Page 32 of The Beach Shack Artists 3
“Anna,” Stella interrupted gently, “people need to be able to reach things.”
“They’ll love the improved flow! It makes everything work better.”
Anna was already relocating the napkin dispensers to what she called ‘strategic intervals throughout the space’. “In Florence, even simple cafés operate like artistic installations.”
Stella watched this transformation with growing alarm and noticed Margo had stopped pretending to work and was just watching everything.
The front door chimed. Mrs. Walker, their most punctual regular, stepped inside and immediately froze.
“Good morning, Mrs. Walker,” Stella called. “Coffee?”
Mrs. Walker approached the counter, then stopped, looking around in confusion. “Where’s my table?”
“Your table is now part of the island seating concept,” Anna explained helpfully, gesturing toward the window table she’d moved to the center of the room. “See? Much more open, much better natural light circulation.”
Mrs. Walker stared at her usual spot by the window—now occupied by the condiment station. “I just want to sit where I always sit.”
Stella caught Margo’s eye again. Her great-grandmother was still watching, quietly amused—but there was something else, too. As if she were cataloging more than just the furniture layout.
More customers began arriving for the opening rush. Bernie appeared, took one look at his corner booth now sitting in the middle of the dining room, and stood perfectly still for a moment.
“Did someone move my table?” he asked, trying to stay polite even though he was obviously confused.
“It’s been optimized!” Anna called from behind the counter, where she was arranging the register area according to some new system. “The flow is much more intuitive now.”
Bernie approached his relocated booth, which now required him to walk around three other tables and past the displaced condiment station. “This is not more intuitive.”
“It just takes adjustment,” Anna assured him. “In Florence, Giuseppe’s customers adapted to his system within days.”
“Giuseppe’s customers didn’t include people with fifty-year seating habits,” Bernie pointed out, settling into his booth while eyeing the condiment station that now blocked his usual view of the entrance.
Stella noticed Margo had moved closer to the register, pretending to help but really just watching everything. Their eyes met as another confused customer asked where to get napkins.
“By the window now,” Stella said, pointing to Anna’s relocated napkin station, then caught Margo’s almost imperceptible nod of approval.
The morning rush began in earnest, and Anna’s Florence Method immediately revealed its flaws. Customers couldn’t find the condiments because they’d been moved to an “aesthetic” location away from the food pickup area. The relocated tables created awkward traffic patterns as people tried to navigate between the register and their seats. Mrs. Walker’s table, now in the center of the room, had people walking around it constantly instead of the peaceful window spot she’d claimed for years.
“Where do I get cream for my coffee?” a confused father asked, holding a squirming toddler while looking around the rearranged space.
“By the window,” Stella explained, guiding them around Bernie’s displaced booth. “It’s part of the new flow pattern.”
“Why not just leave it by the coffee?”
“Because that doesn’t create intentional circulation,” Anna said, appearing with their order. “Giuseppe always said that movement should be purposeful, like a dance.”
The father looked at his toddler, who was now trying to climb over Bernie’s booth. “I just need to add cream and sit down.”
Margo appeared at Stella’s elbow with a fresh pot of coffee. “Interesting morning,” she murmured quietly.
“That’s one word for it,” Stella replied, equally quiet.
“Educational might be another.”
Joey, meanwhile, was having an existential crisis trying to deliver food to tables that were no longer where customers expected them to be. “Mrs. Franklin ordered a Classic, but her usual table is now in the middle of the room and she’s sitting somewhere completely different.”
“Tables are just suggestions now,” Anna called, simultaneously trying to explain the new circulation pattern to a customer who just wanted to sit down. “People can experience the space more organically.”
“They want to experience their breakfast,” Joey said with barely controlled panic. “Preferably while sitting in the same spot they’ve sat for the last ten years.”
