Beauty and the Blackmailer - Amorette Anderson Page 0,4

picked up the phone and dialed. “Hi Shelby, this is Bridget Belvue, over at the Dayton café...?”

“Oh, good! Glad you called, Bridget, though it’s a bit later than I hoped. This is going to come as very short notice to you. I wanted to give you some more warning, but such is life, I suppose! How are you? Things good over there in Dayton?”

“Um... yes, everything’s going well,” Bridget said. She glanced at her watch. “I usually get in at nine, since I stay until closing. It’s still a quarter to. What’s this about being late?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean that you’re late. I know you’re one of the best café managers we have. No, no, nothing like that. It’s just I feel a bit guilty about springing this on you. I was hoping you might pop into your store earlier than usual, so you’d have some more advanced notice.”

Bridget waited for more. She was curious to know what her regional supervisor was talking about, and she knew that the best way to find out would be to stay silent and let her talk.

Shelby continued. “I had a strange call from Florence this morning,” she said.

This piqued Bridget’s curiosity even more. The original Glitter Cup had started out in Florence as a book shop that also sold coffees. The owner, a man by the name of Giovanni Costa, recognized that the success of his popular Florence café could be replicated throughout Italy, as well as in other cities in Europe. He’d experimented in Rome, Paris, London, and Dublin, and, as Bridget had heard many times, didn’t stop there. He’d gone on to open over 300 Glitter Cup Cafés worldwide.

While it was strange to hear from her regional supervisor, it was even more unexpected to hear that the corporate headquarters in Florence was involved. She felt a bit nervous as she waited for more.

Shelby went on. “They have a strange order for your Dayton café, and asked me to pass it along. Apparently, they’ve hired a new barista for you. His name’s Sebastian. He’s going to report to you today, at ten a.m.”

Bridget felt relieved and confused at the same time. “But we’re staffed up,” she said. “The café portion of our store has seven full-time employees, myself included. To be honest. I don’t really see the need to add another. Our sales haven’t picked up or anything lately, so I don’t see why they’re sending an extra pair of hands.” She frowned. “And what about the usual hiring process? I usually interview potential employees myself, to see if they’ll be a good fit for our little team.”

“I know, I know,” Shelby said. “It’s all very strange. Quite out of the norm. They said not to worry about the new hire paperwork. I guess it’s all been taken care of. These orders are coming down from the top, so we’ve got to roll with it. Again, sorry to spring it on you like this. I know how much goes into training new folks.”

“We’ll make it work,” Bridget said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. The truth was, she didn't like the thought of adding another barista to her team. For one thing, the space behind the counter was limited. The bookstore portion of Glitter Cup took up most of the square footage of their downtown shop, leaving just a small corner for the café. Three baristas on each shift was ideal; any more and it would be too crowded. Each barista had a clear duty to perform: one at the cash register, one at the espresso machine, and one handling the food. What would a fourth do?

The other thing that made her uneasy was the fact that this barista was coming in without her approval. Bridget usually used her keen sense of perception to figure out which applicants would fit in well with her existing team. What if the new barista wasn’t a good fit?

While thinking all this over, she started to complete her beginning-of-shift duties. She checked her email, put together the dairy order for the following week, and printed up a few fresh signs for the baked goods counter.

A little before ten, she exited her office. The back room, which housed the dishwashing station, fridge, freezer chest, a shelf for the stereo and a few rows of dry goods, and a small area for the staff to put coats, aprons, and purses, was empty. She moved out into the area behind the café counter. There was a small