New Friends

Brian had stopped by Sparks early that morning and had met with Lizzie about some catering needs he had and about what she could provide for him and when. Once the meeting was over, he decided to stay for breakfast, and she fixed him a large omelet with swiss cheese and crispy bacon, and she had added fresh fruit, and one of her huge orange muffins. Brian had been here enough for Lizzie to feel comfortable with him serving himself his own coffee, and he refilled his cup with good strong French Roast, just as Lizzie put his order down at Brian's favorite table.

Brian picked up a copy of the morning paper and began to read. He didn't know why. The wizarding papers were only acurate about half of the time. The art in reading a wizarding paper always was knowing how to separate the fact from the fiction. He sipped his coffee, scanning the morning headlines.

Topher had been sitting in Sparks when he saw a peculiar sight. A man, who appeared to not work there, just got up and served himself. Topher looked at him quizzically. He wondered if Sparks had hired a new employee, for he came here often enough, and had never seen the man before. Topher got up and went over to the table.
"Excuse me sir," he began "are you a new employee here?" he asked

"No, " Brian smiled, "Just a friend of the family. I don't recall seeing you here before, though. I'm Brian Quinn. You're welcome to join me if you like. The more I come here, the more I like it. And there are few places in Diagon Alley where you can get a truly good cup of coffee. That's probably one of the biggest reasons I come. I am a firm coffee addict. For better or for worse. And you are?"

Ranata walked down dyagon ally her heels clicking on the stone cobbled ground as she walked to a cafe it was new to the alley and she hoped she could get a job there to suplament her income for the mean time, as she had little money at the moment. He hope was that eventually she could settle here and work full time. she didn't know how to cook but she did know how to serve people and be plesant and her father use to say she could make a good cup of coffee.

Pushing open the door she stepped inside to see only two men inside one seeming to not be from the area the other young darkhaired who she took for a student. Moving to a chair she sat down close to the counter over hearing part of a conversation about the older man . As she sat she waited for the waitress to come over as she looked at the menu. She finaly decided that all she fewlt like was a lemon tea with honey, rather than a coffee or anything to eat .

Smiling at the waitress as she came out of the kitchen she watched her walk over to her and took a deep breath as she asked if she was ready to plce her order. "yes, just a lemon tea please could you use honey rather that suger ?" the woman nodded and left to move behind the counter. Ratana looked around seeing a pleasant cafe. Standing she slipped off her coat and moved to the counter.

"I was just wondering if you might be looking for staff?" he said but saw her struggling with the honey jar "May I ?" she asked taking it from her. She ran a hot tap and placed the jar under for a few minets. Then with a cloth she opened the jar and she smiled. Taking a tea spoon from where she saw some sitting she dipped it in, letting most of it drain away before sturring it in the lemon tea .


"I'm looking for a job and I can see your some what busy with other things right now" she heard some one ask for a pot of french roast coffee quickly she made it placing two cups on a tray with the pot of coffee and moved to the table smiling as she plced it down before returning .

One of Khaat's servers came back to her as she worked in the office on the ordering of Spark's supplies. Khaat always enjoyed being at Sparks. She always enjoyed how it shifted her mind from hospital or legal matters onto something totally different. Today she was pursuing a new seafood supplier and the freshest seafood she could aquire. Well, that, and she was paying bills. There were always, always bills.

"There's a woman looking for a server's job, Khaat," the server told her.

"Oh. good. Thank you," Khaat smiled. She got out an application and a pen and went out front to the woman the server had indicated to her.

"Hi," Khaat smiled, "I'm Khaat Lupin, the owner of Sparks. Welcome. I understand you're looking for a server's position. I haven't seen you around here. Are you new in town? Oh, here. If you want to be a server, I need you to complete an application. " Khaat handed her the application form and the pen.

"So tell me a bit about yourself," Khaat smiled, pouring herself a cup of French roast coffee for herself.

She looked up as she heard the voice of a woman behind her , turning she smiled warmly and held out her hand for her to shake.

"yes I am" she said still smiing as she took the aplication form and sat down at a table where her lemon tea now sat and read it carefully just as her father had tought her to do before filling it in.

"My name is Ronata, Ronata Volkmann, I arrived here this morning from romania , so I have no refrances, but I am a good worker, I helped my mother on the farm after my father passed " she finished the aplication and signed it, passing it back to her.

"I haven't even had time to find somewhere to stay" she looked up at her picking up the cup and sipping her tea "I noticed your chef was a bit flustered if I could help , I am a hard worker and very punctual , I always keep my self and my clothes clean, as you can see " she stood up to show her.

She wore a cream pair of slacks and a cream top a black belt hug around her waist with a pair or light brown shoes , her hair brushed back away from her face. "Im avalible to start straight away" she said her voice now holding a sense of urgancy as she really needed a job at lest in a cafe she would get to know faces and names and the people would get to know her too.

Khaat took the application and read it over. The woman clearly was in need of a job, and Khaat needed a server. "Very well, " Khaat said, "I'll try you out. I know all about hard farm work. That's how I grew up too. As far as a place to stay, you'll find that, until you get to know your way around a bit , that you can find temporary rooms above the Leaky Cauldron that are clean and will probably work for a short while. I know that there are generally apartments and houses for rent when you get a chance to look.

"Lizzie is the cook, and she'll get you acquainted with the menu and the routine here at Sparks. I am not here all the time. I have a couple of other jobs that take my time as well, so Lizzie runs the place most of the time. I hope you''re good with a wand because part of the charm of Sparks are little sparking animals that we conjure that float through the air for the fun and amusement of the guests. Some of our servers have become so good at it that they keep some of the same little sparkling animals, well, a sort of pet. You'll see a few jars behind the counter here that hold some of the ones they can't bear to disapparate. We do a lot of the animals not only for children, but for parties and for atmosphere in the evenings for dinner. That's the most of what we use them for. We make them in all different colors and shapes. Be sure to make yourself familiar with all the foods on the menu and if you haven't tasted something, you should have Lizzie give you a taste of anything you haven't had before. We make a lot of specialty coffee drinks and teas here. My father blends all our specialty teas for us, and menu changes seasonally because we use only fresh, organic local ingredients from local farms. What questions do you have for me?"

Ranata listened smiling as she listened to Khaat explain about the menu and the job.

"Im not bad with the wand " she said shifting some what in her seat as she explained about the menu , that part she could handel no problems and she would enjoy tasting the food. When she asked about if she had any questions she nodded.

" first would you cook lizzy be able to help me with a slight problem, you see I can't cook , my mother tried teach me but she could not , its like when i look after a plant it always dies , she said i have a brown thumb not a green" she said with a slight smile "also would you mind if I start right way?"

She grinned to her as she sat holding the cup of lemon tea in her hand siping it slowly as she waited.

"I"m sure she would," Khaat smiled. "Lizzie has a very giving and generous spirit, and she's a great cook. I'm sure she'll gladly help you out. Come with me back to the kitchen and I'll introduce you. Oh, by the way, Lizzie does the scheduling for the servers. " Khaat gave Ronata a tour of the restaurant and ended by going back into the kitchen and showing her the pantry, the walk in refrigerator, Khaa'ts office, and the kitchen. She introduced her to Lizzie and told Lizzie that Ronata was a new server. She asked Lizzie to make sure that Ronata had all she needed and that she was familiar with the menu and had a chance to sample any food item she wanted. She told Lizzie that Ronata was new in town and might benefit from any guidance Lizzie had to offer. Lizzie got Renata a server's apron and equipped her with an notepad for orders and a pen. She handed her a menu and suggested she start there by studying the menu.

Ranata listened as Khaat spoke about Lizzy and she smiled thinking they would get along . she picked up her swade coat and followed her threw to the kitchen. Hanging it up on a peg she saw behind a door as Lizz gave her an apron wrapping it around her she slipped the note book and pen into the pocket on the front.

"yes Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp sounds delisiose its nothing like the Salată de boeuf my mother tried to get me to make ,its a traditional Romanian dish a combination of finely chopped beef and root vegetables, folded in mayonnaise and finished with pickled vegetable garnishes" she said loking back at the menu then to both Lizzy and Khaat.

She heard the tinkle of the door bell and smiled "excuse me" she said taking put her pad and moving into the dinning room she saw it was a family with two children.

After writing the order she waked back threw to Lizzy and handed her order to her. " one BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich with Melted Cheese, one Asian Chicken Salad Pita Pocket and two Sparks Deluxe 1/3 lb. Burger" she said with a smile "their going to order Dessert after they have eaten the main meal, I hope that was all right" she was still alittle worried since it was her first time serving but she was a quick learner and she ahd seen Lizzy do it with two male customers earlier.

she moved back threw and served there drinks much to the happy squeeles of the children.