The Steam Wand {Isaac}

[ELIZA BENJAMIN]

A cup of coffee that wasn’t from a store that housed a crazy woman. Normally, she was a tea drinker, by nature. And to be fair—Pipin’ Hot Tea had the best tea that she had found in New York thus far, but the idea of being hounded by that woman again was nothing short of terrifying. Originally, Eliza wanted to scope it out. Maybe grab an application, but was quickly turned off of that idea. Her trips to Pipin’ would have to be few and far in between.

But recently, a new little shop popped up right across the way. One that she had done her research on, and it had its own quite decent reviews. With a book in her purse, and phone in her pocket she left the college and meandered down the street. Luckily, the day was nice. Hot, but breezy. The shadows cast by the surrounding trees relieved her from the brutal heat pounding down onto her ivory skin. When she pulled the door open to Mug Shot, she was greeted with a cool burst of air, and the delicious smell of coffee wafting up her little button nose.

Eliza took a deep breath in, standing just a few steps inside of the door for a moment. Tea was her forte, but she could get down with coffee. Espresso mostly, but when done well, she would choose it over tea any time. After the smell, something caught her eye. Cherry red, glossy and sleek. She walked up to the counter, standing on her tip-toes to get a better look at the machine. “La Pavoni?” She murmured, staring at the espresso machine. Her fingers ached to reach out and touch the machine, make her own espresso In it. She had a chance to work with a similar machine back home in England; she had thrown herself into learning about it. Knowing the machine from front to back. But the machine she learned on wasn’t as beautiful, as smooth, as organized, as new.

That machine would make a beautiful espresso, and she smiled to herself. She curled her fingers on the counter, deciding that she would indeed have an espresso made by this beautiful machine. Eliza even wanted to slip through the door, and make it herself. The owners wouldn’t have to pay her—she just wanted her hands on this beautiful machine. Already feeling excited for the warm bitter taste of coffee, sweetness of the rich, frothy steamed milk. Her feet carried her towards the counter, large brown eyes scanning the menu for curiosity’s sake. Oh this was going to be delicious.

Outfit!

[ISAAC BRENNAN]

The day had gone by rather slowly. With such warm weather, the majority of the customers were the early morning people, on their way to work or school. The middle of the day, when the sun tended to beat down on the city, was much less busy, and Isaac took that time to get some things done that he hadn't had the chance to do today.

Garrett instantly started dishes, washing and drying mugs, blenders and other equipment. Tony was in the back as well, making a few more batches of pastries. Jack was being Jack, lazily filling the toppings for the different coffees. And Isaac..

Well, Isaac was exhausted and clearly not in the mood for any chatter that his employees threw his way. He carefully mixed up a cup for himself, putting a little extra espresso in it. He needed the energy.

The door swung open and a girl stepped inside. She was small and brunette, and had one of those faces that could either be very young, or already a woman. She seemed to savor the environment, before stepping closer to the counter and staring at the espresso machine, probably wondering if she were to have something with espresso.

Her voice was quiet, but Isaac, just barely out of sight, thought he could make out an accent. So she was admiring the machine? Had she previously worked at a coffee shop? He rather hoped she wasn't going to ask for an application, because that simply wasn't going to happen. People occasionally scoffed and sneered at his discriminatory practice of hiring only young men to work at Mug Shots, but they didn't bother him, nor waver his decision. In his experience, girls were not quite hard workers, nor were they very stable and reliable. It was difficult to keep them focused. And mixing young men and women on staff was just a horrid idea. The hormones didn't make the coffee taste any better.

Clearing his throat, he stepped up to the counter and in his low voice, he addressed her.

"Is there anything I can get for you?"

The Shit He's Wearing

[ELIZA BENJAMIN]

Eliza gave a little start when someone cleared their throat, and she looked up with large brown eyes. There was a sharp look to them, like she was taking everything as she saw it. Making snap judgments, and quick decisions. Her hair that she rarely wore down softened her somewhat severe expression, and her pillowy lips turned upwards in a slight smile. Nice face, put together. But something was off, she wasn’t entirely sure what it was yet.

Reaching into her bag, she removed a small manila folder, as well as her wallet. “I’ll have an espresso con panna, please. As well as an application.” Her head tilted to the side somewhat, the tiny smile remaining on her lips. Something she noticed with another quick sweep of her eyes—is that there were no female staff. Her eyes turned to the side, watching another server cleaning up a table. With another glance around, she noticed that most of the customers were male, and a few females loitering around as well.

That’s when Eliza figured out what she couldn’t put her finger on with this young man. Of course, she couldn’t entirely place it—plus, she couldn’t see the payroll. But she was more than betting his staff was male. The intelligent girl brought her eyes back to him. As though her brain was a computer, she started pulling information towards the front of her brain, and withdrew a small stack of paper from the folder. “I also have a resume with me, so I can fill the application out right here and have it back to you before my coffee is finished.” The smile on her lips suddenly had a different tone—rather than peaceful and calm, it was almost challenging.

The stubborn girl felt that she could do any job as well, if not better than a man. To simply be turned down because of something she had no control over…well. Eliza wasn’t going to be having that. However, she wouldn’t know for sure. Not until he turned her down. Extending her hand, she kept the smile, “My name is Eliza Benjamin, and I’d like to work here if you’d have me.” Polite. Concise. Even a bit firm. Bring it, pretty boy.

Outfit!

[ISAAC BRENNAN]

Isaac's eyes narrowed very slightly. He didn't look away from the girl's face as he called to his workers.

"Hey Tony. Can you get me a Baliff's Pick? Make it quick."

Closing his eyes, trying not to let his brows furrow, he called for Jack, with his teeth clenched.

"And could you bring this young lady an application, please?"

His few employee's paused in astonishment, then got back to work quickly, keeping their heads down. All the female hopefuls had died down the first week of business, after word began to spread that the owner was partial to male workers. And here came this little girl, who obviously didn't know how things were run around here.

He looked down at her and smiled politely, though his blue eyes were a bit tight. Isaac reached over and shook her hand.

"I'm Isaac Brennan, the owner of the establishment. Your coffee will be out in just a few minutes, if you would be so kind as to take a seat in the booth there."

He turned away from the counter and went into the back. In his office, on top of the desk, were two stacks of paper. One stack was all the applications given to him by young women. They had barely been touched. The other stack was all the male applicants. He flipped through these, nearly desperate for something he had missed, something promising. But he was hardly going to hire a scrawny, pimple-faced sixteen year old who had only ever worked the fryer at the nearest fast food chain. And the fact that more than one of the applicants had been in prison for drug and/or substance abuse wasn't very appealing.

With a groan, Isaac threw the useless papers back onto his desk and returned to the counter, where he was just in time to see Jack bringing her the application and espresso.

"H-here's your coffee, Ma'am. If you need anything else, just let us know," he told her, handing over the mug, application and a pen. The blonde boy looked a tad bit flustered and Isaac rolled his eyes. It was already happening.

He gave her a while to work on it. When he watched her set down the pen, he made his way over to the table, his second cup of strong coffee in his hand. Taking a seat across from her, he swept up the papers in his hands and skimmed through them. He felt something akin to irritation as he saw that she was more than qualified. He set the papers down again and stared at her, folding his hands.

"I'm going to be honest with you.." his eyes scanned the papers again, then shot back to her face, "Eliza. I have.. not a policy, exactly, but a kind of standard to which I hold my employees. And I'm not quite sure that you would.. mesh well with my vision of my business, do you understand?"

[ELIZA BENJAMIN]

As expected. Her expression didn’t change, but she was suddenly more aware that this would be a bit of a game. The closing of his eyes, the tightness of his voice. Her eyes once more danced to the coworkers as they hesitated for a moment. “Hello, Isaac. It’s nice to meet you.” Her grip on his hand was tight, not delicate. When she released his hand, she brought herself to the booth he directed and sat down, crossing one leg over the other.

She folded her hands over the table, watching the workers bustle around the coffee place until a young man approached her. Stuttering. How…charming. “Thank you.” Eliza didn’t give him a second look, clearly uninterested. Plus, it wouldn’t do her very good if she was batting her eyelashes at the workers. She raised the mug to her lips, taking a bit of the whip cream off the top, before setting it down to cool while she lifted the pen and effortlessly began to fill out the application.

Her handwriting was clear, sharp. Neat little letters, perfectly even. No ridiculous bubbles or flounces in her writing. Double checking it, and thumbing through her resume, she then set down the pen and eased back against the bench of the booth, sipping the coffee. Oh, that was perfect. Dark. The sweetness of the whip-cream setting off the bitterness of the espresso. When she looked up, Isaac was flipping through her papers and she straightened up a little bit, watching his face closely as she sipped on her coffee.

One thick brow raised upwards, and she set her coffee cup down, and swept her long hair over one shoulder as she leaned forward slightly. “So …you’re turning down my application because I’m a woman?” Her lips curled again, and even her eyes softened. She raised the cup to her lips again, seeming to consider it for a moment. “The coffee in my hands is delicious, but it’s a Full City Roast, which is common for an espresso. However, an espresso con panna would go much better with a Vienna Roast. Vienna Roasts are less…bitter, I’d like to say? It sends to have a sweeter, more caramel-esque flavor which would offset the whip cream nicely.”

Setting her mug down, she turned towards the red machine on the other side of the counter, and gestured at it with a casual point. “Water reservoir to the back, behind the mugs laying on the cup warmer. The control panel is on the front of that machine, and that particular machine has three controls and brewing cups. Three nozzles to control the foam—which, by the way, if you put a thin layer of foam beneath the whip cream—it’ll hold the cream better, so it doesn’t melt as quickly. Steam wand and steam nozzle to the side of it, which I imagine is immaculately kept, because when that gentleman ordered after me, I didn’t hear a metallic keening coming from the machine. By the taste, I’m going to assume you use filtered water within the reservoir? I should hope so, otherwise the mineral deposits in your filters would be absolutely brutal, and you’d be spending a fortune on that alone.” Eliza kept her tone even, relaxed, easy. Like she had been friends with Isaac forever, but the sweet expression on her face went back to challenge him. She blinked a few times, before raising her cup back to her lips and took a sip.

“And if we’re continuing being honest, Isaac. How many of your staff can list the different roasts of coffee and explain the flavors? Better yet…” She leaned forward again and dropped her voice into a whisper, “How many of them have a Starbucks level of knowledge when it comes to coffee?” Starbucks. Bah. Those people wouldn’t know an American Roast from a French Roast. They only seemed to brew a ridiculous amount of dark roasts, just because that’s what seemed popular. Their creams were out of a crappy can, and they’re syrups were probably sitting on their counters forever. Starbucks was a joke to any coffee connoisseur, and Eliza wasn’t any different. Even if Isaac was going to turn her down, she was going to let him know exactly what he was turning down.

Outfit!

[ISAAC BRENNAN]

She was certainly quick on the uptake, he'd give her that. Isaac found himself leaning forward with her, his intertwined fingers resting against his mouth as he watched her. His eyes traced her features, finding soft, feminine edges. And yet, in her dark eyes, there was a sharpness that surprised him. He felt her judgement, not only in her stare but in her tone when she correctly assumed his requirements.

Glancing back down at the papers briefly, he was startled to find that she was twenty two. She barely looked 18, let alone old enough to drink.

Her eyebrows reached towards the ceiling and she began to voice all the knowledge one could ever possibly want in an employee, in a smooth and rather smug way. A weaker man may have found his jaw hanging, but Isaac was merely irked and -though very reluctantly- impressed by her. Never had he so seriously considered changing his rule.

Dishes clanged and Isaac looked over to find his three employees either bending to pick up whatever that had dropped, or were staring at Eliza, or both. Isaac sneered at the boys and they hastily disappeared into the back. He turned his attention back to Eliza, a wry smile on his lips. He sighed, leaning back in his seat.

"You see, Eliza. I have a business to run. And despite however qualified you may be, it simply wouldn't do to have the majority of my employees distracted when they're supposed to be doing what I pay them to do."

And when there wasn't such a lovely plaything dangling before their eyes, his boys were very valuable and competent workers. Tony had a great love, respect and knowledge of all things coffee and tea. Garrett was much more organized than any young man he had ever met. And Jack loved interacting with customers and making it a nice, fun environment. Everyone fit into their piece of the puzzle.

However. Something intrigued him about this girl. She was obviously headstrong, and that was simultaneously good and bad. Isaac wanted to turn the place into a boot camp, just to make sure she'd stay in line. Eliza was extremely intelligent, or at the very least, she could parrot whatever she was shown.

Whatever it was that drew him towards her, it wasn't as intensely aggravating as his competition across the street.

After a long moment of hesitation, his narrowed eyes found hers. Slowly, he addressed her.

"Hypothetically speaking.. If I were to bring you on, to be part of the staff, what would you bring to the place? Why should I hire you?"

From the corner of his eye, he could see Jack's mouth drop open.

He must be out of his mind.

[ELIZA BENJAMIN]

Eliza raised her own espresso to her lips, sipping it somewhat daintily as she waited for it to sink in for Isaac. Her head turned slightly towards the clang, before letting her dark eyes slide over. They narrowed somewhat, before she—casually turned back to her coffee, sipping it as she fixated Isaac with her eyes once more. “So, it’s much easier to blame Eve, than the Snake, right?” She mused quietly, “Just because your employees can’t do their job satisfactory, doesn’t make it really my concern. It simply means you’ve hired irresponsible boys that can’t keep it in their pants.” She chirped, all the while keeping that soft little smile on her face.

Oh, sure—the boys might have been wonderful when Eliza wasn’t sitting several feet away. Unfortunately, she saw them how they portrayed themselves within the few moments. Blundering idiots. Though her coffee was perfect, she reached for the cinnamon shaker at the end of her table, and topped her whip cream with a bit more, before turning the small spoon slowly to dissolve the sweet spice into her drink. Isaac did manage to surprise her, and though she would have liked to drop her jaw as well—she took it in stride.

Lowering her mug, she curled her hands around it to soak in the warmth. She mulled the question over before sweeping her thick hair up into a sloppy ponytail, held together with a small black band that had previously been around her wrist. Pulling her hair back showed her age somewhat better, it took the softness away from her face, and gave her cheekbones a more severe definition. “What would I bring to the place?” She turned her head to look at the counter very slightly. She would have to play her cards right. Eliza turned back to Isaac, her smile a little less cold this time. “An excellent worker who wouldn’t pant over every specimen of the opposite sex that came through the door. Someone with a bit more brain than brawn. I may not be able to lift a box loaded with coffee beans, but I could just as easily calculate about how many cups one box might make.” Her teeth closed together, though her lips remained parted. As though she were trying to gather her words correctly.

“Though I’m sure female customers don’t have any…issue, with the staff here. It would also make some of the more meek customers a little more comfortable to have another female face around. As well…” Eliza leaned forward slightly, dropping her voice to a low murmur, just so it didn’t carry. “I could be your eyes, and your ears. I’m sure the boys are on their best behavior when the boss is around. But who’s got two x-chromosomes on their mind, rather than the ounces of caramel that should be in a caramel overload latte?” One thick brow raised upwards as Eliza settled back into her seat, lifting her coffee to her lips again. “Plus, the only other shop in town that has any idea what they’re doing is that eyesore across the street. I’m not entirely sure that it’s that possible to have that much happy, pep, and sugary sweetness in one place without being horrifically brain damaged.” Perhaps the ending was a bit much, but often Eliza found her tongue running without her brain catching up.

To stop her from getting too far ahead of herself, she took a bit of the whip cream off her coffee with a calculated sip, and contemplated what she was after. Yes, the boss was handsome. Yes, so were the workers. There was a certain charm to them—much like a hamster with special needs. Perhaps Isaac’s eyes were far too blue, and his face far too charming. Yes—Eliza decided. He was handsome. But her hands didn’t tremble, she felt no urge to throw herself across the table and into his lap. Nor did she try to slide any flirtatious comments across the table. With a smug certainty, she was betting to herself that she could cause one of the boys behind the counter to break at least two mugs before she took a breath. Especially if they were that jittery around a female—which was somewhat pathetic. However, speaking to Isaac she had to be on his level. Somehow she felt that if she tried using any of the feminine wiles she possessed, she would automatically lose points in Isaac’s book.

She had to be good, if not better. She had to be on his level. And she had to show more self control than his staff currently seemed to possess .

Outfit!