Thanks so much for all of your interest to see more of this au! And thank you for the reviews in the previous chapters, please keep it coming :)

Chapter 2

He watched her from his rearview mirror as he pulled out from the driveway.

The woman – Effie, he told himself – was standing by the window next to the front door with a slight crease of her brows and her arms crossed as she watched him leave, as if she didn't trust him not to hang around and tarnish the new paint job on the outer wall.

Her two story house was in the better part of the town on Capitol Street. The outer walls had been painted a light brown with dark brown roof tiling. There were bay windows to the right and left of the front double doors. The lawn was neatly mown and shrubberies lined the steps on either side as it led up to the front door.

Her house, in his opinion, was impeccably neat so much so that he felt out of place with his frayed jeans and wrinkled checkered shirt. Everything in her house had a designated place. The paintings on the wall were perfectly align, the cushions neatly placed on the sofa and the plates in the kitchen were arranged according to size.

Miss Perfect, he snorted and she seemed the kind that needed a bit of rattling for the sake of it.

He supposed if he were to ever invite her to his house, she might just bolt out of there from the mess and the disorganization. It would give her a headache. That or maybe, she would insist on cleaning his place up.

It was only at the intersection that he realized where his thoughts had taken him. It jolted him to have imagined a woman in his house. He couldn't remember the last time.

Haymitch turned the corner and parked the truck on the road side in front of his shop. He tossed the keys near the counter and deposited the money he had collected from his round of deliveries into the cash register.

"You're back," Peeta stated as he came out from the back of the shop with his hands covered in flour. "So… What do you think of her?"

It had been Peeta's idea to have a selection of freshly baked goods. Haymitch had shrugged and let him run that small section in his shop, and within a few weeks, it had managed to attract customers.

"Why so interested?"

"Just. Jo's got an opinion of her and so does nearly every other person in this town who crossed paths with her. We don't get many new comers."

"She's a bitch," the young woman muttered.

"Arrogant," Haymitch opined. "Have you seen her house? Bet she'll hang you by the balls if you spill a drink on her expensive carpet or dirty her fuckin' cushions."

His comment made Johanna snickered. Peeta was frowning which wasn't surprising. He always had something nice to say about people. That was his gift.

"Looks like a real pain in the ass that one," Haymitch went on. "Guess that's why she lives alone…Right?"

At that, Johanna and Peeta exchanged a glance.

"Are you trying to pry for information?" Johanna raised an eyebrow.

"Never seen anyone while I was there," Peeta said.

"Yeah, that's 'cause no one can deal with her from the looks of it," Haymitch chuckled. "She wanted to have me reported for misconduct. Can you fuckin' believe that?"

Haymitch drew out his hip flask and took a sip.

"Report you… Did you do something?" Peeta asked, standing by the doorway that separated the back shop from the front as he waited for an answer.

Haymitch threw him a look at the tone of his voice.

Sometimes, it certainly seemed as if Peeta was the boss, as if he owned this store. He was a responsible young man and he had taken it upon himself to keep them in line.

It wasn't too far from the truth.

Abernathy's Grocery was barely holding on when Johanna, a girl from the street, came in. There were days when the shop was closed because he was too drunk or too hangover to come in and keep it running. Goods went out of stock and were not replaced.

With Johanna around, he made an effort to keep the shop open to give her something to do and occupy her time so the morphling would be the last thing on her mind. He gave her a room on the upstairs floor of the shop so she won't resort to sleeping on the streets. He wanted to break the destructive cycle. He had found her in the middle of the night stealing junk food, shaking, weak and pale but he had underestimated her and found himself with an axe to his throat. But as soon as he recovered from the shock, he had the girl pinned to the floor.

They had made a deal then. He wouldn't call the police and she would work in his shop until she had sufficiently paid back all the items she had stolen over the past few weeks. According to her, chips, package cookies and canned food were her favourite to steal. They were nonperishable. The sixth week she was there, Haymitch paid her wages.

It was a year or so later when Peeta came to him. His mother had forgotten to turn off the oven and as a consequence, he had lost his family to the fire that consumed the bakery. He barely made it out and would have perished if someone had not pulled him out. When he had healed and his prosthetic fitted, he offered to work for Haymitch. He would bake, he said, and Haymitch could sell them.

The shop was kept running for the two kids. The shop had been for his benefit but he didn't care about himself. With them around… He was their source of income and as long as this shop was functioning, those two kids would have a shot.

Mostly, it was Peeta who kept them afloat. He would open the shop in the morning. He would check on Haymitch when he still didn't turn up after a certain time and he insisted on building a positive relationship with their customers which would explain the reason Peeta was questioning him right now.

"Haymitch? Did you say something rude to her?"

"I did nothing," he growled irritably.

Peeta looked skeptical but he let it go. "She wasn't expecting you. That must be it. I should have called ahead to let her know. You must have caught her by surprise."

"Yeah, see, customers don't get to choose who does the delivery. That's up to me, ain't it? Jo, you should go next week, spook her up a bit."

"Don't," Peeta warned. "She's our customer and you shouldn't irritate her. You'll drive her away."

"How long has she been here, already?" Haymitch asked.

"A little over a month, I think. She's very new. I don't think she's seen all that this town's got to offer."

"She ever been to the store?"

"Of course she has. That was how she found out that we deliver right to people's doorstep. You weren't here when she came. She was here in the morning both times and you're never around in the morning," Peeta looked at him pointedly.

"Right," he muttered. "How are we doing on the stocks?"

"Peeta's been giving away stuffs again," Johanna answered from the back of the shop.

Peeta shrugged. "Only those nearing its expiry date that we haven't manage to sell off. Better to give it away."

Haymitch nodded. He didn't mind it.

"I'm not good with numbers," Johanna went on, "but even I can tell we're running a bit low on profit. You need to collect those debts. You're running a business. This ain't Red Cross. You can't let people walk in here to buy shit only to put it on the fucking tab. I mean, look here, the Hawthornes owe us at least a hundred dollars in groceries."

"Hazelle's got kids, she needs to feed them," Haymitch answered. "If we can help out we help out."

"Her eldest started working in the mine, couldn't he at least start paying us a little each time. You need me to talk to him about it or something? Cause I notice you're kinda sweet on Hazelle," Johanna accused.

Peeta grinned. "Oh, interesting. You talking to Gale Hawthorne and Haymitch being sweet on the mother."

Sometimes, he hated these two kids.

"I'm just saying. I got nothing to say if you're sleeping with her and you're letting her free past to take things from this place. Your shop, not mine," Johanna added nonchalantly.

"Nothing's going on," Haymitch snapped even though he realized if that was true, he didn't need to explain himself to Johanna or Peeta. "I'll talk to her 'bout the money. Anything else? 'Cause if there aren't any I'm gonna leave. Friday night and everything."

"What's your hurry? It's not like you go out and have fun anyway," Johanna snickered.

His idea of fun was to head home and drink. Today especially, the need to drink was overwhelming. He wanted to stop thinking about a pair of bright blue eyes and hips swaying in front of him. He wanted to stop thinking about a certain person' number in his phone and how easy it would be to just… text her.

"You should consider what I've been saying all these while. Get a bookkeeper, someone to balance our books. Someone good with finances and money," Peeta told him seriously. "There's only so much Johanna and I can do."

Over the next few days, he tried to figure out and settle the books but he decided that the store wasn't doing too badly so he casted it aside. The days were slow and he spent his time calling up suppliers to restock the store.

When Chaff started talking about the woman he was chasing after in his own town not far from here, Haymitch listened without truly registering the conversation.

"So you've got someone new in your town, yeah?" he asked, breathing into the receiver. "Never heard you talking about her."

"How'd you know?"

"That boy of yours," Chaff said. "Told me about it when he called last month about organic potatoes and tomatoes."

"Organic potatoes?"

"Yeah, said that lady was askin' for it."

"Organic potatoes?"

"Are you hard on hearing or something?" Chaff snapped. "Yeah, Mitch, that new lady in your town wanted organic foods. I supply the damn greens and fruits in your shop so Peeta called me to ask if I've got anything like that."

"Right. Do you?"

"Sure I do but it ain't cheap. That boy said I'm selling it for too high a price. You taught him how to haggle for a price, huh?"

"Part of the job," Haymitch muttered distractedly. "What else did she ask for?"

Chaff laughed. "She's your customer, right? Not mine. You should know. So, you ever met her? She sounds like a handful, sounds picky. First time I'm being asked for organic foods from your town. It's always people up in the city."

"Yeah, I met her few days back."

"So?"

"What? What do you want to know?"

"What she's like? Come on, you know what I want to know."

"She's hot."

Chaff chuckled. "She your kind, buddy?"

"No," Haymitch answered far too quickly, "too stuck up."

Now that they were talking about her, his mind drifted back to that Friday at her house. He thought of the way she had raised her nose at him when she caught him eyeing her, the annoyed look she shot him when he didn't back down and the way she swayed her hips. He was sure she did it on purpose.

She was a minx.

When the next Friday came, Haymitch loaded his red pickup truck and set out to deliver the groceries. He made sure her house was last on the roster. He wouldn't need to rush off to the next house and …. He wasn't sure what he was hoping but there was a building anticipation as the list began to thin out.

He reached Capitol Street and drove straight to the brown house at the end. He pressed the doorbell and waited.

"Sweetheart," he greeted her with a smirk when she opened the door.

"Haymitch," she returned his greeting civilly.

"Say, sweetheart, I'm almost disappointed you didn't call to complain 'bout anything," he commented as he walked towards her kitchen. "Someone like you, there must be something you ain't happy about. Everything I deliver up to your satisfaction?"

She narrowed her eyes. "They were satisfactory."

"Good but you know if there's anything you should call."

"I will keep that in mind."

"Yeah," he nodded. "I just want to have the satisfaction of ignoring your call."

"You are – You are unbelievable."

He chuckled.

"What happened to Peeta?"

"You really are obsessed with him. I'll tell him you're a fan," he deadpanned.

"Is he alright, though?"

It was the genuine concern in her voice that made him look up and made him gave her an answer.

"He's at the store. His leg's not good so he's minding the counter and doing the baking."

"Are you doing the deliveries from now on, then?"

"Is that hope I hear in your voice?" he teased.

She glared.

"Yeah, I'm doing the deliveries," he pushed his sleeve up his right elbow when it slid down as he bent forward to carefully place the bag down.

He felt her eyes on him, watching his every move.

"Don't stare, sweetheart. Don't worry I ain't gonna break your eggs. There are other ways to break an egg, if you know what I mean?"

He raised his head just in time to see a blush spreading across her cheeks.

"That was terrible." She shook her head at him but there was a hint of a smile. "It's a terrible pick-up line."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Look, I don't mean that. I don't want to be breaking any egg but I'm not opposed to the act of – "

"I've never seen you before," she interrupted him before he could finish that sentence and embarrassed them both. "It's a small town and I've never seen you around. Not at your shop. Not when I went out for coffee at the coffeeshop or to Sae's restaurant or the pub nearby."

He shrugged. "Not much for socializing. Don't go out often."

"That would explain the horrid pick-up line. You need practice."

He should feel offended but somehow, that made him laugh. It surprised him to laugh this easily at something she said.

"I've seen you."

"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Saw you runnin' past my house. Joggin' or some shit way too early in the morning. No one does that here. You're the only crazy one."

"It keeps me healthy."

"Sure," he plucked the receipt from one of the brown paper bags, letting his eyes scan over it. "Vegetables, beans, more vegetables, fruits, lots of avocado and strawberries. We had to order in avocado 'cause of you. If it ain't for the chicken and meat and seafood in there, oh and chocolate, I'd thought you're on some weird diet or somethin'. At least you've got wine. You drink this alone?"

"It really is none of your business."

"You one of those people crazy 'bout health or something?"

"I plan to lead a long healthy life."

He snorted. "We all die someday."

"You're a cynical man, aren't you?"

"And you look like you've had an easy life. Privilege background, daddy's girl, the centre of everyone's attention – feel free to stop me when I'm wrong – bet you got rich boyfriend somewhere in the city. No reason at all to be cynical. Let me guess… He cheated on you and you're here to 'find' yourself?"

"He's gone missing," she pursed her lips. "I strongly advise you to mind your own business."

He blinked.

"Missing?"

She let out a breath. "Here – your payment."

He accepted the money and bid her goodbye. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had pushed too far but this only piqued his curiousity about her even more.

He had wondered once the reason for the weekly delivery of groceries when she was the only one living in the house. She couldn't possibly be going through her food that quickly.

Haymitch wasn't complaining. She was giving him business after all. It certainly had nothing to do with the fact that he would see her again next Friday.

It was just business.

So tell me what you think? What will happen next?