The Café Vanellas

5: on first times

// Toriv

The first day of actual spring at the shop opened with a crisis. One of my employees, Daeci, fumbled a milk bag and by some mean trick of physics, it happened to burst open when it hit the floor. That in itself wouldn't have been so unusual, since not a day goes by that we don't spill something all over the place, but the moment I turned to say "no worries, it's just spilled milk", Daeci covered her face with her hands and went into a full-blown screaming bawl.

Now I like to think that I'm able to keep pretty cool under pressure, but girls crying their faces off at six thirty in the morning in my shop is where I tend to draw the line. Luckily, the much less startled Kiv, Daeci's twin brother, was also there to help open the shop, so he whisked her away into the backroom to let the storm pass.

Which is how I ended up opening café Vanellas all on my lonesome on one of the busiest days of the week, otherwise known as Monday. Folks need their comfort coffee on Monday mornings, yo. I would know, having had the ingenious idea of making a business of supplying all of the Elven Quarter with their daily breakfast.

"All not emotionally-compromised hands on deck!" I yelled in the general direction of the backroom, as the line in front of the register grew longer and the queue of drinks and sandwiches looked more and more dire.

Kiv came racing out, fighting to yank his hair through an elastic and to tie on his apron at the same time. "Sorry, boss. Dae's got a thing happening."

"Drinks queue, please. What's the thing?"

Kiv waved like a circus performer at all the waiting customers and got started on all the little lined-up cardboard cups. "Just a boy thing. You know how it is."

"Do I ever," I said super dramatically, to smirks and laughter from the eavesdropping clientele.

We got everything done as best we could, finishing up beautifully once Daeci joined us on the floor, her face still blotchy from crying but set with determination. So the morning had gotten off to a rocky start, but between the three of us it turned out fine, which is really all I can ask for at the end of the day. Or the end of the Great Monday Breakfast Frenzy, as it were.

"Sorry, boss," Daeci told me once the rush had died down. It always kind of weirded me out how she and Kiv have the exact same way of saying things. "I kinda lost it for a minute."

"It's all good, kiddo. I get it. Boys suck."

"Yeah, they do." She looked around at her brother, who was wiping off the espresso machine with a very intense, very suspicious kind of concentration. "They can't keep a girl's privacy worth a darn, either."

"Was that a secret?" Kiv said without turning around.

Daeci looked like she wanted to give his ponytail a tug, but in the end she just sighed and turned back to me. "Julien broke up with me, that's all. Whatever, he was a dick anyway."

"That's what I've been saying."

"I never asked you, Kivariev!"

We shoulder bumped instead of hugging, since she had a package of cold cuts still in her hands and I had four steaming pitchers in need of washing in mine. I thought it the perfect time to dole out some friendly advice. "Don't worry, Daeci. A better one will come along. Or one who's just the same. Or even worse, but hopefully not. What I mean is, there are plenty of fish in the sea and you've got a truckload of bait at your disposal."

"Thanks, boss. I guess."

"You're very welcome. Now double time it, kids, we need to get ready for lunch and I still have to write up the order."