Episode 9: Maybe a Part-Time Job Was Too Much for an Introvert!?
“Wah, look, customers — well, only a few, but there’s actually a line forming!”
Miyuki-san peered out the window and beamed. Ten minutes until Sweet Stella’s opening.
The rest of us staff had already finished changing, fully ready to go.
Everyone really does look great in their maid uniforms.
Sweet Stella’s uniform is a cute, knee-length maid dress. In a nod to the shop’s name, “Stella,” each dress has a little star sewn at the center of the chest ribbon.
Each of us has a different color: mine’s pink, Möbius-san’s is mint green, Hayashi-san’s is light blue, and Miyuki-san’s is yellow.
Möbius-san picked the colors herself, matching each one to how she saw us.
Today, everyone’s hair and makeup were flawless too. Hayashi-san had ditched her usual landmine-style makeup for full idol-style makeup with twin tails instead. Ever since customers started lining up outside, she’d been smiling nonstop — an almost frightening level of nonstop.
“First day, so if anything happens, report to me immediately. Also — absolutely no giving out your real names or personal info.”
We all nodded at Möbius-san’s warning.
I need to be careful to call everyone by their fake names properly…!
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“Welcome home, Master! Sora will show Master to your seat!”
“Milk’s going to inject some moe-moe power into Ojou-sama, okay?”
“Welcome home. Obviously you came to see me, right?”
Sora, Milk, and Möbius-san all slid into perfect customer-service mode the instant the doors opened, handling the incoming guests with ease.
Meanwhile, me…
“W-welc, welcosh, home, mashter…”
“Kyaa! So cute! Is your name Ruri-chan?”
“Y-yesh…”
“Are you nervous? That’s so cute! Hey, can I get a cheki with Ruri-chan too? I want to use my whole limit just on two-shots with you.”
“Th-thank… you sho much…”
I was in full, unfiltered social-anxiety mode.
Thank god my face is good. If my face were bad too, I’d have been completely finished.
“Ruri-chaan, three more chekis, please!”
“Ah, Ruri, five more chekis over here!”
Orders kept coming in from Milk’s and Möbius-san’s customers too.
Since chekis can be taken with any maid, not just the one currently serving you, all sorts of customers ended up ordering them from me.
“Ruri-chan, I put in a two-shot cheki with Sora, so come find me for that too, okay!”
Terrifying. Once Hayashi-san switches into “Sora” mode, she smiles and calls me “Ruri-chan” like it’s nothing…
Even while I was a nervous wreck, cheki orders kept piling up one after another.
Thankfully, that meant I could focus on chekis rather than actual customer service, and somehow, it seemed like I might just manage to get through the day.
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—Just a little longer and today’s shift would be over.
That’s what I thought, right up until closing time, when I got caught by an incredibly tiresome customer.
“Hey, Ruri-chan, listen — in this industry, a cute face alone doesn’t cut it, you know?”
“Y-yes…”
“I’ve been checking out all kinds of concept cafés for like twenty years now. And sure, looks matter, but what matters even more is customer service. You get what I’m saying?”
“Yes…”
“I get that it’s your first day, but you should at least be able to introduce yourself properly. Right?”
A self-proclaimed concept-café connoisseur of a middle-aged man had started lecturing me the moment I came to take his order. I couldn’t leave until he actually ordered something, but he wasn’t giving me the chance.
“C’mon. Do the self-introduction again.”
“Eh, ah, um… I’m the maid, Ruri…”
“That’s not it. C’mon, more like this, you know…”
What do I do.
Möbius-san told me to say something if anything happened, but I can’t exactly shout for her across the room.
This is bad. I’m going to cry at this rate. Maybe a part-time job really was too much for an introvert…
Just as I was on the verge of tears—
“I’m so sorry! This girl’s a little shy. But, but! She’s a real hard worker, and such a good girl, you know?”
Hayashi-san — no, Sora — stepped right between me and the customer.