Page 27 of Dark Witch Resurrection

"Thank you." Marina pulled out the card Peter gave her and put it on the counter.

Wonder pushed it back to her. "It's on the house. Employees eat for free, and you are a future employee."

"You haven't even interviewed me yet."

Behind Wonder, the other female snorted. "If you want the job, you're hired." She handed a cup of coffee to the guy waiting for it and then offered Marina her hand. "I'm Aliya."

With a twinge of apprehension, Marina took the female's hand. "Nice to meet you."

The hybrid Kra-ell was surprisingly gentle as she shook her hand, and her smile was genuine. "Same here. I think I saw you on the cruise. You were serving food in the dining hall."

"That's right. I don't know how I missed you." Marina felt bad about not noticing Aliya.

"I didn't sit in the section you served."

Marina wanted to say that she had also attended some of the weddings as a guest, and she still hadn't seen her. Perhaps the female didn't like weddings and had stayed away.

After collecting her coffee, sandwich, and pastry, Marina took the tray to the only available table and sat down. She was lucky that most of the customers took their purchases to go, or she wouldn't have found a place to sit.

She was long done with her breakfast when the traffic in the café dwindled to a trickle and Wonder left Aliya to take care of things.

"Sorry it took so long." She pulled out a chair and plopped down. "It's crazy from six to nine in the morning, and then we have three hours of relative calm until the lunch rush starts. We close at six in the evening, though. So at least there is an end in sight."

"It's still a long day."

Wonder smiled. "It's not as difficult as it sounds. But that's because I'm immortal, and Aliya is half Kra-ell. Wendy used to work with us full time, which made things easier and allowed us to take days off from time to time, but after she enrolled full time in college, she switched to only working here on the weekends."

Marina tried to remember who Wendy was. The name sounded familiar, so maybe she had been one of the brides, but which one?

"For a human, it's tough," Wonder continued. "I don't expect you to work as hard as we do. If you can work during the rush time, that would greatly help us. Six to nine, and then twelve to three. Six hours total with three hours to rest between shifts shouldn't be too hard."

"I can work six to three."

Wonder grinned. "That's even better."

"How come the café is so busy?"

"This is the only place in the village open during the day, so everyone stops by to get their caffeine fix and something to eat."

"What happens after six?" Marina asked.

"We have vending machines in the back for those who want some coffee and a snack after hours, and Callie's restaurant is open four nights a week. Atzil's bar is open only on Friday and Saturday nights, but he's looking for more help to expand his hours. The bottom line is that you can pick your jobs around here." Wonder leaned closer to Marina. "But I hope you pick the café. Aliya and I need a third set of hands."

Marina worried her lower lip. "I don't know how to operate that coffee machine you have there. I can make great sandwiches, though."

"The pastries and the sandwiches are supplied by Jackson's bakery and kitchen. We just serve them. We only make coffee, tea, and hot cocoa."

"Well, that makes things easy. When can I start?"

Wonder grinned. "You can start today if you want. Now that it's not that busy, it is the perfect time to show you how to work the cappuccino machine."

21

JASMINE

Jasmine sat by the prince's bedside, acting out scripts she'd memorized over the years. Some of them were musicals, so she sang the parts, the female and the male ones, just modified for her range.

She knew he couldn't understand her and that the words were just a jumble of meaningless sounds to his ears, but he might enjoy her singing, and since her acting imbued the words with emotion, he might understand that as well.

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