Page 27 of Locked Down In Watch Hill
“Perfect. Although, I think we might need to focus on other things before that.” I blushed again. He was very direct, and I like that a lot. He braced his arm on the doorway then leaned down and kissed me once more. “Have a good day, Ashley.”
“You have a good one too,” I breathed, something inside me already knowing I was falling for him.
***
KYLE
Slammed.
We were slammed.
For the first time since taking over ownership, we had a lunch rush, and online advance orders for dinner. I barely turned on the sign and opened the register before we had customers, and I’d never had what would have qualified as a lunch rush before.
“I’m going to call Tyler,” I told Seth when he handed me the fifth pizza in fifteen minutes. “We need extra help and we need it fast.”
“Should I call some other friends? I have people from the club who might need work, and—”
“That’s fine,” I said as I took one pizza out of the oven and shoved in another. “Anyone, really. Just anyone. Call whoever can come here and see if they were willing to drive for us this afternoon and tonight. They need to be clear of any possible infection and as a bare minimum, have their temperature checked. I know we’re desperate, but we can’t be irresponsible.” I sighed. “If I take one more order of pizza bread...”
Seth laughed. “You’re stuck with it now. Stuck.”
“So much for anonymity, right?” I thought back to all the times I had considered running my own business. This was one more than I had bargained for, I had to admit.
“I’ll get some people here,” Seth promised. “Don’t think about that, just think about making the product and what you are going to do to keep up with all the demand. This is insane. I can’t believe people are this hungry for your food. It’s amazing.”
He wandered off to take care of the rest of the orders, and I struggled to fulfil the ones already placed. Getting this kind of traffic at the restaurant was a dream, one that seemed so far away when I took it over. Now that I was here, I couldn’t believe what it was going to take to keep swimming.
And then swim some more...
Tyler joined us soon enough, and we managed to get through the lunch rush, which didn’t end until two. We had about three hours of downtime, and then dinner orders began. By then, Seth had rallied two of the old bartenders from The Frosted Heart to help with deliveries.
“I’m sure Seth already told you, but this is a lot of fun.” Tyler began to spread pepperoni across one of the pizza bread orders which had been spruced up with additional toppings. “So much of life is ... well, boring. But working here in the last week or so hasn’t been.”
Nodding, I kneaded a roll of fresh dough into what would become a sixteen-inch pizza. “Thanks for that. I keep expecting to wake up.”
“You’re probably going to need an additional location sooner than you think.”
I shrugged.
“No, I’m serious. Think about Crinkles and Cuts, the waffle place. They had that one location downtown at Findlay Market and the were always selling out. Now they have like five.”
“That’s true.”
“And I read the other day that they’re going to start selling their waffles in grocery stores, like in three or four states.”
“Good for them.”
“That could be you, you know.” Tyler finished with the pepperoni and slid the bread into the oven. “So, like you have this location, and then maybe one downtown.”
“You’re pretty interested in this for a sociology major.” I eyed him. “I thought this was a temporary job for you.”
Tyler spread his free hand. “I’ve been thinking about it lately. Seems to me that a concept like this does well no matter what is going on with people.”
“That’s true, people always want to eat pizza. Kind of like the original American comfort food, and when it comes to a time like this, being in the business of comfort food is a good idea.”
Tyler nodded. “You know, I...”
A funny look came over his face, and he threw up an index finger as if he wanted to pause the conversation before backing out of the prep station, away from the food, and coughing twice into his mask.
