We're Very Very Busy and We've Got a Lot To Do
“Well, your first month is over, and I hope you learned a lot. Please continue learning” Krit, having gone over the points (Zol had lost another four points when she had slept in by accident after writing all night, while Pun lost two points when he took too long on a personal phone call with his father) and the new groups.
“Are you ready to cook, Win?” Pao asked as they followed Chef Man and Oam to the kitchen.
“Absolutely not, Tops is the cook, not me” Win said.
Pao chuckled, having heard Tops’ talk about Win’s lack of cooking skills. “What about you Tutor?”
“It can’t be as bad as the front desk, that’s for sure” Tutor replied.
“I guess we’re in the same group again” Zol informed Tops. “No offense, but I wanted to be with other people, since it helps me learn more about things to write in my books”
Tops gave her a look, not entirely sure how to take that. Pharm gave him a sympathetic glance as P’Mod went over the rules of housekeeping.
“We’re together! Isn’t that great!” Manaow couldn’t stop grinning as she held hands with Del, following P’Tuck to the front desk. Pun and Zen were behind them, neither of them looking thrilled with the idea being behind a desk and having to deal with customers.
“Yes, Manaow, it’s very cool” Del said, a small smile on her face. She thought it would take the fourth month to be able to work with her girlfriend, but someone was looking out for her. Manaow had pretty good English skills, so hopefully she would be able to help the most customers. Del didn’t mind working with customers, but preferred working behind the scenes when she could.
“I hope all of you are ready to work at the front desk” P’Tuck said, frowning at Del and Manaow’s hands. “This is not a time to socialize. You must communicate, of course, but it should be about the work” The four interns nodded and listened to P’Pat explain how the computer system worked.
“Win, your boyfriend is Tops, right? Or if it’s just a rumor the baristas spread, I understand you two live together even outside this internship” Chef Man asked exasperatedly. “How do you not know what a teaspoon is?”
“I do singing gigs a lot of days, I’m sorry for not being in the kitchen half the day like Tops’ is” Win said sulkily.
Pao and Tutor exchanged glances behind Win’s back. They could tell this was a sore spot for Win and hoped that Chef Man wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. Fortunately, Chef Man was in a good mood and let it go. Win sulked the rest of the shift, but it passed by smoothly other than that.
“Zol, are you sure? We can all work on them together, you don’t have to work by yourself” Pharm offered.
“No, I don’t mind doing it myself” Zol insisted. “I can work on my books better if I’m by myself, as it will be quieter”
Tops and Pharm looked at each other and silently agreed that if Zol wanted to do the rooms by herself, it was fine by them.
“Yes, ma’am, your room is ready, if you would just follow me, please” Pun said to the customer with her two young children. The children reminded him of Wang Chao and Mahan, they were so noisy. He wished he could get Nott to knock some sense into them, but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option right now, so he tried to ignore them as he showed them the way. Five minutes later, he was back behind the desk.
“All the customers like you best, I think” Del whispered to him when there was a break.
“Well, I wish they wouldn’t be so noisy” Pun muttered. Zen smiled when he overheard that.
“Who’s being noisy?” Manaow, back from her break, asked.
“Customers” Del mouthed as Pun was asked for extra towels by a giggling teenage girl.
“So how was the front desk?” Zol asked when the two other girls came into the room.
“Pun gets all the customers, from the cute girls to the even cuter boys” Manaow pouted.
“Hey, at least I’m there, right?” Del teased.
Manaow looked at Del and brightened, grabbing Del’s hand and kissing it. “Yes, I’m very glad you are there, Del, you make it so much better!” she gushed.
Zol grinned and wrote a note in her phone, so that she could put it in her novel. She had published three chapters, and while it wasn’t as popular as her Y fictions, the support for it was overwhelming. Some of the boys here still were a little wary of her, but she was getting there, she was sure of it.
“Pun, did you get your free drink already?” Pao asked.
“No, why? Do you want to get yours now?”
“Yeah, there’s about forty-five before it closes, so let’s go get it now before we look super rude”
“Sure, why not” Pun shrugged, getting off his bed and walking towards his shoes.
They went down to the cafe, where there were only a few customers, most on laptops or on their phones.
“Hey you two, how was the new duty?” Tom asked, cleaning a mug. “That was today, right?”
“It was okay, Win was sulking though” Pao answered.
“I heard” Golf chuckled. “Chef Man texted me on his break saying that Win complained more than Toey--he was an intern last year--but at least he does the work”
“He does do the work” Oam said from behind Pun and Pao, startling Pao, while Pun calmly looked back. “I watch him and while he’s not great at what he does, he’s doing it himself”
“Anyways, what can I get for you three?” Phume asked, smiling at Oam.
“My usual, please, Phume” Oam answered.
“Iced coffee for me” Pao said, grinning.
“I’ll have the special, P’Phume, please” Pun said.
“Coming right up”
“Happy you’re in the kitchen, Pao?” Pun asked once they had their drinks.
“Yes, it’s like being in cooking class, but we’re actually trusted, instead of being thought we are babies. Also, this is way more interesting for my social medias”
“You take cooking classes?” Tom asked, sitting down next to Pun.
“Yeah, at my uni. I was in the same one as Tops’, in fact” Pao explained.
“Nice, nice” Tom said. “You’re not in university, Pun?”
“Nope, I have my boyfriend” Pun said simply.
“And your father” Pao said under his breath.
Pun threw him a glare and stole his newsboy cap, which Pao had put on before coming to the cafe.
“Here, Tom, want his hat? You’d probably look good in it”
“Oh, like you know fashion...how did you get that one outfit on??”
“Everyone agreed I looked good in it what are you talking about”
“Yeah, but you’re you, you look good in everything” Pao said, making a grab for his hat.
“Are you saying P’Tom would look bad in your hat?” Pun teased, putting the hat on Tom before Pao could take it out of his hands.
“I...did not say that” Pao said, blushing.
The other baristas and Oam watched this exchange with interest, noticing that Tom had actually gone quiet for once in his life.
“Pharm, you said you wanted to open a restaurant, right?” Tutor asked.
“Yes, why?” Pharm answered, rubbing his wet hair dry.
“Because I just worked for a dinner rush and it was not my idea of fun” Tutor grimaced. “At least today I didn’t have to serve, I hate that more than anything, I already did that at a cafe and some people…” Tutor shuddered.
“I can’t wait to get back to housekeeping the last month, even if I have to work with Win again” Zen said, getting his stuff ready for the shower. “At least Pun gets the most customers, since he’s so good looking, taking off some pressure for me”
“Housekeeping is kind of fun, actually” Pharm said brightly. “Tops is very good at keeping things clean, but I’m going to do the kitchen my last month. What about you, Tutor?”
“If there’s room, I’m doing housekeeping too. I don’t want to deal with customers” Tutor said.
“So you got called out?” Tops said, trying to hide his smile so that Win wouldn’t see.
“I should have asked you to give me a run through of the materials” Win grumbled, still put out several hours later.
“I wonder how much it would have helped” Tops mused.
“Hmph” Win stood up and flounced to the bathroom. Tops shook his head and watched him go, knowing he had just caused at least an extra hour of sulking.