Malpractice Makes Perfect

Chapter 2

          "Oh, fantastic!"

          After giving her the address, I got fifteen minutes of continual silence in which I blissfully ate my lunch without disruption. Then I even had eight minutes left to sit, relax, and not think about a certain boyfriends' spontaneous declaration of love. Which was totally not bothering me by the way. Everything is fine.

          Anyway, all breaks must end, so after resting my feet a bit I went back to the grind.

         Out front Pasha was busy pouring coffee as you'd expect from a barista turned assistant manager. Jackson was in the kitchen cleaning the residual flour bomb from this morning's fresh baked goods before he clocked out for his second job as a janitor. And Lana wasn't scheduled until three as she was still in high school.

          My newest employee, Devonte, had just clocked in. His schedule was arranged around the morning classes he took at the neighboring college. He was behind the counter with Pasha, both wearing their Taste Teas monogrammed company tee shirts, as he listened attentively as she gave a hands-on demonstration of latte making.

          I'd left his training up to Pasha—a sort of preliminary period for both of them. So far, she'd risen to the challenge and become my right hand. That meant she handled most of the front of house dealings now while I handled the books and the business. Her next challenge would be a detailed eval of Devonte's abilities. They were both still on probation, though Pasha's was mostly a formality.

          "Devonte," I said as I came around the counter. "I need you to go do the dishes. They're backing up."

          His head shot up at the sound of my voice. He straightened his six-foot frame and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

           "You don't have to call me ma'am."

          "Yes...okay." He scuttled along to the kitchen.

          "How's he doing?" I asked Pasha when he was gone.

          She put a lid on the latte and slid it across the counter to a customer. "He's a quick learner. Respectful. Always on time. Caught him on his phone a couple of times though."

           "How's he handling the workload?"

          "Very well," she accepted the cash for the latte and put it in the register. "I ask him to bus tables, sweep floors, wash dishes, or handle customers, he does it no complaints."

          "What about register?"

          "That's a little more complex than pouring a smoothie but he'll get it."

          "So, you think he's doing good?"

          "Oh, yeah! Tae's been great." Tae? "He's funny too."

          "I've never heard him tell a joke."

          "You're the boss. He's still a little intimidated by you." She leaned back against the counter to give her feet a rest. "Jackson's been showing him how to work the donut fryer."

          "I didn't tell him to do that."

          "I delegated."

          Well, look at miss thang over here. "Good job."

          Maybe I should bring Jackson in on the eval too. Or would that be too much? I've never had an assistant manager to handle the training before. All the others were trained by me personally. But then again, maybe I should take the time to teach him something. Sounds like the kid's scared of me.