Sahara followed Terrell at a distance. Her eyes widened in recognition as led the way towards a familiar building. It was Drake's Café; the one they had visited just the day before. Just outside of it, Terrell dropped his hover board in a box. When he swiped his finger across a pad next to it, a red light appeared all around the board and it swayed gently back and forth in one spot. Sahara could only guess that the red light had to be some sort of alarm to stop anyone trying to take the board. She followed his example with her own. Then she followed Terrell into the café. The bell chimed, announcing their presence.

"Be right with you!" a voice boomed somewhere from within the room behind the counter.

Terrell murmured something to the two girls. Their response was a fit of giggles before they strutted over to a table. Both constantly shot glances at Terrell as though they couldn't believe their luck. Terrell didn't even seem to notice as he turned to Sahara.

"What are we doing here?" Sahara asked him in hushed tones. Behind Terrell, both girls ceased their giggling. They glanced from Sahara to Terrell and then broke into whispers, shooting Sahara suspicious looks.

Terrell looked like he was about to reply when the man from the day before walked into the room. A wash towel was slung over one shoulder and he was wiping his hands on his apron. Seeming to forget Sahara momentarily, Terrell turned his attention to him.

"Oh, you're back," the look of surprise on the man's face made Sahara feel as though people didn't commonly return after visiting once. "What can I do for you today?" He added as he walked to where Terrell and Sahara were; the counter separated them.

"She needs a job." Terrell jerked a thumb at Sahara.

The man's eyes darted to her and Sahara's eyes widened. She shot Terrell a surprised look.

"Your point?" the man asked as he looked back at Terrell.

"You're working alone. You could use some help, couldn't you?" Terrell leaned on the counter.

"What makes yo–"

"Yesterday you said your last help split," Terrell cut him off, "Said the pay wasn't enough if I remember correctly."

"Exactly," the man said. "The pay wasn't high enough and I'm not raising it either."

"What is it?" Terrell asked.

Sahara watched the exchange. Why is no one asking my opinion on this? she wondered.

"Three points per hour," the man replied as his hands crossed over his chest.

Terrell snorted. "And you wonder why your last help left?" he asked.

Sahara had no idea what points were worth, yet from Terrell's reaction three points an hour was not a lot. If she remembered correctly, the drinks he had paid for the day before had been fifteen. All in all, it looked like she would have to work five hours to pay for only three drinks.

"Five," Terrell told the man.

His reply was a raised eyebrow.

"Make it five," Terrell told him.

"You're trying to bargain?" the man asked. "What makes you think I'll..."

He trailed off as Terrell leaned forward. "I'm guessing you don't get many customers," he told the man.

The man narrowed his eyes. "And what would you know about that?"

The corner of Terrell's lips turned up. "Let's just say it didn't take long to figure out yesterday."

Sahara thought back to the day before. Coming to think of it, there had only been two people in the café at the time. Today there weren't any until Terrell came.

"You don't exactly strike me as a..." Terrell leaned even further onto the counter, "people person."

The man glared.

"Just saying what I saw," Terrell held up his hands in defense. "You scared those girls yesterday pretty good. But tell you what," he pointed a finger at Sahara without looking at her. "Hire a nice girl who'll take the orders for you, and folks might not be as quick to leave."

Sahara got a feeling as though she were being advertised.

"I'll think about it," the man replied after a moment of thinking it through.

"You see those two," Terrell jerked a thumb at the two girls who were still shooting him looks. "I can bring you more customers."

"Are you trying to bribe me?" the man asked.

"Is it working?" was Terrell's response.

The man brushed a hand over his short brown hair. "Four points an hour," he directed this at Sahara.

"Five," Terrell spoke up.

"Four."

"Five, or me and the customers walk," Terrell replied.

Isn't that blackmail? Sahara thought.

The man's narrowed eyes showed that he seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Fine," he gave up. "Five an hour it is. But that means no trouble in my café. No fights, no boarder crews colliding." He shot Terrell a look of distrust as he said this.

Terrell's face split into a grin. "Add in making her hours flexible and she'll take it."

The man grunted in agreement.

Why do I have a feeling I'm being ripped off? Sahara thought as she shot Terrell a glance. Something told her five points an hour wasn't a lot at all.

"The name's Jack," the man turned to Sahara.

She looked to see that he was holding out his hand. Reaching over the counter, Sahara took it. She almost yelped at his steel grip when he took it and pumped it up and down. When he let it go, she rubbed her hand.

"Jack?" Terrell raised an eyebrow. "The name of the café is 'Drakes Café'."

"You got a problem with how I name my café?" Jack asked Terrell.

His reply was a shrug.

"Drake was my old man," Jack muttered. "So what if I decided to keep the name." He reached under the counter. "Put this on." He tossed Sahara an apron. It was followed by a pad and a pencil which he laid on the counter. There was the sound of hissing water and Jack's eyes widened. "I'll be right back," he told the two before he rushed off into the back room.

Sahara slowly unfolded the apron. It was black with a small red logo near the top. As she held it, she shot Terrell an uncertain look.

"I really don't..."

"You'll do great," Terrell replied as he clamped a hand on her shoulder. He turned to the table with the girls.

"What are you going to do?" Sahara asked him before he could go. "Aren't you going to work too?"

Terrell turned to shoot her a look as though to ask if she was crazy. "Work, here? Do I look that crazy? The pay isn't worth it."

Sahara's mouth fell open. "Then...what about me?"

Terrell walked over to her and leaned close. "Once you start racing you can make more money. Until then, this is your only option. Pay isn't good outside of the racing world, hasn't been since the WIS virus. Now, how about you get to work?"

"Work?"

"Yes, you have customers after all," Terrell waved at the two girls and shot them a wink. One of them shyly waved back while the other burst into giggles.

"But what are you going to do while I work?" Sahara asked Terrell.

"What I always do," Terrell replied calmly.

"And that is?"

"Live life, relax," Terrell shrugged.

"You mean do nothing?"

"Which is what you are doing right now when you should be working," came Terrell's response. "Strawberry milk."

"What?"

"That's what I'm ordering. Strawberry milk." He cocked his head to the side. "You do work here, don't you?"

Sahara stared at him in disbelief.

Terrell lips turned up one side into a half smile before he turned to the two girls at the table. "And what will you two lovely ladies be having?" he asked as he strolled over to them.

He sat down across from them and motioned for Sahara to hurry on over. She sighed. How she had gotten into this, she didn't know. Grabbing the notepad and pencil, she made her way over to the girls to take their order.

She wrote both requests down, even though she didn't have a clue as to what, other than a water, the other was. Terrell seemed to have forgotten about her completely as he ignored her and chatted with the girls. Feeling somewhat annoyed, Sahara turned on her heel and walked back to the counter. Jack still hadn't come out, so she walked behind the counter and to the door through which he had gone.

She carefully approached it. "Hello?" she called.

She heard a clutter, followed by swearing. Peering through the door her eyes widened in amazement. Sahara was sure she was looking into a kitchen, yet it looked nothing like a kitchen she had ever seen. While there was a sink to one side, there were no, plates, cutlery, or food and drinks in sight.

Jack was standing at the far end, his back turned to Sahara. He was busy with a large pot, which had something boiling within it. Yet it was standing on a simply glass counter, with no flame or other source of heat in sight.

Sahara cleared her throat.

"Did you get their orders?" Jack asked without turning around.

Even though he wasn't looking, Sahara nodded. "One strawberry milk..." she paused as she tried to figure out how to pronounce the next part, "One...chalkdraw?"

Jack's nod made Sahara sigh with relief as she realized she had gotten it right.

"And lastly, a water and a Rosecracker for two."

"Water?" Jack snorted. "Can't they ever order something worth more points. He turned away from the pot. "Glasses are over there."

Sahara turned to where he pointed only to find herself staring at a wall. She wrinkled her forehead and turned back to Jack in confusion. He nodded at the wall.

"I don't see any," Sahara told him.

"They are there."

Sahara shook her head.

"Are you trying to be funny?" Jack asked as he walked over to where he had pointed. Sahara watched as he pressed the wall. The spot his finger touched lit up with a blue light. Then a compartment suddenly slid out of the wall. Clean glasses were stacked on top of it. Jack turned to Sahara who was staring in disbelief. "You do the water, I'll fix up the others." Jack gave Sahara one glass. "The water is over there," he told her as he pointed to a counter.

Sahara walked over to it. She paused when once again she found nothing, not even a tap. Shooting a glance at Jack, she saw he was already busy with the other drinks. He had pressed another part of the wall and it had slid aside to reveal shelves full of fruit. There was so much of it that Sahara wondered that Jack didn't worry about it going bad. Then again, after everything she had seen, she wouldn't be surprised if there was some method if Regona City which stop fruit from spoiling.

Turning back to her own task, Sahara searched around for a water tap of some sort. She probed the wall, yet nothing happened. No matter how hard she searched, she couldn't find where to get water.

"Here," she jumped as Jack appeared beside her. He took the glass and gently pushed Sahara to the side. She watched as he placed the glass on a small black dot on the counter. He simply pressed it down and Sahara watched in wonder as water flowed in the bottom of it. Her mouth dropped when, after the glass was full, Jack lifted it and yet none of the water came back out.

"How?" Sahara asked in wonder.

Jack turned to shoot her a look. "What rock have you been hiding under that you don't even know the basics?"

Sahara stared at him, her eyes wide.

Jack shook his head. Turning away, he took the glass and placed in on a tray with the two other drinks. "Take these to the customers and let them know I'll be right out with the Rosecracker, so they shouldn't get any ideas about running off without paying."

"They would do that?" Sahara asked.

"Oh, many have tried," Jack replied as he handed the tray over. "That's why usually I take the pay before bringing the order. I was just thinking your boyfriend out there wouldn't run off and leave you."

"My boyfriend?"

"What's a nice girl like you doing with a boy like him anyway?"

Sahara's eyes widened. "Oh no, it's nothing like that!" Her face heated up at the misunderstanding. "He's just helping me out."

"Helping you out?" Jack grunted. "I haven't heard of anyone helping anyone out in Regona City for years."

"What do you mean?"

"Out here, its every man for himself, if yeah know what I mean. Maybe if you're in a boarder crew its different, but definitely not if you're on your own. And you're not in a boarder crew, are yeah now?" His eyes narrowed.

Sahara shook her head in reply. I'm not...yet.

"Good. Now get going," Jack told her. "Can't keep the customers waiting any longer."

Nodding, Sahara hurried off with the tray in her hands. She found the girls still chatting. Their mouths seemed to be working non-stop. Terrell was leaning back, seeming to only be half listening as he gazed out a window.

"Here you are," Sahara said as she placed the drinks down on the table.

One of the girls thanked Sahara, the other just shot her an annoyed look. Terrell didn't even seem to notice she was there. With a sigh, Sahara turned around. Jack, who had just come out of the kitchen, motioned for her to come join him behind the counter.

"From what I saw before, I'm thinking I need to show you how most things run around here," he told her.

That's exactly what he did for the next few hours. Jack showed Sahara how to work gadgets she had never seen before and make drinks she had couldn't even pronounce the names of. During this time, Terrell left and, as promised, came back with a few more customers. To no surprise, they were all girls, and they all seemed more interested in Terrell than what they ordered. A few customers turned up on their own, and Sahara found herself busy taking orders.

The sun was losing its light when Terrell finally got rid of the last girl. He was now sitting at the counter, drinking a glass of strawberry milk. He had had so many Sahara was beginning to wonder if he suffered from an addiction, not that she had ever heard of an odd one such as that.

Jack seemed to be thinking the same thing as at one point he paused and watched Terrell down another glass. "I you continue like that, you're going to finish all the strawberry milk in Regona."

Terrell looked aghast at the thought.

"You can go home," Jack turned to Sahara.

She shot him a surprised glance. Doesn't he want me to help cleaning up?

"Go on, scram," Jack told her when he saw her hesitating.

Not waiting around to be told again, Sahara pulled off her apron.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Jack told her.

"What time?"

"Anytime before lunch," Jack muttered in reply as he disappeared in the kitchen.

Sahara watched him for a moment before she turned. She found Terrell standing and waiting for her.

"Ready to train some more?" he asked.

Sahara looked at him in disbelief. She was tired and training was the last thing she had expected to do now. However, she had promised Terrell she would question him, and thus she followed him without a word.

Outside, she watched Terrell swipe his finger across the pad that was next to the box where his board was. As a result the red light turned green. Terrell reached in and picked up his board. Sahara quickly followed his lead and did the same, getting her board back. She then followed Terrell, who had turned and walked towards the courtyard.