He noticed both Henry and Olivia working with extra diligence all day, double-checking orders, wiping down surfaces constantly, engaging customers with extra warmth. It felt like they were consciously trying to counteract the negativity, to make up for Tammy's betrayal through their own efforts. It didn't go unnoticed. The cynical part of Theo remained wary, but another part felt a grudging respect. Maybe not everyone is out for themselves, the thought flickered, before being quickly suppressed by years of ingrained distrust. Or maybe they just really like their jobs and the bonuses. Either way, their dedication was valuable.
As they closed, they had leftovers again. "Make some friends," Theo instructed, handing Henry and Olivia containers. They spent twenty minutes distributing the perfectly cooked chicken and chips to the nearby late-night workers, another small deposit in the bank of local goodwill.
Week 23 - Tuesday
Tuesday morning. They prepped 150 sets again, falling into a rhythm. Olivia was rapidly mastering the front counter and packing station, her cheerful demeanour infectious. Henry handled the fryers and assisted Theo with the rotisserie and prep, his movements increasingly confident. The sting of Tammy's theft was fading slightly, replaced by the smooth functioning of this new, smaller team. Olivia's positive energy was a definite upgrade over Tammy's quiet intensity and barely concealed dissatisfaction.
Around lunchtime, Theo's phone pinged.
Sarah: Hey! Still good for 4pm today? Just making sure before I escape the Meta madness!
Theo: Yep, 4pm works. See you then.
He spent the afternoon running the lunch service with Henry and Olivia, his mind partly on the upcoming meeting with Sarah, partly on the lingering question of who was behind the review bombing. The need for information, for certainty, gnawed at him.
At precisely 4 PM, Sarah walked in, looking harassed but offering a determined smile. "Okay, reporting for chicken consulting duty!" she announced.
Henry and Olivia, clearly recognizing her from her previous visit and likely briefed by Theo about her marketing prowess, immediately chimed in. "Hey Sarah!" Henry greeted her warmly. "Boss, why don't you guys head out?" Olivia added brightly. "Take Sarah somewhere to talk properly? We can hold the fort down for an hour, it's usually quiet around now anyway."
Theo hesitated for only a second. He trusted Henry and Olivia more after the past few days, and getting Sarah's focused attention away from the shop environment seemed wise. And honestly? He needed a break himself. The thought of coffee, surprisingly, didn't trigger the same aversion as last week. Maybe the positive momentum, the focus on problem-solving, had overridden the negative association.
"Alright," Theo found himself saying. "Good idea. An hour, max. Keep your phones handy." He turned to Sarah. "There's a decent café nearby I heard about, 'The Three Beans'? My treat this time."
They settled into a booth at the cafe, a quiet spot with comfortable seating and the rich aroma of properly roasted coffee. Theo ordered a cappuccino, Sarah a latte. The familiar ritual felt almost normal.
"Okay," Sarah said, pulling out her tablet as soon as their drinks arrived. "Tell me about the 'online issue'. What happened?"
Theo recounted the events succinctly – Tammy's theft on Friday night, followed by the coordinated flood of fake one-star reviews hitting Sunday. He showed her the reviews on his phone.
Sarah scrolled through them, her expression shifting from sympathy about the theft to professional outrage at the reviews. "Ugh. Classic review bomb. Nasty stuff. Okay," she went into detective mode, "two main ways to handle this."
She explained Option A: Reporting the reviews to Google/Yelp. "You flag them as fake, provide evidence if you have any, like showing they were all posted in a short time frame from new accounts, using similar language, making verifiable false claims like 'rats' when you just passed a health inspection, etc. But," she warned, "it's a slow, bureaucratic process. These platforms get millions of reports. Getting fake reviews removed from a small business quickly? It's tough. Sometimes lawyers help, but often it's just a waiting game."
Theo nodded grimly. That sounded frustratingly ineffective. "Option B?"
"Option B," Sarah continued, leaning forward slightly, "is figuring out why. Follow the motive, follow the money. Someone benefits from tanking your reputation right when you're getting popular. Who?" She started tapping rapidly on her tablet, pulling up local map data, searching business listings. "Think local competitors. Who else sells similar food nearby? Who would have seen your weekend lines and felt the pinch?"
She quickly identified three other takeaway places within a ten-block radius – a pizza joint, a burger place, and another fish and chip shop Theo vaguely remembered seeing, called 'Something Fishy'. Sarah started cross-referencing their own recent reviews.
"Pizza place, burger joint… normal review patterns, mix of good and bad, nothing unusual," she murmured, scrolling. "But this one… 'Something Fishy'…" She paused, zooming in. "Okay, this is interesting. Look." She turned the tablet towards Theo. "They've also had a sudden surge in reviews over the past two weeks. But almost all five-stars. Lots of generic praise – 'Great value!', 'Best fish in town!', 'Friendly service!' – posted by accounts with few or no other reviews. And the timing… starts just before your big weekend rush, like they were trying to build hype, maybe got overshadowed, and then your place gets bombed Sunday night?"