Chapter 9: The Trainee

A beautiful woman with long, ebony and silver hair knocked on his bedroom door, and asked for permission to come in. The occupant gave his permission, pulling up the covers around his waist as he sat up in bed, and the door opened as if by magic. The woman came to his bed, laden with a tray that held his favorite breakfast- a large omelet, a bowl of cinnamon oatmeal, a tall glass of milk, a small glass of orange juice, and a fluffy blueberry muffin.

The woman was dressed in a teal sundress, a pair of white wedged-sandals, and a pearl-pink apron with ruffles around the body, outlining her hourglass figure. Her hair was tied into a sleek ponytail with a red ribbon on top, and her silver lips held a smile as she presented the tray. She was swaying toward him and had laid the breakfast tray across his lap.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" she asked in a silky voice as she stood straight up again.

"Yes, I did. Thanks," the man said with a smile on his lips while his eyes danced mischievously.

Blushing a little the woman looked like she was about to turn and leave, but the man seemed to have other plans.

He laid the tray on the large nightstand, grabbed her hand and gently pulled her down, so that she was sitting next to him. He then wrapped his other arm around her waist, and pulled her closer to his side. He could smell the sweet scent of her lipgloss.

Tracing a hand down the woman's cheek, and pushing a stray hair behind her ear, the man said, "Stay here for a little while, and we can share the breakfast afterward."

Blushing a deeper shade of peach the woman protested, "I'd love to, but I need to get back to the kitchens."

She was about to pull herself away until the man turned her face towards his, and he saw the mischief in his grey eyes reflecting in her gold ones.

"I'm sure they can survive a few minutes without you," he cooed, a knowing smile playing on his lips.

The woman returned the smile and purred back, "Maybe for a while."

Their faces moved closer, their lips puckered, and the man was just a few centimeters away from knowing what silver and strawberries together tasted like...

BRIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGG! BRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGGG!

Eyes popped open from the sound Crow turned to the hotel phone, which was still ringing. The clock on his cellphone showed that it was six in the morning.

Irritably he took the phone from its cradle and mumbled out a hello before pulling it away from his ear as a sound like a trumpet eruptted from the other end.

"I don't remember signing up for boot camp!" he thought as he slammed the phone back on the cradle and tried to get back to sleep.

No such luck though because the main door to the suite was being hammered at, and a voice on the other side was telling him to hurry and come to the door.

Groggily Crow did as he was told. He left his comfortable bed, wrapped a robe around his night attire- orange shirt and black shorts- and opened the door.

He regretted it instantly when two men barrelled their way in, went through his drawers and closet. They grabbed a shirt, a pair of pants, socks, his boots, and a pair of his boxers. The mauve ones, naturally.

"Next chance I get I'm burning them," he thought embarrassingly as the one man holding them let out a chuckle to his friend, who had the decency to look away quickly.

"Alright Dingo! Let's get this over with," the other guy said to his punk-looking friend.

"Right on ya' mate!" Dingo replied in a thick Austrailian accent. Then he turned to the room's main occupant, "Let's get going there R.R. The head shelia's waiting for you!"

Then he and his friend, who Crow recognized as Alanzo, grabbed him by his upper arms under his robe, and hauled him out the door. They completly lifted him up from the floor, out of the robe, and down the flights of stairs.

On the way down and toward the staff room Crow kept kicking and screaming, demanding to know why he was being dragged out of his room at six in the morning by two of The Pack's bandmembers.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE KNOWN DIMENSIONS IS GOING ON HERE! AND DON'T ANY OF YOU GUYS EVEN THINK ABOUT SAYING 'YOU'LL SEE'! I LIKE TO KNOW RIGHT...now?"

At the head of the staff table was Kyona, wearing a big smile on her silver lips and... a teal sundress and white wedged-sandals, with her hair tied into a sleek ponytail and a red ribbon on top.

Giggling along with Marisol and the other female employees, Kyona said, "Good morning Crow. Did you sleep well?"

Only being able to nod his head Crow gapped at her amazed. She looked exactly how he had seen her in his dream, and she almost said exactly what her dream-self said. To complete his sense of deja vu Crow saw that there was a large tray in the middle of the table, but this one was covered.

"If it has what I think it does underneath then I have officially entered the Twilight Zone," he ventured as he sat down on her right at the staff table, Dingo and Alanzo sitting next to him.

"Thanks for bring our fellow member down guys," Kyona said with a smile.

"It was no problema Senora Kyona," Alanzo waved, his speech coming out in silky Spanish. "We're just sorry we had to bring him here like this."

"New member?" Crow asked the boss. "I'm just here to help you with the reception party, not to apply for a job here."

"Oh, that's just it mate," Dingo explained, thumping him on the back happily. "When you agreed to help out our beloved Miss Kyona, even for a small amount of time, the rest of us took it upon ourselves to give you a full welcome and treat you like any other newby. So, even if you're staying in the guests' quarters, you're still counted as a new staff member. Welcome to the family R.R.!"

"R.R.?" Crow asked, looking at him suspeciously.

"Rockin' Robin!" the Austrailian laughed out and everyone else joined in, even the new "employee".

"How about you just call me Crow?" he asked, a lot more awake and happier than how he started out.

Thumping him on the back again Dingo agreed and Kyona was about to call the staff meeting to order when she noticed that three seats were still empty.

"Where's Derek, Tamara and Tobias?" she asked.

"Derek and Tamara went to get him out of bed," Marisol answered from the left hand side. "You'd think with him working here for almost two years he'd remember the penalty for breaking rule number three."

"What's the penalty for breaking whatever rule number three is?" Crow asked her curiously.

"Everybody is to wake up at 5:30AM every morning and be down in the staff room by 6AM. If you're not up and dressed by then you get dragged down into the staff room in your pjs, and will only get ten minutes to wash and dress in the staff bathroom- behind me- before your shift starts at 7AM," she recited perfectly, as though she had to tell this rule often.

"Thankfully, since we're closed today for Preparation Day, he and Crow will have more than enough time to get ready," Kyona said. Then she explained further, "This is the day we close the restaurant to take up an inventory of all of the supplies that we have, and to restock on anything we're running low on. Marisol and I usually help the other cooks with that, but since I have to plan the reception and everything it looks like that's where you'll come in, Crow."

Before Crow could say another word a cry came from the hallway.

"LET ME GO PLEEEEEAAASSSSE! I DON'T WANT TO GO IN THERE LOOKING LIKE THIS!"

"You know the rules, Toby," a tired male voice followed the cries of the repeat offender.

"You also know what happens when you break the rules," an equally tired female voice added.

"BUT I DON'T WANT HER TO SEE ME IN THESE!" he kept yelling.

"Not our problem!" the other two chorused, and they finally brought him into view.

"You've GOT to be kidding me!" Crow gawked in surprise at the late riser.

Tobias was struggling between the other two band members who held him, and his change of clothes, by his upper arms, and was turning a brilliant shade of red that clashed horribly with his pajamas. It would not have been too bad but the pajamas were a light shade of sky blue with footies in them, and sprinkled on the surface of the one-piece were...

"Tobias are those... the Care Bears?" Marisol asked in a tired voice.

Stopping his struggling for a moment Tobias looked at the assistant manager and said defensivly, "No, they are NOT the Care Bears! They are the Care Bear Cousins."

The corners Kyona's lips twitched a little before she came to his defense, "Don't worry, Tobias. I think they look cute."

"You do?" he asked, his face lit up like a puppy-dog expecting a treat.

Almost all of the employees that were not snickering face-palmed themselves, and shook their heads.

When the trio finally took their seats, Kyona started the meeting, "Okay everyone, listen up because the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get started with Prep Day. As you all know Marshall Kalin Kessler is going to marry Miss Misty Tredwell, but due to a conflict in schedules for those involved, their wedding has been moved up from July to May. Which means we've got less than three months to prepare for the reception party we will be hosting and catering for.

"So for the first three weeks I, along with my friend and volunteer, Crow Hogan will be gathering intel so we can comprise a menu, music preferrences, and options for the decorations. This will be very time consuming, along with running the restaurant to keep our neighbors happy and to help train new chefs, and I will have my hands full, even if more of you agree to help us.

"Fortunatly Marisol has agreed to run the restaurant in my stead until preparations for the reception are complete. So you all will be taking orders from her whenever I am away from the kitchen, or from Enforcer Town should the case may be," Kyona concluded as she resumed her seat at the head of the table.

"But Miss Kyona," Tobias wailed, "even with Miss Marisol taking charge until the reception stuff is out of the way, how will you be able to get anything accomplished, even with your volunteer helping you? He doesn't know anything about the schedules or complex runnings of a business like Martha's Place, and it'll be just as time-consuming trying to show him so he won't interrupt anything important inbetween."

Glaring at the pajamaed waiter Crow said, "Believe or not, Tobias, I am a fast learner and I can keep up with everybody else in this room."

Then he turned to Kyona, "Just show me what to do and I'll do it! No complaints and only a few questions. I'm all yours, Miss Kyona."

Everybody turned their eyes at him in amazement. He was willing to do whatever the manager said, no complaints or anything.

"I hope Cuervo knows what he's getting into. He might have agreed to something that's completely over his cabasa," Alanzo whispered to Dingo and Derek, who nodded in agreement.

Smiling with eyes filled with appreciative tears Kyona replied, "In that case, Mr. Crow, I suggest you get yourself washed up and report back here in less than ten minutes."

"BUT WHAT ABOUT THE EXTRA TIME?" both trainees shouted out as Crow grabbed his things and bolted to the staff washroom behind Marisol.

"I have to show you the ropes, don't I? So what better way than on Prep Day," she commented as her other trainee tried to get in front of his new coworker, bundle in hand.

"Out of the way Crone! I have work to do!" Tobias said, struggling against Crow's strong grip on the half-closed bathroom door.

"Not gonna happen, Toady!" the other hissed through gritted teeth as he successfully closed the door and locked it.

Rapping at the door Tobias screamed, "You had better take me seriously, Crane! I have senority status over you!"

"Really hard to take anybody in Care Bear pjs seriously, Toddy!" the red head laughed as the rapping got harder on the locked door.

"FOR THE LAST TIME, THEY'RE THE CARE BEAR COUSINS!"


A.N. I know I said on the ending note that I would let Crow know what it was like to run a restaurant, but I couldn't resist trying to highlight the rest of The Pack members first. I think you'll find them becoming more involved as a part of how... You'll see! ;D