Brandy was running late, and this would not be a good day for tardiness. A new manager had been hired, and the owner of the Emperor's Kitchen restaurant chain was going to be at the staff briefing to introduce him. Though Brandy and her husband Rick had recently moved much closer to her work, she always seemed to cut it close. She was never late when she was driving in from La Mesa, but now that she was only 25 to 30 minutes away it seemed she always cut it close. She turned left onto Garnet Avenue, cursing the slow drivers in front of her. Fortunately, most of the late afternoon traffic was traveling east, so she was able to speed. If there were no traffic cops running radar, she thought she just might make it.
Brandy turned sharply into the restaurant parking lot with about a minute to spare, but she still had to change. She hurried through the kitchen, where the chefs were preparing the seafood, chicken and steak they would be cooking on the teppan yaki grills, and quickly changed in the ladies locker room. She was scheduled for cocktails on this shift which meant she would be wearing a short floral print aloha dress. This was good because she could put the dress on in two minutes. If she was waiting on tables the kimono worn by food servers would take a lot longer.
The owner, Kenji, was just beginning to speak when a breathless Brandy joined the group. She immediately noticed a middle aged black man was seated next to him. He was a good looking guy, nicely dressed in an expensive navy blue suit, and he shot pleasant smile Brandy's way as she took a seat at the bar. Brandy had worked at Emperor's for 9 years, and they had always had Japanese managers. She wondered to herself how this was going to work out.
After a some talk about plans for the upcoming Christmas party, and good news about how well the restaurants were doing, especially the Pacific Beach location, Kenji introduced Steve and invited him to say a few words.
Steve began by assuring everyone he was very happy to have the opportunity to work with everyone in Kenji's world class restaurant operation. He had an interesting background which included being born and raised in San Diego and twenty years as an Army Ranger. After the Army, he spent some time in Paris learning French cuisine and pastry at the Ferrandi School. He had worked as a chef and managed two restaurants in Manhattan, but longed to return to California. After a chance meeting with Kenji at the New York Athletic Club, he was able to make that happen. He told everyone that over the next few days, he would set aside some time to talk to each of them.
Steve made a favorable impression on Brandy. He seemed like the kind of person who knew how to run a business, and, with his Army experience, he would probably know how to deal with some of her co-workers who were troublemakers.
Steve spent the first week observing the operation and asking a lot of questions. He complimented Brandy when he watched her calm down an angry toddler, and jokingly asked her if she had ever taught pre-school. All and all, he made a favorable impression on just about everyone.
Steve's second week started off with some excitement. One evening when Brandy was walking in from the parking lot, the back door burst open and a visibly upset bartender stumbled out. On her way to the to the locker room she passed the bookkeeper's office and ducked in.
"Barbara, what's up with Bill? He just left here all pissed off."
Barbara shook her head, "Steve discovered Bill was stealing from the till. Apparently he marked a fifty dollar bill and put it in the cash register and audited the cash. When Bill closed out his register last night, the register was short over $100, and the marked fifty was missing. Steve also saw him selling drinks and putting the cash in his pocket. Apparently Bill had his own bottles of whiskey behind the bar and when customers were paying for their drinks in cash, he would mix the drink or pour the shot out of one of his bottles and just pocket the cash. Steve called him in early and confronted him, and Bill went off on Steve...took a swing at him. That's when our new manager threw Bill out the back door by the scruff of his neck. One of the chefs saw everything...said it was pretty funny."
Brandy laughed, "Good. I always thought Bill was an asshole. This doesn't surprise me one bit."
During her shift, Steve finally got around to meeting with Brandy in his office and began by asking her to tell him a little bit about herself.
"Well, I'm originally from the Philippines. I married an American whom I met over there and came to the States when I was 19. The marriage didn't work out, and we were divorced after just a few months. I started working as a waitress in coffee shops near San Diego State, and I when I turned 21 I started dancing downtown at the Carousel Bar on weekends. That's where I met my current husband. One morning the manager from Emperor's Kitchen was in the coffee shop for breakfast with Kenji, and they asked me if I'd be interested in working here. He said I would do a lot better at a dinner place. That was nine years ago, and I'm still here. I've been married for four years, and my husband works for the county as a probation officer. I go to school part time at San Diego State. I would like to become a city planner and work for the city some day."
Steve listened attentively and nodded approvingly when Brandy mentioned her school and professional goal.
When she finished he said, "Well Brandy, that's a worthy ambition. Be sure to let us know about your class schedules as they change, so we can accommodate you. I want you to know Kenji thinks very highly of you, and I enjoy watching you interact with our customers. You really give them a good dining experience, and we really appreciate your efforts. Kenji authorized me to give you a $1.10 per hour raise, and that will be reflected on your next check. Please don't mention this to anyone else. Only a few of our top performers are getting these raises, and we don't want to cause any morale problems."
Brandy wanted to wrap her arms around him and give him a big kiss, but she stayed cool and business like.
"Oh thank you, and please thank Kenji for me. I feel so appreciated.
Steve stood, indicating their meeting was over, and replied, "Yes, of course I will pass that on to Kenji. You keep up the good work Brandy. By the way are you still working as a dancer? I don't have a problem with you doing that on your days off."
"No...think that's in my past. I did like it though, and the money was great. But I gotta jealous husband. He'd never approve."
Steve nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I can understand that."