozy clusters, chatting or working on their laptops. This time, the long table was dominated by a smattering of people all keeping to themselves, typing away on their phones. The barista at the counter already had his regular ready—a perk of being an owner and of the cafe having an app so he could order before he even left Black & Brave—by the time he approached the counter. "What's going on?" he asked as he took his cup.

"Job interviews today, remember?" The barista pointed to the front window, where there was a taped-up noticed about the cafe opening later than usual for dine-in customers; take-out orders were being delivered to the curb.

"Ah, Right." He had come through the staff entrance in the back purely out of habit. "I forgot." He smoothed his hair back self-consciously. "I... wasn't supposed to be here for that, was I?"

The barista laughed. "No. I don't think so, anyway. Jay and Jenna didn't seem mad that you weren't around, anyway."

"Good." Leaning in and lowering his voice, Seth added, "Anyone promising yet?"

"Jenna already weeded out some fan types. Not that there's anything wrong with being a fan," the barista added quickly, "but it was obviously that all they knew about coffee was that it was usually hot, so they would have taken forever to train."

Seth grimaced. That had been a worry, both with the wrestling academy and the coffee shop. It was obvious that some of the students at Black & Brave were more interested in potential selfies—and in some cases, hook-ups—than truly pursuing a wrestling career. Luckily most of those dropped out early, leaving him and Marek able to concentrate on the people who actually wanted to wrestle. The cafe was a different story. Fans and detractors alike would come to 392 Davenport, either hoping to talk to him or, in the case of the latter, try to catch him in an unflattering moment so they could get some internet clout. The managers were pretty good about weeding out the worst of them, but sometimes it was hard to tell who was going to be a problem until it was too late. "Hopefully they find someone in this batch," he replied. "Doyle's going to be hard to replace. He was a great guy." Like most coffee shops, the staff tended to be younger, many of them university students who appreciated the flexible schedules—and easy access to caffeine. That also meant that once they graduated, they often left not long after, either for further studies or for careers related to their specialties.

Jenna came out with a tall, thin prospect whose glasses were almost bigger than his face. "Thank you for coming in. We'll be in touch. Seth!' She knew his real name, of course, but since the cafe attracted so many fans, she often used his ring name when they were in the public part of the building. "How are you? Did you want to sit in on a few interviews?" she offered. "Get a feel for the process?"

Seth held up his free hand as if surrendering. "You know I trust you and Jay to find the best people for the job. You've rarely missed so far." There had been a few baristas who didn't pan out, but he knew the managers did an awesome job with hiring. Aside from the turnover from the university students, most of the staff loved the cafe and were in no hurry to look for work elsewhere.

"Thank you. I appreciate that. But it wouldn't hurt for you to sit in. I'm sure some of your wrestling students ask about positions here since it would be a convenient spot for them," Jenna pointed out. "This would give you a few things to share with them."

"Sure. Why not?" Aside from picking up his coffee, Seth hadn't had any big immediate plans for once, which was a relief. Between the two businesses and catching up with family, normally his Davenport days were quite full. That had been a point of contention for his last girlfriend, and now that he was single again, he found himself not knowing what to do with his rare scraps of spare time. Kevin, his little Yorkie, only needed so many walks, after all.

"Great!" Jenna glanced down at list on her phone. "Rebecca?" When two women looked up, she added, "Rebecca Quin? With one N?"