The cub sitting on his couch took a couple seconds to react to his question, she had obviously been expecting the worst and was completely unprepared for what had just happened.
"wuh... what?" she sobbed, still confused and trying to keep herself together.
"your mother and I had a talk, and we decided that we could get around our differences to help her precious daughter get a job where she can learn to work hard and be responsible" he replied, wondering if he should have told her about his plan before placing the call. "just for god's sake please dont tell her about you being a customer, I told her I gave you an interview and you tried working with me for a shift, I also had to say you told me its ok, I am sorry" the gryphon frowned, unhappy to have had to lie and even unhappier to have had to tell the fennec's mother she had lied, even if it was for the right reasons.
"tha... thats ok..." the sobs were still coming and Sara could not even acknowledge her good fortune, was still having trouble processing what had just happened, and felt like it would fly away if she tried.
"if she asks, I had you take orders and clean cups, and you will be staying until closing and helping me wash dishes if thats ok with you, I actually needed a waitress and busgirl to work the front section, so as long as you can put in the effort this seems like a good arrangement for me, your mother wants you to come here as often as possible, does that sound alright to you?"
Sara nodded with tiers still streaming down her face, her fur beginning to mat on her cheeks, completely emotionally drained. she began forcing more words out of her mouth "wuh... why did you do this for me? I always sit at the bar and never buy things... and sometimes i make messes... and nobody else here seems to like me..." and the floodgates burst open again, tears streaming down her face and sobs wracking her little body so hard that he couldnt resist his caretaking instinct to walk over and put an arm around her shoulders. 
"I dont know" he replied thoughtfully "at first it was because I'm a gentleman, and gentlemen don't let girls cry if they can help it. then i started to think you reminded me of when i was a kid, living in a place with parents who hate what you are passionate about, not wanting to go back to your own home, but not even really fitting in with people who share your passions. And maybe its because you remind me a lot of someone I used to know..." he trailed off into a silence broken only occasionally by sara's abating sobs.
after a long silence Sara's sobs slowed, then became infrequent, and finally abated to nothing, she clung to his arm like a lifeline, making him realize how little physical contact she probably recieved from her parents, and made a mental note to give her the oppertunity for more of it, even if that was just hugging her as a greeting. Sara's voice was still a bit weak when she asked "who do i remind you of?"
"just someone who passed away" the older gryphon sighed regretfully, lost for half an instant in a different time and place "she was a lot like you, kind, gentile, always jumping to the worst case scenario with all her worrying, more intelligent then anybody else would ever realize, and stronger then she would ever realize" he had to stop himself from getting lost in the memories, recoiling from his lost lover's embrace he returned his attention to the girl at his side. "so, tell me about yourself, im going to be putting you on my sallary so I would like to know a bit more about you, for right now all i know is that you probably get off school at 4 and you have an absolute addiction to smash bros"
Sara was taken aback "how did you know that?" the question fell out of her lips before she really thought about it, the final traces of sadness pushed from her voice by surprise.
"well, you show up here around 4:20 or 4:25 each day, the school is a fifteen to twenty minute walk, its not a very difficult assumption, and did you forget where you play all your games?"
"but i never thought you paid that much attention to that sort of thing" Sara gasped, holding her head in her hands, embarrassed someone had found out just exactly how bad her gaming addiction was.
"i may be quiet, but very few things escape me, thats something you will have to learn while working here, no slacking off, and no taking shortcuts or im sure i can find a suitable punishment.
"YES SIR" she snapped to attention with a salute that was so exagerated it almost seemed sarcastic, but really she was just glad he had threatened a nebulous punishment instead of threatening to fire her before she even started, this had quickly turned into the best day of her life and she realized he really did not want to ruin it for her, contrary to what everybody at school had thought about her previous best day.
"you still never told me about yourself" he said with a laugh, he had to admit, the enthusiastic yes sir had brought forth a reaction in him that he was using the laughter to stifle, those two words did something to him that he could not explain, even coming from someone who couldnt be more then twelve. he struggled to keep himself in check until the surprise feelings wore off.
"well, I just turned twelve a couple months ago, I love video games, I dont have a whole lot of friends i guess, except you Mr Mika, just the one, chelsea, but mom doesnt let me see her outside of school. i get really good grades but all the work is easy and boring" she tilted her head up and stroked her chin in a thinking motion and accidentially blew a whisp of hair into her face, and while the trumpeting noise she made whilst trying to remove it was cute, it was unsuccessful, and Mika reached around and pushed it behind her ear for her.
"And do you have a special someone?" he asked, trying to sound nonchelant "i just want to know if i have to worry about you sneaking off somewhere to make doe eyes while we have customers" was what he said, which was truly most of the reason he asked, the feelings from earlier only partially fueling the question.
"you think mom would let me have a BOYFRIEND?!?!?! are you crazy? she once slapped me for looking forward on an escalator just because a boy's butt happened to be there, no way!"
"with the amount of time you are in here, i really dont think what your mom wants matters all too much to you" replies mika dryly
"well noooooo but having a boyfriend would be extra hard and i couldnt spend time with him and it would be aweful, and anyway" her eyes dart to the ground and stay there "no boy at my school would ever want me." her expression looks pained and her eyes begin to look wet again.
She feels a finger wrap under her chin and pull her face back up "and what makes you think that?"
"look at me!" sara gestures downwards, indicating her pelt "my fur is PINK! nobody else has fur like that, and anyway everybody thinks im some sort of freak because i like video games so much!"
Mika's eyes meet sara's and the silence goes on for only a half a second, but it feels like an eternity. "your fur is beautiful" Mika finally replies "and as someone waaaaay more game addicted then you are, you are NOT a freak, in any way"
Another sob forces itself through Sara's throat, though this time the emotion she cant keep hold of is happiness, finally for the first time she can remember something really good is happening to the young fox.