Page 8
“What do you do for greeting and taking orders? That might be more my speed.”
“Right.” She showed him how to use the terminal and showed him the button for extra akko. “I have already tossed it in the sauce, so a single serving is one tongful, and the extra akko is two.”
He nodded at her demonstration. “So always ask if they want the akko?”
“Yes. It gives them the idea that they have food options. Well, more than two meats with stir-fry. It is very basic and very hot and filling.” She showed him that every order showed up in front of the grill and disappeared as it was filled.
She quickly wrote up a sign and went outside, slapping it on the order window.
Sunny paused. “What was that?”
“It was a note that said, Cloudy’s sibling. Speak slow. Don’t mention his skin.”
She exhaled and called the nearest hospital. “Do you have an Emgoth there?”
“Yes, miss. He came in yesterday.”
“Well, if there is an attendant, please wish him well and say he is missing lunch rush.”
The woman was recording it. “Yes, miss.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you have a name?”
“I am his coworker. Cloudy.”
“Miss, why does he keep saying that you are going to kill him?”
“Because he is making me work the dock food stall alone? It is an affectionate threat. He said the same when I went in for surgery.”
“Oh. Oh no. Miss, if the peacekeepers come, please tell them that.”
“Oh. I get it. They are using me as their first likely lead.”
“I believe so, miss.”
“Thank you for the warning. I have to go. The hungry customers are coming for lunch.”
“Have a good day, miss.”
She hung up and warned her brother. “Peacekeepers are going to come and question me about a quirky turn of phrase. Apparently, it makes it look like I have reason to attack Emgoth.”
“Well, hell.”
“Yup. Get ready to smile without teeth.”
Sunny blinked, nodded, and started to greet the customers. They read the sign, laughed, and spoke slowly to Sunny. He laughed and said, “You really wrote that?”
“I really did. Keep going; we have twenty more in line.”
She was prepping based on voices behind her as she worked, and things weren’t as slow as she had feared. Sunny had the orders coming in, and the akko was being portioned out appropriately. She paused at the grill, grabbed a bucket of the shredded and dressed mix, and when he got the last of the akko out of the bin, she grabbed a clean bin, moved the dirty one aside, and dumped the veg into position, getting a cheer from the watching and hungry customers. She chucked the bucket and the container aside in a safe corner for washing later, washed her hands, and returned to the line.
They made it through the lunch rush and stragglers, then started cleaning up. Sunny muttered, “Holy shit. You do this every day?”
“Six days a week.”
“Wow. That was lunch; is this it?”
