Vegeta stands in front of the storefront that holds his new business. He frowns, glancing down at a clipboard containing the finalization of the property transfer. Well, this is it. No going back now.
Vegeta had always wanted to own his own business. He would build his own empire independent of Frieza and his iron grip and ice-cold heart. He just hadn't expected it to be… This. Oh well. It may pay less than his job with DB Enterprises did, but it will give him more control. He can build it up and then move on to bigger and better things.
A small red car pulls into the parking lot and stops next to Vegeta's Mercedes. The man who steps out walks straight for Vegeta and sticks out his hand. "Goku Kakarot. I'm the assistant manager."
Vegeta stares down at the proffered hand and raises an eyebrow. I guess I better at least be civil with my employees, he thinks, lest they all decide to leave and I'm left with a business I have no clue how to run. He takes Goku's hand and shakes it once, firmly. "I am Vegeta," he says. "I assume you've been informed that I now own this… establishment."
Goku nods. "Yes, sir. I was saddened to hear about Mr. Frieza's passing."
I wasn't, Vegeta thinks darkly. I almost jumped for joy.
Goku continues, "I never saw him much. He was technically the manager, I guess, but he never hired anyone outright to run the store. He mostly left that to me. I guess he had a lot of other businesses to tend to."
Other businesses, indeed, Vegeta thinks.
Goku leads Vegeta inside; the shop is closed now, the day being Sunday and the time past 6:30. "So, do you have any big plans for this place?" Goku asks as he unlocks the door. "Kami told me you were planning on being pretty hands-on with it."
Vegeta looked around as they stepped inside. It was spacious; there was a lounge area with a couple of plush chairs, a restaurant seating area with 8 or so tables, and the counter itself which was set up simply but functionally. "How many are employed here?" Vegeta responded.
Goku thought for a moment, then counted on his fingers. "Well there's me. I'm both assistant manager and a shift supervisor. I work full-time every week day, and then we have Piccolo who's the shift supervisor on the weekends. Our full-time Baristas are Tien and Krillin, and then Chiaotzu who's part-time. And Yajirobe, who doesn't really do a lot but will fill in for a shift if someone calls in sick." He opened the office door. "I'm looking at hiring on a few more because we're pretty under-staffed at the moment. Mr. Frieza had a few employees he personally hired but they all left after he passed. I had to cut back our hours of operation in the meantime."
Vegeta nods, absent-mindedly running a hand along the weathered door frame. "I'm going to have to do a lot of renovating," he mutters. The space has too much potential to be left as it is. "Kakarot," Vegeta interrupts Goku, who is in the process of running through numbers for the last several months.
"Er, 'Goku' is fine," Goku says.
Vegeta stares him down. "As I was saying, Kakarot, there are several changes that I would like made. I'm going to close the shop for two months, but I don't want to go through the trouble of hiring new workers. Please inform your employees their jobs will be here when I re-open."
Goku frowns. "Um," he begins, trying to find the best way to protest. "That's a generous offer, but-"
"But what?" Vegeta growls. "The numbers you've read me are pitiful. This place should have much higher traffic for the area it's in, and the decor looks like it came straight from last century. And not in a good way."
"It's just that this is the only job that many of them have. It's the only way that they can support themselves. Tien and Krillin are good guys, and I'd hate to see them scrambling for work. We're kind of like a family here, you know?"
Vegeta scowls. Family means nothing to him. The only "family" he had ever been a part of was Frieza's, and the sort of family loyalty the lot of them showed had left a bitter, bitter taste in Vegeta's mouth. But at the same time, the decade he had spent out from underneath Frieza's thumb had proven to him that sometimes the world could be an okay place. Perhaps he could use some of them in the meantime. As for their making a living, well. He knew what it was like to be suddenly jobless and scrambling for any way to support yourself. He wouldn't wish such a fate on the average person. "Okay," he concedes after several moments of thought. "One month of paid leave and two weeks paid training. But they're on their own for the other two weeks."
Goku visibly deflates with relief. He didn't expect Vegeta to give in so easily or so generously, especially given Kami's description of him and after hearing all the stories.
"You, on the other hand, I will keep busy for the entirety of the closing," Vegeta continues. "I will need your expert opinion for design choices and machinery upgrades." Delegation had never been his strong suit, but even he has to admit that he's in over his head with this one. "I plan to close in two weeks to give everyone time to make arrangements."
More than happy to be so included in the planning process, Goku nods. "If I may make a suggestion, I would advise that Piccolo be let in on the decision-making. He's really got a head for all this stuff."
Vegeta admires Goku's boldness in speaking up. He's annoyed at his presumptuousness but decides not to fault him for it. Vegeta will never, ever admit it out loud, but in this one thing he's more than happy to follow somebody else's lead. At least for the first little while.
A/N: Find this story on AO3 under /users/musicofthespheres and other goodies on under /tagged/black-coffee-au