Day two at your new job was easily as stressful as the first. Since you'd shown proficiency with more delicate cakes, you'd been started in a position working with the veterans on pastries and other, more touchy sweets the company made. For the time being, you were supposed to take direction from the pros and watch as they worked. The goal was for you to have the recipes memorized well enough to work on your own within a month.

At first that seemed like a generous timeline but you soon realized they had such an array of different things they made, it'd definitely be a challenge to get it all down. But like with what you had to do yesterday, you'd tackle this as well, one way or another.

Once you got your uniform, they'd let you jump in for the hands on training but that was your other big stressor. While you found the Charlottes to be an interesting bunch, they either had no idea what money was worth these days or were just too rich to care. The uniforms they made everyone pay for cost a lot more money than you'd spent on pretty much anything other than your apartment. Even your car didn't cost as much. Though with as pricey as they were, it made sense that they didn't provide them themselves. You were sure the cost added up fast, even for them

But at the same time, you wished they would have gone with something cheaper. All the seasoned employees said the uniforms were as comfortable as they got and cleaned up well, even from the messiest of days, but you weren't sure if that justified the price tag. You'd learned most of the people working here came from affluent families, it was how they were able to afford the outrageous price of the uniform and the cost of schooling to be considered to work here.

While you were proud to say you'd made it here while being dirt poor and without help from anyone else, that wasn't going to get you any further. If anything, you were wondering if it was going to ruin things for you. There was a ton of paperwork for you to go over and have handed in to your boss, including information on the uniform and benefits. With it being a full time job, you'd have access to an actual healthcare plan. That was nice, but it'd be another expensive thing to worry about.

The beginning pay here wasn't bad but it'd be a while before it justified your schooling. And as you sat at one of the many empty tables of the kitchen after work, you were trying to figure out how to make this all affordable. Since the companies written recipes weren't allowed out of the building, employees were able to stay after hours to memorize or refresh their memories on them. Actually, the Charlotte's were generous enough to let the kitchens be used for personal baking as well after the work day was done.

You were taking the time here to crunch numbers though. The other two new hires worked in different kitchens, meaning you had this one to yourself for the time being. It was quiet except for the sounds of you flipping through papers, occasionally writing things down, and murmuring to yourself as you tried to figure out a livable budget until you got your first pay raise. Once you'd been with the company for six months and proven you could handle the job, they'd up your pay by a couple dollars an hour. It'd be a huge pay raise and if you could stretch your money until then, you'd be golden.

The hard part was getting to that point. You had a couple months until insurance kicked in so that'd make things a little easier with buying the uniform but once it did, you'd be giving up a small chunk of your paychecks for that. You could always skip out on the insurance until next year but that wouldn't be the responsible thing to do. And it'd be just your luck to have some major health problem come up while you were uninsured. Then you had to think about the cost of coming and going to work.

Your car didn't cost much to fill up but it was an older model and needed to be refueled often. Adding a two hour round trip to it every five days of the week meant you'd be getting gas twice as often, yet another drain on your income. Then there were school bills that couldn't wait to be paid each month to top it all off.

"Maybe if I asked about making payments on the uniform...." You mumbled to yourself as you wrote out a new budget. It'd be strict and it'd mean eating cheap for a while but it was doable.

You jumped as someone knocked at the open door and twisted around to see them. Without a doubt, you knew they were another Charlotte but this one you didn't actually know the name of. He looked like one of the older siblings with some definite beginning signs of aging. There was a large scar taking up the right side of his face, starting at his hairline, going over his eye, and ending near his jaw. But that wasn't the first thing that caught your eye. It was how he smiled.

He had a mischievous grin that made him look younger than what you bet he probably was. He walked in when he caught your eye, sweeping up his long locks of lavender hair and using a tie around his wrist to put it into a messy bun.

"I probably shouldn't be in here with my hair down I'm guessing." He chuckled.

"It's probably not advised but I'm sure you can do whatever you like." You answered.

You thought it was odd to just find a Charlotte wandering around here after hours. The family was all over the building during the day but as soon as work was done, many of them were among the first to leave. But this one decided to stay late apparently. He took the chair across the table from you and sat down with a sigh, like he'd been on his feet all day.

"You have a point there." He answered. "Is it that easy to tell that I'm part of the family?"

"You Charlottes all have something about you, makes it easy to figure you out."

"I don't know if I should be insulted or impressed."

You blushed from embarrassment. Though he wasn't directly your boss, technically Katakuri was in charge of your team, it still wasn't smart to be making such remarks to someone who still could have sway over your job.

"Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound rude."

He laughed as you focused back on your papers, too self conscious now to look him in the eye.

"I'm pulling your leg, relax."

You could feel him looking you over and glanced back up at him from under your lashes. Sure enough, he was watching you with an expression that suggested he was thinking hard about something.

"I'm Cracker." He said. "I hear you've already dealt with my older brothers, Katakuri and Peros."

"Um yeah." You accepted his hand as he offered it, a little intimidated to see it practically engulf your own. Was everyone in his family so big? "I'm (Y/n)"

There was a pause like he was waiting for you to say more. That worked since you did have a question you wanted to ask.

"So is it normal for you guys to go around introducing yourselves to new hires?"

"No, just the ones that make an impression like you did."

"What's that supposed to mean?" You'd gone back to giving him your full attention, having placed your pencil neatly by the papers and watching him intently. This was your first time having a full, casual conversation with someone so important and it was starting to interest you.

Cracker smiled even more widely than before. "Word hasn't gotten around to everyone just yet so you're lucky there but I've heard you're a pretty good baker. It takes something pretty special to impress Peros but you'd managed it. That's rare these days."

"Oh, you mean my cake?"

"Yeah!" He lit up further, which you didn't think was possible until now. "If it was good enough to impress Peros, I'd like to try it."

Now it made sense.

"So you came here, looking for me, so I'd make you a cake?"

"That sums it up."

You couldn't help but giggle. If only your mom were here to see this, she'd be such a giddy mess, you just knew it.

"I can't today." You pointed to the papers in front of you. "I have stuff I still need to go over and then it's a bit of a drive home."

His smile dropped, like you'd just told him santa wasn't real. You knew all the Charlottes had a thing for sweets but this was funnier than you expected.

"But maybe another day?" You offered.

And just like that, his smile returned. "How about Friday, after work?"

"I can do that."

"It's a deal then." He stood back up, ready to leave now that he had gotten what he wanted out of the visit.

"A deal insinuates we both get something out of this." You rolled your eyes as he walked by. He was much more interesting than his brothers so far.

"Yeah, I get free cake and you get free....constructive criticism."

"I see." You replied, amused. "I'll see you Friday then."

He gave a casual wave in acknowledgement without looking back as he left.

Cracker was definitely a bit different and despite his age, he seemed playful, almost like he didn't feel as old as he was. You thought that was actually quite charming, even if he was a little intimidating.

----

Like before, the drive home was long. It was turning dark when you'd gotten back and you were looking forward to getting ready for bed. Numbers were dancing through your head along with tricks to make your money go further. Occasionally your mind would drift to your after work plans on Friday.

With that, you were mostly wondering if more of the Charlotte family would come by like he did and demand you make them personal cakes. Though maybe demand wasn't the right word. So far, they'd all been kind enough to ask. In fact, you were a little surprised by how nice the family was. No one had been snappy or rude with you or anyone else that you'd seen so far.

Katakuri was quiet spoken, scary to look at, but actually very polite. Peros could be a little short and to the point when he talked but he seemed more tired than anything else. You only saw him yesterday but he answered questions well enough and seemed patient. Cracker seemed to be the most full of energy and almost a little childlike in a way. His scar and size spooked you like Katakuri did though. You didn't know what it was, but half their family felt just as scary.

The rest you'd only seen on your way to and from the kitchen you worked in but almost all of the men and about half the women in the family made you feel almost.... unimportant. Though you'd told yourself that had to be because of their positions. They were culinary celebrities and you felt you were just lucky enough to be working under them. You hoped with time, you'd feel more comfortable in the workplace.

You made your way up to the second floor of the complex and almost missed the sign hanging from your door you were so lost in thought. But you paused with your key in the door, squinting in the poor lighting to read it. At first you were worried you'd gotten some kind of notice for bothering your neighbors. You were pretty quiet over all so that wouldn't have been right.

It wasn't surprising when you read through the paper and noticed you were right, there were no neighbor complaints. But what was on the paper was much worse. You snatched it off the door and read it again, just to make sure you weren't imagining any of it.

"Fuck me." You whispered under your breath.

The complex had been sold off to a new owner and after your lease was up, rent was going to be adjusted. That was never a good sign. This was really going to complicate things.