Chapter 44: Chapter 9: Part 8 - Milk Buns
= SARAH POV =
The next day I woke up bright and early to the sound of my alarm at 7 am. I was pleased with myself as I hadn't thought I'd make it, however, I was excited, and maybe somewhat eager to submit my application and finally have a job.
Chris was still fast asleep, so I tiptoed around her and went for a bath and then changed into a pair of grey office slacks, a small black tank top and a matching grey blazer. I had noticed that the attire was pretty casual as Heather and Amber weren't wearing any uniform like the kitchen staff had been, however, they both had looked really fashionable, so I wanted to put in a bit of effort.
I put on some light makeup again and chose a pair of cute light grey pumps, grabbed my bookbag, wallet and keys and left.
Walking down the street in the early morning was so refreshing. The crisp air smelt fresh with the scent of dew settling on the grass. As I drew nearer to the café, the smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the air and I felt myself get weak at the knees at the thought of breaking apart some soft milk bread and dipping it into a Latte.
Heather stepped out of a black four-seater car just a little way in front of me, and I picked up the pace to catch up with her.
"Good morning" I greeted, and Heather smiled down at me. It only occurred to me how tall Heather was as even in my pumps, which were about 5 inches tall, she was still about a head taller than me, and I was 1.65m.
"Good morning to you too. The kitchen staff seem to be overzealous today, I could smell their baked goods as I drove in. Have you eaten? If you haven't there is always a bite to eat in the kitchen" Heather suggested as we walked into the café together.
"I would love something from the kitchen, I smelt it on the way over and I can't stop thinking about milk bread" I replied, my eyes trying to look behind the counter to the small door that separated the kitchen from the main dining area.
"Fantastic, I have to recommend our milk buns, they might look simple, but they are great for soaking in coffee or tea" Heather suggested as she walked us over to the little door behind the counter and pushed it open, holding it open for me to pass through.
Immediately the smell of baked goods hit me at such a high intensity, my eyes began to smart a little.
"Intense right?" I heard Amber's voice say as I stepped aside to let Heather come through while I wiped my eyes.
"It's amazing" I replied and finally looked around when my eyes felt a bit better.
From the door, the kitchen stretched on for at least a mile. It was huge! That little door hid a whole factory of bread baking and cake making. There were different stations dedicated to different types of pastries, dessert and even main course dishes.
I saw Heather walking ahead of me, heading towards what looked like a canteen area, where most of the staff were seated, having breakfast and chatting away.
I picked up the pace and caught up with Heather, who was looking left and right at the different stations.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
"Oh no, I just use this time to see which areas are marked 'On Menu' and which aren't as those are indicators for us at accounting to know what to look out for in terms of this week's food budget. Jun has a tendency to recklessly purchase fresh good that often go to waste if not proportioned correctly, and then spend even more recklessly on new cultery or kitchenware that she feels will enhance the food experience." Heather said with air quotes as if she was pretending to be Ms Jun in that moment.
"If I don't keep my finger on the budget, we'd be bankrupt by the end of the week" Heather explained, pointing out the small neon sign that was lit up at some stations and dark on other stations " These are things I will need you to take note of so that you can take on some of the more tedious tasks such as tabulating profit and creating data reports on what sold and what didn't from our sales for each week".
"Milk buuuuns~!" Amber said, coming dancing towards us with a basket of soft round buns. She already had a bun in her mouth as she offered the basket to me to take one.
"Amber, just sit down at the tables, we are coming" Heather said "Sarah go follow her, I'll get us some drinks" Heather added, waving me along as well.
I nodded and followed where Amber went and she plopped down at nearby picnic style table placing the basket of steaming milk buns between us.
"That's a lot of milk buns" I said and Amber smiled.
"Yeah~! The milk buns here are my favourite!" Amber replied happily.
"No wonder. I love them too, and these are freshly baked" I replied, picking one out of the basket.
"I know you who else likes milk buns? Ms Jun! She crafted this recipe" Amber said.
I immediately put down the bun. Suddenly milk buns had lost its appeal to me.
"Here, I got us some sausage rolls and an egg sandwich. We need protein, not just milk buns, you little Jun-obsessed woman" Heather said from behind me as she set down a tray. There were three sausage rolls and three egg sandwiches.
Heather put down a cup of orange juice in front of Amber, then a latte for me, and a dark roast for herself.
I looked around and realised that there were some kitchen staff running the ovens and serving out the pastries for other to help themselves with, while others were just sitting around and peacefully eating their breakfast.
"Sorry, this might be a rude question, how come some of the kitchen staff are working and others are siting to eat?" I asked as I took a bite from my sausage roll.
"Not at all, this is you first day, please ask any and all questions you might have, so that I can bring up up-to-speed. So we have two shifts, a day shift that starts at 8am to 3pm, an evening shift that starts from 4pm to 11pm, and then lastly we have the night shift which starts from 2am to 9am. The night shift come in staggered, based on what they are specialized to make, and how much time they can each commit. Some work the full 7 hours, however others come in and work for about 4 to 6 hours, helping us create all the unique taste and flavours of our dough.
The dough we make for all the buns and breads needs to go through a very specific fermentation and proofing, and it requires a certain level of expertise, that we don't expect from our regular kitchen crew. They also handle the pre-frying and even drying the ingredients that we use in our recipes.
By separating the prep-work from the actually baking that starts at about 8am, we ensure that everyday we can provide fresh and delicious food, for our customers, without overworking our precious crew, who work so diligently and tirelessly for us. This leaves the day crew to focus on café food production", Heather explained as she took a sip of her coffee " We actually only hire top chefs for that position as it requires a lot of skill and very little room for error".
"Wow that is incredible" I said, and watched as the diligent crew continued to work hard to provide buns and pastries for the hungry staff in the morning " Not to be rude but, why would a top chef want to work for a small café for shift work in the wee hours of the morning?"
Heather tore off a piece of her egg bun and popped it in her mouth and thought for a bit before answering.
"Being in the Food & Beverage industry, no matter what stage or expertise you are at, can get boring without challenges. Every chef wants to make their mark, or they want to push themselves to try something different. We get a lot of applications from budding new chefs at elite schools who want a place to get paid to practise their bread making, seasoned chefs who want something to do during their retirement or even ambitious mid-career chefs who are looking to expand their portfolio by taking on extra shifts after their work, in a new environment" Heather said, and dipped another piece of the egg bun into her coffee and ate it
"No matter who applies, they still have to pass our simple 12-sample baking audition and it is Ms Jun who oversees the auditions. She is more than happy to kick even a seasoned chef to the curb if she is unsatisfied with the work" Heather explained and then shrugged " I really don't care, my job here is just to make sure that everyone gets paid and leaves on time, because I really hate writing up OverTime payment work slips".
"Oh so that's why the contract includes two lines which didn't quite make sense, the first one being "Do not work more than the exact length of your shift" and the second one was "Please leave five minutes before your shift, you will still get paid in full", this is so that you can ensure that you don't have to deal with overtime" I said, shaking my head " Stingy".
"Hey, do remind yourself that the contract also states that in the event a person is subjected to overtime, there will be a 1.5X their hourly rate per every extra hour they spend. Your pay will include the additional time spent. I'm not stingy, I'm just lazy. I don't like to deal with extra work if I don't have to" Heather said, taking a long sip of her coffee smugly.
"Yeah Heather once dropped me off at my apartment after work because I had stayed overtime to help out with one of the events Jun's Café hosted, and she even invited herself over to sleep in my apartment, and told me that it was 'cause she was too lazy to go home. She even slept in my bed because she was too lazy to bring down the extra futon that my dad put up in the upper futon cupboard. Heather is just lazy" Amber said with a mouth full of milk buns.
I blinked, and then I raised and eyebrow at Heather.
Heather choked on her coffee. Ah…so this is why Ms Jun and Heather are business partners…Ms Jun is not the only predator at the table.
"Hey don't look at me like that, nothing happened, and I drove us to work, so it worked out in her benefit as well" Heather said, her ears noticeably turning bright red.
"Yeah and it was really nice to have company~! It was the first time getting so squished while I was sleeping" Amber beamed, will drinking her orange juice.
I punched Heather in the arm.
Heather sheepishly rubbed it and said nothing.
"Amber, next time you need a lift home, let me know and I'll help you get a cab" I said shaking my head.
"Ok thanks~!" Amber said, beaming. With her large green eyes framed by her golden locks, her lips sparkling from being covered in the sugar dust from the milk buns, I could see why Heather was harbouring a secret crush on her, she looked like an adorable pixie that just flew in from a land of baked goods and sweet treats.
"Alright, I'll try to not stay over at Amber's… but I was tired, and it's a long drive home…" Heather sulked while she glumply munched on a sausage roll.
"It's ok Sarah, Heather can stay overnight at my place anytime, because when she does, I can imagine I'm sleeping next to Ms Jun, and I really like that" Amber pipped up and giggle to herself.
Heather's face went pale and I laughed so hard I dropped the last bit of my sausage roll.
"What? Did I say something funny?" Amber asked, cramming the last milk bun into her mouth.
Heather grabbed the empty basket and got up, walking away fuming.
"Ah well, working here is going to be quite interesting it seems, do take care of me Amber" I grinned and she gave me a big thumbs up, completely oblivious of the effect she was having on the tall sulky brunette.
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Author's Note:
The Paperback & EBook Editions of "I'm broke, can I pay for the room with my body?" Book 1 is now available to read on Amazon! Book 1 covered Chapter 1 to Chapter 5, so if you would like to re-read this story offline, or if you would like to get the paperback version to your home library, get it now on Amazon!
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8RMRL53?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520
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