“Alright then, Mika. Next, I’d be really happy if you could place your order.”

I put on a refreshing smile as I spoke.

“Hey, Rei-kun?”
“Hm?”

Mom was staring straight at me.
Not at the menu, but with a strangely serious gaze.

Did I say something weird? I tilted my head, and then—

“When are you planning on going home?”
“I just started working, though?”

Um… did I do something wrong with how I’m working?

Even if Mom is here as a customer right now… she’s still also the manager of this café.

In other words, she has the authority to force me to quit if she wants.
She could fire me on the spot.

At first, I thought, “Since it’s Mom, this’ll be easier,” but… she might actually be the most dangerous customer of all.

I’ll have to take this even more seriously!

“Let’s calm down first, Mo—nnn… Mika? I’ve only done the self-introduction so far, remember?”
“R-right! Just the introduction… Wait, we’re still only at the introduction? And the impact is already like this… Mama nearly blacked out earlier! Plus, Rei-kun, you’re strangely good at this… how many minutes can my heart even last…?”

“?”

Mom was muttering to herself, and I couldn’t quite catch it, but… anyway, I should keep serving her.

Otherwise, I won’t be able to earn money to buy my smartphone!

“So then, Mika. Have you decided what to order?”

I gently guided her gaze toward the menu.

There aren’t too many main dishes, but there are lots of options.

Basically, options are the little extra service things you can request on top of the food.

Well, that’s really the main point here.
It’s a cross-dressing café, after all—what matters isn’t the food, but the experience.

“…Rei-kun—no, Ray-kun, what would you recommend?”

Mom asked, her voice a little shaky.

A recommendation, huh… oh, I see where this is going.

I’d learned how to handle this kind of question from Hoshi-san.

So, with a soft smile, I answered:

“I could tell you my recommendation… but Mika, if I were to feed it to you, bite by bite, which one would you want?”

“F-feed me!?”

Mom’s shoulders jumped.

The trick, according to Hoshi-san, is not to immediately push the expensive items, but first stir the customer’s heart with something provocative.

And one example was exactly what I just did: the “aahhn, say ahh” tactic.

That way, the guest gets flustered and starts thinking about it, and naturally gets guided toward things like omelets or parfaits, which are pricier.
Plus, they’ll want the feeding option as well.

Man, working is deeper than I thought.

“Um, which one should I…”

Mom was darting her eyes between me and the menu.

Looks like she’s struggling to decide. I shouldn’t let this drag on too long. Time for the next step.

“But hey, I still haven’t actually answered your question, have I? Sorry, Mika. No more teasing—I’ll tell you my real recommendation.”

With that, I pointed to the parfait on the menu.

“My recommendation is this special parfait. It’s delicious, and more importantly…”
“M-more importantly?”

Mom leaned in, curious.

I gave her a meaningful smile, then whispered:

“More importantly, don’t you think… it’s the one I could feed you the most bites of?”

“!!”

Since parfaits are eaten spoonful by spoonful, there are naturally more opportunities for feeding.

Of course, I wouldn’t feed her every single bite, but still—the parfait is the most suited for it.

Not to mention, it’s one of the pricier items.
Second most expensive, actually—the most expensive being the hamburger curry.

This café puts a lot of effort into its food, too, and it’s all well-reviewed.
Some customers even come purely for the taste.

Good food and good service—no wonder it’s made it to its fifth anniversary.

While I was thinking that, I looked back at Mom—only to see her face unusually serious.

“…So, if I order the parfait, Ray-kun will feed me, right?”
“If you order the parfait and add the feeding option, then yes, gladly.”

To avoid any misunderstandings, I explained clearly.
It’s always “parfait + feeding option.”

“I-I see… then I’ll take it! I’ll have the special parfait!”
“One special parfait, with the feeding option. Thank you, Mika. That makes me happy too.”

Smiling, I scribbled the order on the slip.

Next step.

“Mika, how about a drink as well? By the way, if you order a drink with a certain option, something fun can happen.”
“Something fun?”

Mom looked at me expectantly.

I let a beat pass, then continued.

“First, look—there’s the drinks menu, right?”
“Yes.”

Her gaze followed where I pointed.

“And then, see here? There’s an option called ‘chat.’”

I pointed at the option list.

As the name implies, it lets you chat with your chosen staff member for ten minutes.

The charm is that you get guaranteed, uninterrupted one-on-one time with them—not just the short exchanges during orders.

It’s pricey, second-most expensive among the options.
(The priciest is the cheki photo, of course.)

“So, if Mika ordered a drink for me too, and added the chat option…”

I gave a small smile, leaning in just slightly closer.

“…don’t you think the two of us could have an even more fun conversation?”

“—!”

Talking makes you thirsty anyway.
And having drinks gives you a topic, too.

And for a guest, being able to share the same drink as their favorite staff member—that’s a nice little thrill, isn’t it?

So—

“How about we match our drinks for once? …But of course, it’s up to you, Mika. You’ve already ordered the parfait, so it’s fine to wait until next ti—”

“I-I’ll do it! I have to! Two cream sodas, please! Strawberry flavor!”

She cut me off almost desperately.

I quickly scribbled it down, a little surprised.

Wow, she really went all-in.

“So then, that’s everything? Alright, I’ll be back soon. We’ll see each other again right away, Mika.”
“Y-yeah… Rei-kun…”

She looked a little lonely as I walked away.

Back in the staff area, I relayed the order.

From the kitchen came a cheerful “Got it!”—and also an “Ooh!” of surprise mixed in.

“Ray-kun, that’s amazing. You actually got multiple orders right off the bat.”

One of the other staff members gave me an impressed smile.

“I’m just glad it went smoothly. Though, my customer was my mom, so maybe she just ordered a lot out of parental affection.”

At that, she laughed knowingly.

Then, Kyoko-san and Nako-chan came over.

“Good work out there.”
“Good work, Rei-sama!”
“Thanks, both of you.”

Judging by their faces, they’d been watching my service.

“Surprised it turned out to be my mom, but… I did pretty well, right?”

I said it with just a bit of pride.
Of course, those two are way more skilled and better-looking, but still.

“….”
“Big sis, maybe you should tell him? If Rei-sama keeps going at this pace, Mika-san will…”

Kyoko-san was giving me her usual cool stare, while Nako whispered nervously beside her.

“Anyway… Rei-sama.”

Instead of her usual “Young Master,” Kyoko-san matched the nickname from the café.

Impressive how fast she can adapt—but… her expression looked a bit stern.

And then she said something I hadn’t expected—

“I don’t think it would be wise to go all out.”
“Eh?”

…Why not??