Seth had been looking forward to this moment for some time. The bureaucratic process of purchasing Bean and Gone was completed at last. He and Bayley were now the owners of the coffee shop, the previous owners having worked their last shift the previous day. To ensure the transition went as smoothly as possible - the most sensible idea, given that the business was popular and profitable in it's current state - Seth had kept on all of the existing wait staff and hired a manager to run the place day to day, since he and Bayley would obviously be on the road with WWE a lot of the time. As he had dealt with everything regarding the purchase and the transition himself, Bayley was yet to meet the manager he had hired. That was about to change because a re-launch of Bean and Gone had been arranged for their first day in charge.
"There are a few people lining up already," Bayley said as they got out of their car. The closest spot they had been able to find to park had been a few hundred yards up the street. Luckily, most of the coffee shop's custom came from passing footfall as people walked to and from the nearby main shopping streets of Waukee, Iowa as parking was often difficult and Bean and Gone didn't have a parking lot of its own.
"Yeah," Seth agreed. "I expected that, though. There are always some who want to get there early to be the first in line."
The line that was starting to form in the street wasn't just for the relaunch of a coffee shop, of course. Seth had managed to talk Hunter Helmsley into the idea of WWE promoting it as a meet and greet of sorts, where fans could come and by a coffee from Seth Rollins and Bayley's new venture, in return for the chance to meet them and have a picture taken. As with any chance to meet WWE superstars, a large turnout was guaranteed. As far as Bayley was concerned, a day meeting fans was a lot of fun no matter the reason, so the chance for it to also provide a huge boost to the profile of their new business was an amazing bonus. "It was good of Hunter to do this for us," she said happily.
As they neared Bean and Gone, Seth saw that the huge poster that had been produced for the event had been put up in the window. It was a picture of him and Bayley, with the message: Meet WWE superstars Seth Rollins and Bayley here this Saturday at 1PM! The shop would not be opening until the afternoon so that the two new owners had some time to speak to their staff and to get used to the fundamentals of the day to day operation of the business. Luckily, Seth had been able to hire a manager who had recently left a job at a similar establishment, so they would have plenty of help in that regard.
Seeing them approaching, the small number of fans who were starting to form a line began to crowd around the entrance, cheering and calling out their names as they did so. "Hey, guys!" Bayley shouted back, giving them a friendly wave.
A chorus of requests for pictures or autographs came next. Seth decided to speak up and tell the fans what the deal was, rather than being rude and walking into the shop without acknowledging them. "Okay, listen up everyone!" he called out. The small crowd immediately quietened down. "We've got some work to do inside this morning before we can open. You guys are here really early, so you've got quite a wait in front of you, but let me tell you what we're going to do once we do open," he went on, talking loudly enough for everyone to hear. "We're going to have you come in, buy a drink, then we'll have someone ready to take a picture of you with Bayley and I."
"Do we have to buy a drink?" someone said as a joke, causing the rest of the crowd to laugh.
"Yes, you do!" Seth said in good humour. "No purchase, no photo. And I'll have Bayley throw your ass out of the shop, too." The crowd laughed again. "Okay, we'll see you guys later," Seth finished, turning and gesturing for Bayley to go into the shop ahead of him. One of the waitresses had been waiting by the door to open it for them when they were ready to enter.
"Thanks," Bayley said to the young woman as she walked into what was now her establishment. It still seemed crazy to her to think of it that way. She had never imagined that she would own a quaint little coffee shop like the ones she had visited all over the country. She was totally in love with it already.
"Morning everyone," Seth said to the staff once the door was safely locked behind him.
Greetings were returned from the assembled group of staff members, all of whom were wearing black T-shirts with the Bean and Gone branding on the front. A dark skinned woman with long brown hair stepped forward. She looked to be around thirty. Seth made the introductions. "Bay, this is Elena D'Agostino. She's the manager I hired. Elena, meet Bayley."
"Hi. Nice to meet you," Elena said respectfully, offering her hand to the second of her two bosses.
Bayley smiled as they shook hands. She could tell by the woman's appearance as much as her name that she was Italian. There was even a hint of an accent there. "It's good to meet you, Elena. Seth tells me you have experience running a coffee shop?"
"Please, call me Daga. My parents and my school teachers are the only one's who've ever insisted on using my name," the new manager said with a grin. "You're right, yes, I worked as a manager in a similar place to this for two years. I've only recently moved to Des Moines, so I'm really happy, and thankful, to have this opportunity at Bean and Gone."
"And what do you make of what we have here?" Bayley asked. Although she had loved Bean and Gone since the first time she had visited, she wondered if a professional might have a differing opinion.
"Seth already told me you plan not to make any major changes," Elena revealed. "Honestly, I think that's the right decision. I've had a look over the accounts and spoken to the staff, and I can see that we're very popular and we're running at a healthy profit. Changing things would be a lot more likely to affect that negatively, not positively. Some of the decoration is a little bit tired and there is a machine or two that had seen better days, but other than that, I'd leave things how they are."
"That was what we were thinking, about the decoration, wasn't it?" Bayley said, looking at Seth.
Seth nodded. "Yeah. Elena, I want you to show me the machines you think might need replacing. I'd rather do that kind of thing as soon as possible and get ahead of the game."
"Sounds good," the new manager said, pleased that her advice was going to be listened to. Not all people who owned business were as keen to spend money to maintain them.
"Anything else you think we need to know?" Bayley asked.
"I had a look around when I got here about an hour ago, and I think, since we've got a few hours before we open, it might be an idea for us to give everywhere a serious clean. The standards aren't bad by any means, but I'd like a completely fresh start. Obviously when I say us, I mean me and the girls, not you guys."
"No, we'll chip in and help you," Bayley decided quickly. As sad as it might have seemed to some people, she had always actually enjoyed cleaning.
"Speak for yourself," Seth said defensively, obviously joking. It got a laugh from Elena and the wait staff who were waiting nearby for instructions. He thought Bayley's idea to help them clean was actually a good idea. It showed their staff that they didn't think they were above rolling their sleeves up and working themselves. He knew he would have respected that if he was an employee.
"The only other thing is, how are we going to handle the meet and greet event today?" Elena asked. "Needless to say, I've not done anything like it before."
Seth decided to handle that one. It was a good question. If it had been an event that was being run by WWE, they would have sent a couple of people to manage the crowd. But this wasn't a WWE event; all they had done was assist with some marketing of it. "We'll clear some of the tables out of the way to give people more room to walk in and out, and to make somewhere for us to stand to get photos with people. We'll need someone to stand at the door, keeping control of the number of people that are inside at a time. We don't want overcrowding, for obvious reasons. Who do you think would be best at doing that?"
"I'll do it," Elena said firmly. She wasn't afraid to take charge of people, and in any case she hadn't yet had a chance to work with any of her waitresses, so she couldn't have comfortably recommended any of them for the job.
Seth had no trouble believing that she wouldn't take any shit, should anyone try and get out of line. There was definitely an element of that within her character; actually it had been one of the reasons he had chosen to hire her. "Okay, and we'll need one of the girls to take photos for people using their phones. We can sort that out when we're ready to get started. For now, let's make a start on the cleaning. When that's done, I'd like you to give Bay and I a quick crash course on, uh, how to make a good cup of coffee, I guess. I'm sure we'll end up working shifts here ourselves from time to time, so we'd like to know what we're doing."
"Not a problem," Elena said easily.
"Onto the cleaning, then," Bayley said, keen to see how their new manager would delegate, even to them. "Daga, you're the manager, over to you."
"Right," Elena said, seeing the test for what it was. She turned to face the wait staff. "Listen up everyone. I know you've all met Seth when he came in to speak to you all about the transition." She gestured to Bayley. "This is our other new owner, Seth's partner, Bayley. As I'm sure you all just heard, we've agreed that before we open the shop today, we're going to clean the place thoroughly, from top to bottom. I'm not saying you've been doing a particularly bad job of it up until now, but this is day one under new ownership and I think there is room for improvement. We're going to start the new era with everything perfect. Seth and Bayley have offered to help us with the job, so let's get to it. When we're done, I'll speak to you about what's going to happen with the meet and greet session this afternoon. Everything clear?"
Positive responses came back from the entire group. Elena then set about assigning them to clean specific areas, mainly focusing on the parts of the shop that customers would experience. Seth and Bayley's assignment came last of all, after the wait staff had been dismissed to make a start. "I'd like you guys to do the storage room and office, please. It's the cleanest area from what I've seen, so it won't require all that much work," she added confidentially.
Bayley appreciated what Elena had done there. She was happy to demonstrate to the staff that the owners were willing to pitch in with the work, but at the same time she didn't want them to actually work too hard. "Where are the cleaning supplies? I'm going to need some gloves," she said.
"She's got OCD about getting her hands dirty," Seth chipped in, grinning in amusement at the chance to needle his fiancee a little.
Bayley scowled at him. It was a long-standing joke between them, but it still annoyed her. "It's not OCD," she insisted.
Chuckling at them both, Elena pointed through the door that lead from the main part of the shop to the staff only areas. "There's a janitors closet through there. I'm sure you'll be able to find everything you need. Some of the girls will be there already."
A few minutes later, Seth and Bayley were in the privacy of the store room, ready to start their cleaning. "I can't believe you said I have OCD to Elena," Bayley said, now able to smile about it.
Seth shrugged. "I was only being honest about it. You're in denial. And you're supposed to call her Daga."
"I am not in denial," Bayley insisted strongly.
"Mmm hmm," Seth said skeptically, making it obvious that he was watching her putting on the pair of rubber gloves she had fetched from the janitor's closet, along with a bucket full of other cleaning supplies.
"Shut up and clean!" Bayley ordered with as much sternness as she was capable of producing, which wasn't a lot.
"Yes, boss," Seth replied, thoroughly enjoying the banter, as he knew she was, despite the front she was putting on. He set about removing cardboard boxes full of cans of soda from the metal shelving so that he could give it a wipe down. Meanwhile, Bayley went to work at the other end of the room, the so-called manager's office. It was more of a desk and a filing cabinet at the end of the storage room than it was an office, but it was at least a place for the manager to operate from.
"Seth, look what I found," Bayley said a couple of minutes later. She had been clearing the desk of the junk that the previous owners had left scattered on top of it.
Turning around to see what she had found, Seth saw that she was holding up a roll of silver duct tape. He knew exactly what she was thinking right away. She loved to role play the victim in various scenarios that involved her being tied up and gagged with tape. It was a strange fetish in Seth's opinion, but he had grown used to it since they had been together, and now enjoyed his role in it a lot too. "Interesting," he replied, stretching the word out.
Bayley felt herself getting turned by the thoughts that were running through her mind, but she tried her best to play it cool. She put the tape on the end of the desk and said, "I'll just leave it there."
Seth waited a moment after she resumed her cleaning. Once she had her back to him, he cautiously walked over to her, being careful that she didn't notice what he was doing. Once he was in range, he grabbed her from behind, locking an arm around her waist and pulling her tightly against him as he clamped his other hand over her mouth - the other thing she really liked him to do. She let out a surprised grunt into his palm, and he took pleasure in feeling her quiver in his grasp. That was exactly the response he had hoped for. "If you're good, maybe I could take that tape home," he whispered into her ear. Slowly, he removed his hand from her mouth to allow her to speak, but kept his other arm tight around her.
"What if I'm bad?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"Then I'll definitely take it home."
