Cause You're Halfway In But Don't Take Too Long
“Well, you guys are officially half over! Please keep up the good work!” Krit said, having gone over the points (Pao had lost three when he had run into a customer in the cafe, spilling his drink on the customer, while Pun had lost two when he accidentally spilled a container of pens late at night in front of Krit).
Tops ran his hand over his forehead, wishing he wasn’t stuck with Zol again, but still grateful he would be in the kitchen. He hoped that having Zen with him would balance out Manaow, as well.
“You ready to not deal with customers?” Del asked Tutor and Pun, both of them looking relieved to be in housekeeping.
Del received two vigorous nods as a response.
“Front desk, are you ready for us?” Pao joked to Pharm and Win.
“Dear universe, please don’t give us too many stupid customers or I may end up shanking someone” Win said, looking to the heavens.
Pharm giggled, but looked a little nervous.
“Well, N’Tops, you’re finally in the kitchen! We spent all of last month listening to Win moan about how you were the cook, and it’s clear you know what you’re doing” Chef Man praised Tops, who was bringing the simple curry to a boil. Chef Man had started with that since there was an unexpected rush of customers, when they usually started with peeling and whatnot.
Tops flushed, embarrassed. He felt bad for Win, knowing Win had not liked being in the kitchen. Manaow and Zol looked proud of him, while Zen flashed him a smile.
“You three can work together, as a pair and a single, or separately, it’s up to you” P’Tuck told the three new housekeepers.
The three of them glanced at each other.
“I’m okay working on my own” Pun shrugged.
“So am I” Del admitted.
“Same here” Tutor said.
The three of them looked at each other, silently making sure everyone was making this decision on their own, not because of pressure. They found that they were all okay with it, so they turned to P’Tuck and told her they were fine doing it on their own. She showed them how to do everything, then left them to work.
“Enjoy your stay!” Pao said cheerfully, giving the room keys to his newest customers. When they had left, he saw Pharm looking at him.
“You’re good at that” Pharm said solemnly.
“What, dealing with customers?” Pao asked.
Pharm nodded, looking at Pao with big eyes.
Pao shrugged. “I had to deal with Pun and his father, that helped me prepare for anything. Trust me when I say I’ll go to the ends of the world for Pun” he said, rolling his eyes and smirking a little.
“You know, at first I thought you two were boyfriends” Win admitted from where he was at the other desk. “You guys hang out a lot, but then I saw that the energy wasn’t boyfriend energy”
“We were social media boyfriends for a year, that’s understandable” Pao said, smiling.
“Why do that?” Win asked, a little grumpily.
“The benefits are good, and there are a lot of free perks. Plus it was a way to show Pun’s dad that Pun was okay--that’s a whole complicated story though, and not my story to tell. Don’t press him, either”
Win and Pharm nodded, showing that they understood, and Pao knew that Pun wouldn’t be bothered by these two, knowing they liked their privacy themselves.
Pun hummed as he straightened the room, enjoying the fact that he didn’t have to deal with customers anymore. Once it was ready, he left with the cart, passing Tutor, who also looked happy to be out of customers’ wrath. They nodded at each other, both content to be behind the scenes of the hotel. Pun went into the room where they kept supplies and stocked up with more towels, sheets, and cleaning products. As he was leaving, Del entered the room, looking cheerful.
“Hi Pun, are there any stuffed animals left in there?” she asked. “P’Mod said that three rooms wanted them for the kids”
“Yeah, I saw seahorses, elephants, and raccoons on a shelf, but they’re on a higher shelf, do you want me to get them for you?”
“If you wouldn’t mind, that would be great!” Del said.
“How many do you need?”
“Let me check my notes” Del got out her notebook and checked. “I need three for one room, two for the other two”
“Any you want in particular?”
“Pick whatever you want, there weren’t any requests past ‘stuffed animals’”
Pun went back and got her three elephants, two seahorses, and two raccoons. When he came out holding them all, Del giggled.
“You look like you won big time at a carnival”
“Yes, I won ‘best towel folder’ didn’t you know?” Pun joked.
The two of them got the stuffed animals settled onto Del’s cart, making sure they wouldn’t fall out.
“Thanks, Pun” Del called as she walked away.
“No problem” As he walked to the next room, Pun mused on how cute the hotel could be, and if anyone in the apartment would like stuffed animals to randomly show up in their rooms.
“Pharm, how do you keep your cool so easily in the kitchen?” Zen asked, their first day of their third month over. Zen still felt the slight tingle in his hands--and the end of his nose, which was really bizarre, that had never happened to him before--from being stressed. The rush had caused Chef Man to lose his temper when Zol and Manaow took a little too long to wash dishes, and even though neither of the girls lost points due to Oam’s interference, the whole thing had set Zen on edge. The second he had been allowed to leave, he had almost ran to the safety of their shared room.
“I don’t know, I think I just get really focused on cooking? I’m not sure, but everyone says I look really peaceful when I’m cooking” Pharm said. “Why, what happened?”
“Just a really big rush we weren’t expecting one” Zen said shortly, not wanting to think about it.
“Looking forward to going back to housekeeping, then?” Tutor asked from his bed, laying down on his stomach and looking at his phone.
“Definitely. Organization is much more up my alley rather than cooking. I can cook, but I don’t work well under stress, and Chef Man…”
“Can be intense” Tutor finished for him.
Zen flashed Tutor a grateful smile. This internship had brought them a little closer than just being “friends with Zon” and Zen was happy about that.
“Can he?” Pharm asked in surprise.
“If you’re not the best at cooking, yeah. You were with Del and Pun, right? They’re quick learners. But Win...not so much” Tutor said. “There was a lot of scolding. But I’m guessing it will be you, Pao, and Tops in the kitchen in the fourth month, so I doubt you’ll see much of that side of Chef Man”
“Do you two know what you’ll be doing for the fourth month?” Pharm asked.
“Housekeeping” the other two replied in unison, Tutor smirking at their decisiveness.
“I wonder who’s going to join us” Zen mused aloud.
“Probably Pun, maybe Del” Tutor said.
“I know Manaow will want to be at the front desk” Pharm supplied. “I would guess Zol would too, she loves people watching”
“Well, then maybe Win will be joining us” Tutor said. “I know he’s better about them now, but I don’t think he could deal being in between them for a month, even if he doesn’t particularly like housekeeping”
The three of them looked at each other and shrugged, not knowing what tomorrow would bring, let alone the next month.