The stock market had officially crashed. Sure it had happened a few months ago, but sometimes when Tiana woke in the mornings with the sun shining brightly it was as if the whole thing had been a horrible nightmare. That people weren’t losing jobs left and right and that the dream she’d worked for her entire life wasn’t threatening to collapse all around her.
No. No, she wouldn’t let it happen. She just had to be smart, that was all. Be one step ahead of what looked to be the worst economic times the country had ever seen. No problem.
Tiana sighed as she put on her apron, still feeling guilt from yesterday. She’d cried all night into Naveen’s welcoming shoulders, wondering if she done the right thing? But what else could she have done? This was the third time one of her cooks had come in drunk (bad enough that he was drunk, but alcohol was still illegal) and Tiana had to let him go. Even though the ever present guilt seemed ready to consume her, did she really see any other option for what could have been done? Was she supposed to keep paying him for a job not done right? Let him stay while all the while he was disrespecting her and her restaurant by showing up intoxicated? No of course not. That wasn’t smart. But still, why did it have to be so hard?
Tiana forced herself into a smile when she walked to the front of her restaurant. Maybe greeting people and watching them enjoy her food would make her feel better. It usually did, but Tiana had her doubts that it would work today.
“Hello, welcome to Tiana’s Palace,” she said to a newcomer, happily finding the smile on her face was genuine. “I’m Tiana. Table for one?”