Waking up early. Two kinds of bread. Last minute signage. The first customer. A little Accident. Free samples.

Monday morning, Sal got up way before daylight.

It was their grand opening, and he immediately lit incense to try and deal with the ungodly stench. Luckily, he had outdoor seating—the two small tables, their corresponding umbrellas, and four sturdy chairs had all been delivered. It was going to be another hot day, which wouldn’t help them that afternoon, but for the morning, it was perfect.

With the magically-powered Gimm fan blowing and the stick of incense burning, the smell wasn’t terrible, but it still wasn’t the very welcoming scent that Sal had wanted. He had to figure this out, and quickly, or he’d be ruined. Early word-of-mouth was going to be critical, and if that wasn’t five stars, they were going to have some real issues. It might mean they wouldn’t be able to open at all.

Shivaun didn’t seem to mind his help baking, but Sal soon left to get the dough rings. He’d come back quickly to get the urn of coffee brewing, and they’d have hot water for teas. As for meats, he hadn’t found the good cut of bacon he wanted, so he’d went with sausage and ham. A trip to the Pork Poet was in his future. Didn’t anyone eat bacon anymore?

If that was the case, that would definitely help his diner. Such a delicacy would have the people coming in droves.

They had the orange juice, and two kinds of lemonease, sweet and salty, but he figured those wouldn’t sell until the day heated up. Maybe the ghost would have some mercy on them and keep the stink to a minimum because after eleven o’clock, he wanted his customers inside the supernaturally cold main dining room.

For now, they closed off the bigger room because the smell was the worst there. There were some sliding barn doors that did the trick. If they were forced to use both of the dining rooms, they’d cross that bridge when they came to it.

In the main room, the stove and cooking smells, along with the incense, did a fairly good job covering the stink.

Sal wasn’t going to simply sit and wait around for customers. He was open. He’d get someone to come, even if he had to be very persuasive. He didn’t have spells, but he did know how to do the hard sell—what can I say or do to get you to come to my café?

Betty was as excited as they all were. She was pacing on the table. “Oh, dear, this is so stressful, ace! My little immortal heart can’t take it.”

Shivaun sighed from the kitchen.

“Listen,” Sal said. “I shall go to Tower Road in an attempt to drum up some business. Betty, I have a job for you. If a customer wanders in and I’m not here, run and get me. And you have my gratitude for staying with me this morning. I appreciate it. I know you like your cookie crumbs for breakfast.”

Betty laughed. “Oh, no, I had Shivaun tear me off a big hunk of those lemon dough rings. If I wasn’t so nervous, I’d have eaten the whole thing. Those dough rings just might have me off the chocolate-chip cookies for good!”

That was high praise. At this point, Sal was only buying a few of them, since he had to pay full price from Madame Benyay. If they became popular, he just might have to get a deep-fat fryer and make his own.

Then Sal hurried to the corner with another sign on a board, this one proclaiming that the Champion Café was open for business!

At seven in the morning, not many people cared. They were engaging in their normal morning routines, and they didn’t care that a new restaurant had opened in Champion Plaza. The crowd was small, and Sal was glad, because he didn’t want to open any earlier than six.

Try as he might, he couldn’t entice anyone to his café. Nor did Betty come running to tell him he had a customer. That would’ve been awkward. Shivaun couldn’t chitchat without murdering, and if she wrote her icy words on the wall, there was no telling what people might think.

But Sal wasn’t going to give up.

In the end, a customer came to him. He wasn’t a stranger, however, not strictly speaking.

The first customer was a youth in black and red armor, and he couldn’t have been more nineteen. He had an angular face, with olive skin, and ink-black hair. He was lanky and tall, and his Adam’s apple was a bit too pronounced. He had a thick broadsword in a scabbard at his side, though it somehow seemed way too much sword for someone so young. He might’ve looked better with a wooden practice sword. Even then, that might’ve been trying too hard.

Before Sal could go into his sale’s spiel, the kid started talking in a cracking voice. “Hello, sir, you must be Sal Fang. I’m Theovanni Balanacci, but you can call me Theo, sir. I’m one of the New Astounders with Kaixo. She said maybe you would have breakfast for me? She never eats breakfast. I’m staying in her room until we get a slot for the Tower Climb. Because, uh, I’m a Tower Climber.” Awkward pause. “Sir.”

Everything about this kid screamed awkward. He was so uncertain of himself, and yet, he was there to eat. It was a pity customer. And from someone who didn’t have enough money for their own room. All in all, it felt like family.

Sal, though, surprised himself by seeing it as an opportunity. “Why, yes, Theo, I am running a new café in Champion Plaza.” He kept his voice loud and full of excitement. “What? Did you say you were famished for the best breakfast in Tower Road? I have the best breakfast in Tower Road. Please, come with me, quickly, because we shall fill up every seat before long. Come, come, come!”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

His outburst did have people staring. Was that a good thing? Sal hoped so.

Sal quickly tacked up his Grand Opening sign to the wall and then marched Theo down Champion Street. Before the kid knew it, he was sitting underneath an umbrella outside the front door, where the shutters were thrust open, and the smell of coffee wafted out. Along with a little graveyard rot thrown in, but that was easy to ignore.

“So, Theo, what can I get you? We have everything!” Sal winced. That was a mistake.

<<<>>>

Warning! Karmic Gauge reduced by 1%. There’s gonna be some hyperbole when it comes to advertising, but come on, you don’t have everything. Like waffles. You do not have any waffles, nor do you have the means to make waffles.

Current Karmic Gauge: 83% (So close to purple you can taste it! What does purple taste like? More purple!)

<<<>>>

Sal corrected himself. “Alas, verily, we do not have everything. But we have eggs, pancakes, sausage, oranges, and orange juice, which Kaixo must’ve mentioned.”

The kid’s face brightened. “Orange juice! Yeah, that, and just what you said. Eggs, pancakes, sausages. I, uh, eat a lot sir. But I have some money.”

Sal so wanted to sigh his heart out. And he wanted to raise his fist to heaven. He did neither. “How about we make a deal. You get free breakfast, all you can eat, if you go and hold my Grand Opening sign. That should—”

A second later, a dragon came flying down from the heavens. At first, Sal thought it was a pigeon, but no, it was a dragon, only it was about the size of a pigeon, with black and red scales, not unlike the armor the kid was wearing.

Theo lifted a hand, and the pint-sized abomination wyrm landed on his wrist. “Hey, you found me. Good. Didja get a rat for lunch?”

The little dragon breathed out a good bit of flames, which caught the umbrella on fire, and Sal quickly leapt onto a chair, batting out the canopy, which was now marked with soot. And it was brand new!

Theo jumped to his feet and backed up. “Oh, my goat, sir, I’m so very sorry. It was only that Sparky got so excited.”

“Sparky?” Sal asked. “Did my ears catch his name correctly?”

The kid grinned. “Well, he was born Sparkannathrax Peior, of the Peior line of dragons. My goat, but Sparkannathrax is a mouthful, so Sparky it is!”

Sal put it together. “So you’re the Scallia Capran dragonrider on Kaixo’s team?”

“Uh, yes, sir. I am. Or I will be. In like five hundred years. All the big dragons got killed during the war. Sparky, though, is, uh, growing a bit every day. About your canopy, sir, I’m terribly sorry. We can buy you a new one once we do our Tower Climb. I just know we’ll get the Copper Key. I just know it.”

Sparky let out a squawk.

This time, there were no flames, but by the gods, the pigeon dragon looked as young and as green as the kid himself.

“Sit, sit, sit!” Sal urged. “We can worry about the umbrella later. For now, let us fill your belly full, so you have the strength to wield the sign with the dragon circling. That should bring in some interest, for your wyrm has a certain charm to it.”

“Did you hear that Sparky? You have charm!” The kid chuckled. “And I am super hungry, sir!”

Sal got the specifics of Theo’s orders, and then went back inside.

Betty squeaked at him from the table. “Uh, Sal, there’s a dragon outside. Don’t wanna be tootin’ my own horn, but I’d make the perfect dragon snack. Can I get in your pocket for safe keeping?”

“It was my understanding that you were immortal, friend,” Sal went and grabbed Betty and slipped her into his pocket.

Betty stood in the pocket of his shirt. “Doesn’t work that way, ace. While I can’t die of what you would call natural causes, my ticket still be punched the old-fashioned way. With a lot of spit, teeth, and swallowing. Why does that kid call you sir anyway? From his point of view, you’re practically the same age.”

“Perhaps he sees I possess what is commonly known as an old soul. I am surprised I do not find it more grating.”

Back in the kitchen, Sal threw on some sausages and grabbed the bowl of pancake batter. On one of the shelves in the kitchen, he’d found a long metal griddle that fit into the stove top. It was in place, and heating up, while Shivaun worked on squeezing the orange juice.

In no time flat, Sal had three big pancakes, with butter and syrup, along with two scrambled eggs and two sausage links. These he brought out and set before the dragonrider.

The dragon sat on his shoulder, looking at the food intently. His reptilian eyes went from his master’s face to the plate of food, and then back.

“Oh my goat, sir, this looks delicious. And it’s so peaceful back here, not like the crowded and successful restaurants on Destiny Square.”

“Yes,” Sal said demurely. “Nothing like the other crowded and successful restaurants that have repeat customers and full cash boxes. Nothing like that at all.”

Theo didn’t get that Sal was being ironic. The kid was too busy eating, and drinking the orange juice, or feeding his dragon. Sparky only got a bit of the sausage, before he let out a screech, and the kid fed him more.

Sal thought about taking the sign himself back to Tower Road, but no, something his father always said, was to celebrate your successes. When running a restaurant, it was a never-ending list of tasks, and you had to force yourself to stop and enjoy the moment.

He sat down across from Theo. “You’re my first customer, Theovanni Balanacci. Now, tell me, how did you meet Kaixo?”

Theo had finished his eggs and sausages and was attacking the pancakes. He ate fast, though he did have some manners. He wiped his lips, and he didn’t talk with his mouth full. Actually, he seemed to slow down, taking pains to eat a bit more politely. There was some breeding there. “Well, sir, we were both at the Copper Key Inn, and I was looking for a Tower Climber team, and Kaixo saw my sword and my dragon, and thought I’d make a perfect New Astounder. I can’t believe how lucky I got. You see, I didn’t bring much money, and thought I might have to join a mercenary team, one of the ones funded by the Braggadorio’s. They aren’t so worried about a guy’s safety. It’s just climb, climb, and meatgrind with those guys. Kaixo, though, and the others, are more likely to have my back.”

Sal wanted to ask about Theo’s history, and why he didn’t have much money, when every part of his ensemble matched. It had all cost a pretty penny, and he was so young. Did he come from some bit of Scallia Capran royalty? Sal had little knowledge of the Scallia Capran Empire to the east. They were a new power that had grown in the last thousand years.

Sal stood up. “Thank you for being my first customer. I do appreciate it.”

“And I appreciate the free meal, sir. I still feel awful about your umbrella. But I’ll buy you any number of outdoor furniture. Just you wait. You can count on me! Sparky and I will do a good job with the sign job. We like talking to people.”

Theo left for Tower Road, and Sal waited. After another hour, when no customers appeared, he cut up half of the dough rings into quarters, slapped them onto a tray, and delivered them to Theo. The free samples helped bring in a team of Climbers, which filled up all four chairs under the umbrellas.

The next couple of customers were alone, singletons, that sat inside.

Sal put them right next to the window, where the stink was the least noticeable.

All in all, the first morning well pretty well.

It was the afternoon, right before closing, that everything fell apart.