Mornings don't start when doors open.
They start with the first sound the room remembers.
Today, it's the rain and the grinder thinking about working.
Excuse me? Come.
On you stupid grinder work. Damn it, I paid 50 bucks for
this piece of I'm unraveling. I'm unraveling.
Good morning. Welcome to King's Java.
Oh, hello my friend. How are you this fine rainy
morning, Yik? Not going to lie to you, I was
trying to get out of this rain. You look like you went for a
swim. Oh man, I'm so I'm so.
Sorry ma'am, this is. Just great.
Let me see if I can find a towel in the back one SEC.
I have an interview in an hour and now I'm going to have to
walk back home in this mess and change all.
Right, ma'am, I found a towel you can use to dry off your
face. Oh dear, I wish I could do more.
You a coffee drinker first pours on me.
OK, I feel awful. Thank you so much.
Well, well, someone got caught without an umbrella, I see.
Or a coat. You were in a hurry, huh?
The. Forecast said cloudy with a
chance and here comes the chance.
Like it's on tour. Jeez.
Oh damn, I feel that. What a way to start the week.
OK, wait, let me guess, you're not a latte girl?
You really think you've got me figured out that?
Easy. Too polite for espresso though.
Polite for espresso? That's a new one.
Maybe a flat white? Flat white, You're dangerously
close to being right. Balanced, quiet confidence
sneaks up on you. I don't know, detective, you
tell. Me or no?
Something seasonal. You'd order whatever's got
cinnamon just so you can say it tastes like change.
Am I close? You pay way too much attention
to people's coffee orders. Hey, it's how I get paid the big
bucks. King's Java is new, so I got to
have the edge one way or another, right?
Fair enough. Thanks again for the towel,
dear. Name's Raquel.
I'm gainfully unemployed, and thanks to Commander Rain Cloud
out there, I'm probably going to remain so for at least another
afternoon. Mind if I hang out?
Please do. I'm Jamie King.
Hi, Miss King. You can call me Jamie.
It's fine. I'm not royalty.
All righty, you got it, Miss Jamie.
And I'm unraveling, lest I was until I got a chance to help you
a bit. I quit my 6 figure job to do
this and I've been falling into the void ever since.
Nice to meet you, damn. And here I am trying to crawl
out. Let me find out.
I need to take another plunge. Dive in girl, Yolo.
People still say that. I'm probably the only person
that still does. I don't know, I need to update
my software or something. Oh yeah, I'll have what?
They're having Oh, thanks King Java.
And then the full double down. Uh oh on the stupid thing he
said earlier in the meeting. Like.
Not all or nothing on stupid. Girl.
Yes, this man's pure 100% idiot and has been for a decade.
Damn. It's the bloody truth, lass.
But yes, he doubled down on the stupid Miss Jamie.
My. Condolences, Mr. Andrews.
You said oat milk, right? Yes, love, please and thank you.
Sounds like good help is still hard to find these days, no
matter how hard it tries to be found.
Yeah, real subtle, Raquel. I thought so too.
Why am I paying these idiots again?
You ever have one of those days where everything's off by 1
millimetre? Pretty sure that's the
definition of Monday. No, no, I mean literally.
I bought this new travel mug, stainless steel imported, double
insulated, supposed to be precision engineered, and the
lid does not fit. It's been leaking on my shirt
since 7:45 this morning. Raquel quit.
It that's. Rude.
Oh, it's all right, dear. I've been the butt of the joke
all morning. I didn't mean to make fun, I
just can relate us all, sorry. Honestly, I'd laugh too if it
weren't me. We've got something that'll
hopefully cheer you. Up, Sir.
This tall boy's got a nice reinforced lid.
I'll even give you a discount. How's that sound, Sir?
Sounds like the beginning of my day being snatched from the jaws
of defeat. $9.75 was it. Tell me when to swipe love.
All righty and swipey swipe please and thank you.
Anything else I can do for you, Mr. Andrews?
You know what, on second thought, I'm not going in today.
Hell, it's my company. I can take a day off.
Whoa. CEO skipping work somewhere a
middle manager just felt a chill.
Like I said, I own the place but lately it feels like it owns me.
Mind if I sit? Certainly sitting is free.
Mr. Andrews, take a load off. Want to tell me what's going on?
You know what gets me? My people used to smile.
Now it's all screens, reports and touch bases.
They used to build things with pride, now they build metrics.
I build things with pride. Not now.
Raquel maybe? They still want to.
Build just. Not the same thing you do.
I used to think good pay and free snacks meant happy stuff.
Oh my gosh, you were serious. Of course I was serious, Miss
Jamie. It's what's worked in the past
after all. How sad.
What? Sad.
How do you mean? I used to run the rat race, so
to speak, and if you're anything like my old bosses, because
somewhere along the way you stopped thinking about people
and started thinking about policies.
Snacks don't fix being unseen. Paychecks don't replace purpose.
You can't buy the feeling that someone's work still matters.
And that's why I hired Raquel here.
Say what? Because she'll tell me when I'm
starting to sound like a company memo.
God, I envy you, Miss Jamie. Having employees like that
who'll keep you grounded, it's like sometimes I don't even know
why I do what I do anymore. There was a passion there, Mr.
Andrews, Perhaps you need to rediscover it.
Maybe you're right, you know it's nearly the holiday season.
I think I'll give my staff the month off full pay.
Let them breathe for once. Let them remember their people,
not positions. Damn.
Mr. Andrews a full month off with pay.
Yeah, that's wildly generous. If you don't mind us asking,
what exactly is it that your company does?
We wipe. Excuse you, what?
Andrew and son toilet paper industries at your service, my
dears. You have got to be kidding.
Please tell. Me you're hiring.
Please please please please. Dude I just hired you month off
with pay. Month off with pay month off.
With pay, Come to think of it, the toilet paper industry is
probably a billion if not trillion dollar industry.
Multi billion, everyone has. It you know, come to think of.
It maybe I chose. Please please please I can work
here. Part time.
I don't. Know you ever consider being a
sponsor? How fast can you roll toilet
paper business? Sponsor another business.
Not an easy gig. What?
The hell am I even saying I? Want to wipe some shit?
I should tell you that I saw that I care say Kaiga coward.
Oh my homie tiny my die die 'cause she no shit die anymore.
Give me to well so that I get that she I will say.