Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

She didn't really know why she was nervous, yet she was. These people were her employees, but it had become more than that since they opened. In the seasons since she had opened these doors, Cally's had flourished and it had done so because of these people. Jo'get, her sous-chef who worked so enormously hard. Trudi, the flirty but dedicated waitress. Paul and Taylor, too. They each had their role to play, Paul was invaluable in the farms and Taylor just seemed to be everywhere as needed. Faith had called them together for a meeting this morning. This was not an unusual turn of events on any given trial, they met regularly. However, this time, she had a flutter of worry which was entirely new for her. The crisp white linen tablecloths were piled, ready to begin laying the tables once this meeting was over. At the moment, they were sitting around one of the tables and talking. Meetings were never formal here, everyone had cups of coffee or tea and there were sweet pastries on the table, left from the night before but still good.

"Thank you for coming. I wanted the five of us to talk because I have news. Information you need, really." Faith looked at them and breathed in, wondering how to phrase the next bit. She didn't get a chance to, however, as Paul spoke. "Are you opening up another restaurant?" It was the most outlandish thing he could think of and, in the seasons he had known her, Paul had come to the conclusion that Faith had to do that; she had to push herself to the maximum. "No, Immortals, no." Faith looked, and felt, a little horrified at the thought. This season, she had enough money that she was going to double the number of trainees who worked here, but that wasn't the issue, not at all.

"Are we going to have another branch in Viden?" Taylor asked and Faith looked at him like he was going insane. "No. It's nothing to do with expanding. Or, not the business, anyhow. That is. It's me that's going to be expanding." She put her hand on her stomach and gave a slight, somewhat nervous smile.

"You're pregnant?!" Trudi's eyes showed her delight, but her voice was teasing. "Who's the father?"

Faith looked at the waitress and grinned. "Padraig." Trudi had no idea of what had happened on Rharne, had no clue of how close to the bone that was. So, she smiled and Trudi did a truly dreadfully acted gasp and lifted her hand to her forehead. "He's cheating on me? How could he, the brute?" Faith couldn't help but smile. Trudi did her very best, in fairness, to get Padraig to notice her flirting, but thus far she'd been almost spectacularly unsuccessful even in that. Faith had no doubt about Padraig's heart and so she simply shook her head and let Trudi have her fun.

"So," Jo'get asked, the serious young sous-chef thinking things through, "what's going to happen with the restaurant?"

It was typical of Jo'get to go straight to practicalities and, in truth, it was part of what she really appreciated about her. "I'm going to close .." there was a collective gasp and Faith looked around at them with a perplexed expression, "for Cylus. When the baby is due. In Vhalar, Padraig and I are going to Desnind for a few trials, how you do then will be good practice. Then, in Zi'da, I'm going to step back from doing long shifts. I'll still be here every trial, but not cooking. That will give us time to get used to it all." She looked around and smiled, wondering when the inevitable question would come and, perhaps quite importantly, who would ask it. It turned out, it was Paul.

"What about once the baby's here, Faith?" Paul asked, his voice quiet and concerned. His concern, though, was obviously for her, not himself. Faith smiled and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "I believe that, at some point in Ashan, I will come back to work full time. That's the plan." It was a plan and could be no more than that, she knew. How many mothers had been sure of what would happen once their child came only to find that the actual arrival meant that they did not follow those carefully thought out plans at all? "I don't know how it will all take shape.I know that I will do my best to ensure that you are all impacted to the smallest amount."

Trudi shook her head, "Faith, this is wonderful news. We're delighted for you. For you both. This baby will have lots of aunts and uncles, right here." Faith smiled and lowered her head for a moment, looking down at her hands clasped together on the table. With her head looking down, they could not see as she blinked back tears and instead, she spoke. "Well, that is why I called the meeting. We should get ready for to-trial."

Now that they knew, Faith could start really preparing them. As they got the restaurant ready for service at lunch time, Faith spent a little time with each of them individually. That was, and had always been, her plan; tell them as a group and then speak to them individually. First, Taylor, who was wiping down the bar area, cleaning and checking stock. He looked at her and smiled. "Hey," he said and she smiled. Taylor was a rare individual ~ he genuinely just seemed happy with who he was, where he was and what he was doing. "Congratulations, Faith. I'm happy for you both." Taylor had been someone she was fond of from when she hired him. He was reliable and completely non-prone to drama. "Thank you," she replied with a smile. "I'll still be very much close by. You and Paul, though, will be fundamental to running the farm. How are you feeling about that?"

Taylor looked at Faith and put down the cleaning rag he'd been using. "I'll do my best, I can't do more. It'll be good enough or it won't. Either way, it will still be my best." Faith smiled and nodded. "That's very sensible," she said with a teasing expression. Taylor was often teasing her about being older than her arcs and this was a rare opportunity to return the favour. "The farm is key to this business, Taylor, but it's also the place where I've been most hands-off, because I don't understand it like you do. During Zi'da, when I'm stepping back, we'll still have meetings like we do, but we'll space them out more. Padraig will be around, too, " although they'd agreed that he'd stop working here. It was all too much, they had too many things on their plates and they needed to enjoy this time, this pregnancy. So, he was stepping back too but that would not impact them here overly much.

"You need to worry less," Taylor said with a smile. "We have the suppliers set up, we have the farm running well. We know what we're doing in terms of produce and livestock. It'll be good to close the restaurant for Cylus, although the farm will keep going of necessity." Faith nodded and turned to the vineyard, asking about it and how it was going. Progress was positive, Taylor said, although slower than he'd like. It was a game of patience, Faith knew and Taylor was quite content to sit back and watch the vines grow but equally, they were all excited at the prospect of Cally's Wine.

Having worked with Taylor for a little while, Faith then moved over to speak to Trudi. Her role would be vital, she knew, and so Faith stepped in and started helping with the laying out of the tablecloths, cutlery and crockery. With a smile to the waitress, Faith simply got on with the job for a few moments. Every detail was important, this was the first impression the customer got and it was vital that it was a good impression. They worked in silence together for a few moments and then Trudi spoke. "How are you feeling?" Faith glanced up and smiled, "I had a lot of nausea for the first few ten-trials. I still get a little." She shrugged slightly and added, with very genuine emotion. "Tired. I feel tired. But excited and more happy than I can express. Will you manage the front of house for me?"

Trudi looked up in some surprise, pleasure on her face at the question. "Of course I will. It will give me power and I like it." Trudi was teasing, but she was very happy at being offered this opportunity. Faith concentrated on what she was doing for a few moments, taking the opportunity of the careful placement of cutlery to think things through in her head. "What we can do," Faith said, with a thoughtful expression, "is meet regularly, slowly pass the jobs on one at a time. Full management is what I'm talking about, so you and Jo'get will be in charge. You out here, her in there." Trudi nodded, that was fine. "Then I'll meet with you. Every ten-trial is the plan, but more if you need it." Planning this was tricky, and Faith recognised in herself the desire to maintain control. But she couldn't necessarily do that, she knew.

Didn't mean she couldn't try though. "So, next time we do a menu change, you and I will do it together. I want you and Jo'get to start working with me on the trial's specials, too. That will help. It's the flow between front and back of house that is most important, and we need to keep that up in terms of communication." Trudi nodded. That did, in fairness, make sense. Faith smiled and breathed in.

"Alright. I'm going to go talk to Jo'get. Then, we'll work out regular meetings for ourselves this season, alright? The three of us," starting now would be good, Faith knew. "I think that would be best." Trudi nodded her agreement.
"I think it would," the waitress answered with a smile. "I mean, it'll help you to get used to letting go now. Because you're going to be rubbish at it."

Faith blinked twice as Trudi beamed at her and then watched, speechless, as her employee sauntered off.

Sometimes, Faith thought, the safest and most relaxed place in this restaurant was the kitchen. So, she was rather relieved to get in there. However, the moment that she did a look of some surprise settled on her face. Paul and Jo'get were there and he was obviously comforting her. "Is everything alright?" Faith asked and Paul looked up as she came in and smiled. They were sitting, Jo'get nursing a cup of tea and Paul just sitting next to her. He smiled and nodded.

"It's fine," he said with a smile. Jo'get would tell Faith herself, he didn't see the need to do so. "I'm really pleased for you, Faith. For you both. I'll talk to Taylor and we'll work out the farm, don't worry. I'll leave you to it." Then, he stood up and patted Jo'get's hand before making his way to the door. As he walked past her, Paul stopped and smiled at Faith then gave her a sudden, brief and fierce hug. "Congratulations. Truly" Faith didn't, as a rule, do physical contact when it was unannounced. It made her somewhat uncomfortable, reminding her of things which she would much rather not be thinking of, but his gesture was too honest and too heartfelt for her to think that of and instead, she simply hugged him back.

When Paul had left, Faith moved and sat next to Jo'get. It was where they normally sat as they worked out their menus and so on and the young business owner sat, quietly. When Jo'get wanted to speak, she would. It was a few moments, and then Jo'get spoke. "I don't think I can do it." Her voice was shaking, Faith realised, and she looked at her sous-chef with a slightly raised eyebrow and concern on her face.

"I mean, be here without you. On my own." Jo'get was speaking in just above a whisper, but Faith heard it clearly. "I don't want to think about it, I just can't do it." Jo'get lifted her head and looked at Faith with a wide eyed expression on her face. "Imagine me, here, running this kitchen? I just couldn't do it."
"You already do," Faith said, her voice soft and not at all anything except supportive. "Whenever I have a night off."
"But that's different!" Jo'get was quite sure.
"How?" It didn't seem different to Faith, so she asked.
"Because you're nearby if I need anything, if there's an emergency," Jo'get was quick to respond. "It's just for a limited time."

Faith sat and looked at her sous-chef then spoke more firmly. "All of that will be true still. We'll start it this season. I'll be your sous-chef for a few trials, alright? Then, I'll start taking a few more nights off. When we go to Desnind, you haven't batted an eye about that."
Jo'get was beaten, she knew it already. Faith could tell by her face, but she didn't speak, now, letting Jo'get come to her own conclusions. That was the best thing to do, as far as Faith believed. Jo'get sighed. "I wish you'd get a new head chef."

Faith looked at her in surprise. "I am," she said with a smile. "You. I'll be hiring a new sous-chef for you."

Jo'get looked at her and then lowered her head to take a sip of her steaming hot tea. "Oh balls," she said and sight. Faith smiled and then, as though they hadn't had the conversation, the pair got started on planning.