CHAPTER THIRTY ONE – BACK TO THE PIZZA PLACE

Just then, a tall, lanky young man burst through the front door, nearly knocking over a stack of menus. "Sorry I'm late, Mike! Traffic was insane and then I couldn't find my name tag and-" He stopped short when he saw Joan. "Oh, hi! I'm Derek. Are you here for the two-for-one Tuesday special?" Mike shook his head, chuckling. "Derek, this is Joan, our new shift manager. Joan, this is Derek. He's... enthusiastic." Derek's face lit up. "New shift manager? That's awesome! I have so many ideas for team-building exercises. Have you ever tried trust falls with pizza dough?" Joan couldn't help but laugh. "Can't say that I have, Derek." A stern-looking woman with short black hair emerged from the back, arms folded across her chest. "Mike, table seven is complaining about the vegan cheese again. I told them it's supposed to taste like that, but they're not buying it." Mike sighed. "Joan, this is Carla, our head server. Carla, meet Joan, our new shift manager." Carla gave Joan a curt nod. "