8 Rules Are Rules (1/2)

Alan stood behind the counter in the cafe.A week had already gone by since he started working here.Though the system had issued it's new mission five days ago, Alan had not taken any action on it yet.Frankly, his life was already going pretty well.The number of regular customers increased, and his tips managed to hold steady around $200 per day.

If he kept this up, he could afford to rent his own place next month.

Alan looked at his watch and saw the cafe was about to open.He began making a cup of coffee.As he finished it, almost as if on cue, the bell rang as the door opened and Tom walked in.

”Good morning Alan,” Tom nodded.

Alan nodded back.”Morning.”He handed the cup of coffee to Tom.

Tom smiled in anticipation as he reached for it and quickly began to sip it.

Even though the coffee was still scalding hot, Tom gave a smile of satisfaction as it hit his taste buds.

However, then his smile faded and he sighed.Alan looked at him, mildly curious.”What's wrong?Is the coffee not to your liking today?”

”No, no,” Tom shook his head, reassuring him.”The coffee is great, as always.I'm just bummed that I won't be able to have it in the afternoon.”

Alan thought about it and said, ”You could come back here.”If he came back in the afternoon, most likely more than 6 hours would have passed, so Alan could serve him another ultimate cup of joe.

Tom sighed.”I wish I could, but this is so far from my office.It's fine in the morning because it's on the way on my commute, but during the day I don't have the time to come all the way over here just for coffee.My company won't run itself.”

Over the past week, Tom and Alan had gotten to know each other a bit better.Alan now knew that Tom was the majority stakeholder and CEO of his own real estate development company.Furthermore, it was the biggest real estate development company in the city.

Alan shrugged.”Well, I guess you'll have to put up with bad coffee then.”

Tom sighed mournfully before accusing Alan, ”This is all your fault.I didn't care about the taste of coffee in the past, but since I started drinking your coffee I can't stand to drink anything else.I always end up tired at the end of the day because I can't get my second cup of coffee anymore.”

Alan smiled insincerely, ”Thank you for the compliment.”

Tom looked at him balefully.”It wasn't meant to be a compliment, it was a complaint, you understand?A complaint!”

Tom eventually had his coffee and left.

John had come out to observe this interaction.Though business had picked up, John couldn't identify anything Alan in particular was doing to make the coffee great.Thus, he decided it must just be the coffee itself.Even though it was pre-ground, whatever beans were chosen by Alexander Willington must have been superior beans.He thought it was quite shameless of Alan to take credit for it.Still, so long as the customers were happy there was no reason for him to take any action.

The day proceeded normally until around the lunch hour.

At that point a woman came in.

She seemed to be impatient, tapping her foot as she waited behind people.

When her turn arrived, she grunted, saying, ”Finally.”She stepped up and ordered a coffee.

Alan turned to make it when a notification suddenly went off.