One minute you're at the top of your game, and the next, you receive a hit that knocks your skates out from underneath you.
Still reeling after an unexpected loss, Ryan Nyberg not only finds himself back in his beachside hometown of Neptune Bay, bu...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I smiled warmly at Eric, who'd come in this morning to interview for one of the two open roles I was hoping to hire for. "Well, I think that about wraps things up." I looked over at June, who sat beside me, and saw her nod in agreement before turning back to him. "Thanks for coming in today, and one of us will reach out to you in the next couple of days with our decision."
Eric—a twenty-six-year-old from New York, who had recently broken up with his boyfriend and was looking for a new start in a smaller town—readjusted the beanie he wore and said, "Thanks for taking the time to meet with me." His eyes traveled over to our half-full display case, before sheepishly asking, "Would it be weird if I bought one of those lemon meringue muffins before heading out?"
I laughed and shook my head as June stood up to grab it for him. "Not at all. But don't worry about paying, we'll get that wrapped up for you free of charge."
"Are you sure?" he asked. His eyebrows furrowing warily as though trying to discern if this was a test of sorts.
"One hundred percent." A moment later, June returned, passing him a small paper bag with the muffin enclosed. "A little welcome to town gift."
"Thanks," he said, reaching over with his free hand to shake both of ours. "Let's hope the rest of the town is as welcoming."
After reaffirming that I thought he'd love it here, he bid us both goodbye and left the shop. At which time I turned to June and asked, "So, what did you think?"
She'd ended up needing two days off work to recoup and fully bounce back from her stomach bug, which I didn't fault her for at all. Though it certainly reinforced the need to hire some help sooner rather than later, because while I got through the near fourteen-hour days, it wasn't something I wanted to do again. And I didn't want June to fall into the same predicament either once I stepped away.
"I think he could definitely work for the full-time role," she replied. "He has a lot of retail and barista experience, so I think he'll be able to work well with customers, and then also handle stock and inventory when needed once he's trained up. He didn't particularly have any baking experience, but I'll be mostly in charge of that side of things, and for one of the part-time roles we hire for, we could look for someone with a bit more of a baking edge."
"Very true," I agreed. "And I don't know if you picked up on it, but he kind of reminded me a little bit of you when you first landed in town."
"How so?"
"He's looking for a new place to call home and seems eager to work hard to put down roots." I bumped her hip with mine. "I think you both will get along well."
A small snort escaped her as the corners of her lips pulled upward. "We'll see how things go, but I agree, I think he'll be easy to work with and on top of his shit."
"Then it's settled." I clapped. "I'll call him tomorrow to tell him the good news, and hopefully he'll be able to start next week."
"And in the meantime, I'll go finish filling up the display case for the lunch rush." She hooked her thumb over her shoulder as she began to back away, then nodded towards the front store. "As it looks like a few customers are looking for an early lunch."
