CHAPTER 3: If Pops Finds Out…
The next day was more of the same. Conor clocked in and began his shift with Cara showing him more of the ropes. The previous night had been trial by fire, so he picked up the skills quickly and was soon tossing dough in the air as Cara worked on topping ingredients.
Conor noticed several photos hung on a wall in the back as he went for more dough.
“Cara, what are these?”
Cara glanced around the oven and then shyly darted back to her prep station, “Oh, nothing, just some photos.”
“Of?”
“Places I want to go.”
“Who took them?”
“Mostly my uncle, but I took the local ones. He sent me his service journey from his deployment, with all these scenery photos from around the kingdom. Different places he was stationed. If I can ever save enough to go to explore… never mind. Get back to work.”
Conor tossed a dough ball into the air and let it drop next to Cara, who let out a squeak as the flour on the counter poofed into the air.
“Conor!” she half hissed, half giggled, slapping his arm. “WORK.”
“So, photography?” he said as he kneaded another dough.
“Yes, photography and the adventure of exploring new places. I want to travel. See the kingdom. And, if I can take photos along the way, all the better. How cool would it be to share an adventure like that with all the people who are just stuck here… like me… doing this?”
“I think it’s a worthy goal. I hope you’re able to make that happen.”
“And what about you, ‘Mr. son of the owner’? What are your goals beyond this pizza shop?”
Conor slammed dough onto the counter and kneaded it hard as he thought. “I am not the son, just the son-in-law.” He sighed, “I want to make a difference in people’s lives. My mother had a way of finding a critical moment in a person’s life that could change their entire future. She’d give a loaf of bread to a starving man who would return later as the town’s best baker, or she’d hand a coin to a man down on his luck, only to have him return years later as an investor who made millions and wanted to return the favor. I hope to be even a fraction of the person she was.”
Cara set a gentle hand on his shoulder, “She sounds amazing. The best part is, you don’t have to do or be anyone special to do what she did. You just have to act. Those small acts added up to huge moments. And you likely only saw the results of the big ones. I’m sure there were millions of small miracles too.”
Conor swiped at his cheek and sniffed, “See what you made me do?” He tried to laugh and return to his work.
? ? ? ? ? ?A lady walked in at that moment and instantly began tapping the service bell. “Hello! Does anyone actually work here?”
“I’ve got this one,” Conor said. He slid to the register to find a lady with an A-line haircut glaring at him.
“It’s about time. Is everyone on break or something?” she demanded.
Conor shifted behind the register, doing his best to keep his smile in place, “I am sorry for any delay ma’am. What can I get for you today?”
“I am telling you, the service here is terribly slow. I have half a mind to call the owner.” came the haughty retort.
“Again, I am sorry ma’am. I am happy to take your order now,” Conor said, every muscle straining to maintain a smile. He had come over as soon as she walked up to the counter, what was her deal?
“Fine, I want a large pizza with pepperoni, sausage, and bacon. I want another with just feta and spinach.”
“Excellent. We actually have a special today for two large three-topping pizzas for 30% off the second pizza. So that will be-”
“I didn’t order two pizzas with three toppings, I ordered feta and spinach.”
“Right but this saves you money when I key it in as”-
“If you don’t want to work here, that’s fine. I want to talk to your manager if you can’t even ring up an order correctly.”
“Fine, ma’am. Just a second.” He turned and bellowed into the kitchen, “CARA!!!!”
Cara ran to the front, “What did you break now?” Conor leaned over and whispered what had happened. Cara just stared at him dumbly then lifted an eyebrow at the lady. “So you want this keyed in like so?” Cara tilted the screen toward the customer.
“Yes.”
“Ok, that full price order is 35 dragons.”
The lady balked at the price but paid and sat by the door to wait for her pizza.
Conor followed Cara to the back to make her pizza, “Was she serious?”
“You can’t fix stupid, Conor, so don’t even try. Just charge them the idiot tax and move on. They’re not worth our time.”
The doors entrance bell chimed and another customer came in. Conor greeted them and began ringing up their order.
“Two large pizzas, with bacon and pineapple and the other… lets get one of those feta and spinach.”
Conor smiled as he explained the current discount and began to input it.
“Thats awesome! Thank you for that!” the customer said excitedly.
“Your total is 24 dragons.”
“WHAT! But you charged me 35 Dragons! You cheat! I bet you just pocketed the money! I should call the owner! You know, I am good friends with him! He will see you both fired.” screamed the previous customer as she jumped to her feet in a huff.
Cara came over then and pointedly said, “Yes maam, I did charge you 35 dragons, which is the price of your meal. You chose to berate me and my co-workers when we tried to apply the discount for you. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some pizzas to prepare!”
Conor suppressed a laugh as the lady stormed out the door, not even waiting for her pizzas.As the night wore on, the crowd thinned to non-existent.
“Pops needs us to stay till close, but we're not likely to have any customers between now and then,” Cara explained. “Unless a ship is in port or some other event is drawing the crowd, we should be done for the night. Let's go ahead and start cleaning up.”
Conor began sweeping the front when a dirty-looking man walked in. He was clearly down on his luck with his hair not having been washed in several days, small bits of leaf matter clinging to the long locks. He had on what appeared to be several jackets, likely wearing everything he owned.
“Can I help you?”
“Sir, I will be straight with you. I don’t have money. But I really need some food. Any chance there is a pizza that was made by mistake or something planned to toss that I can have a slice of? I’m willing to work or help y’all clean.”
Conor glanced to Cara, who appeared to be nervous but sympathetic. “Pops isn’t going to like it, Conor. I mean I have some tip money I could spare but…”
“This is a moment, Cara.”
“Yes, but…” she looked at the man and finally relented. “I’ll split the cost with you, Conor. Pops doesn’t need to know.”