A/N: Okay, so in this story there's a lot of time skipping/recalling what happened throughout the day. There'll most likely be a "—" whenever the time skips/the character remembers something notable. So as the description says each chapter will be following a different character (Amelia or Arthur) so the next chapter will be following Amelia.
Chapter One: Spilled Tea
Arthur sat behind his computer, ready to type up his daily sales, wondering if the day could get any weirder.
He hit the computers on button, and the old machine started up. He then took a moment to remember how the day first started off.
He was reading the paper on this early afternoon, with a cup of tea, a new brew called: earl grey, it tasted all right in his opinion, but he figured it couldn't compare to his classic cup. Anyways, he was behind the counter of his small toyshop in the busy streets of New York when a sleek black cat caught his eye. He being the superstitious character he was, decided to catch the cat and get it out of his shop immediately, for he was afraid the cat would make his sales for the day worse. He then stopped to consider maybe the so-called evil black cat was trying to warn him about something besides his sales.
The computer beeped a few times signaling it was up and ready. The login screen sat there waiting for Arthur to strike the keys and log himself onto the computer. He typed his username in: Arthur Kirkland and then he began the process of typing his 100-character password. What? Can't a guy want a little privacy in the city of New York?
He recalled how as he leapt over the counter to catch the cat, he knocked over his cup spilling his earl grey tea all over the newspaper, the cash register, and the newly tiled floor. He silently cursed his luck, and went to go and catch the troublesome cat.
A little while later, he came back with one of his top sellers in hand: Kathy the Cool Black Cat. He set it down with all of the other plush animals and went to the back of the shop to search for the mop.
Little did he know that a new costumer had walked in.
Finally the home screen popped up with a photo of him and his friend, Francis, standing in front of the Statue of Liberty as the background. He looked over the three desk files and quickly found the one titled: Business. He clicked it open and then roamed through the file for his sales documents. He found the file titled: Sales for the Week 0183 opened it and then began thinking of the reasons his sales had been so low.
When Arthur walked back into the room, a mop in his left hand, he took immediate notice of the blond standing in front of the toy soldier collection, laughing at the TV above the collection, while holding a half eaten Big Mac in her right hand and a large soda in her left.
How does she eat that? It's so gross; does she know the calorie content? Wait, what is she doing in my toyshop anyways? She's nothing more than a mere teenager- then again so am I. But still, what would a teen be doing at a toyshop? She doesn't have little kids with her! Is she going to buy anything? Wait! No eating is allowed in my shop! Didn't she read the sign? Arthur ran these thoughts over and over in his head, trying to figure out her purpose at his little shop.
After a few minutes, Arthur wondered if she knew he was there.
The girl took a sip of her soda and continued to watch the telly, paying no mind to the Brit in the corner. Arthur took that as a no.
A good five minutes passed before the blond called out: "Hey! Is anyone here?"
Over the five minutes Arthur's patience had began running thin, for she was breaking at least five of the rules he had posted on the door.
"Yes, I am!" Arthur spoke with impatience dripping from his words.
"Well why are you hiding in the corner then?" The blond smiled, oblivious to the anger in his words.
"I'm not hiding-" Arthur began, but was quickly interrupted by the girl with: "Then why were you in the corner?"
"I was getting cleaning supplies from the back!" Never before had Arthur met someone who bugged him as much as her, yet Arthur began to feel a sense of liking for this new girl.
"Why? Your shop looks pretty clean to me! Well except for that one spill over there on the counter, you should really get it cleaned up! You know it won't make a good impression on customers!" She gave him a smile that could light up the city or the state. Arthur wanted to yell at her that that was why he had the mop, but seeing how she was a potential customer, he decided that calling her an idiot would not help his sales.
"I know. That's why I have a mop." Arthur spoke through gritted teeth.
"Well chop, chop! Times a wasting!" The blond said giving him a wink and returning her attention to the telly.
Arthur's whole face lit up like a Christmas tree, either from anger or from the fact that she winked at him.
Arthur took a moment to study the girl.
She had a small frame, but she didn't seem weak at all. She had a gym bag slung loosely over her shoulder, making Arthur curious about her job. At the moment she was wearing a purple tank top with a light blue jacket on top, and a pair of faded blue jeans to match. Her wavy blond hair was pulled back in pigtails giving her a girly appeal.
Arthur took note that he liked the girl, when she wasn't running her mouth.
"Hey are you going to spend the whole afternoon staring at my backside, or are you going to clean up the counter?" The girl asked. Arthur's face turned a shade darker, not thinking the girl had noticed him looking at her.
"I-I'll just…" He didn't know what to say at the time, seeing how we was trying to focus on not focusing on her.
Arthur walked over with the mop and began to clean up the spilt tea.
"So don't mind me asking, but what's your name?" The girl asked, turning to look at Arthur.
This took Arthur a bit by surprise; usually girls that came to his shop asked where the Barbie's were for their little sister's birthday, never for his name.
"It's Arthur." He stated calmly, mostly over his annoyance with her.
"Arthur…" The girl said his names a few time, letting it sink in, "That's a nice name! My name's Amelia!" Amelia extended a hand to Arthur, blue eyes sparkling.
Arthur took a moment to appreciate her friendly, bouncy attitude and then shook her hand.
"Hey do you mind if I call you Artie?" Amelia suddenly asked, as she let go of his hand.
"If you don't mind me calling you Amy." Arthur responded with.
"Don't ever call me that again, alright Arthur?" Amelia suddenly dropped her cute girl act, turning into a more grim and serious demeanor. Arthur realized that name had struck a cord with her, and that he should never call her that, as much as he'd like to poke some of her buttons he knew this button would push too far.
"Alright Amelia." Arthur said, wondering if she'd return to her happy bouncy self. Arthur found her personality to be somewhat refreshing, if not that then at least something new than what he was used to.
"Okay then! I'm gonna go look around now, so you finish cleaning up! I'm done distracting ya!" Amelia quickly bounced back to the toy soldiers.
Arthur got back to work, wondering exactly who this girl was. She certainly wasn't like every other customer.
"Arthur! I have a question!" Amelia called out just as Arthur dumped the remains of the broken cup into the garbage can.
"What is it?" He asked while walking over to the blond who was waiting for him.
Amelia stuck her pointer finger at the wooden toy soldiers and asked: "Why are all of their faces the same?" She sounded almost like a child when she asked the question, almost looked like one too.
Arthur looked closely at the faces, realizing that they were actually all the same. All in red coats, with the same bored expression painted on their faces.
"I don't really know." Arthur responded. Wow this girl was giving him more thoughts and puzzles than he knew what to do with.
Amelia picked up one of the dolls up gingerly.
"Do you make these yourself?" She asked.
"Yes, I do." Arthur replied, still trying to figure out why all of the faces were the same.
"You must have a lot of free time then! I barely have any!" Amelia stated with a laugh.
"Well you do too! You're hanging out with me at a toyshop! I'm sure if you barely had any time you'd spend it elsewhere!" Arthur retorted.
Amelia's face faltered for a moment, revealing the serious and worried side of her, but then quickly returned to the happy smiling girl she was.
"Actually, I like spending time with you." She said sheepishly, a small smile on her face.
Arthur's face turned into a tomato at this, hardly anyone liked his company, including his siblings.
"Thanks. I think. Your fun too." He replied, not quite sure what'd be the best response.
"Alright then!" Amelia said while walking over to the counter, a toy soldier in her hand.
Arthur stood there puzzled, what was she doing at the counter?
"Umm… Earth to Arthur- Amelia wants to check out. She has a toy soldier and is ready to buy it." Amelia spoke into her hands mimicking the sounds you'd hear over a walkie-talkie.
"Oh!" Arthur practically ran over to the other side of the counter, eager to sell the first item of the day.
"Item please?" Arthur asked, remembering that he still had to be the employee/manager even when dealing with friends.
Amelia put the toy soldier on the counter and began digging around in her jeans for a five.
Arthur scanned the tag he had attached to the base of the toy and the machine beeped.
"Were you able to find everything you needed?" He asked, saying the required question that he had to say to every costumer.
"No. Not really." Amelia said followed by a sigh.
This surprised Arthur, but then he figured she was probably joking for he doubted she'd woken up this morning with one goal in mind: go to Arthur's toyshop and buy a toy soldier.
"Oh really now? What did you need then?" He asked, waiting for a punch line or something.
"A sheet of paper." She said calmly.
"Oh. Well I'll get you one." That wasn't what Arthur had been expecting.
He then turned around to face the printer that was directly behind him and pulled out one of the sheets.
"Anything else you need?" He asked.
"A pen." She answered.
He took one of his Mickey Mouse pens from the cup and handed it to her.
"Do you need to scan it or can I get it for free?" She asked a teasing look in her eyes.
"Well the paper is free, but hand me back the pen and I'll scan it for you." He said.
She handed back the pen, and Arthur scanned it, followed by the familiar beep of the machine.
"Would you like it bagged?" Arthur asked, yet again asking the required question.
"No, but thanks!" She smiled.
He handed her purchased materials over to her and she almost immediately pulled off the cap and began scribbling down something on the paper. Arthur was struck by curiosity and wondered what she had written down, but just as he began to read the first word, Amelia shot up and shoved the paper into Arthur's hands.
"Here you go!" She smiled brightly and began walking towards the door.
"Wait- What?" Arthur asked confused, he hadn't bothered to read the paper yet since it was just shoved at him.
"See ya around!" She called as she opened the glass door and exited the toyshop, leaving Arthur with a sheet of paper, and toys.
After a moment he returned his attention to the paper and smoothed out the wrinkles. In the center of the paper written in dark blue ink was an email address: jonesamelia74 .
Arthur sat at his computer and saved the sales document. Today hadn't been the best day for sales, with only selling two plush animals, three toy cars, and one toy soldier, but he thought that tomorrow could be better. Plus a lot of good things had came from today, he'd learned that all of his toy soldiers looked the same and he'd gained a new friend.
He exited out of the Word document and almost began logging off before he remembered that he still needed to email Amelia, so that she also had his email.
He opened the browser and went onto his Gmail account and logged in. He then clicked the Compose button and typed in his friend's emails address and typed in the subject: This is the guy from the toyshop. And after deleting what he wanted to say and restarting five times for the text he settled on: Hey Amelia, it's me Arthur, the guy from the toyshop.
He hoped it sounded all right; he didn't want to appear boring and weird. He began to rethink sending her an email at all; they'd only just met. Plus it was almost midnight, and she'd probably be asleep. He didn't want to disturb her while she was resting. But before he could reason with himself why he shouldn't send the email, he clicked the send button and off it went.
Almost immediately, he got a response.