Althena Book 2

49. Shops

We land at my mall and I run in. The walls that were separating stores are gone. Now it's a very large rectangular empty area with pillars.

Monte hands me some blank paper and pencils. "Bathrooms are going in at the midway points on the wall. 12 bathrooms total. 6 male, 6 female. Bar over there."

"Will the bar have food?"

"No. It is strictly alcohol. It's too much to try and handle food at the same time. There's also a bar directly above it on the 2nd floor. This side wall is going to be convenience machines. Also, vending machines. The entrance to the breakroom will be in that area. Staff on break can grab something and go down. There is also a kitchen down there."

"This is a good start."

"It is. You have the big area in the middle for big prizes like cars. It's perfect for that. And the contractors are getting things in quickly. So, if you want a shop you had better get the plan in."

"Perfect." I sit on the floor and draw my coffee shop. I put it in the front corner. Then I put coolers. The counter will hold the baked goods. I won't be making loaves of bread and packs of noodles, but I can make cookies and cinnamon rolls. Everyone likes those with coffee.

Then I layout the entire first floor of the casino. I know where everything is. I know what slot machines are. I even put the dollar amount they're going to take. I design the entrance.

Mike shows up and somehow gets a table and chairs. Then he adds elevators to my drawing.

Then Monte takes them and starts adding security stuff. I try to take them back.

"Do the upstairs."

"NO."

"Woman. Be nice." Drogon kisses my head.

"BUT I WANT."

Conner yells, "BABY, MAKE THE COFFEE SHOP MENU." from halfway across the mall.

Clayton grabs Conner's arm. "WE'LL DO THE BAR MENU."

Mike yells, "YOU HAVE SCHOOL TOMORROW."

I plop down on the floor again and start the coffee shop menu. Foods will be, cookies, cinnamon rolls, bagels, slices of cake, muffins, paninis, brownies, fruit cups, those sold like crazy in Crystal Falls, cottage cheese salad, containers of regular salads, donuts, fruit and yogurt bowls, sandwiches, and anything else I decide to add on the way. This is a good start though.

Coffee will be. I'll have decaf and the regular I will call awakening beans. I still remember that from the shop in Mystical Moon. The flavors will be vanilla voodoo, mocha magic, spirit and spice, black magic, white witch, focus potion, cursed cold, and I am good at this.

Conner picks up my paper. "I don't know what these flavors are, babygirl. Awakening is regular?"

"Yes."

"Flavors please. I don't know how to buy focus potion flavor."

"Focus potion is black coffee."

They crack up laughing and Mike nods. "Perfect name. I'm going to be calling my coffee that from now on. But people aren't going to order a large focus potion. They are going to order a large coffee. You have to come up with something that goes with the flavor name. Like mocha magic is going to have chocolate in it."

"Ok. Vanilla Voodoo is vanilla. Mocha magic is chocolate. Spirit and spice is alcohol. Black magic is licorice. White witch is coconut and white chocolate. Cursed cold is a cold brew. And focus potion is peppermint and ginseng. They increase focus."

"Perfect." Conner kisses my head. "I can find those flavors."

Cyrus rubs his eyes. "Shouldn't you do something more casino themed and less magic? Where did magic come from?"

"Aww." I pout a little. "Yes."

"Actually, we can do the whole casino with a magic theme. The bank tellers can wear little pointed hats. The security guards..."

Monte cuts him off. "No."

Mike shakes his head. "This is a lot going on. Try to come up with a casino theme name for each of them."

"Poker face. Queen of hearts. Lady luck, Wild Card, Double Down, Snake Eyes, BlackJack, Jackpot, Double or Nothing, Beginers Luck." Conner shrugs his shoulders.

Cyrus takes over. "All or nothing, All in, Bank roll, Blackout. Cold Call. Double Down." Conner starts writing too. "High card. High bet. Joker. Longshot. Multiplier."

I tilt my head. "Do I need to worry about you?"

"I looked them up on my phone, woman." He laughs and keeps going. "Scare card. Shark. Shooter. Show down. Blackout. Cage. Three of a kind. Up the Ante. Bet. Burn Card. Dice. Dirty Money. Diamonds. A lot of these will work better in a bar than in a coffee shop."

I shrug my shoulders. "Blackjack could work for the licorice coffee. Black magic."

Drogon rubs my back. "Cold Call could be your cold brew. Instead of cursed cold."

"VIP Vanilla." Clayton smirks. "It's easy and fits. You have to have vanilla, everyone loves it."

"That's true." I write it down. "Queen of Hearts instead of White Witch."

"Dramatic turn on that one, babygirl." Drogon laughs.

"I can put a red heart on it. They have those flavor papers that dissolve. They can be any flavor. Just get it in red."

"Perfect."

"You need mocha magic and focus potion. Mocha magic can be Lady luck. Get rid of focus potion. Poker Face is spirit and spice. Joker can be hazelnut. I forgot that earlier."

"Perfect. So we have. VIP Vanilla, Lady Luck, Poker Face, Black Jack, Queen of Hearts, Cold Call, and Joker."

Conner kisses my head. "Casino names are a lot easier for the bar. I call wild card, double down, snake eyes, Jackpot, all in, double or nothing, bankroll, scare card, blackout, shooter, dirty money, and queen of diamonds for bar drinks. I don't know what's in them yet. Don't ask."

Clayton smiles. "Double or nothing has to have a double shot of something in it."

Conner nods. "Queen of Diamonds is going to be red, sparkly, and in a fancy cup."

"Dirty Money is a Dirty Martini."

"Damn we are good at this." Conner writes everything down.

Monte nods. "Now, you need to think of a restaurant upstairs. Right above the coffee shop would be best."

"Why?"

"Some people want hot food. Plus, the upstairs is as big as this. This is too much space for table games. Probably half this space is good."

"We can do pizza."

"Too greasy, baby." Mike winks. "I'll ask around. Maybe I can find a restaurant looking to expand in the area."

"I know one already." Clayton gets his phone out. "Smoke and Fire. They smoke meat. Bar grill type thing. f*****g amazing. They have sandwiches and stuff. I'll get someone here."

Monte nods. "Anyone know of a buffet? They are cheap, good, and people can get their food and eat it right away."

"NAME. I need a name for the coffee shop. How about Coffino? It rhymes with casino."

"That's perfect. Do casinos have anything else? Someone get that buffet from central here. That thing is amazing." Mike kisses my head.

Drogon nods. "I'll get them. We're just getting hungry now."

Clayton hangs up. "The owner is on the way. He's even bringing a truck so we can try it."

"That's convenient."

Monte nods. "Come check out the basement while we wait for him to get here." We follow Monte to an elevator. "This is the staff elevator." We step out into a completely done area. Couches, tables, chairs, TVs, a nice kitchen with a few refrigerators. "No stoves. It's not for cooking. They can use a microwave. A nice coffee maker. I put paper cups down here, but you could put your coffino cups here. Make it look like that's where they're getting it. Bathrooms are around the corner. Then that door leads to the offices."

Drogon catches up with us. "The Savor Station buffet owner is on the way. With food." He shrugs his shoulders. "I'm hungry and not going to argue."

"He's bringing a buffet?" Clayton scratches his head.

"She. And I didn't ask. We already know they're good."

"This is your office, Thena." Monte opens a door.

I have a desk and some filing cupboards. A big chair. 2 chairs for guests. "This is amazing."

"Over here is the... I don't know. There are 8 offices here. Mike, Conner, Drogon, Cyrus, Me, and Thena. I made this a printer room for now."

Conner nods. "Perfect. The one by the exit door needs to be a conference room."

"That'll work. At the end of the hall this way is the vault." We follow him to a concrete door. "It is offset so you can't accidentally see into it from any other door. This will have a retina scanner and fingerprint scanner as well. As well as a bunch of other security."

"Looks like it." It's the thickest door I've ever seen.

A builder yells, "POPCORN PEOPLE ARE HERE."

Clayton looks at Drogon. "Who the hell did you call?"

"I thought it was the buffet place."

"I like popcorn." I run for the elevator.

We get up to the main level and a woman is over by our tables. I plop down on a seat. Everyone else sits around me.

She stays standing. "Hi, it's nice to meet you. I spoke to Drogon on the phone. He said you are interested in putting the buffet here. I am 100% ready to negotiate that. I think this is a perfect spot. I do, however, have 2 other businesses that I believe would do amazingly here. The first is Fruit Fusion. The second is Popcorn Palace. They are currently in 7 districts. I do not have them in the entertainment district yet."

"You make popcorn?" Clayton stares at the bag.

"I make artisan popcorn and I brought 10 or so flavors for you to try. I was trying to hurry and grabbing them." She passes them out. "The flavors are Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chocolate Caramel, Cookies and Cream, Smoked Cheddar, Bourbon Espresso, Chili, Spicy Hot Chocolate, Jalapino Cheddar, Cheesecake, and Sweet and Spicy."

Clayton is not sharing the Jalapino Cheddar. "Are these all the flavors you have?"

"No. I have about 30 currently. I wanted to bring a variety so you could see. I retire the flavors after a while, and I'm always trying new flavors. I think it would do well in a casino."

"Woman, share." Mike side eyes me.

I give the cookies and cream to Conner and pout. "I don't want to."

The woman smiles. "Everyone has their favorite. The other part of the shop is Fruit Fusion. These are chocolate covered fruits or caramel covered fruits. I brought a few things from this shop as well." She hands me a chocolate-covered strawberry.

"Mmm." It is the biggest juiciest strawberry. The chocolate is perfect. Then it has white chocolate strips on it.

"The strawberries are the number one seller. Next up are the apples. We pick the best fruits. Then cover it in chocolate or caramel. Then roll it in different toppings. These apples are... Chocolate Coconut Almond, Caramel Chocolate Chip, Caramel Crushed Pretzel with Chocolate Drizzle. Well, you get the point. Lots of different toppings. We also do pears and cherries. Anything I can smother with chocolate or caramel and stick salty snacks to, I will generally try."

Mike gives me a slice of the apple to try, and I try to run away with the whole thing.

"Woman."

"MINE."

"Damn." Clayton shoves a big slice of apple in his mouth. "You made fruit good."

"Thank you, sir. And anytime we can get a teenager to eat fruit, we consider it a win."

My boys laugh.

Mike gets a drink. "Now this is one store or 2? I'm confused about that."

"1 store. But from the outside, it looks like 2 separate stores. Everything is packaged in our kitchens. No food will be cooked here."

Something beeping gets my attention. A truck backing into the front doors. But the front doors are open. It looks like a big hole in the wall. "THERE. STOP."

"Where did the doors go?"

Monte smirks. "They open up. How did you think we were going to get stuff in here?"

"I didn't think about it."

Conner nods. "Drive a car in the window."

"Whatever works." Clayton grabs another Apple.

"Your meat truck is here too."

"Thank you." Drogon stands up and points at Clayton. "I got it. Sit down."

I point at the truck. "What are they doing?"

"Bringing in flooring."

Mike rubs his face. "The buffet would be on the 2nd level. Would you want the other shop close to it?"

"It wouldn't make a difference. 1st level may actually be better. It does bring in its own crowd."

I jump up. "IDEA. WHERE DID MY LAYOUT PAPER GO?" I move the papers and s**t around until Cyrus hands them to me. "Coffino will be over here. Fruit Fusion and Popcorn Palace could be by the entrance."

Drogon comes in with another man.

"This is the menu for Smoke and Fire."

"I have the menu for Savor Station as well. $20 a person. All the food is ready to go."

Clayton jumps up. "I AM HUNGRY."

The man smiles. "Food truck is outside. Help yourself."

I raise my hand. Drogon nods. "Yes, woman. Go."

"I'll help her." Conner comes with me.