truitt-story

[truitt-story]

Tiana nodded, but she had no intention of really borrowing any money from the coalition. She was in enough debt, with the investors breathing down her neck. And besides, that money was raised legitimately, and Tiana felt guilty taking it when she was the one who had gotten herself into this mess with secret, shady dealings.

"Thanks," she said, because she didn't want to argue with Jun. And she didn't really want him to worry about her. He had enough on his plate. "I'll figure it out, I know I will. But this helped."

She swept the papers back into the folder and closed it. "Anyway. How's everything with the market?"

@moon-yeongjun

Does This Add Up? | Jiana

[truitt-story]

❤️ 183 likes

cookingwithtia: i have some competition for favorite child now but at least he's cute. christmas gumbo recipe on the blog! outdid myself this year!

[truitt-story]

Tiana shook her head. She'd gotten herself into this mess— she was absolutely not going to ask Vixey to bail her out of it, and she didn't want Vixey to think that was why she had brought it up. "No, really, it's fine," Tiana said quickly. "I'm going to figure it out. I just wish this guy would have some patience with me. Like, I've been really on top of it this whole time. It's not like this happens a lot. Or ever!"

@vixey-chakraborty

Everything Is Fine | Viana

[truitt-story]

No, she wouldn't. Tiana knew that. What remained of the photograph of her father was a stark reminder.

But she couldn't bring herself to explain that to Jun. Practical, hard-working Jun, who would never take a shortcut like that, Tiana was sure. What would he think? Would he kick her out of the Small Business Coalition, even?

Tiana swallowed her guilt and nodded. "Hopefully, yeah. But I don't want to bank on that," she added. "I need to have a backup plan. So... it's good that we talked about this."

@moon-yeongjun

Does This Add Up? | Jiana

[truitt-story]

"You can say that again," Tiana snorted. To her, it didn't seem like Vidia had learned her lesson at all. Why were they giving her more access to Town Hall?

It was just depressing. If Al had run, none of this would have happened, Tiana was sure. But she didn't want to make Al feel worse...

"It's not your fault, though," Tiana added quickly. "How would you have known? You were, uh, dealing with a lot, anyway."

@alzcomicbarn

No Regrets (Except Maybe One) | Alti

[truitt-story]

Tiana usually saved all this information for the email she sent out after she formally offered someone the job, but she didn't really see a point in delaying this conversation. Tiana had basically told Stella she had the job, which was true— Maggie was graduating soon, which meant that they definitely needed a new hostess.

"For front-of-house, no uniform— just dress nice. No athletic wear or anything, although nice sneakers are okay, since I know y'all are on your feet for a long time," Tiana explained. "And Maggie will be able to train you, Thursday is probably a good time if you're free then. Just let me know if you have any scheduling issues in general so I can add you into the schedule after that."

@stellabfly

Front Of House | Stellana

[truitt-story]

Honestly, Tiana kind of wanted Vixey to be "nosy" about this. Because it was eating her inside, but she also didn't know how to bring it up. So it was kind of a good thing that Vixey asked— even if saying this out loud made Tiana queasy.

"It's... okay, do you remember way back when I first started the restaurant, I had to get some investors involved because I couldn't front all the money?" she said. "He, uh... well, I may be a little behind on payments right now."

@vixey-chakraborty

Everything Is Fine | Viana

[truitt-story]

"Yup," Tiana agreed, taking her phone out of her pocket when she sat down. She wanted to focus on hanging out with Vixey, obviously, but if something really urgent came through...

The phone buzzed again.

Okay, maybe this wasn't urgent-urgent, but Tiana didn't want to leave Peter waiting. He was annoyed enough with her. "Sorry," she muttered, picking him up and promising she would call him in a little bit.

@vixey-chakraborty

Everything Is Fine | Viana

[truitt-story]

Tiana nodded, a sinking feeling setting in. Maybe she could try to get revenue up this month. It was December, after all— there were holiday parties and dinners out and maybe even some catering opportunities. She could give herself a few weeks to turn things around...

Okay, maybe part of this was that Tiana didn't want to fire anyone right before the holidays.

It was a big decision, though, and Tiana thought she was justified in not rushing into it. She'd give herself a month. A month to turn things around, and then Tiana would look into what Jun was suggesting.

"Yeah. No, exactly," Tiana gulped. "Thanks for the honesty. It's... you're probably right. It's just not an easy pill to swallow. I think I'm gonna take some time to think about it, and then...yeah, I guess I'll let you know what I decide to do."

@moon-yeongjun

Does This Add Up? | Jiana

[truitt-story]

Tiana nodded sympathetically. It seemed no one got a break this time of year.

"My usual. Energy Boost. God knows that's what I need," Tiana chuckled. She was really trying not to eat out too much, considering the financial trouble she was in, but it was hard to shake the Little Treat Mentality sometimes. Especially when she was stressed-out the way she was.

@vixey-chakraborty

Everything Is Fine | Viana

[truitt-story]

Raise her prices or let people go. Simple, right?

Not quite.

It was, at least, simple economics. Tiana had never been to business school (she was starting to wish she had, though...) but even she knew the equation of "money in minus money out equals profit." And also the equation of "if money in less than money out... bad news." You didn't need a math degree for that one.

"I... I guess, yeah," Tiana said, still scanning over the numbers. "What if I can get revenue up again? If I could..."

The fact of the matter was she was never going to replicate the demand of this summer. Exciting new menu items or a holiday discount was nothing compared to a magic spell.

She sighed. "You're probably right," Tiana said, finally. "I just really don't want to. I mean, we're supposed to be a family."

@moon-yeongjun

Does This Add Up? | Jiana

[truitt-story]

Despite Tiana's initial concern about Vixey and Al, they seemed to be doing really well. And that was all that mattered to Tiana. Well, and she'd been a little nervous about the rifts this could cause in the friend group, but that didn't seem to be the case either. They still hung out as usual, watching movies or feasting on American foods at Pizza Planet.

"Tough break for Skip Rogers," Tiana commented as she saw the despondent-looking public servant poking at a Caesar salad in the corner of the pizza shop. She lowered her voice. "Just wasn't his year, I guess. Can't believe Vidia got elected over him."

@alzcomicbarn

No Regrets (Except Maybe One) | Alti

[truitt-story]

"How's work been? I've heard this time of year gets crazy," Tiana commented as they left the gym and headed toward the Lucky Cat Cafe. Tiana was starting to get really obsessed with the smoothies there, and she felt bad for ever doubting Cass.

Of course, Tiana did want to ask about Al, too. But she didn't want to start every conversation off that way, especially considering the shaky start their first conversation about the surprise-wedding had gotten.

@vixey-chakraborty

Everything Is Fine | Viana

[truitt-story]

Tiana shook her head. She was doing all of the same things she used to, but...

Well. Now that she thought about it, there was an answer here, but Tiana didn't like it. "Sorry, one sec-" Tiana said, taking the folder back and flipping through some old records. Yup. There it was. The last time she increased her expenses on purpose recently, hiring a few new people to help with the rush of new business.

She hadn't thought that one through, had she?

Tiana handed the folder back. "Yeah. That's what I thought," she said. "I hired a couple of new people when we were busy this summer. But now we're not as busy anymore."

@moon-yeongjun

Does This Add Up? | Jiana

[truitt-story]

Tiana left spin class— sweet, wonderful spin class, where she got to lock her phone in a box for forty-five minutes— to see a bunch of notifications on her phone. Great.

The situation was deteriorating, fast. Tiana needed to figure something out before things really spiraled and she lost the restaurant or— no, Tiana was not letting herself have that thought.

"You still wanna go for smoothies?" Tiana suggested, shaking her head and shoving her phone back in her pocket. She could deal with that later.

@vixey-chakraborty

Everything Is Fine | Viana

[truitt-story]

Everything Is Fine | Viana

[truitt-story]

"Oh, no, you're always fine to get a second job if you need. As long as you're still coming to work here consistently. Plenty of people here have a second job," Tiana said, thinking of Mary. Of course, Mary was a seasoned pro, and this was Stella's first job, but Tiana wasn't going to tell her staff they couldn't have a second job.

Hopefully, though, the pay was enough that Stella wouldn't need to do that.

"Just let me know if you have any scheduling constraints. Basically, though, we have two shifts during the week— lunch shift and dinner shift. Lunch is shorter, it's just from ten to three, and then dinner is from three to close, which is usually around ten or eleven. We'll start you on lunch and then you can move up to dinner once you have some experience," Tiana explained. "The only exception is Sundays, when we have brunch, but that's another thing you'll work your way up to. As for pay, it starts at 9 per hour, but again, that's flexible as you get more experience."

@stellabfly

Front Of House | Stellana