Chapter 2: It's A Mess Of A Day
Music Recommendation: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
"Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Double, double, toil and trouble, Something wicked this way comes!"
Harry's eye twitched from beneath the thin sheet as he made out the loud and unneccesarily shrill tune of his alarm go off from somewhere around the room. He had just cracked open an eye to the slight brightness in the room, when the obnoxious song burst through his head again, almost tearing apart his eardrums, and making him squeeze his eyes shut.
"Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, lizard's leg, and owlet's wing."
As soon as the singing stopped, Harry groaned through his post sleep haze and scrambled off the bed haphazardly, trying to find the migraine inducing alarm clock before the singing could start again. Since he was still squinting through the room, with feet tangled in the sheets, it was not long before he flailed to the ground, hitting his chin on the floorboard, as the song burst next to his right ear suddenly.
"Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn and cauldron bubble!"
The singing was so loud and sudden that Harry had jerked away from the noise quickly, only to hit his head on the side of the armchair. It was with loud swears of Merlin's bollocks that he shut the unbreakable alarm clock that Colin had gifted him on his 19th birthday. Rubbing his head with one hand and eyes with the other, and after throwing the alarm carelessly towards the direction of the chair, Harry untangled his feet and made his way to the bathroom.
After brushing sleepily while 'Double Trouble' continued in the background, (since the alarm was bewitched to sing slowly and in a respectable voice once a slew of swear words had been said), Harry proceeded to undress for his shower.
"Yer scar's particularly red t'day kid. You be needin' makeup fer that. Like the poof ye'r." The mirror said nastily, but Harry ignored it like everyday, checking the scar for good measure. It was rather red and when Harry touched it, he realised it was aching and there was a small bump under it. "What the.." Harry pushed off the bangs and observed uneasily as the yellowish light of the bulb reflected off the swollen egg type thing on his forehead. That's when he realised - he had hit his head on the armchair. Relief washed over him, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of something being wrong - the feeling that was a reflex from whenever his scar had hurt in the past.
Slightly flattening the hair as he watched himself, and ignoring the mirror sniggering at his attempts, he decided that he would have to avoid the comb for today and just make sure the scar was covered. Even if it was at the cost of having a bird's nest for hair for the whole day.
Harry sang at the top of his voice, completely off tune, as the alarm sang with him, balanced precariously over some potatoes. He lazily waved his wand towards the kettle, which started gurgling lowly, then placed it back in his jeans pocket. He had always preffered to do his cooking magic free - as it was one of the things that helped him relate to the non-magical lifestyle.
Sucking some custard off his thumb, Harry turned towards the TV, where a reporter was relating the morning's broadcast. "Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, who is under investigation for allegedly accepting a bribe in the early 1990s when he was finance minister, yesterday said that he will step down in May. Ahern..." Well, that was nothing interesting.
Harry flicked through the TV for another half an hour or so - TV was still his main source for all news and he had to make sure he didn't miss anything important. While other people these days had started using mobile phones for news and basically all other activities, Harry couldn't do so. He cast a forlorn look towards his phone - the one that had survived all these years, strangely, was the one Seamus had given him - it was lying silent and innocent on the table.
Harry attributed the survival of this phone mostly to the fact that he treated it with utmost care - he had voice command active for everything so he didn't have to go near it much. The ringtone was so ridiculously loud that his whole staff always heard it, and also hated it. While sleeping, he left it in the bathroom, so that it would be protected from any accidental residual magic because of his nightmares. The main reason he took extra care of it was also that now he knew that he had no one else to request a new phone from, that would work well with his magical tuning. Hell, that would work with his magic at all.
His ringtone vibrated from somewhere behind him, as Harry hardly heard anything beside the screeching lyrics. He was driving down the highway on Sirius' bike at a breakneck speed, and since he was late, he did not dare to slow down or stop to check who was calling him. It was probably Caramel, wondering if he had left, or to order him to bring some ingredient or the other from the house.
He chose to avoid the call and sing along the Wierd Sisters' song - Can You Dance like a Hyppogriff, a band who peculiarly consisted of guys. If Caramel wanted him to bring something, he would happily make a trip back - he loved riding the motorcycle. The only thing he would ever ride, apparently, according to Clark, one of his older employees, if he kept avoiding all females like the plague. The college boy had often invited over lots of his friends to meet him, and Harry had only realized that they were a joint effort to set him up when Caramel had lost it one day and started laughing hysterically in his face. He had just commented that Robbie was a nice chap, who would maybe agree to teach him a thing or two about properly riding a bike.
Jon, Caramel's cousin, also worked for him, hated ogres, as he had had an unfortunate incident with a rather ugly shaped stone that his brother had convinced him was Shrek turned to stone. He was told that whoever touched it would turn green and ugly, and when his brother had thrown the stone at him, poor Jon had spent a whole day crying, thinking that he had turned into an ogre. Jon was only sixteen now, and he was a dab hand at muffins - it was almost like he had magic. Even though he had good reason to hate Shrek, everyone loved to tease him about it, as he was the youngest of them all.
By the time Harry reached MMs, the tune was unfortunately drilled into his brain, and he was humming it when he entered the cafe at 7:30.
"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Caramel shouted from somewhere under the counter, as one of the guys, Jade, caught Harry's keys and jacket and ran to hang them upstairs in his small office.
"Stop with tune Specko. It's a bad day." Clark whispered, throwing him a look as he wiped down the tables and dusted the furniture. He was setting the furniture in a new way again today, trying as usual to make as much space to move around as possible.
"I'm on time, what the hell is wrong now?" Harry said, annoyed, as he came to halt at the counter. Caramel emerged from underneath, red in the face and blonde hair flying every which way. She looked particularly dangerous as she frowned heavily at him.
"Are you kidding me? Where was your phone? Don't you know how to pick it?" She all but shouted in his face, her brown eyes panicking slightly.
It took a moment for the anger to flare, but it had been on the edge ever since morning, when he had hit his head on the chair.
"Are you going to TELL ME-?"
"Okay okay, hey there," Jade rushed over, almost flying off the small staircase in a hurry to reach them, "The cash register isn't working. We've tried everything but there's only 15 minutes left so you gotta make some decisions and you gotta be quick about it. People are already lining up."
As he said it, Harry snuck a glance outside and Jade was right, as always, that people were ready for their morning coffees. He need to think, and fast.
"Okay, tell me one of you idiots actually learnt something at school and are quick at math!" Harry exclaimed to the other four, because he knew he himself was shit at it. They exchanged equally blank looks, and Jon didn't even bother looking up from cleaning the espresso machine.
"You sodding little- why did I even hire you?!" Harry exclaimed to himself - what the bloody hell was he going to do now? There was no time to buy a new entry system, a repair shop was at least half an hour away, and he could't afford even one less hand - opening was the busiest time! Less staff holidays was one reasons he had only hired people who appreciated coffee and the smell of baking and a good working enviornment - why had he not considered Maths?! What in Merlin's name was wrong with him?!
Times like these were when he missed Hermione the most, wait - what would she do?
Compartmentalize.
"Okay, I got an idea." Harry began, looking at all four - though Jon wasn't even bothered, "Umm since Clark is in University, he'll suffer as the cashier. I'll take over his tables for today. Jade - you, Caramel and Jon will be the same."
Yeah, that sounded good - Jon was no good at anything else really and Caramel was best, after him, at the cooking. She could safely handle the counter alone today. Hopefully. Now only if he could make sure he didn't screw up the orders -
"And while we start, Jade, clear up some space in the storage and bring down both the chairs from my office." Harry sighed, continuing to talk over Clark's howling protests, "It's going to be a long day."
"Chaos. This is fucking chaos." Harry muttered to himself, almost sobbing as his pinkie toe hit an armchair on the way to the order counter.
"IS THIS PAYBACK? I SWEAR BY THE LORD I WILL NOT SET YOU UP EVER AGAIN! SWEET JESUS SPARE ME!"
"You ordered a cappucino with NO ICE CREAM, Miss!"
"Oh my god. My fingers are numb what the fuck!"
"Shit! Stay away from the oven Caramel! That's my area!"
"Don't put that table by the wall, it's for FOUR JADE WHAT THE-"
"SHUT UP GUYS! SHUT UP! SHUT YOUR SODDING MOUTHS!"
There was a huge crack and silence, then the sound of glass crunching. When Harry opened his eyes hesitantly, every single person in the room was staring at him, probably wondering how in all of Merlin's bloody boxers he had managed to pull that off. When he realized what the crack had been for, he understood - had just caused accidental magic - blasted the mirror and probably temporarily silenced everone. Well, what a fuck up.
"Okay, Jade, just get her an added ice cream, it was probably my mistake. No need to charge her for anything."
"Clark, yes this is totally payback, but you can change your shift with Caramel. Caramel, you can go to the storage once I'm done with taking these orders. Jon, hang up the closed sign, we need a goddamn break."
"Everyone else, guys, we've had a malfunction this morning, so your co-operation will be very much appreciated. If you find yourself incapable for waiting a bit for your order, please feel free to leave - I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks."
"Also Jade, put the bloody table back."
It took them an hour, but the crowd soon turned manageable. A few customers had left, but Harry didn't care, as long as it meant that this disaster of a day ended quicker. His patience was running thinner than ever today, all he wanted to do was close shop and go back home to his fireplace and watch some mindless show the whole night. Everyone else could go hang for all he cared today - the day had started bad and went downhill from there. The ache behind his scar had expanded to his whole head and there were bongo drums playing inside.
Even though the closed sign was still up, a few of their choice customers, who knew Harry or were friends with the staff because of regularity, came in to get a coffee and even waited patiently, chatting away with everyone on occassion. While it was a relief to see the unhurried regulars, they also had to send away a few people who had ambled in anyway.
Around afternoon, near lunch time, when the throngs threatened to build up again, Caramel took the liberty to put on some music. She had started with soft melodies, which Jon had changed to metal, and which Clark had turned to Hip-hop just a few moments ago.
The four were grumbling amongst themselves again. In order to avoid a fight, he had to send Caramel away and sit at the cash counter himself. It was a relief to sit down again, but his head was still aching horribly. If this went on, they would have to stay closed for the whole day.
That was when two men walked in, again. Was the clear-cut CLOSED sign not visible to these dumb fucks?
The shorter of the two men, and younger, came strutting in, his walk reminding him of Malfoy on his first day all those years ago. That alone set off alarm bells in his head.
"I'm sorry we're closed, not taking orders, that means. In case you just misunderstood that large sign hanging outside the door." Harry said irritably as soon as the man was near him. He looked older from this close - early thirties would be Harry's guess - and much, much more familiar as he removed his sunglasses.
"Why? Do you sell toilets?" The man asked in a curious voice, raising a smooth eyebrow as he looked Harry over like he was sizing him up.
"Uh - No. Are you blind or something?" Harry said, staring at the man in confusion. Was he taking the mickey? Because he honestly had no patience for those things today. "There's a sign that said this is a cafe outside too - seriously is your vision comprimised? Do you need eye-treatment? I'm afraid we don't provide that service here either-"
"All right listen here you little shit of a tea cup, I'm in need of a bathroom. A toilet to pee in. Do you have one of those here or do you piss in the coffee?"
How the fuck- What the hell did he mean-
"HOW DARE YOU-"
"Go upstairs, door on the left, don't mind him, we're having a bad day." Jade's voice hardly penetrated Harry's ringing ears as the short git disappeared up the staircase, leaving him fumbling with words in anger.
His comment ringing in his ears, Harry took notice of the second man - the taller, bald man who looked more composed and an apologetic expression. He had the air of a serious businessman, someone who knew how to play all his cards successfully and win. This man, like the shorter sod, also looked familiar.
Harry didn't have much time to think about it, as the man was already extending his hand, all the while looking down his nose at Harry.
Harry got an even worse vibe from this man than the shorter one. At least that one hadn't been diplomatic.
"I'm sorry, Tony's been having a rather bad day at work. Hopefully, you can understand the situation. It was an emergency."
He nodded and withdrew his hand at once, opting to stare at the chaos around the room instead, where they were still shouting orders or some other nonsense at each other. The man's behaviour was making Harry even more irritated - just because he had the looks of a rich businessman didn't mean that he had to deal with their shit without retaliating. The man looked a bit disgusted with the size and decor of the place, and his silent and assumed disapproval, more than anything, dropped the idea in Harry's brain.
He excused himself silently as he made a quick exit to the storage, searching, for that... Aha!
Quickly returning to the back of the counter, he poured the vial in a large glass, then set it under the machine. When it filled, he topped it neatly with cream, some sugar, and chocolate syrup. The milk was low fat and almost completely sugar free, so the drink wouldn't cause much damage to the diet.
When it was done, he returned to the counter, where the bald guy was still judging his beloved cafe heavily.
"Sir, this is for your partner. I hope this makes up for any discomfort on our part and lightens his day." Harry said in a flat tone, but with a plastic smile to the tall man. Harry also noticed that the man was actually pretty tall - at least 6 feet. And his face was so familiar... It had something to do with pineapple. But he couldn't remember...
As soon as Tony was done with his business, he quickly got out of the surprisingly pristine and spacious bathroom and looked around. The room across the door was unlocked and a bit open.
Without thinking, because he never did and didn't need to, Tony pushed open the door, to a small office. The office was smaller than the bathroom? What a freak the owner was.
He could only see one desk, without a chair, and piles of files and papers lying about. All of them looked similar to each other and Tony was sure they were accounts of the place.
Britishers were so weird - who the fuck had an office without chairs? And this specky idiot - he obviously had no idea what the hell he was doing.
He shrugged and padded down the stairs - there was a door to the right of the stairs - and of course he opened it.
There was a woman, probably in her twenties, sipping coffee, sitting on a chair, in a room otherwise full of boxes and a trunk here and there.
"Huh. Weird." Tony muttered, what was this place supposed to be? It was too homely for a coffee house, too informal for a lounge, and the storage was a restroom and the office didn't have chairs? What a fucking mess.
The only thing good about the place was the music - Heaven and Hell wasn't that bad a choice. It was actually one of his favorite songs.
It was a few moments before he realized that the woman had noticed him, and by the time he did, there was a look of dawning realization on her face that he had come to hate. It symbolized danger for him - a complete invasion of privacy, as it was mostly associated with his fangirls that looked ready to pounce on him him at any point of time and day.
Quickly retracting himself, he shut the door and fumbled for some dollars in his pocket, finally pulling out a twenty. Obi seemed to be in conversation with the weird British too-young-to-own-a-cafe receptionist, but Tony didn't care. He could hear the girl catching up behind him, so he grabbed hold of Obi with one hand, and throwing a look over his shoulder to the staring receptionist, along with the twenty, quickly steered both of them out of the stuffed room.
Only when they were seated safely back in the car, did Obi give him the coffee. And it was only after he had finished drinking the, well, pretty damn amazing coffee, did he notice the words scrawled in small messy cursive on the cup -
'Mannerless Fuckwit'
Ehehehe What d'ya think?
Updated according to some pretty legit mistakes Roserayrose pointed out. I would say that Harry's acting a bit OOC. His reasons are just not explained yet. Also, my laptop sort of got corrupted and the whole data on it is gone. :| That included the whole outline and plot of this story too. I just hope it comes back to me sooner or later. Hope for the best guys. Maybe review?