Enzo St John (vamptestsubject) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-04-30 00:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, claudia donovan, enzo st john |
Who: Enzo and Claudia
When: April 8
Where: Ciao Bella
What: Closing up the restaurant.
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
Technically, today was supposed to be Claudia’s day off. But one of the other servers had managed to come down with the flu and since the redhead didn’t have any classes today, she agreed to cover her coworkers shift. Being a college student, extra hours meant extra money. And she wasn’t about to say no to that, especially when there was a new camera lens she had her eye on.
Now that the last of the customers were gone and the doors were locked, it was time for the clean up. Currently Claudia had her headphones on, bobbing her head along to the beat of whatever song came on as she started to wipe down the tables. She kept one earbud out in case Enzo or one of the other servers needed to talk to her or give her an order but for the most part she was left to her own devices. People mostly heard horror stories when it came to working in food service, but she actually loved this job. She got along well with her coworkers and Enzo was really a pretty cool boss.
If there was anything Enzo was grateful for, it was the wonderful staff that he had to help him run Ciao Bella and make it a successful and profitable restaurant in the Costa Mesa district. He was grateful to Elena who could successfully and seamlessly run things in his absence and to his wait staff, the true face and heart of the restaurant. They were the first and last person the customer interacted with, and how they acted reflected on him as an owner. He was proud to say that, so far, he had had nothing but the best.
Now it was closing time and even though Enzo should be going over the books, he found himself out on the floor helping the crew clean up.
“Claudia, thank you for coming in on such short notice. Molly got sick and being short staffed when the entire district is on Spring Break would be a disaster. We are busier than usual on week nights. I appreciate your willingness to come in and pick up the extra hours.”
Looking up as she heard Enzo speak, Claudia gave a small grin as she moved onto the next table. “It’s no problem. Molly doesn’t call in unless she’s practically on her deathbed and I didn’t really have any big plans for today. I’m more than happy to take any extra hours I can get. I just didn’t realize how crazy it would be!”
This was her first time working at anything during Spring Break. Usually she was on the other side of it, the one going out and spending the day having fun. It made her definitely appreciate the people who went through this every year. The tips were generally good though so it made it worth it.
“Shouldn’t you be going through the money earned tonight? Make sure we didn’t stiff you any money and what not?” She teased as she started to move the salt and pepper shakers to the center table so she could get them all filled and ready for the next day. “The cleaning of the dining room is for the lowly folk!”
“I’m hardly worried about you stiffing me, I know where you live, remember?” He teased as he began to gather up the silverware and put it in the tray to be washed. The Napkins were already in the washer and Claudia was taking care of the salt and Pepper, Frederick was wiping down all the tables and he already sent Elena home for the evening, but things were running smoothly, he wasn’t worried.
“I used to be the lowly folk in my parents restaurant. Ever since I was 5 years old I did the grunt work. It’s never really left my system. Besides, I’ll likely be here a few hours after you guys leave. I can finish up then. I want you all to be able to get out and enjoy the rest of your night. I mean it’s only 10:30. Don’t tell me old lady Claudia is going to go home and go to bed. If I had known you were such a granny I never would have hired you,” he teased.
"You did not just call me old!" The redhead cried with a laugh putting on a mock offended look before sticking out her tongue childishly. "You're so lucky that you're the boss otherwise you'd be getting a spoon thrown at you Mister!"
In reality, going home was exactly what Claudia had planned to do. As of late she hadn't been much of a social butterfly, instead choosing to lounge around and do homework while watching tv. And now that she thought about it, she felt pretty lame in that regard.
"And you're so not allowed to just hole up here after Frederick and I leave. Everything will be pretty much done soon so you should go out and have some fun old man." She added as she started to fill the shakers.
“I can and I did,” he said with a smirk as he ruffled the girls hair. “Careful Claudia, I think I’m starting to see some gray seep through...and..is that a wrinkle I see?” He mock gasped in horror as he clutched his heart. “Quite positively the oldest lady I’ve seen all night!” Girls were sensitive about their age and wrinkles and what not. He wouldn’t be surprised if she did end up throwing a spoon at his head. But he’s just laugh it off. He usually did.
“Oh I’ll be going out after I’m done. There is a 24 hour bowling place in Anaheim that Damon and I are going to go to. Maybe go to a bar and get some drinks…” and of course there was their vampire vigilante justice that they usually ended up doing. Yup, Enzo was a fairly busy guy. One of the perks of being a vampire wa that he was very rarely tired and didn’t need much sleep. It made it a lot easier to go out and explore and cause trouble and mischief. “So, as you can see, you needn’t worry about me and my awesome self.”
“You are a horrible person Enzo! And besides aren’t you like...ten years older than I am?” she shot back with a smirk, throwing a sugar packet at him. She didn’t mind that he teased her and she wasn’t really one of those girls who constantly worried about what she looked like. Her wardrobe outside of her work uniform was pretty much a testament to that.
“I don’t know why but the thought of you and your friend bowling is incredibly amusing. How very hip of you” She laughed, turning the music off and tucking away her headphones before returning to the task at hand. The conversation going on was more interesting than the music playing anyways. “I would have pictured you two as the ‘drink until dawn’ type.”
“I may be older than you, but I’m still the hottest guy you’ll ever hope to meet kid, never forget that. I mean you better just toss aside all hope of ever meeting a guy as hot as me for as long as you live, because it won’t happen. Here, let me get you a tissue,” jokingly he tossed one of the napkins at her before taking the silverware back into the kitchen, coming out a few minutes later to survey what else needed to be done around the restaurant before he sent everyone else home for the night.
“Oh, there will be drinking, but with a twist...for however many pins we knock down, that’s how many shots we have to take. It’s going to be epic...my liver will hate me, but you only live once.” Actually, his liver wouldn’t bother him at all, perks of being a vampire and all, but Claudia didn’t need to know that.
Claudia snorted slightly at Enzo's self worshiping testament, rolling her eyes and shaking her head as she caught the napkin thrown at her. "Boss man, contrary to what you may believe you are not the sexiest thing to grace the planet earth." She joked. "I hate to be the one to tell you this but as your friend I must. It's all in your head. It's better you know this now before you get your hopes crushed."
This was another reason she actually enjoyed her job at Ciao Bella. Enzo and the others in the management positions didn't view the others liked her as simply employees. It was easy to get along with each other and treat one another like friends.
"Oh I did want to ask about maybe taking some photos of the restaurant sometime next week?" She added, turning to face him briefly. "It's this extra credit project I'm doing for one of my classes at school."
“You messed up that statement, what you MEANT to say was ‘Yes, boss man, you’re totally right, you are like, so totally the hottest guy like ever and I’m like oh my god, super totally lucky to have you as my boss,” he even threw in the valley girl accent for his own amusement. What could the man say? He was bored and he also enjoyed making his staff laugh. Happy staff meant a happy restaurant, which meant a successful restaurant.
“Sure, that’s not an issue, but remember, if you’re going to have people in the photo, you need to get their permission first. I know your intentions are good, but it might upset others. Just tread carefully.”
The redhead gave her boss a look that clearly said ‘you have lost your damn mind haven’t you’ before laughing. Once the shakers were all full, Claudia began the task of placing them all back on the tables where they belonged. Between the three bodies in the building at the moment, closing up was a fairly easy task.
“I know” She agreed with a nod as she made sure all of the tables looked neat and clean. While at home she was admittedly a complete slob, at work she was a bit of a perfectionist. It was a weird little quirk but a good one to have for the workplace. “I was actually thinking about possibly doing it after close or before opening. Just taking a few shots of the interior and what not. I’m supposed to create an artistic timeline of a week in my life. Which surprisingly has made me aware that I really don’t have one!”
“Whatever you think is best, I trust your judgement 100%. If you take pictures when nobody is in the restaurant, maybe you can help me set up a website for better advertising?” Granted, the restaurant was doing well, but he wanted it to do better. He wanted it to be an outstanding success and he knew that Claudia could help him with that. “I’ll pay you extra of course for the time that you’d put in, but let me know.”
Looking at his watch he looked up at the rest of the staff. “Have a good night everyone, I’ll see you tomorrow and don’t forget to lock up behind you.”