The first person to answer their help wanted ad was an interesting young lady by the name of Chloë. Chelsie couldn’t help but stare at her as she came through the door at 6:15pm on the dot. The fact that she was punctual was a plus, but Chelsie had a feeling Aiden would want to say no based on her looks alone.
Chloë could only best be described as a gothic hippie. Her long hair had been died a deep black and her dark eye makeup reminded Chelsie of Cleopatra. She wore a patchwork skirt that brushed the floor as she walked and a black peasant shirt. Her footsteps made almost no sound on the tiled floor.
Aiden gave Chelsie a sideways glance that she had expected from him. He didn’t like her already, but Chelsie felt that they should give her a fair chance. After all, she had shown up on time and that was more important than how she looked.
“Hi Chloë, I’m Chelsie, this is Aiden. Please have a seat.” She smiled kindly to try and make up for the scowl on Aiden’s face.
“So, I’m going to keep this interview short and simple. We just have a few questions for you really.” Chloë nodded to show that she understood.
“Okay then, so why do you want to work here?”
“Well,” Chloë’s voice was soft, but Chelsie noticed that it carried well. “I love coffee. I’ve often been told I make the best cup of coffee that anyone has ever tasted. Grounds to Leaves is supposed to be one of the best places in town and I would like to be a part of a coffee house that believes in the quality of what it offers.”
“Seriously, you’ve been told you make the best coffee?” Aiden interrupted before Chelsie had a chance to ask her next question.
“Yes, would you like me to prove it?” Chloë seemed to hear the unspoken challenge in Aiden’s voice and she responded confidently. She seemed to really believe what she said.
Aiden gave her a good look over as he thought about and then nodded. “Yes, prove it.”
Without a word Chloë walked behind the counter with Chelsie and Aiden close behind her. She looked over the equipment that they had before beginning. She picked up a bag of beans with an approving look. “Intelligensia, nice choice.”
She went to work making the cup of coffee as Chelsie and Aiden looked on. Aiden seemed skeptical as he watched, what she was doing was no different than what they did everyday, all day. It was obvious that she knew what she was doing. Quicker than either of them could, she provided Aiden with his proof.
Aiden took a tentative sip of the coffee, frowned and then sipped it again. With the same frown on his face he held the cup away from him to just look at it for a bit. Chloë grinned like the Cheshire Cat, apparently taking Aiden’s frown as approval.
“Well?” Chelsie finally asked when she got tired of the silence and Aiden’s odd frown.
“I don’t know how she did it, but this is seriously the best coffee I have ever tasted.” Aiden proffered the cup to Chelsie who took a sip of it and smiled. He wasn’t kidding, it really was the best cup of coffee she had ever tasted.
“So, one last question before we hire you. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?” Chelsie had to ask just out of pure curiosity more than anything.
“I’m a classically trained musician. I play the cello and write my own songs. Other than that, I’ve only been here for a short while, I used to live in Toronto, but I needed a change of pace. I like this city, it’s quite pretty and the people are interesting.”
“You’re a musician?” Aiden asked and Chelsie knew exactly what he was thinking about.
“Yes. I am.”
“Would you be interested in playing here every now and again?”
Chelsie had to bite her lip to keep herself from saying or doing something to Aiden that she might regret later. This was his way of pushing the issue, which was just going around the only real obstacle in his way – her.
“I would enjoy that very much. Are you thinking of adding live music as a regular attraction? I used to work at a coffee house that had live bands almost every night. They were a very popular place and one of the nicest night spots in town.”
“It was something we were discussing, but we hadn’t decided on anything yet.” Chelsie glared at Aiden as she said that, but he either ignored her or just plain didn’t notice.
“Well it’s a very good idea. You’d probably need a bit more staff to manage with the later hours, but you have a good spot right over there.” Chloë also hadn’t seemed to notice the glare that Chelsie had directed at Aiden. She seemed almost excited by the idea of having live music in the shop.
“And that is exactly what I was thinking too. Well, I think that’s enough for one night. If you like, be here tomorrow at 6am and we’ll get you started and talk about your hours.”
“Tomorrow at 6am. I’ll see you both then.”
As soon as she was out of sight, Chelsie smacked Aiden in the chest. “You are such an asshole, you know that?”
“Yes, but as it is frequently noted, I am an asshole who gets what he wants. Besides it’s a good idea. I don’t know why you’re being so stubborn about it.”
“Because…because…Argh.” Chelsie stormed off towards the kitchen to see if there was anything she could bang around until she felt less frustrated. She really didn’t have a good reason anymore to boycott the live music idea. Her only real argument had been the cost and that didn’t look like it would a problem anymore.
It looked like Aiden was going to be the asshole who got what he wanted. Again.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment