章 33: The cafe
Lana woke up with a strange buzzing in her head, but it was not a sound, rather a feeling. As if a bark beetle had settled inside the skull, and she knew for sure that he was buzzing and scratching, but didn't hear it. Unfortunately, this was not a strange psychological disorder. She knew this feeling for a very long time, as, indeed, all the shifters. The full moon was coming.
Because of all the shakes and accidents recently, Lana completely forgot about this little detail in her life. Although the very distinct Vicky's growl, coming from her room with the sound of an alarm clock, suggested that she was not the only "cheerful" person today. And on the first day at her new job too boot. It will take a lot of effort today not to devour anyone.
Lana tore herself away from the bed with silent curses and went to prepare breakfast.
As soon as the steaks began to fry in the pan, the "radiant" faces of Nicky and Vicky finally showed up in the kitchen. They sat silently at the table and stared out the window. Taught by bitter experience, all three have long decided it's better to not talk at all on such a day. Werewolves can be very scary in the morning.
After breakfast, they quietly got ready and headed down to the parking lot. Now Lana could get to her work on foot, so they decided to let Nicky have a car, along with the duty to pick up and take Vicky to school. For today, the plan was like this: Nicky and Vicky will endure the killing urge as long as they can in the class, then go home, and Lana will do the same but at work. Then she will pick them up them and drive to the City's National park.
Kiki told her about this place, and they even once visited it before. The park didn't belong any pack, the owner was the Council itself and was specially allocated for loners living in the city. It was considered to be a no-man's land and at the same time a common territory. At full moon, you could meet anyone there. The council strictly controlled the behavior of the shifters in the Park that night and organized security from among the non-shifters that worked for them.
So once again going through the plan and spending children on their way, Lana took a deep breath and went to conquer the corporation WGARM.
In the already familiar foyer, the guards immediately sent her to the third floor in the cafeteria. Lana fell in love with this place at first glance. The hall was beautiful. Unlike the rest of the hi-tech pomposity of the building, the dining area's walls were of a soft pistachio color with a white brick texture columns here and there. From the ceiling hung elegant chandeliers. The right side took a massive window from floor to ceiling, leading to a patio with a green area. Everything here was meant as a distraction from work. Just a cozy, warm place to sit and relax, enjoying lunch or a cup of coffee.
At the entrance, she was greeted by a short woman in the white uniform of a cafe worker. It was difficult to determine how old she was right away. But a stern look, wrinkles around the eyes and between the eyebrows, indicated not only that the woman was much older than looked at first glance, but also her strong personality of a leader. Lana made a significant effort so that her smile seemed as sincere as possible.
" Good morning! You must be Miss Bright, " - she said, coming closer and holding out her hand for a handshake. The woman frowned and judging by how quickly her eyebrows met on the bridge of the nose, it was the most familiar expression for her.
"Miss Benne, follow me," - she ordered, and, ignoring Lana's outstretched hand, went into the depths of the restaurant.
"I received your resume, and it did not impress me, but Mr. Wells insisted on your behalf, so I had to agree. I want to warn you now, despite the patronage of the CEO, if I'm not satisfied with your work, you will be kicked out of here like a cork." - Said Miss Bright in a cold voice while still walking. Lana shuddered internally. In fact, she quite expected that acquaintance with Greg not only won't help her in this position but even hinder her a lot. But she did not expect this to happen so quickly.
"Miss Bright, I want to assure you that I'm perfectly aware of this. I am very grateful to Mr. Wells for his patronage, and I am quite ready to prove that I deserve to work here without his support."
The woman paused and threw an examining glance at Lana over her shoulder.
"We'll see," - she said and continued on her way.
In the next few hours the General manager of the cafeteria and at the same time a head cook, Ms. Bright showed Lana all the outbuildings, introduced to the staff, consisting of four waitresses, two cooks, and two cook's assistants a cashier, and three cleaners. Lana's position now sounded impressive, the assistant of cook's assistant, and in fact, she had to do everything that the others didn't have the time or wanted to do. Apparently, the rumor that she came here by the CEO direct order already spread among the staff. Now and then Lana caught on herself the mocking, interested or frankly hostile stares from her new colleagues.
The first thing she was put on was to reorganize and clean the pantry. At first, other workers kept their distance from her, as if she was a time bomb. But as soon as Lana quietly and quickly completed the first task, she was drowned by the amount of new once.
So right up to dinner, Lana cleaned, scraped, organized and folded. Even though some of the jobs were clearly the cleaners duties. It made Lana feel a little better seeing as the other staff also was running around busily. The cooks, assistants, and Miss Bright herself were preparing for the dinner, and the waiters lay out the freshly made dishes on display and served the tables. Although it was called a cafeteria, the service was conducted by the best standards. Towards the scheduled hour the people poured into the hall. Lana drifted between the experienced cooks like a whirlwind, carrying out one errand after another.
The first wave of customers subsided a little, but the workers still could not relax. Many groups stayed in the hall and now and then ordered coffee or some snacks. Lana immediately noticed the absence of any sweets in the display case, except for chocolates and packed biscuits. "How come?! Cafe and without baking? "- she thought, noting it for the future.
All the first half of the day Lana stayed in the kitchen, so when one of the waitresses approached her, she was startled.
"The CEO just came by," - she said in the loud whisper. - "He is calling for you!"
This Lana was afraid this kind of situation the most. Greg seemed to have changed his attitude 180% degree since she confessed all about Ralph. And now she didn't know what to expect of him. One minute he was angry, the next he could suddenly pursuing her like a horny dog. That man seriously had some mental disorder or a double personality.
With a heavy heart, she nevertheless went to the hall. The waitress, whose name she did not yet know, led her to a distant table by the window, where Greg was sitting in a dignified, imposing manner. Their little procession attracted a lot of stares. Today Lana'smood wasn't the best, to begin with. So this small walk under everyone curious stares made her wolf growl in rage.
After seeing her, Greg immediately got up. As soon as their eyes met, a familiar tingle passed through Lana's body. The wolf immediately changed it's attitude, treacherously squealing with happiness, completely forgetting about the audience.
Greg slowly slid his eyes over her figure, as if licking. Lana shuddered and hurried to sit down on the offered chair so that those around her did not notice how her knees started to tremble.
" How is your day?" - Greg asked almost casually, sitting opposite. But the expression on his face and the way his eyes darkened, suggested that his thoughts were in a completely different place.
" It's alright, thank you." - Lana answered in a rush, trying not to meet his eyes. The air between them seemed to crackle with tension.
"I heard that you were having a good time last night, having a housewarming party." - Greg's voice for some reason became lower. He reached out and put his hand on the tabletop palm up. Lana paused staring at it. But her common sense today took a day off, so her fingers quickly found his, intertwining.
" Yes, everything went well, it's a pity you couldn't come. I asked Frank to give you some muffins that Vicky and I baked." - Greg frowned, trying hard to concentrate on the words, which seemed more like background music, just for show. All his attention was directed to their woven hands. The way he gently stroked her hand with his thumb, slowly tracing the lines, getting to the tender skin on her wrist. In these simple movements, there was so much eroticism that Lana's head began to spin as if she had some champagne.
"He ate everything," - Greg finally said, lifting his blurred eyes to Lana. It was a big mistake to look him directly in the eyes. In a second she was ready to throw the table aside and climb onto his lap.
"Mr. Wells, could you please refrain from distracting my new employee from work." - Miss Bright's screeching like a rusty knife voice broke into their intimate moment. Both jumped simultaneously and took a breath as if surfacing from underwater and turned in confusion to the speaker. Reality burst into their small bubble filled with pink smoke, finally bringing to reality. Everything around became somehow quieter. Most of the visitors had long finished their meal, but they were not in a hurry to leave, throwing curious glances towards them.
"Um ... Miss Bright, I'm sorry that I took so much time of Miss Benne. But I had to urgently discuss a crucial issue with her," - Greg finally got a hold of himself, in a voice full of authority, shamelessly lied to the head of the cafeteria.
" Right..." - she replied in a voice full of sarcasm. - "You have five more minutes. Then I expect Ms. Bennet to go back to her duties again. She threw over her shoulder, retreating.
"Can you believe it?" - Greg said with a grin, turning to Lana. - "She is like a true general. Even dare to order me around!"
"Greg, she's right actually. You can't just come here and ... Do you have any idea how this looks from the side?" - Lana said stammering and blushing, hiding her hand under the table.
"And what does it looks like?" - He turned dark in his face.
"As if you brought your mistress here, only to have her always by hand." - Lana blurted out with heat, her cheeks burned like smeared with beets.
"The meaning of "mistress" could be taken in two ways. On the one hand, it hints at regular "love activities" between us, and I'm all for it. But on the other hand, it can be perceived as something shameful. And I don't like it at all. - Greg said thoughtfully, scratching his two-day stubble absent-mindedly.
"Greg, stop it! I'm serious."
"I'm also quite serious. I know! We need to go on a date or live together or get married. What do you think? I'm free on Saturday. - Greg summed up grinning, as if he had solved the problem of universal hunger just now, stared expectantly at Lana. She just rolled her eyes.
"It's impossible to talk to you!" - Lana sighed, rising. - "I'll better go, I need to work."
"Wait, then what about Saturday? We can go to the movies, and then to the Registrar office or vice versa."
Lana shook her head.
"Let's talk tomorrow night. I think we need to dot the i's and cross the t's."
" Okay, dots, circles, squares. Whatever you want. We can even draw a plan."
Greg wanted to add something else, but Miss Bright again appeared in the hall, scattering clubs of contempt a mile around herself. Lana hurried to the kitchen, waving him goodbye.
The first few minutes after their meeting with the boss all the staff walked around her on tiptoe. But it was hard not to notice the crooked stares and whispers. Lana tried to spend as much time as possible away from everyone else, hiding in the pantry. But somehow phrases like "No shame at all, flirting with the CEO in front of everyone!" Or "He could have found a better position for my new flame, shows her worth!"
The last straw was that just before closing, Miss Bright pulled Lana aside.
"Miss Bennet, I would like to ask you to leave your personal affairs outside our business. Otherwise, we can't work together."
Lana has long surpassed the boiling level, so she met the woman's stare without any hesitation.
"Ms. Bright, explain to me please, whether it is forbidden to all the staff to meet or communicate with their acquaintances during their personal break. Or do you personally forbid to me only?"
"Ms. Benne, let's not act like children. You perfectly aware of my meaning." - Head chief tried to reason with her.
"No, I don't get it. I believe that with whom I meet, is my personal business. And I'm not looking for approval here from anyone. I came here to work. My break for five minutes laid down in the labor code. And it didn't hinder me from completing my duties. If you can't keep your staff under control to the extent that any gossip affects the workflow. Then it's not my fault. I'm not going to protect workers from such stress, like small children. This is a question of professionalism and not mine I should add."
At the end of her little tirade, Lana was ready to be fired. The face of Miss Bright first turned pale and then became beets red. She glared this arrogant new worker. After a brief silence, the woman finally squeezed out.
"Today, after Mr. Wells left, Miss Leib, the press secretary of the corporation, came in. She inquired about you. And strongly recommended that you'll be fired under any sauce. I'm not saying this to you from kindness but as a warning. My business does not need intrigues and gossip. And even if Mr. Wells is the first person in the corporation, my word here is the law. And it does not matter how professional you are in cleaning potatoes. I can find a dozen in your place, from who I won't have so many problems. Note this!"
With these words, she turned on her heels and withdrew. Lana barely held back her anger. The wolf was raving and demanded permission to gnaw this woman's throaty out. But the most insulting was that Lana felt that Miss Bright was right. She really was replaceable and too problematic for such a simple position. There was only one way to prove that it was worth to tolerate all this train of gossip and intrigues. And she also had a couple of aces up her sleeve.
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