Making drinks

"You'll be making drink orders up front." Ben said, gesturing to several machines next to the cash register. One was currently being operated by a tall brunette. "Emily here can help you during the rushes. Emily!" he said, catching her attention. "Go take your 15. Mackenzie will do drinks until you get back."

The brunette looked to Mackenzie briefly, muttering a "Thanks," before striding off towards a break room in back of the cafe.

"Let me know if you run into trouble." Ben said, giving Mackenzie a thumbs up as he walked away. "You'll do great!"

Mackenzie looked over at the machines, took a deep breath, and got to work. She read the next order off the screen, a mocha latte, then began making the drink like she'd been trained to do. A minute later, she'd finished it. With a small sense of pride, Mackenzie walked over to the pickup counter, about five feet to her right. She called out the order number and it was hastily grabbed by a nearby girl who didn't even look up from her phone. Then, Mackenzie zipped back over to the drink machines, ready to start the next order.

Over the next twenty minutes, Mackenzie settled into a rhythm, getting slightly faster with each drink she made. Things were going smoothly, until one point when Mackenzie leaned a bit too close to the espresso machine. She whirled to her right, ready to make the short trek over to the pickup counter, when it happened. Her nametag pin, a small metal rectangle, got caught on the edge of the machine. There was a soft SHRIP! and then, before Mackenzie had even realized what was happening, the nametag came free from the machine. The redhead quickly delivered the drink she was holding and then she stopped to examine the state of her shirt more closely.

Mackenzie glanced down at her shirt, where she had felt the slight tugging sensation. The pin hadn't come free from the shirt, the shirt had simply ripped! A small hole, a few square inches in area, now existed on Mackenzie's shirt, right next to her left armpit where she had placed the pin earlier. The scrap of fabric dangled from the right edge of the hole, with the pin pulling it down slightly. Mackenzie grumbled at how easily her shirt had just torn, but had an idea. She unpinned the nametag, then used it to pin the dangling fabric back in place with the rest of her shirt. Her nametag was now an inch closer to the center of her chest, but still visible next to her apron.

Before she could get back to work, Ben walked up to her. "Time for the 1 o'clock rush, Mackenzie. Get your game face on!" And before she could even respond, he walked past her, alerting other staff members.

Emily returned to the drink machines then too, glancing at Mackenzie as if appraising her. "Okay, new girl. No offense, but I doubt you're quick enough yet to handle the rush. So I'll make the drinks if you go deliver 'em. Sound good?"

"Uh, sure." Mackenzie said. She had improved at making the various kinds of coffee, but she knew she was still nowhere near as fast as the more seasoned employees.

"Great. If you can survive the next twenty minutes, then you'll be alright."

And with that, the two girls got to work. Already, the line of waiting customers was rapidly growing in size. All the various college students, free from their most recent class, all swarmed the cafe at once as they tried to get their food or caffeine fixes.