= Sarah POV =

  The next day I woke up bright and early to the sound of my arm 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 gray office scks, a small bck tank top and a matching gray bzer. I 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 looked really fashionable, so I wanted to put in a bit of effort.

  I chose a pair of cute light gray 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 bck 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 just occurred to me how tall Heather was 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 seemed 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 absolutely 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 that my eyes began to shut 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, desserts, 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 goods that often go to waste if not proportioned correctly and then spend even more recklessly on new cutlery or kitchenware that she feels will enhance the food experience. If I don’t keep my finger on the budget, we’d be bankrupt by the end of the week” Heather expined, 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 tabuting profit and creating data analytics 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.

  “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 and she plopped down at a nearby picnic-style table, pcing the basket of steaming milk buns between us.

  “That’s a lot of milk buns,” I said, and Amber smiled.

  “Are milk buns your favorite?” Amber asked me.

  “Yes, I love milk bread of any kind” I replied, picking one out of the basket.

  “I know you two were perfect! Milk Buns are Ms. Jun’s favorite, too,” Amber said.

  I immediately put down the bun. Suddenly, milk buns had lost their 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 approached us and 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 realized that there was some kitchen staff running the ovens and serving out the pastries for others to help themselves with, while others were just sitting around and peacefully eating their breakfast.

  “Sorry, this might be a rude question, but how come some of the kitchen staff are working, and others are sitting to eat?” I asked as I took a bite from my sausage roll.

  “Not at all, this is your first day; please ask any and all questions you might have so that I can bring you up to speed. So we have two shifts, a day shift that starts at 8 am to 3 pm, an evening shift that starts from 4 pm to 11 pm, and then stly we have the night shift which starts from 2 am to 9 am. The night shift comes 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 tastes and fvors of our dough.

  The dough we make for all the buns and bread 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 regur kitchen crew. They also handle the pre-frying and even drying of the ingredients that we use in our recipes.

  By separating the prep work from the actual baking that starts at about 8 am, we ensure that every day 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 expined 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 under 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 pce to get paid to practice 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. Those who are able to pass our simple 12 sample baking audition are given a pcement no matter at what stage of their career they are; however, it is Ms. Jun herself who oversees the auditions, and she is more than happy to kick even a seasoned chef to the curb if she is unsatisfied with the work” Heather expined 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 zy. I don’t like to deal with extra work myself 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 zy to go home. She even slept in my bed because she was too zy to bring down the extra futon that my dad put up in the upper futon cupboard. Heather is just zy” Amber said with a mouth full of milk buns.

  I blinked, and then I raised an 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 to 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, while 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, “ And you, maybe start writing a police report about yourself, taking advantage of staff on duty just cause you are supposedly too zy to drive yourself home” I chided Heather.

  “Ok, thanks~!” Amber said, beaming. With her rge 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 harboring a secret crush on her; she looked like an adorable pixie that just flew in from a nd of baked goods and sweet treats.

  “Alright, I’ll try not to stay over at Amber’s… but I was tired, and it’s a long drive home…” Heather sulked while she grumpily munched on a sausage roll.

  “It’s ok, Sarah; Heather can stay overnight at my pce anytime because when she does, I can imagine I’m sleeping next to Ms. Jun, and I really like that,” Amber pipped up and giggled to herself.

  Heather’s face went pale and I ughed so hard I dropped the st bit of my sausage roll.

  “What? Did I say something funny?” Amber asked, cramming the st 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 thumb up, completely oblivious to the effect she was having on the tall, sulky brunette.