Autumn had gone nearly as quickly as it had crept up on the little cafe in Barton Town. Frost had laid his kiss upon the sidewalks and windowsills, leaving snow flaked patterns to creep around the edge of glass where the heat of the building didn't quite hold. Preparations had been made to hold out against the large increase in customers wanting hot drinks, as well as finally repairing small cracks in the walls to keep the front room warm.
The ovens were constantly going, pots of coffee always being refilled for the flow of customers never seemed to end when cold weather hit. It was a profitable time of year when the first snow fell and the wind chill dipped low. The increase in profits had fueled a desire for Yule decorations. A rather large yule tree adorned the middle of the cafe, just under the chandelier as if it was the tree topper. Blues, golds, reds, and purples hung from the tree with silver tinsel and garland while evergreen garland looped the walls with glitter, tulle, and lights. Clear balls hung from nearly invisible wire from the ceiling, each with white glitter inside to look like falling snow while crystal snowflakes swayed and danced around, obviously held up by some form of magic.
As far as progress sake in each respective employee of the cafe, most have been working and taking care of their day to day lives. Sohalia and Dax continue to manage the cafe and apartment complex together. New tenants have moved in and out of the apartments, some only looking to use it as a hotel for just a few nights before leaving. Some were evicted nearly as soon as they moved in for some reason or other. They still had empty apartments, but thankfully they were not causing a large drop in income.
Sohalia had promoted Ari to manager, glad to step down and able to focus on other things for the cafe, such as requests to purchase and manage franchises and keep up with the constant demand of supplies. This included making sure they had plenty of preserves from supplies not available in the winter. Gemini was gone, no one was sure what happened to her but her friend had come by to clear out her apartment and take Skye. Sohalia had been sad to hear her long time employee would not be returning, but such was life. Margaret had recently been dating, although no one had met her beau yet. Rhett became almost a permanent part of the cafe, many customers coming by to sit and drink coffee while listening to him play on his viola. Tynan had stepped up well to the position of head waitress, easily taking charge of new employees while keeping a watching eye on the silent Vivi.
There has been no other advances in anyone's personal magicks since Sohalia's discovering of being Sidhe.
And with that, a new day has begun with the opening of the shop...
Sohalia strode away from the now unlocked door which had recently been replace of its stained glass, again. However it was decorated similar to the rest of the cafe now and fogged up slightly from the front room beginning to heat for the day. Outside, there was a very fine powdering of snow on the ground already and the sky was still dark for the sun had yet to come up. She and Dax had taken to opening early this winter, as people would leave earlier to avoid traffic in the snow and would usually want to stop by for something hot to drink on the way. They had adjusted well to getting up early and staying up late, though Sohalia ended up taking a nap during most days during the slow time in the afternoon.
Humming, she danced around the base of the tree, stopping only to adjust a decoration that had been bumped recently out of place. She smiled, soft lips turning up as she danced away again to stand behind the counter. Fresh pots of coffee were brewing, nearly filled as it was the very first thing she did right before unlocking the door. Another double pot machine had replaced the smoothie machines, which were now along the counters in the back cover with a plastic sheet. A small blender took their place, as they rarely received an order for something so cold since the weather turned, the small machine was all that was necessary.
With her foot, Sohalia pulled her stool out from under the counter and set herself upon it. She had a good fifteen or twenty minutes before customers started coming in which gave her a few moments to read the book she had started working on. Now that everything had been running smoothly, time management had become much easier and she was able to read a book now and then while also taking back up fitness training. The belly she had put on from lack had been replaced by the usual flat line she had. Sohalia hummed softly to herself, removing the feather she had been using as a placeholder to put behind her ear while she waited for customers and employees to enter her cafe.
