Luna picked up the rolling pin wrapped in colored fondant and elevated it over the crumb-coated cake. Very carefully, she rolled the fondant out until the cake was completely covered. She then set the pin down and grabbed two fondant smoothers, carefully brushing the top before using her fingers spread out the folds and gradually bring the fondant down.
The door opened. "Solace." A male voice called.
Luna recognized the voice to belong to her coworker, Takashi Kobayashi. "Yes?" She called back.
"Manager wants you up front." Takashi said.
"Okay, I'll be there in a minute." Luna replied.
Takashi pulled his head back out and the door closed. Luna finished smoothing out and cutting the excess fondant off the cake before putting it to the side. After washing her hands, the young woman left the backroom and went out the door Takashi just came from.
She found Takashi standing there behind the counter, his brown eyes looking as bored as ever. His dark-brown hair looked rather prickly yet neat. His lean figure stood over the counter, fingers shifting through the cashier, probably double-checking to make sure the proper amount was in there. There was an incident not too long ago when some money was missing and the main manager started growing very concerned and even accused Takashi of stealing it. The security cameras couldn't find out where it could've gone, only for them to show that one of the second-in-charge placed the money in the back safe on accident. Since then, the poor guy has been checking the cashier every few hours to make sure it was all there.
Luna felt bad for Takashi. He didn't have it too easy. His mom kicked him out when he was sixteen and has been trying to make ends meet ever since. Luna considered giving him money to help him out, but the main manager, Yoshida, immediately shut down that idea.
"Worry about your own life, honey." Yoshida said. "Don't get involved in someone else's problems like that."
Luna in a way understood where Yoshida was coming from. She just wished there was something she could do.
After giving Takashi a moment, she glanced over to Yoshida. She stood at the corner of the shop talking to a customer, a girl about the same age as Luna. She had what looked like folded chef's clothing in her arms. After a couple minutes, Yoshida turned her attention to Luna and walked over. The girl followed suite, stopping next to the manager when she stopped. Yoshida was an older heavy-set lady, somewhere in her late-forties with curly, reddish-brown hair tied up and light-green eyes. Her attire consisted of a professional chef outfit with a white apron tied in front. The girl standing next to her had long straight hair like Luna's, except it was a nice dark grayish-blue shade with light reflecting off it. She wore a long-sleeved gray short and blue jeans. Her eyes held this gentle, pretty yellow hue. When she noticed Luna staring thoughtfully at her, the girl crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, hugging the clothes.
"Solace, this is Akoya Sengen. She's our new trainee." Yoshida said, surprising her employee.
"Oh." Luna said, recalling that a new person was supposed to begin working here. She turned to the new girl. "Hi there, nice to meet you!"
Luna smiled sweetly, extending her arm to offer her hand. The girl, Akoya, stared at her hand nervously before reaching over and shaking it. "Nice to meet you." She muttered so softly, Luna almost couldn't hear.
"Sorry for the late notice, but could you please train her? I would do it, but I have too many orders to take care of." Yoshida said.
"I can. I just have to finish the cake I'm working on. I'll just give her an early demonstration on how to cover cakes, if you want." Luna offered.
"Could you? That would be fantastic. Thank you so much for your help." Yoshida said before turning to the girl. "Okay Akoya, Solace here will take care of you for now. She's one of the best here, so you have a great trainer. If you need anything, I'll be in my station."
Akoya nodded in response. "Thanks." She muttered, looking away.
Luna gave a smaller smile this time. She must be shy. "Okay Sengen, my station is this way. If you could please follow me." She said, motioning for the girl to follow her. Akoya followed until they made it into the backroom.
"While being back here, you will need to wear a chef's attire. There's a restroom down the hall so you can get changed." Luna said.
Akoya just nodded and quickly walked away without a word. Luna blinked but shrugged it off. She knew quite a few shy people back in her hometown. This girl was probably the same way. She would come around eventually.
Akoya came back wearing the complete chef's attire. Luna smiled again and motioned for her to come over. "Okay, so I am going to give you a head start on how to cover cakes with fondant. Have you ever dealt with fondant before?" Luna asked while grabbing a ball of white fondant wrapped in clear wrap.
After a second, Akoya shook her head.
"Okay, no worries." Luna said, unwrapping the fondant. "One major thing about fondant: always keep it covered, or else it will harden and dry out, okay?"
Akoya nodded, crossing her arms over her chest again.
"Okay. When you're planning to cover a cake with fondant, you have to make sure you have the right amount first. Fondant needs to be rolled out to…"
Luna stopped talking as she studied the girl next to her. Her hands were gripping her arms tightly and she looked a bit pale. Akoya's expression seemed to give off a meek and unsteady vibe. "Are you okay?" She asked suddenly.
Akoya just nodded, still staring at the cake.
Luna smiled again. "Are you nervous?" She asked. When Akoya didn't reply, Luna continued. "It's okay to be nervous. I failed a lot when I started doing this, but failure taught me how to do things better. It took some time, but I eventually got better. I'm sure the same thing will happen for you, Akoya. Is it okay if I call you Akoya?"
After another moment of silence, the girl nodded.
"Mhm." Luna hummed with a nod.
Luna spent a good amount of time teaching Akoya the basics of how to cover cakes with fondant and how to produce toppers and pastillage-based plaques for the sides. The new girl had difficulty following along, so Luna slowed down her pace to help the girl adjust better. She didn't want to be overbearing and drive the girl off. Once the first cake for Luna's order was done, she began officially teaching Akoya how to cover styrofoam cakes for customers who order fake cakes. She allowed Akoya to choose how the cake would be to make the experience better. Shapes, colors, sizes of toppers, etc. Akoya seemed to relax a little, this raising Luna's faith.
Luna decided to let Akoya work on her own for a little while she prepped some cookies. There was a certain customer who would always come in to buy fresh cookies and she knew he would be here soon. The girl prepped a small portion of ingredients, knowing he would not ask for much. She did have to go back over to Akoya several times due to the new employee making several mistakes with the fondant.
Luna inhaled the smell of the finished cookies and offered one to Akoya, who took it without a word. After letting them cool down, she packaged them up and wrapped a nice ribbon around the opening.
"How about you go take a lunch break, Akoya? I have to give these to a customer, anyway." Luna asked while turning to the door leading out front.
Akoya nodded and immediately left through the back hallway. Luna hummed thoughtfully, wondering why Akoya decided to come work at their shop. She wanted to ask, but figured it would not be good to talk straight away about it. The poor girl seemed very closed off for some reason. Turning back to the door, she got through and walked behind the counter, standing next to Takashi as she set the package down.
Right on cue, a young guy with red-and-gray hair wearing sunglasses over his eyes kicked open the front door. "Hey, gorgeous!" He called, adjusting his glasses while grinning at Luna.
"Good afternoon, Ikuma. How are things today?" Luna asked with a warm smile, unfazed by how the customer treated her work's property.
"Great now that I get to see you!" The customer, Ikuma, said with such enthusiasm, departing his glasses from his eyes to send the girl a wink.
Luna giggled at his reply and showed him the package. "Here you go. Chocolate chip and Madelines?" She asked, tapping the package with her fingers.
Ikuma gasped in pure exaggeration. "Really? How did you know?" He asked before chuckling, pulling out his wallet.
A side door opened and Yoshida stepped out, glaring at the customer. "I told you to stop kicking our door open, sir." She snapped at the younger man.
"Chill out lady, it's just a door." Ikuma snarked, not even bothering to give eye contact as he took out a credit card and some cash.
"Just a door that costs money! If you break it, we'll sue you for property damage." Yoshida warned the man before shutting the door.
"Meh, meh, meh~." The customer mocked in a light voice while perking his lips and jerking his head back and forth. "Is she always like that?"
"No, but you really should stop doing that. The door will eventually break." Luna pointed out, recalling how many times this guy kicked the door open.
"Hmm, maybe because you asked, my dear, I'll stop." Ikuma said with a smirk, handing his credit card over.
Luna continued to smile, taking his card to do the transaction. Takashi leaned against the wall and rolled his eyes, not bothering to look at the annoying regular. Ever since that guy started coming in here, he only wanted Luna to do his transactions, no one else. Worked for Takashi-the dude was a jerk and only interacted well with Luna. Takashi just hoped the bastard wouldn't somehow talk Luna into dating him.
Ikuma used his "magnetic" quirk to pull the package of cookies forward, skidding across the counter until it was in his palm. "Alright, I'm out. Thanks again, babe." He said.
"You're welcome. Have a nice day!" Luna replied with a wave.
The guy left through the door and Luna turned to Takashi. "Have you had your break yet?" She asked.
Takashi was holding the bridge of his nose, his eyes shut tight. "You know he likes you, right?"
"I know." Luna quickly replied. "I'm sure he likes you, too."
"No. I mean likes-you-likes-you. Has a crush on you? You know what those are, right?" Takashi asked. He didn't know Luna too well, but did know that she could truly be oblivious to many things. It wasn't surprising she hadn't sensed the flirtatious jabs from Ikuma.
Luna raised an eyebrow. "Oh! He does?" She asked, her tone revealing she had no clue.
"He knows your schedule. He only comes in on the days you work." Takashi informed her, getting off the wall and walking closer. "You wouldn't…go out with him, would you?"
Luna blinked, as if she didn't know how to answer. After a moment of thought, she just shrugged. "I don't know."
Takashi held back a loud sigh. "Just…be careful, Solace. You never know who someone truly is until the right moment." He warned her.
Luna nodded. "Thank you. I'll be in the back." She said before disappearing behind the back door, leaving a concerned employee behind the counter.
Oh boy. Takashi thought.