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last online Oct 27, 2023 12:42:38 GMT -7
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Jun 3, 2019 15:56:38 GMT -7
Post by vasilia abigail fortescue on Jun 3, 2019 15:56:38 GMT -7
February 4, 2025 @open
Vasilia had started a tradition a few months back: Taste Test Tuesday. Her parents couldn’t really permit her selling her experimental ice cream flavors without any proper ‘testing’. So, why not get some testing done in a unique way? Every visitor would get a free sample of all the experimental flavors. If any stood out to you, you could then purchase a larger quantity of any of the experimental flavors for half the price of Fortescue’s normal flavors. While some flavors never sold, others would sell out in the first few hours, especially since the public knew that you could only get the flavor that one day. The new tradition had brought in quite a bit of business during the slowest months of the year, much to the delight of the Fortescue family and their employees.
It was Tuesday morning and Vasilia was very excited for today’s samples. She had about a dozen flavors for testing today. She’s tasted one of the employees scheduled in the morning to set up the sample table while she set up a sign, reading “TASTE TEST TUESDAY” in large print, with “Feeling adventurous? Free experimental ice cream samples!” in smaller print below. Inside, by the samples table was another sign with more information, clarifying the rules of the sample testing (try them all for free, can purchase more for half off.).
Vasilia had just finished setting up the sign when she noticed someone approaching the shop. Immediately she smiled brightly and held the door open for them. ”Good morning!”
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cara june bainbridge
HOGWARTS ALUM AUTHOR PART TIME CASHIER AT FLOREAN FORTESCUE'S ICE CREAM PARLOUR PART TIME EMPLOYEE AT SPELLBUCKS
279 posts
played by Colin
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last online Mar 28, 2024 19:39:31 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jun 3, 2019 20:30:27 GMT -7
Post by cara june bainbridge on Jun 3, 2019 20:30:27 GMT -7
02.04.2025 It was Taste Test Tuesday. Cara hated Taste Test Tuesday for a number of reasons. The most obvious was that if the taste of the day turned out to be a hit, the store would be flooded with customers all day asking about it. The best flavors were usually out before noon and then it became a mad scramble to help everyone that decided to settle for the normal flavors once they discovered the limited run was out. In the grand scheme of things this was a great idea by Vasilia Fortescue, one of Cara’s bosses (or the boss’s child, she still wasn’t sure how to label the older girl still), because it brought customers in on a normally dead day. But that was only when the flavors hit their mark. Realistically it was like playing Russian roulette with ice cream flavors; the ones that were good were blank rounds and survived to see another day, and the ones that failed, well, Cara sometimes felt obligated to eat the failures more than she normally would.
“Morning Vas,” Cara returned not as energetically as the door was opened for her. At least she wasn’t the opening shift, because it seemed like that poor soul had been relegated to putting out the table for the Fortescue girl. Trying to be a bit more upbeat, Cara leaned over and read each of the labels on the samples of ice cream. “Any of them stand-outs?” she asked. She would need to know the flavors and details of each if a customer asked anyways. Getting her own taste test out of the way now would only make that easier.
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last online Oct 27, 2023 12:42:38 GMT -7
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Jun 4, 2019 12:17:12 GMT -7
Post by vasilia abigail fortescue on Jun 4, 2019 12:17:12 GMT -7
Vasilia was aware that some of the other employees at the shop might find her a little… crazy when it came to food (and ice cream, since it was considered food). But hey, why not take some risks in life? It was almost like that jelly bean game she’d played so often in school, called Bean Boozled. You never knew if it would be a good or bad flavor. While that wasn’t the sort of game for everyone, you’d be surprised by how many would participate and enjoyed it, even if they got a bad flavor.
Vas’ grin was wide as Cara returned her greeting, though there seemed to be an almost sense of dread in Cara’s voice. No surprise, again, it was a game of chance and some people really didn’t enjoy the game. Following Cara inside, Vasilia straightened one of the signs in the window before approaching the sample table.
”Well, you know me. I like all the flavors! But I have a good feeling about the apple, pecans and green tea.” She pointed to a pale green ice cream. ”But the orange, and fennel could be a contender. I added a hint of arugula and used goat’s milk as a twist, so the texture is different.” Eyeing the rest of the line up there were definitely a number of interesting and bizarre flavors as well, including one made with jalapeno peppers, another that sounded like breakfast (bacon, egg, and toast), and even a smoked salmon flavor. While some of these sounded just by their name that they’d be hard to sell, their biggest seller from a Taste Test Tuesday had actually been peanut butter, banana and bacon. ”I don’t know what others will think, but my personal favorite of the batch is this one. Peach, tomato and basil.”
cara june bainbridge
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cara june bainbridge
HOGWARTS ALUM AUTHOR PART TIME CASHIER AT FLOREAN FORTESCUE'S ICE CREAM PARLOUR PART TIME EMPLOYEE AT SPELLBUCKS
279 posts
played by Colin
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last online Mar 28, 2024 19:39:31 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jul 10, 2019 20:07:14 GMT -7
Post by cara june bainbridge on Jul 10, 2019 20:07:14 GMT -7
02.04.2025 With Vas explaining the ingredients (because calling them flavors was hard to do with all of those things mixed together) for this week’s batch of tester ice creams, Cara couldn’t help but laugh out loud when the image of her boss putting everything together like the Dr. Frankenstein of ice cream. Everything was mismatched and yet somehow a few of the flavors turned out well. The rest were monstrous atrocities, in Cara’s honest opinion, but they still managed to do well with the public. Apparently unsuspecting customers were braver than she had initially pegged them for when she started the job two months ago. People really liked their ice cream and were willing to give anything a shot at least once. “Fennel tastes like licorice, right?” Cara asked Vas as she leaned over the container that held the orange and fennel ice cream concoction. She wasn’t a huge fan of the licorice flavoring, especially black licorice, and there was absolutely no way that an orange flavoring could overpower that. “That breakfast one looks like it will go fast, so I’ll take a shot at that to start.”
It was a brave endeavor, but her taste buds were tempted by the prospect of having her breakfast in ice cream form. “I’ll grab it after I clock in,” she called over her shoulder as she passed the taste test stand and headed towards the tiny breakroom in the back. The only things she left at the shop were her nametag and an extra uniform, just in case the worst happened while on a shift. So far everything had been running smoothly while she was there, but knowing her luck, it was all in due time for a machine to malfunction and ice cream to fly all over her.
Clocking in and getting herself situated for the shift, Cara returned to the front of the shop and gave the test subjects a once over again. “And maybe the smoked salmon too. I want to see the customers’ reactions before I try to tackle the rest of those. I don’t have that Gryffindor bravery…”
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last online Oct 27, 2023 12:42:38 GMT -7
INACTIVE
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Jul 31, 2019 11:04:58 GMT -7
Post by vasilia abigail fortescue on Jul 31, 2019 11:04:58 GMT -7
Vasilia nodded vigorously at Cara's first question. "Black licorice, specifically." There were so many licorice flavors that Vasilia felt it important to identify which specific licorice flavor it was. "It's also good for your digestive system!" Because, some customers were more inclined to try flavors that had some sort of health benefit, she often tried to include a few flavors that could be sold as having health benefits. All those mom's watching their weight but unable to resist ice cream? They were great customers for those flavors. When the breakfast flavor was mentioned, Vasilia grinned. "I read an article this week about the benefits of eating ice cream for breakfast. Decided why not give it a more literal try." Of course she'd get inspiration from that sort of article. She got inspiration from everything.
Cara walked away to get clocked in and Vasilia stepped behind the sample table. Readjusting a few tags, reordering a few flavors so similar colors weren't right next to each other, basically some aesthetic rearranging. Cara returned while Vas was dropping one of the ice cream containers into it's new slot, mentioning the smoked salmon and wanting to see how customers reacted before trying all the flavors. "Well, I suspect some will go quickly, so you might want to try them before our customers get their hands on it." That had happened on a few occasions. One flavor selling out within an hour of opening. Grabbing a few sampling spoons she held them out to Cara. "Try whatever ones you want! We're going to do another competition. First person to sell out their favorite flavor gets times and a half this week." Selling competitions was always good motivation for the employees. Give them some extra incentive to do their best.
cara june bainbridge
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cara june bainbridge
HOGWARTS ALUM AUTHOR PART TIME CASHIER AT FLOREAN FORTESCUE'S ICE CREAM PARLOUR PART TIME EMPLOYEE AT SPELLBUCKS
279 posts
played by Colin
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last online Mar 28, 2024 19:39:31 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Aug 18, 2019 21:14:14 GMT -7
Post by cara june bainbridge on Aug 18, 2019 21:14:14 GMT -7
02.04.2025 So fennel was black licorice. And black licorice was fennel. In the past few weeks, Cara had attempted to do her best to hide her distaste for some of the flavors that were created. Black licorice was something else altogether though. She could deal with bitter people day in and day out, but bitter tasting foods was simply too much. And the after taste! Cara didn’t hold herself back when her face screwed up into that of displeasure at the fennel and orange combination, and she shook her head side to side when Vas said it was even good for the digestive system. “It could cure cancer and I wouldn’t eat it,” she said rather stubbornly. “So I will not be testing that one today.”
Vas went on to say that ice cream was supposedly good for breakfast as well, and Cara’s look of disgust over the test ice cream changed to that of confusion. Ice cream had benefits? “I get that your ice cream is different from the muggle kind and all that, but what in Merlin’s name could make it beneficial?” Sure, most people tended to eat it later at night and then sleeping on it, which wasn’t the healthiest in the world, but eating late wasn’t anyways. Kick starting your morning with a bowl of ice cream though? She was skeptical of it, even with Vas pushing the breakfast flavor to the customers today. Hell, she bought into the fact that it would taste good without even giving it a try yet.
Taking a few of the sample spoons, Cara nodded that she understood her time was short to grab tests of the ice cream. She went for the breakfast flavor first, not wanting to have it tainted by the after taste of any of the others. Of course it tasted exactly how she expected, and even better. “Vas, you’ve outdone yourself with this one,” Cara forced out between the small bites of the serving. “Cancel everything else and put only this on display. Seriously.” She wasn’t sure if she even wanted to try the rest of the flavors now. There was absolutely on way they could top it!
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last online Oct 27, 2023 12:42:38 GMT -7
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Feb 19, 2020 21:59:56 GMT -7
Post by vasilia abigail fortescue on Feb 19, 2020 21:59:56 GMT -7
Vasilia couldn't help but laugh, almost cackle, at Cara's disgusted and stubborn reaction to fennel. Sure, black licorice wasn't exactly a flavor everyone liked. It was one of those tastes you either liked or hated. Being a culinary student she knew this all to well. Unfortunately in her line of work she didn't have the luxury of refusing to taste something. Thankfully, Vas wasn't a picky eater. She loved trying new things! In general, but definitely with food, and ABSOLUTELY with ice cream.
"Well, just sell it to all the quidditch mom's that come in. You know they'll buy anything they think is good for their figure."
Cara's confusion was understandable, and absolutely adorable. Vas smiled like a Cheshire cat. "Strictly speaking, my ice cream could be considered pretty normal. I've read about some pretty amazing shops around the world I plan on seeing one day! There's even one in America that puts real gold flacks in the ice cream! Edible, of course. But I don't imagine that'd go over well with Gringott's. A waste of gold, the goblins would say." She stopped though, suddenly struck by inspiration. Vas tapped her chin. "Or... Maybe it'll attract them to the shop. They do like gold quite a bit... Why wouldn't they want to eat it to..." She remained lost in thought for a moment longer, before shaking her head, storing this new idea away in the mental vault of experimental flavors to try someday. "Sorry, what was your question?" It was only now that she realized Cara had posed a question in the comment about her ice cream being different than muggles.
As Cara began her tasting, Vas waited in eager anticipation. It was almost like a puppy. Her waiting was worth it, as Cara seemed more than impressed with the breakfast flavor. Vasilia started to smile, then grin, then she was absolutely beaming. She took pride in all her creations, but successes brought true joy. "You think so? You're usually pretty hard to please."
cara june bainbridge (I know this is insanely late... I'm so freaking sorry.)
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cara june bainbridge
HOGWARTS ALUM AUTHOR PART TIME CASHIER AT FLOREAN FORTESCUE'S ICE CREAM PARLOUR PART TIME EMPLOYEE AT SPELLBUCKS
279 posts
played by Colin
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last online Mar 28, 2024 19:39:31 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Mar 29, 2020 14:25:44 GMT -7
Post by cara june bainbridge on Mar 29, 2020 14:25:44 GMT -7
▲ Right…Quidditch moms certainly did seem like the type that would consume fennel ice cream in messy globs while dabbing at their children’s faces with wet naps. Cara had to remind herself of her place at the ice cream parlour – she wasn’t born into this business and hadn’t gotten to the point where she could accurately pinpoint what certain demographics of customers did and did not like their ice cream to taste like. Maybe one day she would fall into the fennel liking category, but the prospect of having her own little children running around her screaming and spilling ice cream everywhere was a huge turn off. She wanted to actively enjoy ice cream, especially the stuff Fortescue’s kept pushing out on a weekly basis. If the breakfast flavor she was currently munching on was any sign of that, Cara could settle with working here the rest of her life if writing a novel didn’t pan out. Vas sort of answered the question she had asked, going into great detail about ice cream that had gold flecks and other strange, but edible, ingredients. Cara had a feeling that her boss had forgotten about the part where they had ice cream with literal blood in it for vampire customers. While that certainly had health benefits for those folks, the rest of the inventory was questionable when it came to its nutrition. “I…I can’t remember,” Cara lied, not really wanting to go into the intricacies of it now. She was sure she would learn in time, and questioning the boss on something she wasn’t well-versed in yet would be silly. “Yeah, I really like it,” Cara fumbled out through another mouthful of ice cream. “It sort of makes sense though, right? This stuff goes so well together to begin with, putting it all together is like one of those Willy Wonka three-course meals in the movie.” She had no idea if Vas would get that, but she had spent her childhood being subjected to muggle movies because of her younger siblings. Fortescue’s and Willy Wonka seemed pretty similar though, in her opinion. Both trying to create the best flavors for their product and pushing the boundaries of what shouldn’t normally be reasonable. MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
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last online Oct 27, 2023 12:42:38 GMT -7
INACTIVE
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Apr 29, 2020 11:05:57 GMT -7
Post by vasilia abigail fortescue on Apr 29, 2020 11:05:57 GMT -7
Vasilia had always been good at reading people. It was a skill she'd learned from years working in the shop. When you spent so much time serving people you tended to start to pick up visual clues of what the customer was feeling. If they liked the flavor they were trying, if they didn't. If they were getting angry and about to ask for a manager. So at the "I can't remember" comment Vas narrowed her eyes just a little. While Cara hadn't given off any blatantly obvious signs of lying there was still that hesitation in her voice. Cara wasn't really a hesitator. "Uh huh," she answered. Obviously Vas was suspicious, but if Cara didn't want to repeat it she wouldn't make her. The question must not be t hat important if it wasn't worth repeating.
Though, Cara really did seem to be enjoying the breakfast ice cream, shoveling another spoonful. Vas grinned ear to ear. "I'll put aside a carton for you in the back." It really wouldn't be any issue to put some aside for Cara. Vas could whip it up and have it mixing during Cara's shift, that way it was all good to go by the time Cara was done for the day. "Glad it works! Sometimes even when flavors do work together they don't always transition to ice cream." Though at the mention of Willy Wonka, Vas laughed. Of course she'd seen it. Being a squib she'd always had a strong connection with the non-magical world. All her school friends had been muggles. So even if her parents hadn't had a certain movie, one of her friends usually did. "We could totally do something like that. Don't think it'd work for a single flavor to be a three-course meal, but we could do a promo where we give three scoops, each of a different part of the course!"
cara june bainbridge
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cara june bainbridge
HOGWARTS ALUM AUTHOR PART TIME CASHIER AT FLOREAN FORTESCUE'S ICE CREAM PARLOUR PART TIME EMPLOYEE AT SPELLBUCKS
279 posts
played by Colin
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last online Mar 28, 2024 19:39:31 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jun 9, 2020 19:47:27 GMT -7
Post by cara june bainbridge on Jun 9, 2020 19:47:27 GMT -7
▲ She missed her boss’s discerning glare, spending the time to read the label on one of the other flavors again. Her qualms about the health benefits in ice cream would probably fall on deaf ears around here, and she didn’t want to be that sort of employee. The only reason she got the job in the first place was so that she could have some sort of income to sustain her writing career, whatever that was anymore. If customers wanted their unhealthy treat, she was there to happily hand it over to them. Getting into the intricacies of the business with a Fortescue would be like kissing her job goodbye. She sort of needed it right now. “Really?” Cara said through another spoonful of her taste test. That would be...awesome? For once she was happy that she was the only one of her siblings that was still at home. Her parents wouldn’t touch her food, fearful of a verbal lashing, and there weren’t any other Bainbridge children around to sneak off with the whole tub in the middle of the night. “That would be great, actually. Ice cream in my house goes fast, so I might be able to enjoy some this time. Thank Merlin for Hogwarts still being in session.” Any other time of year and that container of breakfast-flavored ice cream would be charmed shut to only allow her hands to open it. She’d probably hex it too, to leave anyone trying to break into it with colored dye on their hands or something. Nobody touched her ice cream, and that was going to be the first rule when the summer rolled by. Vas clearly had the talent of turning ideas into actual working things, because her idea to turn three flavors into the three course meal was better than what Cara had come up with. She wasn’t even sure if one scoop of ice cream could contain everything that she was thinking of. Letting the master maker work on it seemed like the smarter choice. “I’m sure the stranger the meal ideas, the more people you’ll have interested in it too,” she commented, but decided then and there that she wasn’t game on anything that was too realistic tasting. Breakfast flavor was one thing – her taste buds drew the line at meat flavors and foods that only belonged in their normal forms. MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
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last online Oct 27, 2023 12:42:38 GMT -7
INACTIVE
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Jul 12, 2020 10:37:28 GMT -7
Post by vasilia abigail fortescue on Jul 12, 2020 10:37:28 GMT -7
Cara's response to the offer of a carton made Vasilia beam brightly. While she couldn't control how people felt about working at the shop she could at least go out of her way to make them feel important. "Of course! It's the least I can do after all the work you do." Sure, her parents could approve a raise to thank Cara, but sometimes spontaneous gifts were better. Instead of just throwing money at the person, you did something more personal. "I never had that problem growing up. There was always pleeeeeeenty of ice cream in our house. Other stuff not so much though." She grinned. Though it was bit of an exaggeration, it was also pretty true. She'd grown up surrounded by ice cream. They legitimately couldn't run out. A problem Cara seemed to have faced with so many siblings. While Vasilia didn't necessarily know the Bainbridge family well, she knew it had a ton of kids.
If Vasilia did try to do a three course meal ice cream, she had a very strong suspicion she'd need the assistance of a witch or wizard with extensive culinary training. Maybe to magic it to change flavor after so many licks or eating so much of the ice cream. She'd have to talk to logistics out and see what was possible. "That's what makes Tuesdays so popular. People don't want crazy out there flavors all the time, but doing them once a week gives people a fun activity! I've been noticing more and more Tuesday regulars. They only come in on Tuesdays to sample a few flavors. It's also helps that we don't typically offer these flavors after unless they are a huge hit. So people feel a need to come on Tuesdays so that if they do like a flavor that's the only time they'll ever get it." Vasilia was always thinking business. If people knew something was "limited" they were more willing to buy it. It was business tactics 101.
cara june bainbridge
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cara june bainbridge
HOGWARTS ALUM AUTHOR PART TIME CASHIER AT FLOREAN FORTESCUE'S ICE CREAM PARLOUR PART TIME EMPLOYEE AT SPELLBUCKS
279 posts
played by Colin
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last online Mar 28, 2024 19:39:31 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Aug 4, 2020 11:16:29 GMT -7
Post by cara june bainbridge on Aug 4, 2020 11:16:29 GMT -7
▲ Despite being excited about the prospect of getting ice cream to herself, Cara felt slightly guilty over it. She had just started working, and it was technically the slow season. There hadn’t been much work to do other than learning the names of all the flavors and pretending not to be bored when there wasn’t a customer for a few hours. Those were the days she was still trying to get used to - when all of the cleaning was already done and up to snuff, or the supplies were organized as neatly as they had ever been before. After that, she was usually left to her own devices. At least on Tuesday shifts there was the whole taste test thing, and Vas to keep her company for part of the day. During normal days she was left doodling on napkins or skimming books she had read dozens of times over. “Honestly, I’d probably have a real problem if the ice cream didn’t go as fast as it did.” But splitting a container between herself and Diana wouldn’t have killed either of them. It was the triplets that were the real competition here. For all of the Tuesdays Cara had worked thus far, she definitely understood what Vas meant. There were the normal regulars, and the Tuesday regulars. She found those that came back every week to try out the random flavors to be of a more eclectic crowd, looking for weird. Cara had also briefly forgotten that this was Diagon Alley and these were witches and wizards they had as customers. Weird to her was practically normal for them. “It certainly draws a crowd,” Cara stated, craning her head over the ice cream cooler to glance at the growing line outside the shop. “Is it just us today? Because that’s a long line…” The customers weren’t exactly rabid-like, but she had a feeling that once word got out about the breakfast flavored one, it would start getting a little hectic. Slipping her work apron on over her head and tying it in the back, she gave a nod to Vas, “Ready whenever you are.”MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0
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last online Oct 27, 2023 12:42:38 GMT -7
INACTIVE
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Nov 21, 2020 18:52:13 GMT -7
Post by vasilia abigail fortescue on Nov 21, 2020 18:52:13 GMT -7
Vasilia pulled her hair back and into a ponytail, using the elastic around her wrist to keep it in place and out of her face. That was the food industry for you, food safety first. She'd have to make sure to wash her hands before handling any ice cream too, but that was practically second nature to her. "I see no issues with ice cream addiction," Vasilia answered with a laugh. Sure, did she eat too much ice cream by the normal person's standards? Absolutely. Would she consider herself addicted? Absolutely. But there were far worse things to be addicted too. "If you ever want to learn the recipe, let me know and I'll show you." since it was a taste test flavor, it wouldn't really be a trade secret. Plus, Cara was an employee. She was privy to all the recipes, if she paid attention.
The line was definitely growing outside, something that Cara's comment made Vas notice. Already she could see a number of regulars. People that knew the good flavors would go first, so they wanted to be there first to try them. "Uuuh, for now, but Carl and Josue are coming in in half an hour." While that meant the first half hour would be hectic, they wouldn't be alone for long. As Cara announced she was ready, Vas grinned and stepped out from behind the counter. She unlocked the door and opened it wide. "Good morning everyone! We've got some great flavors for you all today!"
cara june bainbridge (END)
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