Introduction: An Early Morning Stranger
"Ding!"
The door to The Pie Hole swung open suddenly at precisely 7:20 a.m. Ned, who had been getting started on the morning pies, jumped in surprise, nearly hitting his head on the roof of the refrigerator. He shook his head slightly, before slowing coming out of the fridge and closing the door.
Who could be here so early in the morning? He thought to himself. Olive doesn't get here till 8:00 and Emerson is probably still sleeping. Ned shoved his hands in his pockets and slowly made his way out of the kitchen. He poked his head around the corner and quietly observed the first costumer of the day.
At the bar sat a girl with long straight red hair. The girl's eyes were hidden by her bangs hanging in her face. On the table in front of her was an open book that completely captured her attention. She was humming a sweet little tune under her breath.
Awkwardly, Ned left the safety of the kitchen and made his way to the counter in front of her. She appeared to not notice him at all. Ned got an odd feeling like he was sneaking around, which felt weird in his own restaurant. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and grabbed a menu, before releasing a small cough to make the stranger aware of his presence.
"Um… Hi! Uh…Welcome to the Pie Hole…Here's a menu, you know, if you want some pie…" Feeling very weird, Ned placed the menu in front of the girl, who finally looked up from her book. He looked into her eyes and was surprised by how bright of a blue they were. Then her face exploded into a smile, causing the sides of the Pie maker's mouth to twitch as well.
"Thanks!" She said, closing her book and picking up the menu. "I absolutely love pie. I always eat my dessert for breakfast." Ned nodded silently while she scanned the menu. He had been caught off guard by the appearance of something new in his routine, but found himself beginning to like it a little bit. Assuming that the girl was going to take a while to decide what she wanted, Ned turned to go back into the kitchen, when her sweet voice chimed up behind him.
"A slice of apple rhubarb, please." Ned turned around, surprised again. No one ever ordered apple rhubarb. It was one of those weird flavours that one needed an acquired taste for. He'd recently thought of taking it off of the menu, but apparently it had one supporter. "It's my favourite." The girl stated, explaining herself.
"Yeah… Mine too." Ned muttered and he quickly walked toward the kitchen. Before he got there, he heard the girl's cute little giggle at his comment. He couldn't help but smile. He prepared the piece of Apple Rhubarb in record time, because this girl was his only costumer so far. As he was thinking about what to say to her when he handed her the pie, Olive Snook walked through the back door to the kitchen. She was wearing her sweet little green dress and her hair in a cute little bob. She had bought some new perfume for the Pie Maker, but she doubted he would notice; however, this didn't stop her from trying.
"Well, good morning," She said loudly, interrupting Ned's thoughts. "Looks like you've been up baking pie early. Are you always here this early or did someone switch the clocks around on me?" Olive giggled at herself and Ned looked down at the piece of pie in front of him. Now, customers at the Pie Hole generally started coming in at 10:00, so the fact that the Pie Maker was preparing a pie was very curious.
"I don't see why you have to open up so early." She hissed, trying to pretend that she hadn't noticed the pie. She took two seconds to think and then asked, leaning on the counter beside the Pie Maker. "It's not like we get any costumers… Who's that pie for?" Ned, who had been half listening, looked at Olive trying to act like he really had been listening.
"Oh! Um… For a costumer." He said, hoping he didn't sound suspicious or anything.
"You mean like a delivery?" Olive said, unbelieving. She never had anyone come in till after 10. There was absolutely no way that there could be someone there so early in the morning.
"Nope." Ned simply said, picking up the pie and starting to make his way out of the kitchen. Before he left, he grabbed some icing sugar and sprinkled a bit on the top of the pie. Olive noticed this and she frowned. She'd never seen the Pie Maker put anything extra on the top of someone's pie unless it was ice cream by request. Being the nosy friend she was, Olive snuck over to doorway in the restaurant to catch a glimpse of the early bird, hoping that Ned was just pulling her leg.
As she poked her head out the doorway, just as Ned had done earlier, she immediately frowned at the scene she saw before her. The redheaded girl was speaking to Ned about something or other and Ned was standing there smiling. Olive was outraged, for she had tried on numerous occasions to flirt with the Pie Maker, but to no avail. She walked back into the kitchen, brooding over who this strange girl, who was describing the contents of her book to the Pie maker, could possibly be.
"And that's when Sebastian marries Olivia on accident, because Olivia thinks that he is Cesario, who is actually Viola in disguise! It's one of my favourite stories, but it's definitely not my favourite play that he wrote." The talkative girl's nickname all throughout high school had been motormouth, for it sometimes seemed like she could talk forever. Ned, who was enraptured by this odd girl's appearance in his shop, simply nodded and watched her skilfully eat pie while talking at the same time. He didn't understand how she could talk so clearly with apple and rhubarb in her mouth.
"Oh! Is that the time?" The redhead had looked at the silver watch on her wrist. "I have to go open up the shop." She grabbed her purse and started to fish out the money for her slice of pie. The Pie Maker composed himself and the smile on his face disappeared again. She had stopped talking and the empty Pie Hole made him remember that no costumers had come in to the shop. He also had a lot of deliveries to bake and had missed his morning head-start because of the distraction.
"Thanks for the pie." The girl said simply. She flashed Ned one more smile and then walked out of the shop quickly, causing the little bell to ring once more. As Ned collected her empty plate and her money, he found himself wondering if she would be back the next day. He hadn't even asked for her name.
The Facts were these: She strange girl who had wandered into the Pie Hole that morning had wanted nothing more than a quiet place to read and a warm slice of Apple Rhubarb pie. Eliza Norrington was 27 years, 10 months and 13 days old when she founded The Norrington Bookstore. She opened up shop right across the street in the old location of Bittersweets. The only thing she loved more than apple rhubarb pie was William Shakespeare.
Fortunately for Ned, the odd girl did come back the next day. At the exact same time and she ordered the exact same pie. He began his morning normally, not expecting her again, yet he found another surprise in his morning as well.