Ch. 1
"I'll have one Leppa Berry smoothie, shaken, not stirred. You have five minutes."
"Coming right up, Madam," I say with a deep curtsy. I rush out of her bedchambers and down the flights of stairs to the kitchen. Madam Prescott always demands her orders be delivered in a specific timeframe, or else she complains directly to Monsieur Richissime himself.
"Leppa Berry smoothie, shaken, we have four and a half minutes left," I say, breathlessly.
"Prescott?" One of the waitstaff asks; I nod, grimly.
The kitchen becomes a flurry of flying fruits and shaking canisters as the most volatile order to date is prepared. Madam Prescott usually gives her maids at least ten minutes to fill an order, so she must be stressed today. Or even more stressed than usual.
"Fifty seconds!" I scream, as the head butler pours the orange liquid into our finest goblet.
"Done!" He says, handing me the glass. I race back up the stairs, careful not to let a single drop slosh out.
Reaching the door, I compose myself and tiptoe meekly back into the room.
"Your smoothie, Madam. Leppa Berry, shaken, not stirred," I say to the carpet. Looking back up, but away from her, I place her goblet on her breakfast platter on the nightstand and step back.
I can feel her eyes on me as she beckons for the second maid to help her sit up and place the tray over her. Raising one dainty hand, she brings the goblet to her mouth and freezes.
"You there," she says after placing the cup down. I give a start, as I realize she's addressing me. "Did you make this yourself?"
"Knowing full well that if she hated the smoothie, she would fire everyone involved in the making of it, I responded, "Yes, madam."
"With no help?" She raises a heavily botoxed eyebrow at me. The other maid sends me a vague warning look.
"Uh y-yes, madam." I can feel my heartbeat in my toes. She pauses, as if she's weighing my words carefully. Eventually, she speaks.
"You lie."
I nearly faint. "I beg your pardon?"
"I said, 'you lie.' I have given this test numerous times, and everyone has always said the same as you. But it's simply impossible to make this complicated a drink in under five minutes. So why does everyone always claim responsibility for it? Is it greed? Do they want my attention and praise? Or do they wish to spare their friends and rather throw themselves under the bus? I can never tell, but I know that either one is still a lie." Prescott says, steeling me with her icy glare. I open my mouth to speak, but she continues. "Save it. Just know this: you will never work here, or anywhere, ever again. I simply cannot stand liars in the workplace, and I will keep out of the workplace. Is that understood, Sarah?"
"You know my name?" I stammer, even though this was the last thing that I was thinking.
"Of course. But no one else ever will. Mark my words, Abbi.
...Abbi…
...Abbi…
...ABBI!"
I spring up with a start. My roommate Max is sitting up next to me on our bed with a look of concern. I gasp.
"Are you alright, Abbi? You looked like you were having a nightmare," she asks.
"Define 'alright'," I say with a shaky laugh. I place a hand on my forehead and lie back down; I pat the other side of our bed with my other. She lies down.
"I just dreamt that I was brutally fired from my fifth job in three weeks, but I'm all good," I roll my eyes.
"That's awful!"
"Yeah, but don't worry. I'm going to keep this one. No dream is going to tell me otherwise. Then we can move into a bigger apartment-"
"Or an apartment," Max says, with a grumble.
"-or even a house!" I continue. "And we will have our own beds. And bedrooms! Just wait." I sigh, contentedly.
"I'm sorry," Max murmurs.
"Why are you sorry?"
"I thought our hat shop was going to take off since so many other boutiques have here, but it hasn't," she rambles. "And I'm sorry."
"Hey," I whisper, wiping a tear away from her eye. "We have the best hat shop in Santalune, don't we?"
"We have the only hat shop in Santalune," she sniffles, with a small laugh.
"Your argument is invalid. Go to bed."
Max smiles and turns over, away from me. My own smile droops as I, too, face away.
I close my eyes, but sleep never comes.
A/N: Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading this! I got inspiration for this from replaying Pokemon X again today, and decided to churn out a quick story, which I hope will become a longer story. Also, could you guys go over to my other stories and read and comment on those? With your guys' support/comments, I can get to my next chapter in this story or my Hollywood U story a lot faster. Again, thank you! MUCH love to all of you!
Brief note to my Hollywood U readers: I'm sorry! I meant to update weekly, and I never seem to have inspiration! If you have an idea or something you want to see it, that would be greatly appreciated. Or even just a quick "This rocks!" would go so far for pushing myself to write my next chapter. (Even negative comments are welcome - though I prefer positive, obviously!) Love you all!