Talon stares down at the offending items.
Maybe I should have today. How much hair could he lose between this door and the front of house door? Not much.
Talon plucks the hat from my hand and somehow fits his curls under it.
“I made sure my hair would fit in the hat.” Hope carefully sets the band of it around her high bun. “I’m going to need to practice more hairstyles that work with hats.”
“Most people just wear a ponytail.” Even some of the guys.
“Yours doesn’t look like a regular ponytail.”
It usually is, but for some reason this morning I got up and put on makeup and did my hair up…for me. “It’s a fishtail braid. Nothing fancy.” After washing our hands, I give them a quick tour of the back of house.
Talon listens just as raptly as Hope does, which is only sort of surprising. Curiosity must also run in the family.
The minute I get them settled at a cozy little table, the doors open and the first rush begins.
***
Hope wasn’t kidding when she said she was going to watch. She’s even been taking notes. The rush finally starts to fade away when a man steps in the door. He’s dressed in a suit and tie, but there isn’t a briefcase in his hand. Something feels off about him other than the fact that I’ve never seen this man before.
A half a second later, Jacko walks in, and the hair on my neck stands up. This guy hasn’t been vetted, and the Adders sent security to watch him. Not wanting him to interact with any of the kids working, I approach him. “Hi, we’ve got a table ready for you if you’d like to follow me.”
The man doesn’t question why I pulled him out of the line. He follows me to the table right by where Jacko sat down.
This isn’t the first time a stranger has wandered in. The kids understand the protocol, but we keep it subtle. No one else but me will wait this table. “What can I get you?”
“Black coffee. Two eggs sunny-side up and two pieces of toast buttered.”
With all the exceptional pastries we serve, that order seems like a waste. “Coming right up.”
I put his order in and then wander over to check on Hope. “So, what have you learned?”
“Other than that you know every single person that has walked in here, I’ve learned the names of all the pastries you serve as well as the drinks you make. I’ve started to make lists of their components, but I haven’t gotten all of those done yet.”
The man isn’t reading a paper or focused on his phone. He’s paying just as much attention to his surroundings as Hope is, which isn’t good. Something is wrong. “We have a drink list for all our employees to memorize. I’ll grab it for you.”
“Who’s the guy?” Talon asks before I walk away.
My first instinct is to say, what guy, but insulting Talon’s intelligence would be stupid. “I don’t know.”
He nods. “Why don’t you take a picture with Hope?”
That’s not a request. “We have people on it.”
“Good. Take the picture.”
I guess I’m taking the picture.
We lean in, careful not to block the stranger with our heads.
“How common is this?”
It’s not unheard of, but it doesn’t happen often. He doesn’t want an answer like that. I shrug. “It’s covered.”
Talon raises an eyebrow at me.
What am I supposed to say? The world is filled with bad people, and the Adders do the best they can. “Let me go get those lists for you.” We bound them into a little book a while ago. It works well to help the kids study before they actually start making drinks.
