Chapter 1: ExperTeas
His pen scratched against a thin sheet of bound paper as he glanced between it and the inside of a large, silver canister, about a third of the way filled with tea leaves. He sighed, asterisking the basic black tea on his paper as a reminder to order more and setting the book and pen down in favor of pulling the canister off the shelf. It would have been easier to keep the larger canister holding the bulk of the supply on the shelf rather than refill the smaller one at least four times a day. However, Levi had no intentions of forsaking the comforting aesthetic of one hundred-four matching, silver canisters lining the wall behind his counter.
It was no surprise to him that his own favorite was one of the more popular blends; those who came into the shop as inexperienced tea drinkers always seemed to be overwhelmed by the selection. If he had a nickel each time he heard someone express they had no idea there were so many different kinds of tea, there'd really be no point in him running a tea shop for a living.
"Gonna need that canister when you're done with it, boss." Levi glanced towards the left where the familiar voice of his employee came from. Auruo Bossard, along with Erd Ginn, who was currently listing off a number of their selections to an elderly woman with poor eyesight, had been working for Levi since he opened up shop. At the time, they were both college students, eager to make enough money to get by for rent and other expenses.
He was surprised, however, that when they both had finally graduated, two years ago for Auruo, three for Erd, that neither had moved on to find bigger, better jobs. They were tolerable, Erd more so than Auruo, and did their work well enough that he didn't mind keeping them around, Levi even going so far as to tacking on a raise every now and then to show his appreciation. They were his go-to men, ones he could rely on to call in when he needed, and even to hand off the keys to let them manage his younger employees.
Levi gave the canister to the taller, yet surprisingly younger (his looks unfortunately did his true age no justice) man. Turning back towards his clipboard, he glanced at the silver watch around his wrist. They would be closing in about fifteen minutes, both a disappointment, because he absolutely enjoyed his job, and a relief, in that it meant he was done socializing for the day. Being social certainly wasn't Levi's 'thing,' though of course from a business standing point, such a 'thing' was commonly essential. It wasn't as though he hated people, but rather the fact that the stoic man was socially awkward. He was gruff, short-tempered, hard to understand, and did not pick up on everyday social cues from others; qualities that had no consequence of having during his service in the military. But as a business owner and manager of a tea shop? While his quirks were strange to deal with, luckily it did not take him too long to find a decent group of workers who could somewhat understand him and help make dealing with strangers a bit more bearable.
Levi made a few more notes on his clipboard, peeking into the other remaining canisters on his list and noting which needed re-filling and re-supplying. Asterisking one more blend on the list, he checked his watch again, before heading towards the back of the shop. He set his clipboard on his desk, reaching over his black chair to the black, Wi-Fi router atop a desk shelf. He flicked the switch, the lights of the tower immediately turning off. During the time since the grand opening of his shop, he had found that the most effective way to have lingering customers who stayed for the complimentary Wi-Fi was not to give warnings of the shop's closure that evening, but rather cut off the very thing for which they stayed for. Though at first it had caused confusion, a few recommendations of better routers to use instead, along with a couple complaints, it eventually became clear that the connection cutting just as soon as closing time hit was certainly no coincidence.
"Start cleaning up." He spoke to Auruo and Erd as he came back towards them. They complied, both falling into their cleaning duties, ritualistically remaining mostly silent (though Erd couldn't help but to tease Auruo every now and then to get his goat,) as their boss set to closing out the cash registers. It wasn't until the raven haired man zipped up and set the money pouch in front of the register that he'd start talking to them again.
"Make sure you clean that back table well, some shitty brat knocked his cup over." Levi spoke as he picked up his broom, beginning to sweep the floor as Auruo made his way to the last table in the shop.
"Rumor has it a new coffee shop's moving in across the street…you nervous 'bout it?" Erd had asked, wiping down the counter a third time, a precautionary measure he took to prevent Levi from making him clean the entire thing again should its cleanliness not meet his standards.
The veteran's eyes narrowed, flicking up to the store front directly across from them. "No." Levi's expression remained the same, thoroughly sweeping the floor under the tea shelves.
"Wait, what? New coffee shop?! That's fucking ridiculous! Who in their right mind would open a coffee joint across from a tea shop; the best tea shop in town, I might add." Auruo boasted with a smug look on his face, his hands on his hips as he cast a glance at his boss.
Levi kept to his cleaning, Auruo visibly deflating as his boss completely tuned out what he said.
"It's plausible; we've had our share fair of customers ask if we sell coffee, and the closest shop that isn't some over-priced franchise is clear across town." Erd continued, shaking his rag of any debris into the trash.
"Plausible or not, whoever's doing it must be some kind of idiot."
"Let 'em open whatever they want, I don't give two shits." Levi set the broom back in its place behind the counter, his fingers running against the counter top. Satisfied with Erd's work, he pulled off his apron, folding it neatly and setting it on a shelf beneath the counter.
"If they work harder than us, they deserve to do better. If not, that's their own damn problem," he spoke, picking up the money pouch and walking to the door. "Leave the door unlocked but set the alarm when you leave. I'm coming back after I finish up at the bank."
The two men nodded, watching as their boss left the shop. It was routine, at this point, his verbal direction practically useless (though they never dared to say so.) Levi always returned to the shop Friday nights; not only to put in orders, cut checks, manage advertising and other duties that fell under him, but to do a thorough, wall to wall, front to back, side to side, deep cleaning of the store. Of course, knowing this made is seem as if performing their own cleaning duties that evening was a bit redundant, however, after knowing Levi for as long as they both had, both Auruo and Erd knew this was far from the case.
"Say, how'd you know a coffee shop was taking over that empty place across the street?" Auruo asked not long after they had both finished their own duties, Erd setting the alarm to the shop. "There's brown paper covering all the windows."
Erd chuckled. 'Well, besides the big 'Help Wanted' sign on the front door, the new shop owner's a friend of mine."
"Huh…" The younger man narrowed his eyes, finally noticing the large sign, plain as day. Pursing his lips, he pushed open the door as Erd gave the go ahead, "I still think it's pretty fucking dumb to open a coffee shop across the st-" He doubled over in pain, an amused Erd walking past and rolling his eyes as Auruo tried to recover from biting his tongue.