Violating Community Guidelines
"With Halloween coming up, we're trying get rid of as much costumes as possible! The most popular fad right now is the new Malibu Lacie movie- and look how cute Mimi and Davis look! Come on up guys!" Tai cheerfully motioned them up.
"Hi, I'm Malibu Lacie!" Mimi gingerly skated to the front of the room.
"You know you don't have to wear roller skates," Yolei winced.
"I know, but Malibu Lacie wears them in the movie!" Mimi struggled to balance.
"Please be careful," Izzy bit his lip.
"And I'm Beach Fun Ben!" Davis walked up to the front of the room, wearing board shorts and a Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned to reveal his bare chest.
"Again, you don't have to stick entirely true to the movie...you can close your shirt," Yolei pulled her vest tight.
"Come on, everyone knows Beach Fun Ben was the star of the show. Why else would anyone want to watch a stupid movie about a dumb doll?" Davis flexed his arm.
"Hey! That movie is totally feminist and stuff!" Mimi hunched over a table for support.
"Is it though?" TK asked. "Despite the diverse cast, the lead actress was still the Hollywood standard for attractive: long beautiful hair, thin body shape, feminine facial features."
"I didn't see that garbage of a movie, but it seems like it makes it seem like all men are goofy, moronic, misogynistic, entitled-"
"Nuh uh, there was Alex," Mimi interrupted Thomas.
"Psh, that's the redheaded reject. No one cares about him. He's bitch made," Davis tapped Mimi in the forehead gently.
"Whooooa!" Mimi flailed her arms and fell on her back.
"Oh crap...I can't file a worker's comp this early into our store opening. We've only been in business for two months," Tai bit his lip as he helplessly stared at Mimi.
"Ugh," Izzy rolled his eyes and ran up to Mimi. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I don't know, my back really hurts," Mimi groaned.
"Alright! Everyone, just leave. If you wear a costume, just make sure you wear non-slip shoes and that you can safely do your job! Shoo, shoo!" Yolei flapped her hands frantically.
"Finally...," "I hate pre-shift meetings," everyone grumbled as they walked over Mimi writhing on the floor.
"Ugh, I can't get up," Mimi squirmed.
"I can't leave the premises! I'm the store manager!" Tai nervously chuckled.
"Don't look at me. I'm just the assistant manager," Yolei scoffed.
"You guys have to be kidding me!" Izzy exclaimed. "Fine, Mimi...let's get you checked out."
"I can't move though," Mimi groaned.
"It's fine, I got you," Izzy wheeled over a dolly cart and tied Mimi up to it.
"Why does this look like a hostage situation gone really, really bad?" Rika smirked.
"It's a dolly tied up to a dolly. How ironic is that?" Koji scoffed.
"Hey! What did I just say?! Get to work, everyone!" Yolei clapped her hands loudly.
"Not you," Izzy snapped his fingers at Thomas.
"Uh, yes?" Thomas nervously asked.
"Here. Since you're a Harvard graduate, you get to be floor supervisor for the day. Don't mess it up," Izzy ripped off his name tag and tossed it to Thomas.
"You got it Jameson...or should I say, Izzy?" Thomas raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"How did you...," Izzy's mouth dropped.
"I have my ways. Also, Sarah told me," Thomas clipped the fake name tag on his vest.
"Sadly, I feel like you're the only remotely competent person available at the moment. Please don't make me regret this decision," Izzy kicked the back of dolly so he could wheel it.
"It's okay, you're allowed to say nice things about people," Thomas nervously smiled.
Cafe Europa Cloud 9
"Let me guess, Enorme pumpkin spice latte?" TK raised his eyebrow.
"Oh my god, yes!" a blonde girl with a wide-brimmed velvet hat exclaimed. "How did you know?"
"I had a feeling," TK sighed and trudged over to the expresso machine.
"Pumpkin spice latte?" Zoe mockingly said as she contorted her face.
"I have dreams...where that's the only words I hear," Kari groaned.
"I can't wait until this is over. I hate pumpkin spice, and I hate pumpkin spice people even more," TK angrily cranked the lever on the milk frother.
*whirrrrrrr*
"Ahhhh!" Kari and Zoe jumped back as the foamy milk splattered everywhere.
"That's it! I quit!" TK tore off his green visor and slammed it on the ground.
"TK, we need you!" Kari gasped.
"No! I can't take it anymore!" he screamed as he angrily stomped on his visor and ripped off his apron. He grabbed the messy coffee and slid it across the counter. "Here's your damn coffee! I'm leaving!"
"Oooh, I'm kinda mad that he messed up my coffee, but that was kinda hot," the girl looked in awe as she watched TK stormed off.
"You're not his type, trust us," Zoe wriggled her nose.
"We'll make you another coffee...on the house," Kari gingerly grabbed the old coffee back and walked back to the barista station.
Service Desk
"Hey Ryo, don't you have some returns to get done?" Rika smirked.
"I'm just hiding out...haven't you noticed that we've been getting more RickRolls about our store lately? Apparently we're super popular," Ryo crouched down below the counter.
"What? I get that this store is stupid sometimes, but it can't be that stupid for us to get viral," Rika snorted.
"Um, actually you're one of the reasons why...here," Ryo pulled out his phone and handed it out to her.
"You have to check out the new Cloud 9! It is GOAT- especially the annoucer, she is soooo mother!" an annoying speech-to-text voice emitted from Ryo's phone.
"I understood half of this lunacy...and they recorded my announcements?!" Rika gasped.
"If that's not enough...," Ryo scrolled through his phone.
"Can we get a shout out to Cloud 9 for diversity and inclusion? They hire cripples, like this guy right here! We have to shop at businesses like this more often!"
"This is insufferable. What kind of brain rot is this...," Rika snarled in disgust.
"I don't want to be filmed like some zoo animal. This is awful," Ryo slid down on the floor.
"Can't say I appreciate it either. I don't entertain for free," Rika angrily pressed her lips together.
"Well, what do we do?" Ryo's eyes widened.
"Hmm...what do we do," Rika tapped her fingers against the counter.
Sales Floor
"So Izzy gave me his name tag for the day. I guess I'm supposed to be floor supervisor until he gets back," Thomas shook a fake name tag between his fingers.
"Oh wow, that's wonderful! And you thought he didn't like you! See? Nothing to worry about! He's a nice guy," Sarah rubbed his shoulder.
"I don't know about that. It's not like he offered this 'opportunity' to me in the nicest way, or because he looked like he wanted to. I think I was just the last person around and he was desperate," Thomas ran his fingers through his hair.
"I wouldn't think too much on that, just think of this as a door opening. As much as I like having you on my crew, I'm pretty sure you don't like cleaning up after people all day," Sarah grabbed a broom and used it as a support.
"I like working with you though," Thomas blurted out, immediately feeling his face turn hot.
"That is so sweet, but working with me cannot possibly outweigh the other parts of this job, can it?" Sarah smiled, seemingly oblivious to Thomas's embarrassment.
"It definitely helps," Thomas shrugged.
"You really are too sweet. I really enjoy having you on my team too, but it would be really selfish if I tried to keep you here if you have potential elsewhere. If Izzy thinks you can do the job, just do what you can," Sarah said.
"But I don't even know where to start. I don't exactly know what Izzy does, other than think he knows everything already," Thomas sarcastically said.
"Easy Thomas...maybe this his olive branch," Sarah hummed.
"Maybe you're right," Thomas shrugged.
"You'll figure this out, you're a smart boy. Now I have to find Ken and teach him how to use a mop...you can tell which areas he's worked on, and not in a good way," Sarah groaned.
"Oh, good luck," Thomas nervously smiled.
"Nice kid, very enthusiastic...but I don't understand why he got moved to maintenance crew," Sarah sighed.
"If only I could change it...," Thomas hummed.
"You know, you are floor supervisor for the day. Maybe if you could find a better fit for Ken, maybe you could convince Izzy to transfer him to a different department. I mean, I love Ken, nice kid...but it would be nice not having to clean up after someone in our maintenance crew," Sarah looked flustered.
"That's not a bad idea," Thomas tapped his chin.
Service Desk
"Need to prepare for Halloween weekend? Don't worry, Cloud 9 has got you covered. If you head to the gardening department, we've sectioned off a special curation of Halloween goods, from costumes to bulk bags of candy- and it's all in one place for your convenience. Happy shopping!" Rika enthusiastically said into the speaker and immediately grimaced right after.
"Rika, that was lovely! That's how store announcements should always sound like!" Yolei gushed.
"I'm not doing this for you," Rika scowled.
"I don't care, as long as you're doing the job correctly," Yolei smiled and walked off.
"Blech...," Rika stuck her tongue out.
"I don't exactly believe in the paranormal, but I think I just felt your soul die, and I didn't think that was possible with it already being dead," Ryo whispered from under the table.
"Hey! Aren't you the girl who makes the announcements here?" a teenage boy walked up to Rika's station, a group of other kids following suit.
"What's it to ya?" Rika scoffed.
"Oh, it's gotta be her. She sounds the same!" another boy sipped at a pumpkin spice latte.
"What do you want? I probably can't help you. Not because I don't know, but because I don't want to," Rika rolled her eyes upwards.
"Why aren't you being funny over the speaker lately? What gives?" a girl whined.
"You think I'm funny?" Rika raised her eyebrow.
"Yeah, you're literally the only reason we come here!" another boy piped up.
"You don't say," Rika nodded slowly.
"Yeah, so what's up? Why are you being boring now?"
"Eh, my buttmunch of an assistant manager wants me to 'stick to the script'. So you probably won't hear anything interesting from me any time soon. Sorry kids," Rika shrugged.
"Aww, thanks for your time! It was nice meeting you at least!" one boy said.
"Sure," Rika yawned.
"And there you have it! Cloud 9 is cancelled- they don't believe in free speech!" one girl spoke into her phone.
"Wait, hold your horses! We gotta see if the cripple is still here!" another boy said.
"Oh good idea! Let's go see if we can find him!" the crowd of teenagers excitedly nodded and walked off.
"I don't know how much longer I can deal with this," Rika stared blankly ahead.
"Hey, at least no one's interested in you anymore. I feel like I'm on a manhunt now," Ryo curled up in a ball.
Sales Floor
"Well well well, if it isn't the kiss butt," Ken trudged over to Thomas.
"Kiss butt?" Thomas crossed his arms.
"Why did Jameson pick you to cover his shift and not me?" Ken put his hands on his hips.
"I could probably think of a certain situation, where you discounted liquor at an extremely heavy rate," Thomas tapped at a clipboard.
"When is everyone going to let that go? It was a mistake that anyone could have made!" Ken slammed his fist on a display shelf of picture frames, causing them to accidentally knock to the floor.
"Is it?" Thomas watched as the photo frames kept shattering to the ground, and then shot Ken a smirk.
"Just watch it buddy! You might have the upper hand here, but I haven't even showed you what I'm even capable of yet!" Ken yelled.
"Yeah, I don't think I want to find out at this rate. Okay, how about this... I'll clean up this accident here, and why don't you go around through all the departments and see if they need any help. I'm pretty sure that's what a good floor supervisor would do," Thomas handed Ken his clipboard.
"What's the catch?" Ken gave Thomas a look.
"No catch, except that I'll probably look so bad compared to you. Unless you decide to be a team player, this could be an opportunity for us to work together," Thomas said.
"Hmm, okay," Ken smirked.
"Alright, go ahead. Run along, go see who needs help. I'll clean this up in the meantime," Thomas said.
"Oooh, I think I'm going to like this," Ken evilly grinned and trudged off.
"I think I'm going to regret what I just did," Thomas winced.
Jewellery and Cosmetics
"Where's Malibu Lacie?" a girl asked Davis.
"Uh...she's on a mission," Davis popped his lips together.
"You're just like the guy from the movie. You're soooo cute, but it's not the same without Lacie...," the girl pouted and walked away.
"That's like the seventh person who said something like that to me. I don't know what they're trying to say, but I don't feel good," Davis counted on his fingers.
"Maybe you need to admit that this stupid doll movie is a bit problematic?" TK hummed.
"Hey, you don't have to tell me. Tell the girl that's in the hospital right now. By the way, aren't you supposed to be at the coffee shop with Kari?" Davis asked.
"Yeah, but I quit. I'm a Cloud 9 employee now," TK shrugged.
"What happened?" Davis leaned over the glass counter.
"I snapped...I couldn't deal with the pumpkin spice coffees anymore," TK shook his head.
"Oh," Davis said.
"Hey, I don't think you guys are supposed to be chit-chatting!" Ken walked up to the boys.
"Uh, we're working. We promise!" TK blurted.
"Wait a minute. Who are you and why do you think you can tell us what to do? Act your wage," Davis put his hands on his hips.
"I'm the acting floor supervisor," Ken smugly said.
"Says who?" Davis made a face.
"Jameson," Ken scoffed.
"Huh...," TK and Davis glanced at each other.
"It appears that we're down a team member...but looks like we have a new one. I guess while she's gone, you can take her place, Takeru," Ken squinted to read TK's name badge.
"Just TK...just TK," TK covered his name badge.
"As you wish. Well, first order of business, we need a new Malibu Lacie. Apparently customers are getting disappointed because they haven't seen her yet," Ken pouted.
"Uh, what do you want us to do about it?" Davis made a face.
"I have an idea...this should fit you," Ken smirked as he up a pink cowgirl outfit.
"You're kidding, right?" TK looked at him in shock.
"I have a wig to go with this. You should be fine," Ken teasingly shook a wig with long, brown hair.
"Nonononono," TK shook his head.
"If you don't, you can be transferred back to Cafe Europa...or the unemployment line!" Ken barked.
"Dude, what's up your ass?" Davis blurted out.
"Limited time offer, you have five seconds to make your choice startingggg...NOW! Five...four...thr-"
"Fine! I'll do it. Just buzz off," TK snatched the wig from Ken's hand.
"Thank you!" Thomas whistled and walked off.
"Ew, that guy sucks," Davis crossed his arms.
"You know this wouldn't have happened if you didn't push Mimi down to the floor," TK sighed as he looked at his wig.
"Nah, it's not my fault! Think about it, if she knew how to use roller skates, we wouldn't have to go through any of this in the first place," Davis whirled his finger in the air.
"Hey, that's actually true," TK pursed his lips.
Cafe Europa Cloud 9
"Zoe! You've been gone for twenty minutes!" Kari gasped.
"About that...I have something to give you," Zoe nervously laughed.
"Nonononono! Please don't let it be what I think it is!" Kari winced.
"I'm sorry! I just can't do this anymore!" Zoe stretched out her arm and shook her green apron.
"What? You can't!" Kari gasped.
"I'm not technically leaving. Just think of this as a lateral movement? I'm just switching teams!" Zoe slipped on a blue nylon vest.
"What good does that do me?! I can't do this on my own! Don't you see how crazy this is getting?!" Kari exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know if I can handle making another pumpkin spice anything anymore," Zoe winced.
"What am I going to do? I'm only one person!" Kari gasped.
"I don't know...bye?" Zoe ran off.
"Traitor! You're all traitors!" Kari yelled.
"Pumpkin spice latte!"
"Hello! Where's my pumpkin spice latte?"
"Oh that sounds good, I want a pumpkin spice latte too!"
Service Desk
"Hi, I'd like to make a return," a woman walked over with a half-eaten bag of chips.
"Sure, any reason for the return?" Ryo cheerfully grabbed the chips.
"Uh, they were nasty?" the woman stuck her hand in the bag and grabbed a handful of chips.
"Then why are you still eating them?" Rika snorted.
"Maybe I should be asking why the cripple here is flipping me off? And what's with the offensive T-shirts?" the woman gasped.
"What? Jesus was definitely gay. Why else would he be hanging out with 12 other men at the same time?" Rika tugged at her shirt.
"Ma'am, I'm not flipping you off. I'm just trying to avoid being filmed by teenagers, so I'm violating RickRoll's community guidelines," Ryo stuck up both of his middle fingers.
"Oh, that teenage garbage. You see, you kids and your phones-"
"Lady, we're on the same side. We want nothing to do with this either. Now do you want Ryo to process your return or not?" Rika crossed her arms.
"Fine, but I'm not coming back to shop here again," the woman quipped.
"I hope you mean it," Rika remarked.
"You'll be refunded a total of $3.45 back onto your original form of payment. It should show up within 3-5 business days. That means days that excludes weekends and holidays," Ryo held up a receipt.
"I'm not stupid, I know that!" the woman snatched the receipt from his hand and stormed away.
"Three...two...one," Rika counted on her fingers.
"Hello, I need some help!" the same woman angrily stormed back to the customer service counter and slammed her hands on the tabletop.
"Sure, what can we do for you?" Ryo blankly stared at her.
"I just returned something five minutes ago, and I don't see the refund in my bank account yet! Where's my money?!" the woman barked.
"Dude, we just told you it would take around 3 to 5 business days for it to show up on your bank account. Again, that doesn't include weekends or holidays, so you'll have to wait for the normal weekdays," Ryo said.
"Why does it take that long?! You guys seem to take my money so fast, but when I want the refund I deserve, you guys take your sweet ass time giving it to me?!" the woman punched the counter.
"Hey, you're lucky we even refunded you. Your fat ass ate the merchandise- you technically stole from us," Ryo pointed at her.
"Excuse me?" the woman gasped.
"Are you stupid or are you deaf?" Rika asked.
"Look, if you're that much of a brokie, take it up with your bank. We refunded it from our end already," Ryo said, with his middle fingers still up.
"Where's your manager? I want a manager!" the woman's face turned red.
"Wamublance to the front desk- or manager! Oh, same difference, there's a crybaby here," Rika spoke into the intercom.
"Nuh uh, not dealing with that. Get the floor supervisor," Yolei walked up to the front desk and immediately darted away.
"Hey, floor supervisor to the front desk. Surprise surprise, the real managers don't want to do their job, so get your underpaid ass here to deal with the Karen. You can tell her the same stuff we told her, maybe in more simple terms. She lowkey looks kinda slow," Rika said into the intercom.
"Excuse me?!" the woman gasped.
"And she's a fatass," Ryo leaned over and grabbed the mic.
"Hi, what seems to be the problem today?" Thomas rushed over.
"Eh...she doesn't understand store policy. We already refunded her but she doesn't get that you have to wait a couple of days for the money to go back onto your account," Ryo yawned.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I don't see a problem here. It seems like they processed the return for you, you'll just have to wait for it to show in your account. If you don't see it in two weeks, please get back to us and we'll look further into it. There's nothing much else we can do in the meantime," Thomas said.
"Told you, you stupid bitch," Ryo flipped her off.
"Now is that really necessary?" Thomas gave him a look.
"Yes," Rika made a face.
"You kids have the worst customer service ever! Mark my words, I will never shop here again!" the woman screamed.
"You have to spend money in order to shop here!" Ryo hollered.
"I'm so over today," Thomas groaned.
"Hey, want to break some more community guidelines?" Ryo grinned.
"Hmm, intriguing," Rika smirked.
Sales Floor
"Cafe Europa is hiring! We can get you started same day!" Kari held up paper applications and walked around the store.
"Hold on, what is this?" Thomas snatched up a job form.
"My other employees just quit! I can't work there by myself!" Kari exclaimed.
"Wait, if you're the last one working, who's manning the cafe right now?" Thomas asked.
"I had to close it down- wait a minute, who are you and why are you asking me anything?" Kari put her hands on her hips.
"I'm the acting floor supervisor while Izzy is away," Thomas said.
"Uh huh," Kari cocked her head to the side.
"I am! And as acting floor supervisor, I think it would be frowned upon if other people know you left your station abandoned. I'll let management know that there are vacancies at Cafe Europa in the meantime," Thomas said.
"Fine! But I need someone ASAP! You don't understand how crazy it is back there!" Kari pleaded.
"Okay, I'll try my best to make this a priority," Thomas nodded.
"Please! I really need it," Kari wrapped her arms around Thomas and begged.
"I'll see what I can do, just get back to your station for now. Please...you're making me uncomfortable," Thomas awkwardly stood still.
"Okay...," Kari lingered for a couple more seconds and then let go of him. "Thanks, I really needed that."
"Uh huh, sure...," Thomas stiffly nodded and walked off.
"Thomas, how are you holding up? I haven't seen you since the beginning of our shift," Sarah grabbed Thomas by the arm.
"This job is definitely a lot to take in. Along with trying to keep Ken distracted and away from maintenance, apparently, most of the people at the cafe quit. If that weren't enough, it seems like the overhead announcements are getting more explicit than usual today of all days, and customer complaints are all across the board, but of course Tai and Yolei don't want to take care of that, so that is left up to me. I don't understand how Izzy does it," Thomas took in a deep breath.
"Oh honey, it's okay. You're only doing your best. And it's only for a couple of hours, I hope. Actually, have you taken your lunch break yet? Maybe that's all you need," Sarah held on to a broom.
"No. But I didn't even bring anything to eat, and I probably won't be able to get anything to eat here if the cafe is understaffed," Thomas turned around.
"Why don't you go into the break room? I accidentally prepared an extra lunch and it's in the fridge. You can have it," Sarah said.
"How do you make an extra lunch by accident?" Thomas asked.
"I pack lunches in the morning, but my daughter is in one of her weird picky eater stages. You're not a picky eater, are you?" Sarah asked.
"I wouldn't think myself as one," Thomas said.
"It's nothing crazy. It's just a ham and cheese sandwich, but my daughter wants to be a vegan. I kind of hope it's only a phase," Sarah shrugged.
"So you have a daughter?" Thomas asked.
"Yes, and a son," Sarah smiled.
"Oh, interesting. I'm a son," Thomas said.
"You're so funny," Sarah laughed. "Now why don't you go take a break! I think you need it. I'll join you in a second."
"Thanks Sarah," Thomas blushed and made his way to the break room.
Jewellery & Cosmetics
"Ken, are you sure this is how it's done?" Davis winced.
"Yeah, I think this is how girls get ready. Takeru, stop twitching your eyes, I'm trying to put some of this black gooey crap on your eyelashes!" Ken roughly grabbed onto TK's head.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not used to things being that close to my eye. Can we move on to something else?" TK blinked.
"Fine. You're moving too much anyways. Now shut your mouth, let me put your lipstick on," Ken gripped TK's jaw.
"Mmmhmm," TK pouted.
"There, wonderful!" Ken took a step back and rubbed his chin.
"Malibu Lacie? I think he looks like Malibu Crazy...," Davis remarked as TK looked at himself in the mirror.
"It's because you're not used to seeing him in makeup, but you look fine," Ken scoffed.
"Something tells me I should have done this to myself," TK frowned.
"Whoa, what is this? Are you supposed to be Malibu Lacie or dressed up as someone drunk off of Malibu that's been laced?" Kari gasped.
"Guys, I told you something was off about this," TK pulled at his wig.
"Stop, you're just jealous! He looks great," Ken stammered.
"Ummm, who is this guy?" Kari asked.
"I'm the acting floor supervisor," Ken put his hands on his hips.
"Huh? I thought Thomas was...uh, whatever. This day is too long," Kari rubbed her temples.
"What are you doing here anyways? Aren't you supposed to be at the cafe? You're out of bounds!" Ken pointed to the cafe.
"Aren't you the guy who screwed up the prices of alcohol during Labor Day?" Kari squinted at Ken.
"WHEN ARE PEOPLE GOING TO LET THAT GO?!" Ken yelled.
"Hey, did you leave Zoe by herself?" TK gingerly asked.
"No, she left me! I'm the one all by myself now! Me!" Kari slapped her hand against her chest.
"That sucks...," Davis frowned.
"TK, you can't tell me that whatever this," Kari swirled her finger around her face, "is better than making pumpkin spice lattes for a crazy crowd!"
"Actually, it is," TK haughtily said. "I'd rather dress like this for a whole year than ever go back to Cafe Europa."
*boom boom boom*
*rattle rattle*
"Uh, what's going on?" Davis craned his neck to the side.
"We want pumpkin spice, we want pumpkin spice!"
"GIMMIE CAKE POPS!"
"Pumpkin spice..."
"Ugh, it sounds like a zombie apocalypse out there," Davis winced.
"You have no idea. Why else did you think I quit?" TK grimaced.
Sales Floor
*boom boom boom*
"Oh my god, what is that sound?" Sarah made a face as she walked out of the breakroom.
"I don't know, and I don't think I want to know," Thomas nervously scanned his surroundings.
"Attention Cloud 9 shoppers, you dumb motherf-"
"CUT THE MIC!" Yolei screamed.
"We want pumpkin spice, we want pumpkin spice!"
"WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON?!"
"Oooh, that really doesn't sound good," Sarah winced.
"Thomas!" Izzy stomped over to him.
"Oh, hey!" Thomas stood up straight.
"Can you tell me what's going on? There's a crowd of people scaling the gates of Cafe Europa like an episode of the Last of Us right now- by the way, why is it shut down? And why is TK dressed up like a drunk woman? And are you aware that Rika has been cursing over the speakers for the last couple of hours? Oh, and Ryo's been providing 'excellent' customer service- he's almost as good as Rika, and I think you and I both know what that means," Izzy ranted.
"I-I-I... I'm sorry, I tried," Thomas sighed.
"Be easy on him. You sprung this on him last minute without any training," Sarah frowned.
"Oh, I wasn't mad at you. I just wanted to know if you knew how this happened," Izzy shrugged.
"Nope...," Thomas shook his head.
"Well, thanks for covering me back there," Izzy took off Thomas's fake name tag and clipped it back on his shirt.
"So you're not mad at me for all of this?" Thomas asked.
"No. You did surprisingly better than I thought. I was half-expecting this place to be on fire by the time I got back. I'm happy it wasn't. Thanks," Izzy said..
"Was that you trying to give me a compliment?" Thomas asked.
"Hey! I just want to let you know that all of this was my responsibility! He's just a credit hog! All of this was possible because of me!" Ken pushed himself in front of Thomas.
"Whoa! So you're the reason for all of this?" Izzy looked at Ken incredulously.
"Yep, all me!" Ken proudly smiled.
"Wow...as if I didn't think you could screw up any further! I don't think I've seen this store in such bad shape as today!" Izzy's face began to turn red.
"What? No...nononononono! I didn't do that!" Ken stammered.
"You just told me you were responsible for all of this chaos! That was the only redeeming thing you've said!" Izzy clenched his jaw.
"Thomas, help?" Ken looked over at Thomas.
"Before we act too impulsively, Cafe Europa could really use more staff," Thomas shrugged.
"Maybe Ken could be a better help there? We're a bit overstaffed in maintenance anyways," Sarah nervously interjected.
"Hmm...thanks for the intel. I'll forward that over to Tai," Izzy nodded and walked towards the back of the store.
"What are you trying to pull?" Ken growled at Thomas.
"Nothing. Just trying to help a friend out," Thomas shrugged.
"We are not friends!" Ken yelled.
"I wasn't talking about you. Goodnight," Thomas smirked and stretched his arms up in the air.
"Wait! Are you and Jameson friends?!" Ken gasped.
"Bye Ken," Thomas walked away.
Cafe Europa Cloud 9
"Thank god, I'm so happy I'm not alone anymore!" Kari gasped. "I'm gonna warn you, this crowd is gonna get a little feral, but it should die down by December!"
"Oh joy," Ken grimaced.
"So the magic of the pumpkin spice latte is in the milk frother. People really like it when the milk is foamy," Kari tapped the milk frothing machine.
"Is that why people leave the cafe with foam coming out of their mouths?" Ken asked.
"Nah. Like I said, these guys get rabid over the PSL. Like rabid...so we have to make sure we crank out as many of these lattes as fast as we can. Get these freaks out as fast as possible," Kari whispered.
"Great," Ken sarcastically said.
"Pumpkin spice latte!"
"Oooh, make it three!"
"CAKE POPS NOW!"
"Greaaaaat...," Ken whimpered to himself as he tightened the strap of his green visor.