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 Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 10:19 am
The cart was the same as it always was, with one small exception.
Taped to the front of the stand, off center to still show the signage, Cecil had taped a ‘Help Wanted’ sign. There was no pay listed, but beneath the bold lettering was a bulleted list:
Quote: Looking for an assistant (booth set up, marketing, sales, content creation)
Paid training (work with me and then independently when comfortable)
Part time (?) (possibly more)
Semi-flexible hours (please ask!)
Small business (it’s just me so please ask if interested)
It wasn’t perfect. It was formatted nicely but Cecil knew there wasn’t enough information. It was last minute and he’d panicked and printed it out this morning before heading out.
He looked a little flustered but was in good spirits. He’d made a good number of sales already, so much so that he suspected he’d be leaving early (again). He couldn’t make enough to keep up and he had requests for more shows than he could attend, and he’d been hired for a few catering events, and–
It was just a lot, and he was a little overwhelmed, and he needed help.
This was the best he could do for now, and he’d rather talk to people in person than have to rely on online applications, anyway. He wanted to know who was applying. And, if he met them here, they could taste the bread! They could know what he was selling, they could watch him work.
A few people commented to express some interest in the position but he had the feeling their heart wasn’t in it. It was still early, though! He wasn’t going to lose hope. He just had a lot of nerves acting up right now. Things would work out, he had faith.
He just needed the right person to come by. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
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Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 2:58 pm
Linnea had quickly become a regular customer at Cecil's bakery cart. At least once a week, she was there. She'd learned that she had to come early in the morning if she wanted to get the best flavors before they sold out. She'd learned that the blueberry rolls were her favorite, and the cheesy ones, but that nothing was bad. Most importantly, she'd learned that all the food tasted of home. There was also something almost painfully familiar about Cecil himself, but it wasn't like that was something she could talk to him about. He was always busy, anyway. She kept it to small talk. Today, she was early enough that things didn't seem too picked over. There was a smile on her face as she walked up to Cecil, a few bills in her hand. This was one of the highlights of her routine. "Good morning," she said. "Any specials today?" It was a that point that she glanced over to the sign. Hiring.She found herself looking at the smaller print, because she'd started doing some odd jobs like babysitting and food delivery, but she still wasn't technically employed.
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:52 pm
Any specials today? No, none printed. He’d forgotten amidst the rush of hiring. Cecil smiled anyway. “For you? Buy two, get one free.”
He’d always been a bit generous; he wasn’t the best with his business sense. He made enough to get by, but he could have benefitted from someone with a more keen sense for money.
Maybe he’d throw in a few of her favorites on the house. “I have a honey roll today. And an ube roll. They’re both sweet. It’s my first time cooking with ube, it’s a bit like–well, the internet said vanilla and white chocolate, but really, you have to try it. It’s a pretty purple color.”
He gestured to one of the rolls on display; it looked a bit like a cinnamon roll, but with a colorful purple paste. “It’s got a bit of coconut in it. I really like it.”
Her eyes had lingered on the hiring sheet for a while; maybe he was talking because he didn’t want any uncomfortable silence. Maybe she was just easy to talk to.
“I’m not going out of business or anything. I mean, the hiring. I need a bit more time in the kitchen and I’m struggling to make it out here on time every now and then. And I’ve had some large orders recently. We’re getting to that time of year where things get really busy. I should have planned for this earlier but it’s really my first year where it’s been like this. I’m sorry, I meant to ask how you’re doing? I got so caught up in things. I’ve been ‘go, go, go’ all day, I’m having trouble keeping up with myself.”
He laughed, a bit at himself. Yes, definitely one of her favorites, on the house. She was so patient with him, he couldn’t just not reward her.
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 1:03 pm
Linnea's eyes had already drifted to the interesting purple color of the ube rolls before Cecil had even pointed them out, and now he was saying that she had to try them. How was she supposed to say no to that? "It's sweet potato, isn't it?" she asked. Hours of researching recipes meant she knew more about Earth food than any other part of Earth culture. She certainly didn't know enough about money to question Cecil's constant freebies. Coming from a world with more a barter system and an expectation of generosity, it seemed normal. "I've read about it. Good things! I'll take one, and one of the honey, too." She looked at the hiring sign again, and pressed her lips together for a few seconds like she was getting her nerves together. "I'm okay," she said, but seemed distracted. Then, she spat it out. "Do you have applications? Or is it online?" For some reason she didn't think it was online. "I've been wanting to work, and I love everything about your baked goods." Although she wasn't even thinking about getting a discount. Getting to know Cecil better and getting to work with him would be wonderful. If it happened. "But I don't really have experience," she said, which had ended all of her conversations about employment so far.
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Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2023 11:01 pm
Cecil brightened when she mentioned sweet potato, so he was already in a good mood as he prepared the ube and honey treats for her. A better mood when she asked about applications, though he seemed easily distracted, himself. It was with no small amount of effort that he managed to actually give her the rolls before getting into everything.
“Oh, I haven’t tried anything online. I mean, I was going to put it on one of those job boards, but–no, I’m a little old fashioned. And really not getting enough sleep to put my phone number online for all of those spam bots. It was sort of a rush to get everything together. It doesn’t look very professional,” he admitted. “...But I suppose, anyone who would want to work with me would find that out soon enough. I don’t actually know the first thing about being a boss so I know I’m going about this all–”
Well, not wrong. “Strange,” he said. “I have to talk to a lawyer–I think?–to figure out how to pay, and taxes, and–well, maybe I should try to do it under the table first? I don’t know.”
Oh, he probably shouldn’t talk about poor or questionable business habits in front of one of his favorite customers. “What I mean is, I don’t mind if you have experience or not. I don’t think it’s a hard job to learn, I mean–I can do it. You can probably do it better than me. You’ve got such a friendly demeanor. Would you be comfortable taking money, giving change, and helping people find something they might like to try? If you can do that, the rest’s easy.”
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Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2024 5:31 pm
"Oh, I know how to count money," said Linnea, smiling. She was proud of that skill, she'd been working hard on it. She always paid in cash when she came to Cecil's stand, and he always handed her coins back, so she'd went ahead and learned all the values of them for herself so she didn't have to stress herself out so much when he gave her change. When she could, she even counted out the coins herself, paying in perfect change. She didn't mention that part, though. It would probably look better if he didn't know she'd only learned this basic skill over the past few months. "And talking to people is easy," she added. She also couldn't talk about how she'd been trained for years in diplomacy, but she couldn't talk about that part for different reasons. "Everything here is so delicious. It's easy to advertise." Turning a little towards the street, she waved at an invisible crowd. "Come try some ube rolls," she told them with a smile. "Fresh! Exotic! A little bite of paradise!" People didn't yell out advertisements so much here, but if someone came close, that was different. It would be fine, she was sure.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2024 6:24 pm
Cecil’s brows raised in obvious delight, and though he tried to keep a professional look about him, he broke into a smile almost immediately. “Such passion! Such enthusiasm! I think you do a better job than I do!”
Was it extra? Was it loud?
Yes.
And, it was perfect.
He didn’t think she was just being performative; she seemed far too earnest, and there was such a friendly glow about her. If she’d been at any other stall than his, he’d have gravitated towards her right away.
“Let’s trade information,” he said, already reaching for a scrap piece of paper behind his counter. “I didn’t really think I’d meet anyone so perfect, but I don’t even want to interview anyone else. You’re perfect. Do you want some extra treats to go? I can call you later–oh, you young people do a lot of text though, don’t you? I can text, but I’m not the fastest. I’ve got a little one to look after so I don’t get a lot of free time between five and eight. Is four good? Or later. I’m sorry, I’m very excited. I thought this was going to be nerve wracking, but I’m very excited.”
He’d jotted down his personal phone number and passed it to her along with the rest of the paper and pen so she could give him her information as well.
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2024 2:18 pm
"You can call. At four," she said. She knew how to text, despite technically being from a different era, but she didn't have to. If he wanted to call, he could call. If he wanted to pay her in cash and do all the sales records on paper, she could work with that. If he was going to be her boss, she'd it the way he wanted. At least at first. Maybe she could try to learn more about business and how to make something successful, but that was a thought for later. Right now, she was in a state of is this happening? Was she actually being offered a job? Would be able to do something to help this place instead of just lying on generosity to survive? She didn't completely buy into Earth's rugged individualism or economic system, but since she was going to have to be staying here for a while, she didn't want to be a burden. She was already reaching for the paper, writing down her name and phone number. She was already smiling. "That would be wonderful. Or whenever works is fine. You have to take care of your child. That's the most important thing."
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2024 10:24 am
Cecil’s expression relaxed again and it was clear now, if it hadn’t been before, he was easy to read. There was relief in his eyes and it looked as though a weight had lifted from his shoulders.
“Oh, you sound like you’re going to be a life saver.” He had her number and she had his, and even though she hadn’t said if she wanted any extra treats he’d already pulled out another bag and was selecting a few more.
“There are other perks, you know. I mean, I wish I could do something big like health insurance or something–I’ll look into that and see what it takes,” he promised. “But in the meantime, I’ll make sure you never leave hungry. I hope you won’t get sick of my recipes. I’ll need a good taste tester for the new ones, too. And–believe it or not, even with as many of these as I make–I still have ugly ones in the batch. So if you don’t mind a silly looking snack, the ones I can’t really sell, I’ll let you have some of those, too.”
He hadn’t forgotten the buns she’d gotten the first time she was here, and she always picked some up when he saw her. He put two extra ones in the bag, atop the assortment he’d also selected for her. The bag was bloated but still closed and he passed it over.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2024 4:02 pm
"It's okay," said Linnea. "Health insurance is weird." The kind of weird that would probably be good to have, but she couldn't blame someone for not understanding it. She didn't understand the concept of paying for something that you might not need, or really the concept of paying for doctors at all. There were other parts of Earth where you didn't have to worry about that. She saw people talking about it online. She didn't understand why this part of Earth had to be different. The food was more than appreciated, though. Her eyes went wide as Cecil shoved the bag of food into her hands. She'd seen what he'd been putting into them. "I told you," she said. "These remind me so much of someone I love." She was getting to the point where she could say it with a smile instead of almost crying. "I could never get tired of that. And they're delicious. You might have to bring extra so I don't eat all the product." She looked at his warm eyes, and then at the food he'd already given her. "That's a joke. You don't have to make food just for me." He would do something like that, wouldn't she. "I'm excited! I think you might have more customers coming, but," she was beaming. She could feel the happiness coming off of him, and it was contagious. "I look forwards to talking! And to helping out!"
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2024 6:08 pm
She’d already said she’d eat more. Of course Cecil was going to bring extra for her.
He could see some customers approaching; they weren’t regulars but they were familiar enough to him. She had a good eye if she was spotting the way they meandered slowly towards his booth.
“Then, we’ll figure all those details out when I call you later. So if you have questions, or know there are times or days you can’t work, start thinking about that now and make a list so we don’t forget. But,” he looked at the bag briefly, and then back to her face. He smiled again. “I’m sure someone you love would want to make sure you were well-fed and happy. I’ll bring extra,” he promised.
He didn’t think she’d eat all the product, it wasn’t a deterrent to make sure they still had enough to sell. He’d do it just because he liked how happy it made her.
And, by default, how happy it made him, too.
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