THE MOMENT
"Fired?" Glorii was surprised. "Why is a teenager firing Vlad?" She tried to keep her comments to a whisper. But, the best friend she'd made on the job so far just shook his head and stared ahead. The entire kitchen staff had gone silent when the rainbow-haired teenager fired the restaurant manager. The lean, pale, balding man hung his head with a nod and walked away; but, the teenager turned and walked up to Glorii.
"Because I own this restaurant," she answered Glorii's quiet question. "Hello, Glorii," she glanced at her nametag. "My name's Monday. We need to have a talk," she looked up at the staff standing around. "Everyone else get back to work!"
"Yes, Monday!" they answered as one and scattered back to their stations.
"Follow me," Monday said. She turned and walked into the Manager's office. Vlad was filling a box with his personal belongings, but Monday interrupted him.
"I need this office right now, come back later for your things," she said. Vlad nodded and slipped out the door as Glorii entered. He closed it behind himself. Monday sat behind Vlad's desk and moved the box to the floor. Glorii sat down on the other side in front of her.
"I'm on a schedule, so I'll move this along quickly," Monday said. "First, I want to answer your question. I fired Vlad because he made a mistake. It wasn't his first mistake; but, this particular mistake is not one I can afford to have happen again. He understands that and the rest of the staff will too," she said.
"Okay...," Glorii nodded. She hoped that the clarification was the only reason Monday invited her to the office; but, she had a feeling there was more.
"His mistake was hiring you," Monday said. "Not YOU, exactly," Monday added as she nodded at Glorii. "It kind of worked in his favor that it was YOU; but, he hired a human without realizing it." Glorii went from offended to puzzled. She had no idea what was wrong with her being hired until Monday's clarification confused her.
"... a human?" she asked.
"Everyone else on staff is a vampire," Monday said. Her tone was so matter-of-fact that she might as well have said the sky was blue.
"What?" Glorii uttered the question. But, small things she noticed here and there began to add up in the back of her mind. Most of all, the operating hours that stood out to her when she first applied. Two weeks on the job and she was only now getting used to her new sleep schedule. She found it easy to believe they were all vampires. Monday nodded.
"The situation turned out okay because it was you; but, I'm sure you can imagine that I can't let him accidentally hire another human.
"What's so special about me?" Glorii asked. She didn't feel particularly important, especially now that she knew she was surrounded by actual vampires. But, Monday seemed to be insisting otherwise.
"You're a Gloria," Monday said.
"My name's Glorii...," she pointed at her nametag to remind Monday. But, Monday grinned and shook her head.
"I'll arrange for Mundo to come and talk to you," Monday said. "That'll clear up a lot of questions," she said.
"So..., I'm not fired?" Glorii asked. She'd felt perfectly comfortable with the staff before she discovered they were all vampires. She'd made at least one good friend, Victor, so far and the rest were all just as friendly.
"Oh, not at all. In fact, you being here is a great opportunity," Monday said.
"Opportunity for what?" Glorii asked.
"Business," Monday answered. "I wanted to avoid hiring human employees; but, I never considered one of you. Now that it's done, I'm comfortable leaving you in charge of the day shift. If you'll take it."
"We don't have a day shift...," Glorii shook her head. But, Monday nodded.
"We don't currently. But you can help me change that."
"By myself?" Glorii asked. She was interested in going back to her normal sleep schedule; but, she couldn't imagine running an entire restaurant alone. Luckily, Monday shook her head.
"I run a lot of businesses, and many of them are restaurants. I can pull other employees to fill in here during the day."
"You hire humans at other restaurants; but, not here?" Glorii asked. Monday shrugged.
"Each business serves a different purpose," she said. "I do hire humans for some; but, I have a different goal in mind for this establishment. Luckily, you don't clash with that goal. As for any other daytime employees I bring in, they won't be human."
"But... vampires can't work during the day?" Glorii asked. Monday nodded.
"They won't be vampires either. There are other non-humans in the multiverse."
"M-multiverse?" Glorii asked. Monday nodded as she stood up.
"I have other businesses to inspect," Monday said. She wiggled her fingers at the air next to the desk and a tall black portal opened. She stepped into it; but, she reassured Glorii before she disappeared.
"Don't worry, Mundo will explain everything about alternate universes."