Now, Krystal. I'm not expecting miracles from you. In fact all i want you to do for the first half hour is watch us work." Fox said quickly, tossing a shirt, hat, and apron at Krystal. "Oh, and just so you know I'm putting you in my schedule as a temp hire for two weeks. So if you do find a another job you like more I can work around you leaving. Unfortunately its common around here, must be the decor."
"'re the first to even give me the time of day. All the other places I've been today made me wait for days before i get a phone call..." Krystal replied with a heavy sigh.
"Really?" Fox shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Can't understand why. Your resume is chock-full of volunteer work, and accountability... Better then most I've seen."
Krystal smiled at Fox, blushing slightly at the praise. "Thanks Mr. McCloud."
"Oh, and please call me Fox, I hate titles, and it makes me feel old!" Fox laughed as he grabbed a slip off the rack and showed it to Krystal. "This is a order slip, obviously it tells you what the customer wants and what size pizza they want. In this case... Its a works pizza." Fox led Krystal to the prep area. It wasn't overly huge, but it housed a few long tables and an overhang that looked like you could reach into it. "This is the prep table. This is where you'll make ever single pizza ever ordered during your shift. This area here will make you go through way to many pairs of shoes. Above the table is the showcase. That's were all the proofed dough is kept to keep it fresh for hours."
"This is a lot to remember." Krystal said in a bit of a daze. "How do you know all this?"
Fox chuckled. "When you've done this for as long as I have, you tend to know everything. So, again just watch me and Kara do some orders and hop in when you feel ready to take some on." Krystal nodded and watched Fox's paws fly across the prep table. This gave her time to look over her new boss, he was quite handsome to her. He had amazing eyes, a strong build, orange fur, and made the uniform she had yet to change into, look way to nice to be just a uniform. A small blush formed on her face as she realized she was staring. She went to the public bathroom to change into her new clothes. They all had a red emblem that looked like a fox with wings, and the letters SFP in front of it in a off-white color. Once she had it on she went back to the kitchen to view the two furs working in a harmony. Both went after toppings reaching over and under each others arms, occasionally hitting but with a small laugh, and a little joke they continued working. She watched them work until the phones rang.
"I'm on it." Kara said and walked back to the front counter. " Five lines Fox, I'll be back ASAP."
"Right-o" Fox yelled back. "K, Krystal now is a great time to learn the prep charts, they are on the fridge behind me. Take your time and don't get discouraged if I finish a slip before you, just keep on doing your thing.
"Alright." Krystal looked at the next order. "So I'm on this slip... its a Meat lovers. Nice choice." Krystal turned to the prep chart and looked for meat lovers on it.
"For a Fifteen inch pizza its... 8 slices of pepperoni, and salami." Krystal turned back around to see Fox going back to his normal routine. She shrugged and got a 15 inch dough out of the showcase. She went to get the pepperoni but stopped as she looked at the two prep cups of sliced meat.
"Fox... which ones pepperoni and which ones salami?"
"Oh, the darker one is pepperoni and its in the first cup. The lighter one is Salami and its in the second cup. If ya need to know whats where I've labeled the cups above the table, cause sometime even I forget whats where." Fox laughed as did Krystal. Krystal went back to work on her pizza and put on the first two toppings for her slip. She looked back to the prep chart and looked for her next step.
"K, now a cup of bacon, Sausage, Hamburger, and Ham..." Krystal went to the table again and looked for a cup. Upon grabbing one Fox went for the same cup Krystal quickly pulled her paw back and aloud Fox to get the cup her needed
"Don't be afraid of the cups Krystal." Fox said with a smile. "You need a gray cup for the fifteen inch pizza, on the chart there's colors behind the number of cups needed per ingredient. And on the cups is a sticker of the color on it. Also, if you see a cup you need and someone goes for it, may the fastest hand win."
"Thanks..." Krystal said and took the gray cup from Fox as he finished. She put on the remaining toppings and took a final look at the prep chart. 'Two yellow cups of cheese...' Krystal found the yellow cup and scooped two cups of cheese and put it on her pizza. She took pride in it. The first of many 'Perfect Pizzas'
"Now just put it in the oven and put the slip on the rack corresponding to the oven you put the pizza in." Fox said and finished up his third slip. "That looks good for your first pizza Krystal, but you need to work on spreading the toppings a little more... Other then that awesome job."
Krystal nodded and flashed fox a smile. Fox returned the smile. "Alright one down, a lot to go!"
After a couple of hours of pizza making, 10 o'clock finally arrived. Krystal was beat, she never knew cooking pizza for 4 hours was tiring.
"Well, how was the first shift?" Kara said as she and Krystal got outside and waited for Fox to lock everything up.
"Tiring!" Krystal shouted. "I never knew this kind of job could wear me out like it did... How do you guys do it?"
"After a few weeks you get used to it... what I don't know is how fox does 12 to 15 hour shifts each day..." Kara said with a sigh. "Anyway, here comes Fox... Nice to meet you Krystal, hope you work out here. We could use another good employee." Kara waved her good-bye and walked down the street. Krystal return the wave before Kara disappeared down the street.
"Need a lift anywhere?" Fox said after locking the door behind him.
"Um... sure." Krystal replied uneasily. The last time someone has asked her that she had to defend herself.
"Look, I'm not gonna bite you." Fox laughed. "Just it is getting cold out and this isn't a very civilized part of town."
"Oh, Ok... Thanks." Krystal walked over to Fox's bike. He gave her his helmet and waited for her to get comfortable. "Where too?"
"The apartment buildings near the stadium." Krystal said. She slowly wrapped her arms around Fox's waist so she wouldn't fall off. Fox took off towards her apartment building.
After 10 minutes of slightly reckless driving Krystal was at the door to her apartment. Fox looked over the apartment, from what he could tell from the half broken light, it wasn't much. The off-red chipped brick like material seemed a pour choice for someone like Krystal. "Damn, you do live on the outskirts." Fox joked, taking the extra helmet from Krystal as she got off his bike. "But with what you'll be making at SFP, you should be able to afford a apartment closer to the store."
"Awesome!" Krystal said. "Thanks for the lift Fox. When do ya need me to work again?"
After a little bit of thought, Fox had her answer."Well, this Thursday from four to eleven, if you can."
"Right, sound great! See ya then. Good night Fox." Krystal waved at him and went into her apartment.
"Night." Fox waited a few minutes before he put his helmet back on and took off towards his house. Thoughts of his newest employee still fresh in his mind.
