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penvisions · 1 year ago

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garnish {chapter 3}

Pairing: Chef! Joel Miller x Bartender! Reader

Summary: Thoughts about Joel Miller have you desperate for something you hadn't sought out in quite a while: human touch. So when your friends suggest a girls' night out, you readily agree. It's just your luck that the very man plaguing your thoughts happens to be at the bar picked out for the night.

Word Count: 6.5k

Warning: alcohol consumption, drunken interactions, creepy flirthing, unwanted attention, fighting, bar fights, nonconsensual touching (not joel), protective joel, injuries, blood, degrading talk, power dynamics, abuse of power, restaurant lingo, triggers associated with the food industry, smoking, cigarettes, joel miller is a conflicted man, kissing, drunk makeout session

A/N: this story is literally keeping me from climbing the walls in my apartment, i've applied to over 20 jobs the last few days and made even more calls to see if places were hiring. the issue isn't finding something, it's finding something willing to pay me for my experience and skill set. but i found out a local coffee shop is opening a new location and i should be getting a call back with interview times for that today, they need cooks and bakers and i can definitely do that

ao3 || series masterlist || main masterlist

It was Wednesday, your normal day off for the week, but Joel had scheduled you two hours of prep, the shift reminder notification early that morning. It had woken you up, having allowed yourself to sleep in after the rather busy shift the night before. It had been a record-breaking sales day, the concert downtown only blocks away bringing increased foot traffic. It had been a week and a half since that terrible Sunday shift where you had finally given into hunger and had ordered food only to be told you had messed up. You had gone hungry that night, nothing in your kitchen at home.

You hadn’t spoken to Joel beyond confirming that dishes were ready to go out and helping to take updated pars out to the servers’ board for them to be aware of throughout services. Lists were left atop the sandwich prep station, and you completed it every shift you had before making your way toward the bar. They were in his writing, some things new with recipe page numbers for the guidebook stored on the expo line.

You had completed a few things on your list and were moving onto the next thing when his booming voice sounded from the walk in.

“Where are the rest of the yellow onions?”

Everyone in the kitchen looked over their stations, including you. The yellow onions you had chopped up for the red lentil soup were sitting in the pot you had atop a portable burner on the left side of your station. Cutting board beside it as you chopped the carrots that were to be added next.

“Whose used yellow onions today?” His brow was furrowed, lips downturned as he gazed around the kitchen. The three confirmations of ‘here, chef’ had him moving intimidatingly through the space, the first two seemed to come out of their interaction unscathed. But you felt like you weren’t about to be so lucky.

“When did you start the prep for these? They look nearly caramelized already.” He stirred the wooden spoon resting in the deep pot, getting a feel on the state of the onions cooking inside. You had stepped aside, hands behind your back as you let him inspect your station. He turned to watch as you answered, professional air about you as you briefly met his eyes with your own. You spoke in an even tone, worried about how he was going to react. He had already proven himself comfortable with cutting you off and denying you food that you had paid with your own money. And that was when you hadn’t actually done anything to warrant that type of reaction.

“I started this half an hour ago, gathered them from the walk in as I gathered everything else, chef.”

“Did you happen to notice that you grabbed the last ones? There are none in the box, left empty on the shelf. That you too? Don’t understand the way things work here, do ya?” He turned with a sharpie held tight between his fingers and he jutted it at the dray erase board beside the walk-in door where things low in stock were to be written down. “In case anyone is unclear on how this kitchen operates: things low in stock are to be written on that board there BEFORE we run out. Boxes or containers that are emptied while grabbing items are to be discarded or put into dish, not left on the shelf for the next person to find.”

“Yes, chef!” The chorus rang out evenly throughout the room.

He turned back to the portable burner and clicked it off, turning the nob off and the whoosh of gas going out was loud in the slight hum of busy work that the kitchen returned to once he had finished speaking.

“Why don’t you go clock yourself out.”

“Chef, there-“ You tried to talk to him, let him know that you had left nearly three pounds of onions left in the box. It wasn’t empty when you left the walk-in. You had been too wrapped up in your work to notice who else had gone in afterwards, though you wouldn’t have sold them out to begin with.

“Go. Clock out, now.”

“Yes, chef.” You wouldn’t raise your face to meet his look. Trying to keep your anger in check lest you give him a real reason to go off on you. Instead, you moved to grab your sharpie laid out over the recipe binder. The small field notes pad of paper beside it with the notations for a double batch written neatly on the page it was open to. Joel blocked your movement with a sidestep, his broad figure blocking your reaching hand.

“Now means now.”

“My-“

“Is now mine. Go.”

Your eyes flicked up and you tried your best not to pin him with the annoyance that was humming through your very blood. This man was nothing but a nuisance, you had only agreed to come into the kitchen because they were short staffed. But it was degrading work, to be around this man who deemed nearly everything below par and had extreme standards for the way things were to be done. The two instances of common decency he had offered you had to have been a fluke, maybe he had been extra tired and worn out those days, didn’t mean to let his guard down. Either way, you were quickly getting over the fluctuating temperatures of his attitude. At first it had been jarring, but you weren’t about to let it get to you any longer. You were determined to face it head on or dish it back out in what ways you could safely do so without risking your job.

You were lagging outside of the back door, standing with the bar back, whose name was Millie and a server who were both on break. You each had a cigarette in hand, swapping stories about the worst pick up lines that you had been approached with. You had removed your apron, it was folded carefully in your crossbody bag to be washed when you got home, simple black long sleeve Henley along with it. That left you in your black denim with that kitschy cute heart belt buckle and a dark green racerback. You had left your hair up in its normal fashion of low buns on either side of your head, short black beanie atop your head.

“You gotta admit,” Your laughter ringing through the air accompanied by the giggles of the two girls in front of you. “He was honest, what better way to start a conversation, though I could’ve done without the-“

All the laughter cut off as the backdoor opened and Joel appeared with a bag of trash. The two younger girls snubbed out their waning cigarettes and scurried inside, deeming breaktime over with his sudden arrival. You watched as Joel tossed the bag over the lip of the nearby dumpster before removing his gloves and tossed them in as well. He removed a pack of his own cigarettes from the breast pocket of his chef’s coat, and you could see the spiral wiring of your notebook peeking out over the top of it. His eyes took in the way your lips moved as you took a long drag from your own, bringing your phone out to ignore him.

The snick snick snick of his lighter resulted in a deep grunt, and you looked at him out of the corner of your eye. The cigarette he had pulled out was between his plush lips and his dead lighter was being pushed back into the pocket of his chef’s pants. When his eyes flicked to you, your attention snapped back to your phone. He cleared his throat, and you cocked an eyebrow up at the sound, turning to give him the barest hint of attention. He was leaning heavily against the side of the building, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he regarded you.

“Do you-

“Nope.” You took the last drag before snuffing out your own cigarette and tossed the butt into the pail beside the door. You started walking toward the parking lot, your truck beeping with a press of the control in your hand. The strap of your bag over your shoulder caught the man’s eye as you began to move away.

“You’re just gonna walk off from your shift?”

“Today’s my day off, chef.” You didn’t look back at him but could tell that your words had affected him.

“Shit, I-“ He straightened up and moved away from the wall, taking a step toward you, his hands coming out from his pockets to take the unlit cigarette from between his lips.

“Don’t worry about it. Now you don’t have to worry me using up all your inventory, right?” You pulled another cigarette out from the pack still in your hand along with your phone and brought a lighter out from your own front pocket. You took a long drag and blew the smoke in his direction over your shoulder, aware of his gaze on your back and you hopped into the cab of the truck.

The next day, everything that was on your prep list had been completed and the one for today had instructions on where to find the mise for each recipe. Everything was already prepared for you and were just combining and finishing the last few steps of each one.

“Hi there, what can I get started for you?” You placed a coaster down on the bar top before a glass of water, eyes coming up as you smiled at the new guest. Your smile faltered a little when the face of your biological evolution professor beamed back at you, but you didn’t let your surprise show other than that.

“I heard a rumor that the bartender here made the best whisky drinks. Here to test out that theory.” His voice was smooth, something you had often spoken aloud to your friends that made the class lectures rather easy. His baritone deep and the ways in which he spoke with such passion and interest in his material was an added bonus to understanding the class subject matter than most.

“Let’s get to testin’, what your preferred whiskey?” You busied yourself making the drinks that had been rung up the last couple of minutes, the man having sat to the side of the well in the last seat along the right side of the bar.

“I’m a Bullet man, myself. But I’m up for whatever you think is best.”

“Oh, well, of course the one I think is best is our top shelf.” You tossed the man a playful smirk, aware that it was a possible line being crossed. But neither of you were on campus, you were at work, and he was one of your bar guests. His laugh was beautiful as he knocked his head back, the line of his throat catching shadows from the strong lights over the bar.

“I actually prefer Woodford, it’s not too expensive but its leagues above some of the stuff on the shelves like Evan Williams.”

He was funny, quick-witted. Matching your jokes as fast as he could. Bringing up documentaries he had recently seen.

“No, but like that’s the thing! There’s been no discovery of this caliber ever before, its unprecedented in nearly every aspect.” You were making a round of lemon drops for a group of girls on the other end of the bar, loading up the shaker and then securing the smaller component over it before lifting your hand and shaking it. As you did so, you reached over to grab the coup glasses you would need for the pour. A figure appeared at the well, taller than the servers and barback, who had gone on break a few minutes ago.

You glanced over at Joel, the man had his hands atop the plastic mats, eyes taking in the organized garnish container and the jars of small straws and picks for the servers to complete their drinks. You nodded at him to let him know you saw him and would be with him as soon as possible before you held the shaker tight in one hand and used the heel of your palm to knock the smaller part loose. Your hand was steady as you parted the two components enough to strain the bright pink liquid from the ice, not looking up from it.

“To actually have fossil evidence of not just any Hominid species, but of a newly discovered hominid species, with a crafted tool in their fuckin’ hand! Like, I got chills, and I was pretty sure my attention was plastered to the screen. Didn’t even touch the food I made that night. I immediately started just taking notes throughout the whole thing.”

“To be fair, it was just as intriguing to find out that the child’s body had been in the cavern wall, not even properly buried like the rest of the bodies in the Dinaledi chamber.”

“Oh my gosh, I know! That opens a whole plethora of questions about what that child was even doing, was he the one carving those symbols into the wall, was he alone- hold on one moment.” You moved over to the other side of the bar, two coup glasses cradled carefully in each hand, and you took the four of them over to the girls who had been watching you make them. They were all bright smiles and excited giggles as you told them you used Meyer lemons for a sweeter drink and added a bit of cherry juice for the color.

“She’s a busy one, guests seem to love her.” Your professor smiled over at Joel, who was watching you flit around behind the bar much like he had been admiring all night. Joel’s eyes snapped to the man beside him and he just nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.

“She knows what she’s doing.”

“Not much of a talker in class, but her papers are beyond wonders. The way her mind makes connections is amazing. And the way she uses her words so carefully, so eloquently.”

“You go to school with her?” Joel questioned, mind going over the small interactions he’s had with you recently. You tended to stutter over your words around him, as if you were hesitant to speak in the first place. He didn’t like the comparison, now, seeing you in your element and recalling the way you had always been professional around him. But this, you behind the bar and completely enthralling as you entertained so many people and mixed drinks like it was second nature. Firing back jokes and conversation as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Your laughter ringing through the space of the dining room. He felt the pull of a frown, not liking the shift he was causing in you lately.

“Oh no, school is way behind me. I’m her professor.” The grunt Joel made seemed to display his trepidation at the revelation and the man was quick to jump into defense mode. “It’s not what it looks like, she’s at work and I’m just here on a friend’s word that it’s a good place. Didn’t even know she was here until I sat down.”

“Sure.” Joel said in a tone that said he didn’t buy a word the man was saying.

You were back with them by the well, professional smile in place as you addressed Joel. You were busy tucking a receipt and some bills of money into your server’s book, secured underneath the counter and atop a cooler beside the drink station.

“Yes, chef?”

“Bourbon for the steak sauce. And whatever amber you have on tap.” He tried to muster up the courage to lighten up his face from a frown, but the way your eyes flashed away from him told him it didn’t work.

“Heard, chef.”

You busied yourself with retrieving the bottle of bourbon he had asked you to tack onto your order. He hadn’t wanted to deal with the liquor vendors himself and sure you would find a better deal than him anyway.

“It’s gonna be a 6.7 percent amber, it’s smooth and the notes of pecan to cut the malt. Only one I have on tap at the moment, that okay?” You talked over your shoulder, picking up on the waves and attention from the other patrons of the bar top, reaching to get more than the one glass needed for just Joel’s request. You poured two blondes, an IPA, and a stout and placing them in front of those who had been nursing them all night before going to pull the tap for the amber. It poured for maybe two seconds before it sputtered and compressed air forced itself out of the spicket.

“I told Millie to change out the keg last night, I’m sorry, chef. It’s gonna take me a minute before I can step away and replace it.” Your brows were furrowed in a worried expression, not wanting this to be something he used against you. You were really hoping to get something to go later, needing to finish a paper that was due tomorrow before class. He must’ve clocked the rising panic in your eyes because he squared his shoulders before shoving off the drink station.

“I gotcha, which label am I looking for?”

“Oh, um, Riverbank Red.”

“Heard.” He turned to move toward the small walk-in just behind the bar, the heavy door opening easily underneath his hands. You could hear him rustling around inside, the hiss of him removing the empty keg and then the clunk of him placing the new one in its place. The two knocks on the wall alerted you that it was all set and you pulled the tap, compressed air working its way through the hook up before foam began to stream. Letting it run for a few seconds, you turned around and grabbed a fresh pint glass for Joel’s drink. You used the previous one and filled it, cutting off the tap and took a long pull from it.

When you lowered the glass after your drink, you found two pairs of eyes on you. You looked between your professor and Joel, both on each side of the corner of the bar. Some of the foam from the outside of the glass when the tap died out had run down your chin and settled on your chest. The cut of your shirt was a little low, your simple, silver chain necklace catching the soft glow of the bar lights much like the foam.

You avoided meeting either of their gazes as you poured a second pint for Joel and walked it over. Before you could place it atop the drink station beside the bottle of bourbon already waiting, he reached out for it and his thick fingers brushed yours. His beautiful, brown eyes flashed down and caught yours, full of something you didn’t recognize, prompting you to pull your hand away as you struggled to catch your breath.

His teeth clicked with the clenching of his jaw, his hands tightening around items he came over for and he turned to make his way back to the kitchen.

“He’s not much of a charmer, is he?”

“He just has an asshole voice, don’t mind him.” With a somewhat fake smile plastered on your face, you turned back to your professor and started making him another drink as more rang through the printer. “Now, what were the most concrete dates we had archived for allusions to tool use?”

The alcohol in your system was washing your stress and anxieties away. Moving your body along to the song that was bumping from the speakers of the bar that held a small dance floor. Your friends’ bodies were moving alongside you, along with you, tangling with your own in a heady and exciting way. It was such a relief to not have any worries at the moment, only blipping thoughts of ‘oooh this is a good song’ and ‘another drink, yes please’.

You were taking a break, downing a glass of water and ordering a round of shots for everyone. There were five of you altogether and they huddled around you as you passed one to each of them, smiling widely at the bartender across from you. He just chuckled with a shake of his head and moved on down the bar to help out two waiting men. If you had been paying attention, you would’ve recognized one in a particular. But you were too preoccupied with the rather loud cheers the girls were trying to agree on before someone finally just shouted, ‘drink up, bitches!’ and you were downing the shot along with them.

The burn of it down your throat was anticipated and you gathered the empty glasses from them while they sputtered and coughed, not able to handle it as well as they normally could with already being more than tipsy. You were leaning over the bar a little, on your tip toes to place them atop the washer on the plastic pad you knew the bartender liked to gather used cups before loading them up.

A large hand found the exposed small of your back, your crop tank top allowing for the skin to be on display. It was dangerously close to the waist of your skirt, and you jerked back with a start, face contorting into one of anger.

“Hey, who the fuck do you think you are?” You settled back on your heels, the height of them making you a little taller than normal. Your eyes swept over the crowd around the bar and found that your friends had returned to the dance floor, leaving you to deal with this on your own. Not that you couldn’t, but it would’ve been nice to have a witness. The man in question was rather tall, blonde, nice suit, but his forwardness left little to be desired.

“Just helpin’ to hold ya steady, looked like you were about to flip over the bar, little lady.”

“Keep your hands to yourself.”

“Didn’t mean to offend-“

“Yeah, well, ya did. Don’t fuckin’ touch me, got it?”

“C’mon now. You were gettin’ all close and personal with your friends, maybe I wanted a feel for myself.”

The man stepped closer to you, and you could smell the alcohol on his breath, cheap and cloying as it wafter over into your personal space. His hands were coming up as if he were going to wrap them around your hips and pull you to him. His eyes were raking slowly up and down your body, taking in the short skirt and crop tank top you had deemed appropriate for the night. The cleavage peeking out of the top of your shirt glistening with the glitter body spray you had used before leaving your apartment.

“Leave me the fuck alone.” You spat, stepping away from the man only to collide with another’s back who had been passing by.

“Watch where-“ Joel of all people turned around, a scowl on his face. You felt like a deer caught in headlights, totally caught off guard that your boss was here in the same bar. The beer in his grip had sloshed over his fingers when you slammed into him and it was dripping to the already sticky floor. There was another man beside him, similar height and build. He had the same brown eyes and you realized they must be related.

Joel’s eyes took in the slightly panicked air about you, gaze moving behind you to see the man you had been fleeing from in such a haste.

“He touch you?”

“Don’t know if that’s any of your business, old man.” The man stepped forward and hooked a finger on the strap of your crossbody, pulling you backwards and you stumbled at the bold move. “We’re just two friends having an intimate-“

You maneuvered your stumble into a pivot and raised your clenched fist to deck the guy across the face, cutting off his words. You felt the crack of his nose beneath your knuckles, the action splitting two of them open. There was a gasp and a bark of laughter from behind you.

“I said, don’t fuckin’ touch me.” You sneered, anger lighting you up from the inside out. You didn’t pay the dull ache of your new injury any mind as you brought your arm back closer to your body, but you did flinch when the man’s hands shot out and his nails scratched along your neck where he had tried to grab you.

Joel was moving with a grunt of effort before you could fully register that the man had lunged at you.

Body slamming into his and pinning him face down against the bar with a hand tight on the back of his neck. His forehead had cracked against it, and he had shouted out weakly at the pain the action must’ve caused. His arms were twisted behind up, Joel’s right one holding them tight by the wrists. As he did so, the man with Joel had pulled you away from the confrontation, hands far more gentle with you than the man now pinned to the bar.

“You okay?” Joel looked back at you, his eyes hard and his expression schooled into one of control despite the way he had just cracked that man’s head on the top of the bar. When you didn’t answer, he looked to the man who had pulled you further out of harms way. “Tommy, she okay?”

There was no time to answer him, the bartender was out from behind the bar in a second, security that checked identification alongside him and they were forcefully guiding the man toward the door. He was putting up a rather good effort, but the two men were stronger than him. He turned with one last look over his shoulder and spat at you. The spray of it startled you and the tears that formed were angry, wet, ugly things.

Suddenly, the girls were swarming you, all talking at the same time and guiding you toward the bathroom to help get you somewhere safe to gather yourself. You let them guide you away from Joel and what you assumed was his brother, not glancing over at them lest they see more of the tears than they already had.

The bathroom muffled the booming music enough to hear your own thoughts, the lights a little brighter to help you process what had just happened. The girls were dabbing wet paper towels underneath your eyes to wipe your smeared makeup, to sooth the scratch marks on your throat. They plopped you down on one of the chairs off in the corner, removing your bag from around your body and just allowed you to take however long a moment you needed. Someone fetched a bottle of water from somewhere and you gulped down half of it without taking a breath. Your hands were shaking and you lifted your hand up to inspect the damage on your knuckles.

Someone gasped and it startled you, making you jump in your seat and then the bartender was there with a first aid kit.

“Me’n my boyfriend kicked him out, some cops were walking down the way and he taken to the station.”

He said as he kneeled in front of you, tearing open a package of sterile gauze. He dabbed some disinfectant on it before gently taking your hand and patting it across the top of your hand.

You found yourself back up at the bar, seated in a stool with your bag laid over the back of it. Your friends had checked on you again and pouted at your insistence of not going to another place with them. They wished you a good rest of the night and told you to check in with them when you got home, you returned their kind words.

You downed the last dregs of your cocktail, a vodka something, and gathered your keys from your purse.

Heels heavy, you stumbled over your own feet as your head swam and the lights of the bar flared. You reached out for the back of the stool but ended up grabbing onto a man’s arm. It was warm and strong and white-hot desire raced down your spine at the contact. Bringing your face up to apologize, it was lost in your throat as you realized it was none other than Joel Miller you were holding onto. You stepped back, turning from him to properly retrieve your bag this time.

“You’re not the boss of me here, lemme go.” You struggled against the hold he had on your upper arm, where he had turned you to face him. He seemed to realize you were uncomfortable and he dropped his hand, allowing you to turn back to face the bar. Jerry looked from your annoyed expression to the man behind you, taking in the situation and trying to determine how best to deal with it.

“Hey, man, good on you and your brother for helping us get that guy earlier, but I don’t think she likes the attention.”

“She’s drunk, you really gonna let her leave alone?”

“She comes here a lot, knows her limits and she’s got me to look out after her.”

“She’s drunker ‘n you think.”

“I am not.”

“Darlin-“

“I am not your anything, Mr. Miller.” You turned back on him with such a glare he was surprised you could hold the look in your state. He could see the way your head was lolling with every turn, your movements loose and uncoordinated. “This is a public space, I am not your prep cook and you are not my boss. You can’t lord over me and refuse me food here like at work. And I want…I want French fries.”

You stumbled as you turned around to face him again with heat behind your words. Eyes flaring in anger as he tried to reach for you again. Your body sung where one of his arms wrapped around the small of your back, helping you to keep upright as your balance faltered. The heels weren’t helping. You wished you had just stayed home, the sting of being ditched by your friends, the sting of his treatment at work and the workload of your classes, all of it was a lot and tonight was supposed to help you get out of your head, not make things worse.

“You-“ You swayed on your feet, leaning back from him slightly. The length of his forearm supporting you as you did so and stabbed a finger into his chest to emphasize your next words. Ignoring the way that his chest was firm and hot through the fabric of his shirt, he would probably have chest hair and it would be as peppered as his scruff… “You’re mean.”

His brother was doing his best to smother his laughter behind a hand, but you could hear it and you pouted even more.

“Your little brother is laughing at me and you’re a meanie.” You shoved away from him again, the warmth of his arm gone from your back as you turned around to retrieve your bag from the back of your stool. “I’m leaving.”

“The hell you are, you can’t walk, let alone drive.”

“Don’t need help. I’ve been on my own for as long as I can remember.”

“Sweetheart, you-“ Tommy tried to step in, hoping that maybe he could help out the situation. It was clear they were both worried but you were just being so stubborn. Jerry was right, you didn’t like the attention, you didn’t like getting felt up and your boss had been there to witness the aftermath. That he was still there and seeing you in such a way.

“I’m not your sweetheart.” Your voice held more bite than you thought you were capable of in your current state. Tommy stepped back with his hands held up in surrender. His brows furrowed as he shared a look with his brother.

“Lemme call you a cab, please.”

“No, I don’t need anything from you. You made it clear how you feel about me, barking at me all day when I’m helping you with your kitchen because the staff don’t wanna show up and deal with you.”

“Oof, that’s a hard hit, brother.” Tommy reached over to help you drape your purse strap over your shoulder, the crossbody secure over your form and he stepped away as you pushed at his hands much like you had done with Joel. “You really did a number on her.”

“Lemme just, please, lemme take you home. Need to make sure you get home okay.” His voice was pitched quiet, leaning a little into your space with an open expression. His hands were at his sides, not reaching out to touch you again, his fists clenched at his sides. Your eyes lingered on the way his mouth formed around the words and you swallowed the harsh ones you were about to fire back at him. All you could manage was a small nod.

That’s how you found yourself in the passenger side of his own truck, waiting in a short line of a drive through.

Once your fries, and some for him too, had been passed through the window, he was following the spoken instructions to your house. Watching the way you watched things pass by the window as you munched on the salty treat in your lap out of the corner of his eye. The dried blood on your split knuckles making his stomach lurch as he thought of that man putting his hands on you and the look on your face when you tried to flee. The look on your face when you had run into him, eyes wide and panicked.

You had calmed down, now in a lazy mood after the adrenaline packed events of the night.

“You do know what you’re doin’, just don’t think I’ve ever said it out loud ‘fore now.”

“Hmm?” You rolled your head along the back of the seat to face him, bringing a fry up to the seal of your mouth as you did so. He had to look away from the sight, your entire body and demeanor relaxed. Your expression was so open and curious, eyes soft as you looked over at him. Containing none of the animosity and worry he seemed to pull from you at work as you looked him over. He was in a pair of dark wash jeans that his thighs looked good in as he drove, a simple white Henley for a shirt. It allowed for the tan of his skin to pop, the grays that speckled his hair looking good in the lights of passing cars and lamps.

“You-uh-you, nevermind.” Joel’s deep voice wavered before he cut off, not being able to handle the earnest gaze you had pinned him with, his hands tightened on the steering wheel.

“Mkay, whatever you say.” You turned back to look out with window, letting him know that your complex was around the corner.

He parked along the curb beside the gate that opened up into the parking lot. Watching him as he hopped out of the cab and toward your side of the vehicle, his expression hard to read. He was opening the door and leaning into the can to undo your seatbelt. Not wanting to risk you trying to do it and spill your fries, knowing you would probably tear up at the mishap should it occur. He said as much under his breath when you asked him what he was doing and you couldn’t help the giggles that bubbled up from your chest as you agreed with him, it would be tragic.

Once unbuckled, he reached for the fries in your hand and put them back in the bag they came in, tucking it into your purse that was still across your body.

“Will you let me help you step down?”

At your nod, his hands came around your waist, the wideness of them allowing his fingers to span across your back in a tantalizing way. He lifted you a little, holding most of your weight as you hopped down from the cab. His arms tensed around you as you felt yourself wobble, forgetting you were in heels for the entirety of the drive. Another round of giggles bubbled up and you found yourself leaning more into Joel’s space. His body was warm where you were pressed up against his front, the scent of cedar stronger tonight than it had been all those nights ago when he insisted on making you food to take home.

“I wish you liked me.” You spoke quietly into his neck, lips brushing against the skin there as you did so.

You felt his fingers twitch where they held onto you before you were pulled back a little so he could look down at you.

“Darlin’, I do like you, that’s the problem.”

“Doesn’t have to be.” You wrapped your arms around the back of his neck, pulling yourself closer to him.

“You’re not in the right state to be talkin’ about this right no-“

Surging up, you smothered the words from his lips with your own. His arms tightened around you, pulling you flush against him as he kissed you back. As if he was unable to stop himself despite the words he had just been ushering. It was all teeth and tongue, sparking heat that pooled low in your middle. A whimper sounded in the air, Joel swallowing it as he licked into your mouth. Your nails dug into the curls at the base of his neck and you pulled.

A deep groan rumbled through his chest and you pulled away to catch your breath, looking at the face of the man who had been consuming your thoughts for weeks now.

He looked back at you, took in the way your eyes were blown out and dilated, the puffiness of your swollen lips, the quick breaths you were taking to recover from his mouth on yours, the heat that he was causing was all consuming and you knew that he could feel through your skin underneath his hands. He was swooping back down to capture your lips, his hands moving up to cradle your face in his hands as he did so and you melted at the action.

Consciousness hit you like a jolt and you were shooting up from your bed. The covers fell from you to pool around your waist, and you looked around the room, nothing looked out of place but something felt off, so incredibly off. Your bag was on the bedside table, an empty greasy bag crumpled beside it and your lips were tingling with the memory of pressing them against someone else’s.

“Oh, fuck.”

You had drunkenly kissed your boss.

And he had kissed you back.

previous chapter || next chapter

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newsfromstolenland · 4 months ago

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Ontario's primary liquor retailer says it will not be opening some stores during the ongoing strike, walking back its initial plan to reopen select locations with limited hours, starting Friday.

In a statement posted on its website Sunday, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) said it will be "re-allocating the personnel that were planned to open LCBO retail stores for in-store shopping" to online retail sales operations.

"This pivot means that we will be able to improve how we serve Ontario bars and restaurants to help increase product selection, availability, and expedited delivery," its statement reads, adding that more details will be shared directly with its customers."

This means LCBO retail stores will no longer be open for the duration of the strike."

The company previously said it would open 32 locations for limited hours after 14 days of a strike.

Roughly 9,000 unionized workers with the LCBO began strike action more than a week ago. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which represents the striking workers, has called for the provincial government to either reconsider that part of its plans for privatized booze sales or make the LCBO whole for lost revenue.

As of Friday, talks between the workers' union and the LCBO have broken off completely, with no end to the strike in sight.

Full article

Tagging: @allthecanadianpolitics

#mine #cdnpoli #ontario #LCBO #liquor control board of ontario #strike action #strikes #workers rights #workers' rights

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beardedmrbean · 1 year ago

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The argument that America, and Americans, are irredeemably racist just took a significant blow.

Earlier this year, a working paper from Harvard Business School that was written by three scholars at the University of California, Berkeley, Harvard, and the University of Washington looked into the effect of Yelp making the "race of a set of Black business owners salient to customers" — in other words, labeling certain businesses as "black-owned."

The results? They found that “this feature substantially increased demand for Black-owned businesses — in the form of more calls to the restaurant, more delivery orders, and — using cell phone data from a different platform — more in person visits to the restaurant.”

This is quite interesting, as I have been reliably informed by some of our leading voices on race that the United States is one of the most racist places in the world. Author of How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi, wrote that in all the research he has done, he has not seen a "singular historical force arriving at a postracial America” (as in, he does not believe there has been any racial progress). Not only that, but all whites are racist, too. As CNN wrote, “If you’re a white person in America, social justice educator [and bestselling author of White Fragility] Robin DiAngelo has a message for you: You’re a racist, pure and simple, and without a lifetime of conscious effort you always will be.”

But if America was just as stubborn, and Americans were just as rotten to the core, as these supposed thought leaders suggest, then there is no reason to believe businesses would see any boost when the race of its owner was made public. In fact, for their theses to hold up, we would have to observe a significant drop in patronage. The owners of these businesses would be completely opposed to being labeled “black-owned” if they thought it would reduce sales. That this is not the case demonstrates the extent to which we have progressed, contrary to the claims of Kendi.

The point of discussing this study is not to suggest that we ought to expand the use of racial classifications of businesses on apps such as Yelp. Rather, it is solely to point out that the narrative of America as having made no progress over the past 400 years is simply wrong.

We continue to face a number of problems related to race and racism. There is no denying that. But that is by no means the whole story. The fact we have gone from a country with a widespread practice of slavery to one where 94% of people approve of marriages between white and black people is no small thing. For reference, in 1961, only 4% approved of such marriages. No progress? You have to be joking.

The shtick of Kendi, DiAngelo, and their fellow travelers has undoubtedly made them quite rich. But it has taught us very little that is actually valuable about the state of race in America.

#nunyas news #most people i've encountered that have issues #with interracial marriages aren't white

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stevenbasic · 1 year ago

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GITJ Post 319: Lunch with Abby

“So one of my girls, Lakshmi, tells me he’s all upset that I didn’t let him help me move,” said Melissa Monroe, Office Manager at what would soon no longer be a specialty geriatric medical practice on the city’s outskirts. She sounded a little frustrated. “You know I couldn’t, right? For, like, obvious reasons?”

“Yeah,” laughed Abby, her friend of several years and the sales rep/handler assigned to this project which - to an increasing number of people - was maybe becoming a little far-reaching, “Are they still mad about that? Your, uh…” Though increasingly bold these days, Abby still had to be a little concerned about prying ears. “…landlords?”

“Yeah sorta. My mom is too,” answered Melissa, spearing an artichoke heart from her plate of salad, “But she’s away for a while. I’ll deal with her when she gets back.” The two women were sharing lunch at a local restaurant that Thursday afternoon, and Melissa was glad she had Abby to talk to. Things had been a little funny with him these past couple of days, and it’d be nice to have a fresh perspective. Abby was a few years older, in her early thirties though she still looked so pretty, and Melissa had come to value her wisdom. Abby just seemed to…get her. Plus - she dressed so nice, so professional! Melissa always tooked to her as an example of how even a girl with a figure can dress for the corporate world. Abby was great.

Knowing this about her ‘friend’, how Melissa respected her, made it a bit harder for Abby to say what she’d needed to say, and sometimes do what she needed to do. Melissa was a sweet girl, but she’d developed a little bit of a rebellious streak, and not everyone was happy with the way things were starting to proceed. Abby had, through this whole assignment, been tasked with keeping the course straight, the waters calm. “I also don’t know if it was a good idea,” she offered, choosing her words carefully, “You had everything you needed at your old place.”

“Yeah, I guess, I know. They’ve been so nice,” Melissa agreed, allowing that fact to her friend and doing her best to sound grateful, “I just wanted to be somewhere, even just for this little while, where I felt like I wasn’t being watched all the time.”

“I get that,” Abby conceded, forking a morsel of tortellini from her own plate. She understood it must be hard to be a girl in Melissa’s unique situation. But she also knew how they needed to keeps tabs on her, and him. “And it’ll be, what, a month or so before your mom gets back?”

“So I hear,” Melissa replied, “and by then the new places should be ready for us, if, like, all the construction keeps on schedule.” She bit her lower lip, took a moment as a waitress came by to refill her water glass. “But in the meantime it’s just that, well, when I want to be alone with him, I wanna be alone with him.”

After the waitress had left, Abby Solowicki smiled at her charge, knowing she needed to appear warm and supportive, “You really love him don’t you?” she asked. Of course she’d seen the reports, the EEGs, the bloodwork. There were quantifiers attributable to all this, and Melissa’s readings was off the charts.

“Omigod you have no idea,” gushed Melissa, immediately, a throb of wetness causing her to clamp her thighs tight, “I can’t…I can’t even describe it.”

This is what they hadn’t planned for, Abby surmised, watching the wave of emotions light Melissa’s face. She’s getting so caught up in this, much more than they thought she would. “I’m so happy for you guys,” she offered, smiling genially but knowing the answer to her next question before she asked it, “And he’s told you he feels the same way?”

Ugh, no. But the idea of it, imagining his quivering face looking up at her and professing his love made Melissa squirm again. “No…he hasn’t,” she breathed in exasperation, but able to actually hear his stammering little voice speaking those words: ILY. She wanted that so bad!! But…but…she understood, what he’s been going through. “I’ve had guys tell me a lot of things,” she said to Abby, in explanation, “and I want him to…like…mean it, when he finally says it.”

Abby nodded.

Despite logic, despite the fact that it all made sense, him taking it slow, Melissa Monroe felt her blood start to simmer. She’d told him she loved him…why didn’t he feel the same?! Was there something wrong with her?!? Her friends were supportive, telling her that she was imagining it, his reticence and distance, but she’d definitely felt it this week. Had she gone a bit too far? Over the weekend, on Tuesday night? Been too much for him? Too aggressive? She knew he was fragile…

To Abby, to her friend, Melissa described her nights with him. How she’d manipulated him with her body, and with what she knew to be his weaknesses. She described her shows of physical strength. And then: “I was there, in his bed with him yesterday morning, and I just, y’know, with my perfumes. I pretended I was asleep but I made him do…whatever I wanted. It just feels so good to play with him! But now maybe I feel a bit bad.”

“It’s okay. You’re just experimenting with your power,” Abby reassured her, knowing the course she had to take, “You’re growing, you’re growing stronger every day. It’s all so you can be better for him.”

Melissa nodded, taking a sip of her water and feeling acutely the weight of her chest, the musculature in her arms, back, shoulders. She could sense the ever-filling ocean of ultra-potent pheromones just barely held back by the floodgates under her skin, along with the hint of other budding abilities. She was becoming more powerful every day, and she knew it was true, she could feel it was true…it was all for him. The thought brought her a new wave of wetness, and she nearly sighed.

“Listen, Tits,” Abby began again, using the playful nickname she’d adopted for Melissa, “Men are all nervous, they have been for a while, but especially now after the election. They’ve been in denial but lots of them have seen it coming.” Abby, herself, had to control her voice and the excitement in it. “Imagine how he must feel, now. All that he’s lost, how he’s…like you said…getting smaller. He’s been surrounded by women all his life, and you’re surrounding him with even more, women who are bigger and stronger and smarter. Like all of them he’s worried about losing his rights, his independence. Don’t you think he’s nervous? That he’s scared? Maybe he sees his life slipping away and doesn’t know what the future is going to be.”

Oh godddddd, Melissa groaned, privately. Why was this so thrilling to her??

“So this is my advice,” Abby spoke, smiling seeing the effect she was having, “show him that you can be a comfort, that you can be protection for him now that things are changing. Did you watch the camera feed from his apartment last night, with him and that girl…what’s her name? Lilly?”

“Lakshmi,” Melissa answered, in correction, “No. I figured it was, like, a private moment for them.”

“Well I read the transcript, quick,” Abby explained, “He’s looking for it - comfort and protection. You’ve seen some of the notes on him, right? The history? He really wants a mother figure. And, jesus, Melissa…look at you.”

To that, Melissa blushed. It’s not that it was a surprise, the more…maternal aspects of her appearance being pointed out. She’d been called “mommy” by online admirers more times than she could count.

“I’d say soften up on him, calm his anxieties like only a woman can. It will get you what you want. If he’s scared, afraid that things are changing? Use that. He likes your boobs as much as you say? Great. You guys are supposed to be going out this weekend? Don't go out, stay in. Give him a night with your breasts.”

Melissa snorted. But then pictured it, how she could steer the evening, what she could wear. Omigod I could make him melt. “Like, a date with my boobs?”

“Haha sure a boob date,” Abby laughed, “that’s, like, every man’s dream, these days. He’s been nervous about you being strong with him, when you get excited? Show him how gentle you can be. You already take care of him in so many ways. Show him just how much of a mother figure you already are, and what things could be like.”

Melissa giggled, again, with the thought of it. She pictured herself in an apron, pumps and a beehive, pulling a tray of cookies from the oven. He was sat at the table like a little boy, a glass of milk - strike that, a bottle of milk - on his…haha omigod…high chair.

“You know what I’m talking about, right?” Abby asked.

“Sure, yes, right,” Melissa answered, biting her lower lip in the arousal she was already feeling. Was it getting hot in here haha? “Lakshmi says he’s feeling a little ignored. I didn’t want that. I had just wanted to give him some space, let him process things, not freak him out by being too…me,” she continued, “but maybe…”

“I think what he wants is for you to be the most ‘you’ you can be,” Abby pressed, seeing how she could salvage this situation, “He doesn’t want to be ignored? You have a lot of love for him? Smother him with it. Drown him in comfort. Show him he’ll never be ignored again.”

“Oh wow, Abby,” Melissa breathed, fanning herself with her napkin, “I could drown him so good…”

“Yes you could,” Abby encouraged.

”And he likes me big, he wants me bigger, I can tell,” Melissa added, “And now…I want to do it for him. Grow. Grow more.”

“You know what they’re saying in the labs, right? About you?” Abby spoke, leaning in and dropping her voice, “You have the potential to grow much, much bigger.” This was starting to work out really, really well.

“Yes oh god yes Abby,” Melissa replied, caught up in the plans, “He’s nervous, about the changes? I can show him that he needs protection. I can show him how nice it could be for him with women in charge.”

“You’re so sweet and caring…”

“I can be sweet and caring. I can be kind, gentle, considerate…”

“Yes,” Abby continued, “You’ve already proven you’re big. You’ve proven you can physically dominate him so easily. But looking after him, protecting him, caring for him? That’s what he needs right now. That's something you must constantly show.”

Melissa forked forcefully into an olive, a slice of pepper, and thought back to gentle moments with him, how hard and quivery she’d made him. “He likes it when I´m kind…very much…” She then thought to herself, as she imagined his face: You like it kind? Then I´ll give you kind. She chuckled to herself, finding how aggressive she’d become with her salad. “I want to be a comfort to him, I do,” she said, “but I think he kinda likes it both ways.”

“Sure sure,” Abby encouraged, “men can be funny like that. We’ve all got to realize that the old stereotypes are breaking down, roles are reversing. Men now like us to show them the rough, take-charge lovemaking. They want to be dominated, they want us to toss them around like rag dolls. Men are at the gym less, women more. Secretly they want to be, like, brutalized, made to feel small and weak and terrified of us. But then, they’re needy and - you’re right - then they want us as Mommy to comfort them.”

“Oh godddd Abby,” Melissa laughed, “stop you’re going to make me burst. I just want to boink him.”

“Haha nothing wrong with that,” Abby replied with a glimmer in her eyes, “When you’re in a relationship it’s just important to understand the other persons feelings. He’s like all men these days. What he really wants and needs is a mommy girlfriend.”

She knew this.

“He needs the comfort, the protection. But also the guidance, the discipline. He needs someone to tell him what to do, reward him when he does what you want, and sometimes punish him when he disappoints you.”

Abby watched her friend nodding, absorbing her advice, and continued. “I do it with the guy I’m dating, ” Abby said to Melissa, “Like, when we’re alone, just at home, I make sure to praise the little things he does, cleaning up after himself, wearing an outfit I like. It makes him feel good and it helps, it helps solidify our roles.”

“Jay does like that sort of thing too…” Melissa offered, nodding.

“And I make sure he feels dependent on me, too,” Abby continued, deciding to allow herself another slice of the bread on the table, “Like, I make more money then him, and I want him to know it. When we go out in public, for example. Usually, I’ll either pay for whatever we plan on spending money on that day or make him pay for his stuff with my money if we are buying little things for him.”

“ooo yes I can do that!” Melissa giggled, remembering how good it felt to pay for his dinner.

“For instance, a shirt that we just bought for him. We were at Hera’s. He carried it all around the store and all the way up to the register. I let him do that all by himself,” Abby began, “When we went to check out, I opened my purse and handed him my card, the cashier standing right in front of us, people watching. That part’s really

important, that he knows others are seeing it happen.”

“Was he embarrassed?” Melissa asked, feeling like she should be taking notes.

“A little. But I talked him through it, how to slide the card into the machine. And I signed for it of course, telling him he’d done a good job. He liked that.”

Melissa giggled. She hadn’t met Abby’s new boyfriend yet but he sounded like a keeper.

“And so,” Abby continued, shifting herself in her seat on the leather bench, “it all looks innocent enough to the person behind the register, the other people in the store, but him just knowing what was going to take place with that shirt and having to buy it with mommy’s money was really powerful. It’s just little things like that.”

“God I want to drive back to the office and take him shopping with me right now,” Melissa laughed.

“Haha yeah I loved every minute of it,” Abby conceded, “and I think he did too.” At that, she leaned in, over her plate of chilled pasta and crusty bread, to commiserate with her asset. On cue, Melissa leaned in too. “And then, in the parking lot, after getting him seated, fastening his seatbelt for him, I gave him a quickie.”

“A handjob?” Melissa laughed, catching herself snorting too loudly.

“Yeah a little reward, for being so good,” Abby smiled, leaning back again with a satisfied smile, “just like you’re going to reward him, this weekend, for doing everything mommy says…”

===============================

yes I have one

#growing into the job

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probablyasocialecologist · 1 year ago

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Chicken sales have benefited from the relentless propaganda war against red meat, as a result of which, some consumers have been persuaded on the basis of selective and misrepresented data, that chicken is a better choice for planetary, animal and personal health. “I don’t eat red meat, but I do eat chicken sometimes.” How often have you heard that said? Superficially, that stance might seem enlightened, but the reality is that in this country, UK or EU reared red meat from truly sustainable, pasture-based systems will almost always be a more genuinely progressive choice than chicken. UK-reared beef, lamb, goat and venison is produced more extensively than chicken (and pork, for that matter). Sheep, cattle and other ruminants are rarely raised exclusively indoors in Britain. Farmed deer are still in the field for the best part of their lives. These animals live on a diet of mainly pasture and forage, making use of land that is often unsuitable for growing other crops. They can flourish eating grass, herbs and shrubs, effectively transforming sunlight, rainwater and soil nutrients into some of the most nutrient rich foods available to us. While many UK-reared cattle are now finished on a diet that includes some cereals, they typically spend the greater part of their lives grazing outside, and for people seeking the most sustainable meat option, produce from 100% grass-fed animals is available. The more cereals that are fed to an animal, the less resource efficient its milk or meat is. This is because productive arable farmland, that could be used for growing food to be fed directly to people, is used for growing lower grade livestock cereals, from which only 17-30% of calories are returned for human consumption as meat or milk. Alternatively, the cereals used for animal feed may be grown in other regions of the world and shipped vast distances – which brings us back to chicken. We eat a billion chickens each year in these isles, and they do not lead remotely content or natural lives. Almost all (95%) are from fast-growing breeds, intensively reared in vast, tightly packed, indoor facilities and they are slaughtered at as little as 28 days. While chickens are a relatively small bird, their environmental footprint is significant. The Soil Association’s report, Peak Poultry, details that roughly three million tonnes of soya are imported into the UK each year, and most of it is bought by chicken producers to fatten chickens. Typically, this soya comes from Latin America, a crop that contributes to deforestation and pesticide use in biologically important areas, such as the Amazon and Cerrado. There are at least 1,000 intensive poultry units throughout the UK. This marks an increase of more than 30% in the past decade as chicken has been marketed as a more compassionate, healthy and ecological alternative to red meat. Given the complexity of the debate, it’s no wonder that so many of us accept that chicken is a more ethical choice. Put chicken on the menu, whether that’s in school dinner halls or restaurants, and you are likely to invite fewer religious objections, while ‘flexitarians’, and those who describe themselves as ‘plant-based’ eaters will view it as ‘the least bad’ of the possible meat options.

#meat #livestock #chicken #farming #agriculture

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rainbowsky · 1 year ago

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Hello Rainbowsky,

Can you tell me what heat index is? When cdramas get released a lot of people talk about this including the drama team and I don’t really understand what it means.

Hi Anon,

It's used to describe how much hype a drama is generating. How much it is being viewed, mentioned, recommended, shared on social media, etc. etc. Basically - how popular is it?

No one knows for sure how those numbers are determined, but it's likely that every platform uses a slightly different formula. And there's no 'universal heat index', either. There's the Tencent heat index, the iQIYI heat index, etc.

Ultimately it's a bit of a hype/PR thing, and somewhat meaningless outside the platform that's sharing the info (and frankly, somewhat meaningless within the platform, too).

Platforms talk about the heat index in hopes of generating a higher heat index. Kind of similar to how claiming that tickets for an event are selling fast will generally increase ticket sales, or how hearing that a new restaurant is lined up down the block will make people want to get in line to check it out.

People are inherently sheep, and they are drawn to things other people are into. If they think something is popular, they will want to check it out. So platforms will make something seem popular in order to try to make it become popular.

(Which isn't to say that dramas with a high heat index aren't popular, just to say that ultimately it's all a lot of fluff, and can't tell you whether you'll enjoy a drama or not.)

#entertainment industry #defined #ask #heat index

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acceptccnow · 1 year ago

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Redefining Dining: Elevating Restaurants with Advanced Self-Ordering Kiosk

Article by Jonathan Bomser | CEO | Accept-credit-cards-now.com

youtube

Starting November 1 at 11:00 a.m. EST. and every Monday and Wednesday after.

Limited Space Available

In the ever-evolving landscape of the digital era, the restaurant industry continually adapts to stay competitive. Restaurant owners grapple with challenges such as increasing costs, labor shortages, and a growing demand for integrated dining solutions. In this context, self-ordering kiosks emerge as a significant innovation in the dining sector.

What Sets Self-Ordering Kiosks Apart? Self-ordering kiosks offer several advantages, including streamlined operations, increased profits, and an enhanced dining experience. A recent webinar series by TouchSuite and GRUBBRR explores the profound impact of these systems, scheduled every Monday and Wednesday from November 1st at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. These sessions delve into the role of self-ordering kiosks in boosting sales, reducing labor costs, and enhancing the overall dining experience.

The Benefits of Self-Ordering Kiosks: More Orders, Higher Revenue, Satisfied Customers GRUBBRR and Samsung have collaborated on a solution tailored for restaurant entrepreneurs. This cutting-edge technology is designed to boost revenue, reduce operational costs, and enhance the dining experience. Here's how:

Intelligent Upselling: The Samsung System, powered by GRUBBRR, utilizes smart technology to increase the average bill, leading to higher revenue.

Task Automation: By automating routine tasks, restaurants can reassign staff to more critical roles, reducing expenses, and improving the dining atmosphere.

Operational Excellence: Features such as automatic menu synchronization, user-friendly self-ordering activation, and upselling capabilities make restaurant operations seamless.

Prioritizing Health and Safety In today's health-conscious world, these systems come equipped with FDA-approved antibacterial screens, ensuring a safe interface for both staff and customers.

Why Choose TouchSuite and GRUBBRR? TouchSuite, a leader in transaction processing, is known for pioneering solutions. Their partnership with GRUBBRR, experts in self-ordering technology, reflects their commitment to supporting restaurant owners. Their combined solution increases revenue, lowers costs, and enhances the customer experience. Plus, TouchSuite provides excellent support for any GRUBBRR-related inquiries.

The restaurant industry is at a turning point. Faced with a range of challenges, innovation and adaptation are essential. Advanced self-ordering systems offer a promising solution. For those interested in delving deeper, the webinar series by TouchSuite and GRUBBRR is a must-attend event.

Whether you're a restaurant owner or simply intrigued by the future of dining, it's time to explore the world of advanced self-ordering systems. Dive in, learn, and be at the forefront of the dining revolution!

For more insights and to reserve your spot for the upcoming webinars, visit TouchSuite.com. Seize this opportunity to redefine your culinary venture.

#webinar #self ordering kiosk #free webinar #grubbr #ordering kiosk #restaurant business #Youtube

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dianagivenchitech · 9 months ago

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#music for business #background music #music streaming #music for cafes #music playlist #music for restaurants #music curation #music streaming app #music platform #music tech #music playlists #playlists #restaurants #restaurant business #restaurant trends #restaurant tips #restaurant marketing #restaurant branding #restaurant music

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globalinfoschool · 1 year ago

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Navigating the Charleston Digital Landscape: Sweetgrass Marketing's Approach to SEO Success

In the vibrant realm of Charleston's digital marketplace, where every online step is a potential leap forward, Sweetgrass Marketing emerges as a guiding beacon for businesses seeking SEO success. Join us as we unravel the intricacies of the Charleston digital landscape and explore the unique strategies employed by Sweetgrass Marketing to pave the way for SEO triumph.

Section 1: Decoding the Charleston Digital Landscape:

Charleston, with its rich tapestry of businesses and diverse consumer behaviors, presents a digital landscape unlike any other. In this section, we peel back the layers, examining the challenges and opportunities unique to the local market. Sweetgrass Marketing's perceptive understanding of this landscape becomes a linchpin in their exceptional SEO success.

Section 2: The Pillars of Sweetgrass Marketing's SEO Approach:

Localized Keyword Mastery: Sweetgrass Marketing's SEO wizardry begins with a deep dive into localized keywords that resonate with Charleston's audience. By infusing their strategies with the language of the locals, they ensure that businesses not only rank but also connect meaningfully with their target demographic.

Strategic Content Development: The agency's content strategy is akin to an art form. Sweetgrass Marketing creates content that not only aligns with Charleston's cultural and business ethos but also anticipates the evolving needs of the audience. It's a delicate dance between relevance and innovation.

Community-Centric Link Building: Sweetgrass Marketing understands the power of local communities. Their approach to link building goes beyond the digital realm, weaving a network of community-centric backlinks that not only enhance online authority but also contribute to the collective strength of local businesses.

Section 3: Case Studies: Realizing SEO Success in Charleston:

Let's turn our attention to the tangible impact of Sweetgrass Marketing's strategies through real-world examples:

Local Boutique Brilliance: A local boutique saw a staggering 60% increase in online sales within four months of implementing Sweetgrass Marketing's SEO recommendations. The tailored approach to keywords and content aligned seamlessly with the boutique's brand, driving both visibility and revenue.

Restaurant Resurgence: A Charleston-based restaurant experienced a 50% spike in reservations after Sweetgrass Marketing revamped their SEO strategy. Through a strategic mix of localized keywords and community-driven link building, the restaurant reclaimed its position as a local favorite.

Section 4: Insights from Sweetgrass Marketing's SEO Experts:

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at Sweetgrass Marketing? We sat down with key figures from the agency to glean insights into their approach. According to [SEO Expert Name], "Our success lies in staying ahead of the curve. We're not just SEO experts; we're navigators, steering businesses through the ever-changing currents of the digital landscape."

Section 5: Building Long-Term Success:

Sweetgrass Marketing doesn't believe in quick wins; they're in it for the long haul. By continually adapting strategies to evolving search algorithms and trends, the agency ensures that businesses not only survive but thrive in the ever-evolving digital ecosystem.

In conclusion, Sweetgrass Marketing emerges not just as an SEO agency but as a strategic navigator, guiding businesses through the unique contours of the Charleston digital landscape. Their commitment to understanding local nuances, building community-centric backlinks, and staying ahead of industry trends sets them apart.

Businesses navigating the Charleston digital landscape can partner with Sweetgrass Marketing for a personalized consultation. To explore how their tailored SEO strategies can elevate your digital presence, reach out to Sweetgrass Marketing today.

#seo #marketing #SweetgrassMarketing

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qposrestaurantbillingsolutions · 1 year ago

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How to Increase Bakery Sales?

Running a successful bakery requires more than just delicious treats. To maximize profits and attract a steady stream of customers, bakeries must implement effective sales strategies. We’ll explore seven proven tactics that can help increase bakery sales and ensure long-term success. Let’s dive in!

Elevate the Visual Appeal:

First impressions matter, and for bakeries, that means presenting mouthwatering delights in an enticing manner. Invest in attractive displays, use eye-catching packaging, and decorate your storefront with tempting visuals. A visually appealing bakery will draw customers in and encourage impulse purchases.

Offer Diverse Product Range:

To satisfy a broad customer base offer a diverse range of products. From classic cakes and fresh bread to gluten-free options, vegan treats, and seasonal specialties, having a variety of items can attract different types of customers and boost sales. Regularly introduce new and innovative creations to keep your offerings fresh and exciting.

Focus on High-Quality Ingredients:

Superior ingredients are the backbone of any successful bakery. Using fresh, high-quality ingredients not only enhances the taste of your baked goods but also showcases your commitment to providing the best to your customers. Highlight the use of premium ingredients in your marketing efforts to build trust and loyalty.

Implement an Online Ordering System with QPOS:

In today’s fast-paced world, convenience is key. Set up an efficient online ordering system, powered by QPOS, that allows customers to pre-order their favourite treats for pickup or delivery.

With QPOS’s integrated online ordering feature, you can offer this convenience to your customers seamlessly. This addition not only increases sales and attracts customers but also streamlines your bakery operations by automating order processing and ensuring accuracy in transactions.

Leverage Social Media Marketing:

Social media platforms are powerful tools for promoting your bakery and engaging with your audience. Create visually appealing posts featuring your appealing creations, share customer reviews, and run special promotions to invite new and existing customers. Encourage user-generated content by photo posting on social media and tagging the shop along, expanding your reach even further.

Host Events and Workshops:

Engage with your community by hosting events and workshops at your bakery. Consider organizing baking classes or festival themed events. These experiences not only provide additional revenue streams but also help build a loyal customer base that will spread positive word-of-mouth.

Implement Loyalty Programs:

Reward loyal customers with a well-designed loyalty program. Offer discounts, freebies, or exclusive access to new products or events. A strong loyalty program can incentivize repeat purchases and turn one-time visitors into dedicated patrons.

Increasing bakery sales involves a combination of smart marketing, high-quality products, and exceptional customer experiences. By implementing these seven strategies – elevating the visual appeal, offering diverse products, using high-quality ingredients, implementing online ordering, leveraging social media, hosting events, and creating loyalty programs – you can drive growth and ensure your bakery’s success. Stay consistent, stay creative, and keep delighting your customers with scrumptious treats!

To increase bakery sales and stay competitive in today’s market, adopting QPOS, a smart restaurant management software is crucial. Integrating Restaurant Business Intelligence and analytics and Cloud Kitchen Management can provide the tools you need to optimize operations, enhance customer experiences, and boost your bakery’s profitability.

#pos machine #restaurant billing machine

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sohailmastan · 1 year ago

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Digital Marketing Tools

Digital marketing: What Is It? The use of digital channels to promote goods and services to customers is referred to as "digital marketing." Websites, mobile devices, social media, search engines, and other channels with a similar function are used in this kind of marketing. With the introduction of the internet in the 1990s, digital marketing gained popularity.

Emblix Acedemy is the best training institute and provides best Digital Marketing Tools to get professional.

Digital marketing is frequently seen as an additional strategy by businesses to reach customers and comprehend their behaviour. It has some of the same ideas as traditional marketing. Traditional and digital marketing strategies are frequently combined by businesses. However, unconscious prejudice is one of the unique issues that face digital marketing.

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KEY LESSONS Marketing to consumers via digital channels, including as websites, mobile apps, and social media platforms, is known as digital marketing.

Internet marketing, which only takes place on websites, is distinct from this type of marketing.

Digital marketing deals with luring clients using email, content marketing, search engines, social media, and other channels. How to stand out in a world that is overrun with digital marketing advertisements is one of the main issues that digital marketers confront.

Implicit bias is one of several problems with digital marketing.

How Does Digital Marketing Function? Marketing is the term used to describe the activities a business engages in to advertise its goods and services and increase its market share. It takes a mix of sales prowess, advertising knowledge, and the capacity to deliver items to end customers in order to be successful. Marketers are experts who perform these duties either internally at businesses or externally at marketing agencies.

Traditionally, businesses concentrated their marketing efforts on print, television, and radio. These choices are still available, but the internet caused a change in how businesses interact with their customers. Digital marketing became useful in this situation. Websites, social media, search engines, and apps—anything that combines marketing with consumer feedback or a two-way connection between the business and its customers—are all used in this type of marketing.

Companies were driven to alter their marketing tactics by emerging technologies and trends. In the early years of digital marketing, email rose to become a common marketing technique. The focus switched to search engines like Netscape at that point, which enabled companies to tag and keyword products to stand out. Companies are now able to track data and respond to consumer trends because to the growth of websites like Facebook.

Nowadays, businesses can sell themselves, their goods and services, and themselves to consumers more easily thanks to smartphones and other digital gadgets. People prefer utilising their phones to access the internet, according to studies. In fact, a Pew Research Centre research found that more than 75% of American adults frequently use their phones when shopping.

1) Interactive digital marketing is frequently utilised to target particular client base groups. Receivers and Sources Advertisers are frequently referred to as sources, and the people who get customised advertisements are known as receivers. As McDonald's did with shift workers and travellers, sources frequently target very particular, well defined receivers.

The business used digital advertisements since it was aware that these customers constituted a sizable portion of its late-night business and used digital gadgets. McDonald's targeted them with adverts displayed at automated teller machines (ATMs), petrol stations, and websites that its consumers frequently visited, encouraging them to download the Restaurant Finder app.

Channel Types for Digital Marketing

As previously mentioned, print (newspapers and magazines) and broadcast (TV and radio) advertisements were the traditional methods of marketing. These channels are still in use today and still exist. Digital marketing platforms have changed and are still changing. The eight most popular digital channels that businesses can use to strengthen their marketing efforts are listed below. Remember that certain businesses could employ many channels in their endeavours.

Website Promotion

All digital marketing efforts revolve around a website. It is a very effective channel on its own, but it also serves as the platform for a number of different web marketing efforts. A website ought to convey a brand, a product, and a service in an understandable and memorable manner. It should be quick, simple, and mobile-friendly.

Paid-Per-Click Promotion

Paid advertisements can be used by marketers to target internet users on a variety of digital platforms thanks to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Advertisements for goods and services can be displayed to users who are conducting searches on Google, Bing, LinkedIn, X platform (formerly Twitter), Pinterest, and Facebook using PPC campaigns set up by marketers.

These ads can target users specifically based on their hobbies or geography, or segment users based on demographic traits (including age or gender). The two most widely used PPC systems are Google Ads and Facebook Ads.

Content Promotion

Reaching potential customers by using content that appeals to them is the aim of content marketing. The typical process for promoting content is to publish it on a website and then use social media, email marketing, search engine optimisation, or even pay-per-click campaigns. Blogs, ebooks, online courses, infographics, podcasts, and webinars are some of the content marketing tools.

Email Promotion

One of the most successful digital marketing methods is still email marketing. Email marketing is not the same as spam email, despite the fact that many people think it is. Companies can connect with prospective customers and anybody else interested in their brands and products with this sort of marketing.

Many digital marketers add leads to their email lists using all other digital marketing methods. They then develop client acquisition funnels employing email marketing to convert those prospects into paying customers.

Use of social media

A social media marketing campaign's main objectives are to increase brand recognition and foster interpersonal trust. As you learn more about social media marketing, you can employ it as a channel for direct marketing or sales as well as lead generation. Twitter and promoted posts are two instances of social media marketing.

Affiliate Promotion

One of the earliest types of marketing is affiliate marketing, and the internet has given it new life. Influencers who use affiliate marketing to promote other people's products are paid every time a lead or sale is generated. Millions of dollars are paid out each month to websites that sell products from numerous well-known corporations, including Amazon, through their affiliate programmes.

Video Advertising

One of the most well-known search engines in the world is YouTube. Before making a purchase decision, many internet users visit YouTube to learn something new, read a review, or just to unwind.

To launch a video marketing campaign, marketers can choose from a variety of platforms, such as Facebook Videos, Instagram, and TikTok. Integrating video into SEO, content marketing, and more extensive social media marketing efforts helps businesses use it most effectively.

Text Messages

Companies and nonprofit organisations use text messaging, also known as SMS or short message service, to tell clients about upcoming sales or to provide them with possibilities. SMS marketing campaigns are another tool used by candidates for political office to promote their platforms. With the development of technology, many text-to-give initiatives now enable donors to make a direct payment or contribution by sending a short text message.

Digital marketing is distinct from internet marketing. Digital marketing can occur through mobile devices, on a tube platform, in a video game, or through a smartphone app. Internet marketing is advertising that only appears online.

Digital marketing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

It's important to keep in mind that key performance indicators (KPIs) are used by digital marketers just like they are by traditional marketers. KPIs are quantitative means for businesses to assess the effectiveness of their marketing over the long term and gauge how they stack up against the competition. Corporate plans, financial objectives and successes, operational activities, and even marketing efforts are all areas that can be measured.

Some of the most popular KPIs that marketers can utilise to assist businesses in achieving their objectives include the following:

Blog Posts: This KPI can be used by marketers to determine how frequently a business publishes blog posts each month.

Clickthrough Rates: Businesses can use this KPI to determine how many email deliveries result in clicks. This covers the quantity of recipients who open emails and click links to complete transactions.

Conversion Rate: This metric concentrates on call-to-action marketing campaigns. These initiatives solicit people to take specific activities, including making a purchase of a good or service prior to the expiration of a deal. By dividing the total number of requests made by the number of successful engagements, businesses may calculate the conversion rate.

Social media traffic measures the volume of interactions with business social media pages. Likes, following, views, shares, and/or other quantifiable activities are included.

Website Traffic: Marketers can monitor how many people visit a company's website using this indicator. This data can be used by corporate management to determine whether the layout and style of the website influence sales.

Challenges in Digital Marketing

For its practitioners, digital marketing presents unique difficulties. Digital marketers must stay current with how these channels operate and how users interact with them as they proliferate quickly. To effectively sell their goods or services, marketers must be knowledgeable on how to leverage various channels.

Because recipients are being overwhelmed with more and more competing advertisements, it is getting harder to hold their attention. It can be difficult for digital marketers to analyse the enormous amounts of data they collect and then use that data to create fresh marketing initiatives.

The difficulty of properly acquiring and utilising data emphasises the need for a marketing strategy based on a thorough comprehension of customer behaviour in digital marketing. For instance, it can be necessary for a business to employ various methods, such as website heatmaps, in order to understand the customer journey and emerging patterns of consumer behaviour.

Even when marketers and businesses take every precaution to prevent it, implicit bias still manages to find its way into digital marketing. The term "implicit bias" describes attitudes and preconceptions that are formed unconsciously.

Algorithms are crucial when businesses create their marketing plans since they form the basis of digital marketing. These algorithms are frequently developed with the goal of being objective. However, the outcome isn't always what was intended.

This is thus because different people, such as engineers, developers, data scientists, and marketers, all of whom have implicit biases, code algorithms. This implies that they might unintentionally programme, input, and modify data.

Even adding stock images or videos to a campaign can introduce implicit bias. Companies could accidentally utilise photographs and films of heterosexual White people while ignoring Black people, Native Americans, and people of other colours, as well as persons with varied body forms and abilities.

A digital marketing agency: What Is It?

A company that specialises solely in marketing to consumers via digital platforms is known as a digital marketing agency. This include developing and implementing campaigns for business clients across a variety of platforms, including social media, pay-per-click marketing, videos, and websites.

What Does SEO Mean in Online Marketing?

Companies can use search engine optimisation (SEO) to drive more traffic to their websites with the aim of having their names and websites appear at the top of any search results page. This can happen while using editorially chosen or organic search results. Companies' names and websites are more visible to customers when SEO is successfully integrated into their digital marketing plans.

Internet marketing: What Is It?

Any form of marketing that only occurs online is referred to as internet marketing. This indicates that it only appears on websites. It is distinct from digital marketing, which also encompasses internet marketing, social media marketing, and mobile app marketing. Mobile phones, digital gadgets, and other platforms can all be used for these marketing campaigns.

Why Should I Work in Digital Marketing?

Along with data analytics and social media expertise, digital marketers need to have good writing abilities. For the majority of jobs in digital marketing, a bachelor's degree is required. These jobs can be found in business-related fields like marketing or closely connected ones like communications. You might also choose to enrol in bootcamps or courses for digital marketing. Additionally, it may be beneficial to complete an internship while still a student.

#digital marketing #Youtube

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