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“Then they go in pails for when I’m ready for them. Some things I will cook in front of you. Some you’ll help with. It’s not a secret how to make pomegranate or even jaboticaba jelly, but the rest I like to cook on my own without eyes or risking peoplestealing my secret awesomeness. So I do it early on my own or after everyone’s gone.”
“So the guys will harvest and we’ll prep?” a different girl asked, glancing around as if she thought she could handle that.
Adrena smirked at her. “No, I’m not sexist like that. I’m an equalist. I think boys can cook too. There’s like this career, chefs, I think?” She gave the girl a wink to take the sting out of her snark. “I’m a girl, and I promise I can harvest faster than any of the guys here.” She snorted and looked at me. “You might have me beat on the easy stuff you friggin’ ogre machine with your height and muscles.”
I ducked my head when I flushed. How could she sort of insult meandturn me on like it was a hard flirt at the same time? Unreal.
“So the way I find it best is working to harvest a bunch of carts and then come sit on my ass doing prep or something not in the hot greenhouses. If you are scared of heights and don’t like the lifts, that’sfine.
“I hate those fucking things too. You can pick the low stuff. I have another beast that automates cleaning jars, filling, capping and then in the fridge they go to get the vacuum sealed once they cool.
“But people can be in the cooler brewhouse to put on labels and box up orders once I get to that level. I wasn’t expecting fifty of you, but I couldusefifty of you, trust me.
“I want some of you to be friendly faces at the farmers markets all over the area. I plan on getting more vans for deliveries to bakeries that I want to use my stuff in their everything.
“And just so you believe me on that fun thing, I was talking to a friend of mine who has a monthly cookout and party for her employees. Granted, it’s a vineyard and winery and you’re all underage, but I do like spit-roasting full pigs and my pool isfucking killer. So if we work hard and you help me take over the world, I’m good with real perks and paying well.”
“No one ran,” I offered when she seemed at a loss of what to do next. “Just so we’re clear, now would be the time to bail out.”
One of the bigger guys my age snorted. “A summer gig that won’t conflict with morning football training camp workouts? Yeah, I’m in. I just want to know if it’s flexible once school starts again.”
She shrugged. “I don’t mind if you do weekends only during football season if you’re my summer minions. A lot want off summers for vacation too, so being flexible means not losing good employees.”
“I’m in,” he replied, several others nodding.
“Okay, I have applications then to be all official like,” she said heading over towards the wrong way before spinning on her heel and going the right way.
“Um, do you know how to handle the employee stuff and getting it all in the system?” I asked her, a bit worried since she didn’t know how to get my phone synced with the gate. “Should I call Sia’s, um, that guy who—”
“Lover?” She teased me. “Sia’s lover? That’s the word you were going for?”
“Sure.” I had been thinking familiar but yeah, couldn’t say that. “I didn’t know it was official. I just thought I caught the vibe but I don’t really know them.”
“Ahh, yeah, we might need Deon out here. I have no fucking clue what I’m doing. He was the one who upgraded all the everything and then it got added to mine after I knew her old stuff. We might have to paper and pen it for now until we get the ID badges that swipe to clock in.”
I sent Sia a text from Adrena’s phone asking Deon to contact me on my phone in regards to all this part that maybe hecould walk me through or there was an instructional video for. I thought I might be able to handle this part at least.
“Seven twenty-five? Seriously? That can’t be the minimum wage in Louisiana,” Adrena exclaimed. “Wow, good job having the highest percentage in poverty and only requiring the federal minimum wage. Greedy assholes.”
“Is she for real?” that same guy asked me quietly.
“Yeah, she is,” I promised, getting she seemed completely like this was a joke. “Her launch got delayed big time and then she was a huge hit, which I don’t think she believed she could really pull off.
“It’s interesting, she’s a great teacher of useful stuff, and she feeds me awesome food. This is like the best place ever.”
He snorted. “So you stay here?”
I nodded. “I graduated early for this year. She’s friends with the woman who took me in from a bad foster family last year. But she had her own stuff going on, I never had time to come up with a plan being bounced around and… Yeah, she said her friend needed help and I had no plan, so it might work.”
“Robby,” he introduced.
“Finn,” I replied, shaking his hand. I dropped his hand and saw there were too many to do what Adrena needed to handle effectively. “How about I take half and we get some work done that I’ll time and log once we figure it all out?”
“Yeah, that would help,” she admitted, giving me a relieved smile. “I could use a fuck ton of mangosteen to make some Cleared of Noise tonight.”
“Got it.” I ended up taking more than half after saying I wanted all the upperclassmen to come with. I started the timer on my phone and we brought back all the carts. I showed them the cabinets by the water filtration for gloves and clippers and we got to work.
It didn’t take us all that long to fill all the carts with thirty-two people, but then we drove them back for the next step, people seeming to get there was going to be a bit of back and forth until they learned what to do and found a groove.
