Chapter 153

I tiredly sighed as the last group made its way out. I had to admit that although there were many talented people out there, it was hard to find people I thought would go well with the teahouse.

We had luck in finding the sisters and the group of men. 

And talking about them…

I stood with a groan and walked over to them. Maybe it was my imagination, but my belly had grown overnight. It was not that visible, but since I always checked it in the mornings, I could tell. The baby was finally going in its growth spurts inside there.

"Hi there." I waved at the four who quickly stood as soon they saw me walking towards them. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Did you have something to drink? What about food?" I had to be extra accommodating to them since I did not know if they would slay my pocket with their salary expectations.

"Yeah, the big guy brought us tea and some snacks, thanks." The smallest of them – what was his name again? – said with a bright smile. 

"That is Lucas, my husband. You might see him around sometimes." I waved behind me, knowing he was there cleaning the debris the people who renovated the building left behind.

"I presume you telling us to stay behind is because we're hired, right?" The man, who had beautiful hazel eyes and was the muscliest, spoke up.

I nodded. They brightened up at that. "You will sign a contract that will bind you to this establishment. You will not work for others while you work here." That dampened their mood a bit. 

"The matter of salary has to be talked over. I have you and two other women who will work here, so the most likely outcome is that you will start with a base salary of 20 coins. We only need to discuss if that amount could be for the whole group or by pairs."

My words certainly displeased them, going by their expressions. However, they had to somehow understand that new businesses could not afford to pay high salaries. However, we could reach a compromise like the one I did with Hanni and Hari. 

I told them so, which seemed to appease them.

"What kind of deal did you offer them?" The tallest man asked curiously.

"Well, I told them that while they did their performance, special pastries were going to be sold and half the money of the sold pastries would go to them." I explained.

"That's so cool!" The youngest breathed, making me smile.

"If you could share a stage with them, then we could offer a course meal. Or even give special performances once a week." I threw some ideas. They were all things my Husbands and I came up the previous night.

"If we did other tasks apart from our plays, would we be paid more?" The second tallest man suddenly asked. I really needed to learn their names.

"Like what?" I frowned.

"Being waiters, for example. We've done that before." The others nodded at his words. That was surprising, to say the least. They were extremely talented, how could they do other jobs if they were good at what they did? "Would we get double salary?"

I actually never thought of that. It would really save me from doing a recruitment call for that type of staff, and I had Xandre on the list already. 

I had just wanted the waiters to wear a uniform, like in Mr. Dodds' restaurant. Something extravagant but elegant, very catchy on its own… I looked at their clothes and an idea came crashing to me that made me gasp.

"Of course! Themes!" I cried out, startling the four men and making Lucas approach with worry. "I am fine, honey, just excited." I smiled at him and pecked his jaw. He nodded and left with a flushed face.

I turned to the men who were looking everywhere but at my direction. They did not seem like townspeople, so I found their shyness amusing.

"I will take your suggestion into account. I think it is a marvelous idea, but let me expand upon it myself and give you a better proposal." I told them.

"When?" The tallest blurted out and winced when he caught his mistake. "We, um, are a bit low on money, so…" He trailed off a bit embarrassed. Probably from divulging their situation.

"Do you have a place to stay?" Beyond being possible future employees, I felt the need to extend a helping hand.

I was not lying when I once told Joseph that he and the others had taught me a great lesson in helping others in need. Sure, they had an ulterior motive behind their help, but they were decent enough to leave me the final say on the matter.

"Yes, don't worry about that." The one who proposed the waiting idea quickly reassured. I did not missed the way he squeezed the other man's hand. 

Well, that was something I was not going to meddle with, so I just accepted his words. "The stage will be built in these days, so I will send you a notice for you to come check the contracts and see if we can reach an agreement."

They nodded. They also stayed in an inn; seemingly being errant entertainers like the sisters. With that taken care of, they also left. 

Thinking of their conditions and the one from Hanni and Hari, I thought of inviting them to a meal while speaking business. 

I could rent a private room at Dodds & Dodette and ask Mr. Dodds if he knew of some chef who was an expert at pastries and other miscellaneous food. 

"Isabelle. People at the door. They bring the stage." Lucas said, taking me out of my musings. Oh! They were quicker than expected.

"Let them in!" I replied, excited. 

When I discussed the matter of the stage with Monthe and Vieve, I strongly appealed for a movable stage. They were confused at the beginning, but when I explained, they looked very taken with the idea. 

The stage was planned to be fifty centimeters tall, not too tall to make the people strain their necks to look up and not too short to be able to put certain mechanisms in different boxes that compounded the stage. 

Two meters long, two meters wide, and fifty centimeters deep. The same people we hired to renovate the building made ten boxes with those specifications. It was a task and a half to explain what we wanted inlaid in some of those boxes.

However, seeing how they quickly installed them in a rectangular way on the courtyard, it was worth the almost 100 coins they costed. The best part of the stage being movable was that we could take off or modify the shape according to the entertainers needs. 

"Do you want a demonstration on the mechanisms you asked for?" The boss of the shop asked, and I excitedly nodded my head. 

When I came out of the building, done with everything I had to do there, the other workers long gone, I could not contain my excitement and pulled Lucas down for a steamy kiss. The alley was not that crowded, but some people did let us know what they thought of our display.

I did not care!

I was too happy to sour my mood with unimportant opinions of people I did not know!

"This requires some celebration!" I announced, pulling Lucas towards the other exit that led towards Yellow Leaf Village. 

I could not wait to arrive home and share the happiness with my Husbands.