First chapter of the day. I'll post one mare at usual time. Why? Happy New Year!
Her eyes scanned every corner it could lay on, nothing should elude her eyes she swore. She dragged her finger through the surface, then, she brought her fingers for her own eyes to examine.
No smearing from dust nor oil, good. The young demon lifted her head, her eyes now turning to a demon with a single horn on his forehead. "Good, we are ready to open then."
"I told you we have cleaned it all! You are the one who didn't believe my words!" A sharp almost squeaking voice could be heard hollering from her side at that moment.
Even without turning her head to the sound, she knew who said those words—her twin, Valerie.
"I believe you. But I'm just making sure." Vilera muttered, her tone even. "This is the first time the boss left the restaurant completely in our care. I just don't want to mess it up."
Without waiting for any rebuke from her twin which she knew very well would come, Vilera's feet brought her into the bar. Her eyes then scanned the kitchen. For a restaurant that was about to open their service to the world, the kitchen was too empty. No pot was sitting on the stove, no weakening aroma, no residual grease clinging to the contraption hanging from the ceiling.
Even for this restaurant which ability was out of ordinary, that emptiness was still out of place.
But Vilera knew better. The plan for today was already written on the menu. The ever changing name of the ingredients ready for the customer to choose was no longer called it home, even the permanent residents on the menu were nowhere to be seen.
Vilera pulled her sight away from the kitchen to the demon who was in charge of that space today. His hands were resting on the long table in the kitchen their boss called countertop, as if helping his feet from supporting all his weight. His body was angled forward, mouth muttering something she could hear.
Vilera's eyes softened, the corner of his mouth felt tugged to the side. "Bilo, are you ready?"
The yong demon lifted his head just slightly, his black eyes peeking through strands of his brown hairs. "I-I have to."
"Good." Vilera nodded before walking to the seat closest to the door and plopped down on it. Her boss had told her that he would open the restaurant at noon through his ability. So all she had to do now was to wait.
Vilera put her hands on top of the table, her fingers thumping on the wooden surface in a constant tempo.
Even though she did her best to trust the judgement of her boss, her mind couldn't help but to wander. No, she wasn't questioning his decision, rather, her mind kept giving her pictures of what could be wrong.
Wrong delivery for a customer, customers complaining about the different taste of drink because Bilo forgot the step for some reason, and Hero forbid, a new customer with violent reaction to demons.
At the time their boss was present, those morbid thoughts never crossed her mind. She knew from how hard her boss worked that he would be able to solve any problems. In other words, the reason why she was having those kinds of thoughts was her and his friends' incompetence.
It was not something new. Ever since their second day of working in the restaurant, they always gathered in one of the rooms to exchange notes of what each of them could do better.
Baby steps, but with every passing day, they became better.
Yet, when they became more comfortable navigating the intricacies of their workload and the customers, their boss decided to up the ante.
Time passed, the sun dipped slightly after reaching its peak. Then, the bell jingled, jolting Vilera to her feet.
A brown haired boy much smaller than her walked into her restaurant, his steps were measured but light. He was one of the newest patrons to this restaurant, one that was more subdued than others.
Vilera thanked the Hero as he saw him. The man should be proved to be a good test for them. "Welcome to Checkpoint." She said, tone high and welcoming.
Her friend's voice followed right after, tone also high and welcoming. Of course, her twin decided to be true to her own way of life. Her tone was not the standard they had reached through a few nights of brainstorming. She was saying the words with a tone like she was meeting a long time friend, complete with the hand waving.
"Thank you." The boy nodded ever so slightly, his voice almost swept away by the humming of the restaurant.
"Please follow me, Sir, I'll escort you to your seat." Vilera moved her left hands as she said that. She then scanned through the restaurant again, her other friend stood ready. But when he looked towards the kitchen, she couldn't help but to sigh.
Bilo's black pupil was trembling and moving in unprecedented speed, as if he just heard raiders were coming to their village. His hands were too low for her to see, but since she had known him for a long time, she was sure that he's fiddling with his own finger.
Escorting the man to the bar seat would be a disaster with Bilo acting that way. So, Vilera made a turn. He brought the man to a table of four just behind the bar seats. Not too far from Bilo to make him completely unaffected, but still close enough for him to feel the pressure.
He had to learn. Even if he couldn't completely overcome his shyness around strangers, he had learned how to become indifferent when he's behind the counter.
As the customer got comfortable in his seat, Vilera opened her mouth again. "Please wait a little, Sir. The other waiter will bring you the menu promptly."
"Thank you." The young man said, his tone was slightly uneven.
Vilera glanced at the other waiters a beat before she walked away from the table. But the one who reacted to his discreet signal was none other than her twin.
She forced her eyes to shit tight, killing the impulse that was telling her to massage her forehead. Might as well start the test run with the most troublesome one.
As soon as she stood in her station, her eyes wandered towards her twin. Not outright looking as that was rude, but still close enough that she could see her twin in her vision.
The demon with the exact same appearance as her albeit with a different personality stood close to the table. She lowered the menu she had been carrying to the table and opened her mouth.
"Sir, today we only have three meals prepared. You can read them and tell me what you want." She said with a smile, tone friendly.
Vilera winced at her twin's overly friendly tone. But what made her head throb more was how she phrased her explanation. 'Today' was the wrong word. She had told everyone that her boss promised he would be back before night.
The other thing that made his head throb was how he asked the customer to read. It's all good for some, but for her, explaining each one of the dishes would be a better option.
"Just three? I thought I could order any dish as long as you have the ingredients prepared?" The young man asked, his tone dipped as shadows crept to his face.
"Our boss is away right now. But please don't worry, he has prepared some dishes with chicken, pork, and seafood as the main ingredient." Valerie's face and voice was unchanging as she explained.
"I see." The man nodded, but the shadows were still there in his face.
It seemed like the young men had a certain dish he wanted to eat. However, her twin was unable to spot it from his expression. So, Vilera decided to step in.
With a brisk step she arrived on the table, standing just beside her twin. But before she could ask about why she came, Vilera opened her mouth. "Sir, our boss will return tonight. If you have any food you want to eat, you can visit again around dinner."
The young man lifted his eyes from the menu to her. In the meantime, her twin looked at her with eyes as wide as a saucer. It seemed like she finally remembered those bits.
"I appreciate it." The man said, his tone became a little bit brighter. "But I'll take what I can eat now."
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Sir." Vilera bowed.
"No, no, no." The man quickly rose to his feet, hands flailing about. "Please stand up."
Vilera straightened her upper body soon after, before passing the baton to Valerie again and walked away.
Not long after she returned to her place, Valerie moved towards the bar. "One Lunch Set B and one lemonade."
"O-okay." Bilo answered before he ran to the kitchen.
Her eyes that were following each and every step of the young demon were soon interrupted. The bell jingled again, and from the opened door, a woman with black hair and a man with blonde hair walked in. But behind them, there were two other pairs of man and woman walking in.
The woman looked the same as the woman in front of her, black hair, black eyes, and similar face shape. But the man, the only thing he had the same as the other blonde guy was their hair colour. His build was leaner, his eyes were blue, and the way he carried his weight was full of grace.
"Welcome to Checkpoint." Vilera said again in the same fashion as before.
"Welcome to Checkpoint."
The woman in front of the group brought her hand to the air and waved as a smile appeared on her face.
Looking at her and her group, Vilera stepped in. "Please follow me Miss Akane. I will escort you to your seats."
"Thank you, Vilera." Akane beamed, her hands moved to pat her back.
In contrast to Akane's grateful eyes, the pair behind her was looking at her with wide eyes. The woman's mouth was slightly opened, while the man's face was tight with tension.
On the way to the seat Vilera had chosen for them, she could hear a familiar voice from her back. "Oh, Ludwig is not here?" But it was higher than usual.
"The boss has some business to take care of." Vilera explained.
"Is he finally hunting the wyverns?" The man beside the woman, Jade was his name Vilera believed, opened his mouth. His curiosity dripped from his even tone.
"He is." Vilera smiled as she turned on her heels to pull the chair from the table. As the group settled into their seats, she opened her mouth again. "Please wait a little, other waiters will come here with the menu."
"Thank you, Vilera." Akane said again.
But rather than answering with words, Vilera just nodded while smiling before walking away.
On the way, he crossed against Valerie who was carrying a plate and a glass of lemonade on her hands with a perfect balance.
When she looked around the dining area again from the place she always returned to after escorting any customers that walked in to their table, he could see Finka tending to the group that just entered the restaurant.
"Yes." Finka's child-like voice echoed through the restaurant. "The service will return to normal by dinner time."
"Will you serve the wyvern meat at dinner?" The new blonde human asked.
"Yes, Sir. The boss told us the dinner menu will use wyvern meat." She nodded.
"I see." The man nodded. "I'll take Lunch Set A and a glass of water for now then."
"Understood Sir. Please wait a moment." Finka gathered the menu that was scattered around the table and walked towards the bar with bouncy steps.
Vilera couldn't help but smile as she looked at her. The shy demon girl was little by little transformed into a butterfly. A very nice thing to see.
I hope nothing will happen until the boss is back.