Yesterday had been an absolute nightmare, Naku thought to herself as she walked in the doors of the restaurant, ready to start her shift. She was still a little embarrassed over her slight breakdown in the back of the kitchen, but everyone had been understanding.

The manager had even talked to her afterwards about what had happened and how she shouldn't take it too personally. He reassured her she had done nothing wrong and that she had done the right thing to go get him when things escalated.

That was when she broke down for the second time and she spent five minutes alternating between sniffling and outright bawling. She was just glad that it all was over and that the manager had been so understanding, and most of all she appreciated how he was on her side. Technically she knew she should always be able to count on the support of her co-workers but to actually be shown, for real, that it was true? That she didn't have to stand alone against the horrible treatment she could sometimes be exposed to? She didn't have the words to describe the relief she felt.

"Hi" she greeted the chefs who were busy prepping for the day.

Scattered hellos and how are you swept over the kitchen. She made her way to the back room and picked out a new clean apron for the day.

"Good morning, Naku." She heard the manager from behind the desk. He always had some paperwork to handle. "Feel better today?"

"I do." She affirmed.

"The meeting will begin in ten minutes, feel free to grab a bite to eat before we begin. We've got fresh honey-cakes."

She walked over to the counter and lifted the cloth covering the end pieces the pastry chef had saved for them to nibble on. They smelled really good.

The other servers who were on the midmorning shift gathered in the next few minutes and shared some varied gossip with each other. Only she and Shang had worked yesterday. From what she could hear they weren't talking about her, which was good. Apparently Tarri's niece had had her first day of school yesterday, and had bombarded her with questions and talked about everyone in her class.

When the clock chimed 11 they all gathered around the information board they had at the back of the office area.

"Welcome everybody. Today is a new day and I hope we are all well rested and ready to work! As you all know, today is the day! We have three new shipments of soldiers come home, and many families are hoping to go out and eat with their families. You know what this means?"

The manager waited a moment to see if anyone would volunteer to continue. They did not. He hadn't expected them to, so he continued regardless.

"It means that we are have to be extra motivated to do our absolute best. Every guest that walks through our doors are to be treated with the same popping attitudes we always have, no matter how stressful today might be. Think of your tips, think of happy customers, and focus on the little extra service that they will notice."

He paused briefly before he continued. "Our specials are our best way to get as many guests in and out quickly. Try to upsell them as much as possible, always describe the dishes with emphasis on how good it tastes, but don't be too forward. Always recommend a good wine to go with whatever they order. And, before we get into it, if anyone sees Captain Arem he is no longer welcome. Get me immediately if you see him. That is all, get to it!" he clapped his hands loudly to spring them in action.

A flurry of movement marked the start of the lunch period of the day, and for every customer Naku remembered the awful time with Captain Arem yesterday, and for every customer she was so glad they were nothing like him. Even the half-assed somewhat dismissive customers got the smile of the day. She also suspected Hana might have something to do with the fact that she only got easy regulars with good tips to start out her day.

They day passed quickly with all the customers who graced their steps. She even got ahead of some of the talk about yesterday. A few other waiters had already asked her hurriedly in between tables, drinks and customers.

Apparently the scarred stranger was a hot topic and a badly drawn sketch made its way up on the information board in the back. It was labelled with "customer of the day" and had him smiling. The manager didn't say anything about it, but when they looked at it next time "tips well" had been added on the paper.