Intro - POV: Chase
"Oh, my goodness, it's Chase! We haven't seen you here in ages!" Yolanda was almost like a grandmother to me. Before I'd left to study, she'd practically raised me in her kitchen. And as it turned out, fancy foreign cooking knowledge just didn't compare with Yolanda's kitchen know-how.
"Good evening, Yolanda," I said, bowing to be polite.
"It's so good to see you back! Now get your fancy barrettes."
"...What?"
"Your shift starts in an hour." I stood frozen, head cocked to the side, as she turned and headed up the stairs. She made one quick head-swivel back to me. "What? You didn't think you were going to get off easy because you've just moved in, did you?"
I let out a small chuckle. That's Yolanda. Always... Yolanda.
Chapter 3a - POV: Angela
I tentatively reached toward the handle to the bar. Here I was, wearing my pretty yellow dress that I'd bought at the flea market and smelling like the lily flower I'd tucked behind my ear. Truth was, I'd never been to a bar. It brought up images of drunken men and scantily-clad women, raging rumbles and passed-out cowboys, their hats askew to reveal their half-dead faces. It scared the hell out of me. But this was no way to act; it was the only way to see Chase. "That's IT!" I said to myself, ripping the lily from my head and squashing it into the ground with the sole of my boot. I threw open the doors to the bar (surprisingly lightweight, as they were).
Immediately, I'd drawn attention to myself. I shrunk in my place. The bar was hardly anything more than a late-night restaurant; a few people sat at tables eating, some of them with colorful drinks in triangular glasses. Nothing special. With all eyes on me and my big fat entrance, I slowly crept over to the bar and took a seat.
Chase was cooking in the kitchen directly across. I did my best to look attractive, leaning my elbow on the bar and twirling my hair in my finger. "Hey, Chase," I said in my sexiest voice. It turns out, I don't get very sexy.
He turned his head. "Oh, Angela," he said nonchalantly, flipping sliced peppers with his frying pan. "You startled me."
"You... didn't notice my entrance? I thought I was pretty... ostentatious."
"Nope. I get wrapped up in my cooking. What do you want?"
"Gee... you're awfully business-like. I just wanted to chat. Is that so bad?"
"Oh... I'm cooking."
"What, you can't cook and talk at the same time?"
"I'd prefer not to. It gets distracting and I can't concentrate, and I end up with something about as easy to stomach as that flowery perfume you're wearing."
I was more than a bit taken aback by that comment, mostly because I wasn't wearing any perfume. The only flowery scent that lingered on me would be from the lily I was wearing before I stormed in. But when I thought about it, I did smell roses... lots of roses... oh, god, the rosy smell was unbearable. "Hi, Chase!" a chipper voice chirped from next to me. "Ooh, who's your friend?"
"Well, she's not really my friend, Maya," Chase asserted, breathing deeply to keep his cool. "Neither are you, particularly."
The girl frowned. "Chase, you're so cold sometimes, you know that? You're just... mean."
"I wouldn't be so mean if you weren't so... look, Maya, can you just leave me alone?"
"Okay, grumpy-guts. Maybe I just want to talk to the new girl, hm?" She turned to me. "Hi! I'm Maya! What's your name?" Maya was all too chipper. Her short orange hair had two braids in the sides and her pink dress culminated in a ridiculous bubble that looked big enough to smuggle cakes in. Coupled with her wide blue eyes, she looked like a little girl, and she smelled like she'd washed her hair with her mother's perfume.
"I'm roses-- I mean, my name's smelly-- er, Angela." Her perfume was leaking into my brain. "And I've lived here for a while now..." Roses, roses, roses. "I moved here at the beginning of Spring, you know." It didn't even smell like roses anymore.
"Oh, really?" Maya asked. Faceplant in a rosebush. "Why haven't I seen you around, then?" Roses up the noses. "'Cause we meet--"
"OH GOODNESS LOOK AT THE TIME I'VE GOT TO GO!" I interrupted, looking at a watch I didn't have and hopping off my barstool.
"But I just got here... And I--"
"YEAH AWFUL NICE CHATTIN' WITH YA WE SHOULD DO IT AGAIN SOMETIME BYE!" I finally reached the door and took in the fresh outdoor air. "Oh, sweet dry summer air, how I've missed you!" I thought aloud.
Chapter 3b - POV: Chase
Working at the bar had always been a comforting affair. Just me, the little kitchen, and all the greatest cooking ingredients Waffle Island had to offer.
I was frying peppers for the mayor's traditional late-night omelette when the bar doors crashed open. Angela stood small in the doorway, obviously not realizing that the doors were so light. My insides flipped like the peppers I was frying, but I played it cool until she pulled up a seat at the bar and said hello. "Oh, Angela," I said, hardly looking away from my peppers. "You startled me."
"You... didn't notice my entrance? I thought I was pretty... ostentatious."
Yep, I noticed. I'd have noticed your entrance if you'd slipped in seamlessly through a crack in the floorboards. "Nope. I get wrapped up in my cooking. What do you want?"
"Gee... you're awfully business-like. I just wanted to chat. Is that so bad?"
I'd like nothing more. "Oh... I'm cooking."
"What, you can't cook and talk at the same time?"
I most certainly can. I took a whiff of the fried peppers... at least, I tried to. But I was assaulted by the stench of some kind of rosy perfume. I thought Angela would have better taste. "I'd prefer not to. It gets distracting and I can't concentrate, and I end up with something about as easy to stomach as that flowery perfume you're wearing."
I could feel the comment sting her and instantly wished I'd kept it to myself, until I found the real source of the stench. "Hi, Chase!" Maya's distinctive chirp rang from next to Angela. Maya was Yolanda's granddaughter who'd always had a thing for me. In my previous tenure here, I suppose I'd had a "thing for her," of sorts, but I'd be damned if I'd let her know. "Ooh, who's your friend?" she asked.
Angela? We'd known each other for maybe ten hours. While I'd like to call her a friend, it just wouldn't be like me to do so. I took a deep breath. Lying was difficult sometimes. "She's not really my friend, Maya. And neither are you, particularly."
"Chase, you're so cold sometimes, you know that?" Maya chirped. The swelling symphony that her chirp used to bring to my ears had become a cymbal-crashing cacophony that I dearly hoped didn't make me visibly twitch.
"I wouldn't be so mean if you weren't so..." Obnoxious? Chirpy? Smelly? Certainly smelly. I remembered a time when I'd deliberately hurt Maya's feelings. She was unbearable to be around. As much as I wanted her to leave me alone, I didn't want to cause that scene. "Look, Maya, can you just leave me alone?"
"Okay, grumpy-guts." The nicknames. Always with the childish nicknames. "Maybe I just wanted to talk to the new girl, hm? Hi! I'm Maya! What's your name?" I decided to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"I'm roses-- I mean, my name's smelly-- er, Angela." She sounded cute when she stuttered. "And I've lived here for a while now... I moved here at the beginning of Spring, you know." She sounded as though she was trying not to breathe.
"Oh, really? Why haven't I seen you around, then? 'Cause we meet--"
"OH GOODNESS LOOK AT THE TIME I'VE GOT TO GO!" Angela suddenly shouted, interrupting Maya.
"But I just got here... And I--"
"YEAH AWFUL NICE CHATTIN' WITH YA WE SHOULD DO IT AGAIN SOMETIME BYE!" Her quick footsteps and unpunctuated speech grew quieter until they were cut off by the sound of the bar doors slamming shut.
"Well, now that that's taken care of..." Maya squeaked, "Time to wash of this stinky perfume!" She swiveled and hopped off the barstool, skipping upstairs to her room.
