WEDNESDAY SUCKS
Wednesday 8:30am
Chelsea woke at the usual time: aided a little bit more by her alarm clock today than she would be normally. She rubbed at her eyes and tugged her bandana straight as she crossed her field to the stables. The snow had all but melted as it fell, leaving only a fine whiteness draped over the grass where it had frozen in the night. Her first heifer and ewe came to her as she entered, butting their faces up against her thighs. She dropped her heavy rucksack down by the door and quickly reciprocated their affections.
After visiting all three buildings Chelsea decided it was high-time for some breakfast and dragged her feet into town. She silently promised herself an early night.
A notably sure and deep female voice interrupted her walk towards the diner doors. "What's the matter Chelsea, you look terrible."
"Thanks Natalie. Good morning to you too."
The redhead didn't flinch, but a sudden devilish smile crept across her features. "Ahh, I see. The festival." She sidled up to Chelsea until they were shoulder to shoulder, being of the exact same height. "Who did you spend the night with?" Chelsea tried to swallow the rising heat in her face and Natalie laughed at the reaction. "I want to know! You seem so friendly with all the boys." The shoulder docked with her own nudged.
Chelsea was aghast, "that's not true! I'm friendly with everyone! The only one I've ever given any special attention to was Vau-" Natalie declared her win with a loud enough 'ah-ha!' to send her brother who was working nearby in the shipping bin into an impressive jump and the heat in Chelsea's face reached such a high she was sure she felt a pop.
Natalie moved in front of her and brushed her hands together in a job-well-done manner. "You're both so much fun to tease." Chelsea recovered enough to give her a questioning look which the inherent ESP between girlfriends allowed Natalie to pick up with ease. "Vaughn's still here. He missed the ferry last night and he's just sitting in the shop like a lump. It was pretty easy to guess why he missed it. The only girls he even minutely pays notice to is Julia- because he has to-, Sabrina- because she's taken a shine to him- and you- because you basically stalk him."
Chelsea balked, "I've never stalked him!"
"Uh huh." Natalie was unmoved. "Then do you know where you're likely to find the guy at 3pm on a Tuesday?" Chelsea was not about to amuse her friend with the answer and instead pressed her lips together in a firm line. "Okay flower, you don't have to answer that one." She gave a gentle pat to the brunette. Chelsea sent a wayward glance in the direction of Mirabelle's. "So," Natalie started. "are you going to skip breakfast and check up on him, or can I join you for a while? I'm dying to tell you about my evening with Pierre. Julia said-"
"Sorry Natalie, can I take a rain check? 5 minutes tops!" Chelsea pressed her palms together in front of her nose with one eye squeezed shut while the other looked at her friend pleadingly.
"Yeah...that was the answer I expected."
Wednesday 8:50am
As soon as Chelsea entered the shop she met Vaughn's stare and almost mistook the look in his eyes for eagerness. He nodded in her direction, imperceptibly to someone who wasn't familiar with his demeanour, his hat and hair covering the left part of his face from view. She took the hint and first went to greet Mirabelle at the counter.
"Good Morning Chelsea dear! Thank you for your company last night. Good to know I can still throw a good bash when I need to." Her smile lit up her face and creased her eyes.
"Thanks for having me. If it wasn't for the work around the farm I'd still be full after all that food. Which reminds me..." She removed her rucksack from her shoulder and pulled last night's canteen out of it. "I'll return this." Another sideways glance to Vaughn, who was still stood with an eye hidden. He was suddenly vague.
Mirabelle thanked her and Julia hailed from the kitchen but stayed to carry out her work. Chelsea shuffled over to Vaughn feeling unprepared without the usual handout of porridge to present him and suddenly very self-conscious. She pulled at a strand of errant hair and finally spoke, "Hi."
"What."
She wasn't sure what kind of answer she was anticipating but was accustomed to this type of response by now. "It's Wednesday."
"Thanks for the update."
"You missed the ferry?"
He was obviously agitated enough that the implications of why he missed the ferry failed to strike any chord of embarrassment. Instead he huffed and crossed his arms.
She took a deep breath, "Want to go somewhere?" The echo of his words wasn't wasted. She caught his eye once more and urged him with her gaze. She thought that this was enough. She thought that she could read him by now.
His glower was razor-sharp. "No."
Wednesday 10:30pm
Natalie's fork tapped the rim of her coffee cup and brought Chelsea back to her dessert, the spoonful only inches from her mouth. Pierre could be heard heartily complimenting Halia on today's dessert; his hat perched upon his hair precariously as he tasted it loudly. Natalie pressed her napkin to the corner of his mouth almost mothering and they shared a smile that faintly painted the apples of their cheeks pink and seemed to send the atmosphere itself rosy. Chelsea took a noisy sip of coffee.
"A-anyway." Natalie set her napkin down and Pierre went back to sampling. "I was saying don't take it to heart. You know exactly what he's like. You've been here nearly as long as he has."
"I know." She answered clearly: without doubt. But started again slowly, "I just thought it would be different now. He seemed...open." She remembered his sweet unhesitating kiss. "But he will do and say what he wants however bluntly it may come across." Even if sometimes it was in a backwards sort of manner, it was something she'd always found refreshing. "It just worries me. He might just change his mind the same way."
"He's not that fickle." The fork was wagged. "He's just being an oversensitive idiot about missing his ride back to the mainland. Think about it: that means missing out on profits too." Natalie's attempt to imitate Vaughn was ignored.
Chelsea pursed her lips around a spoonful of cake. She knew he took his industry very seriously or he wouldn't lecture so much. She shouldn't be sulking. She dropped the utensil next to her plate which still had half a slice of cake on it. "Thanks Natalie. I've gotta go now. See you Pierre, thanks for joining us."
He returned her genuine smile with a significantly wide one of his own, "My pleasure madam!" Natalie waved, and Chelsea was out the door.
She would ignore him. Any woman would. But she would ignore him and work. Work hard. The abundance in her daily profits might impress him, but more importantly that was what she was here for. To work and prosper. Not to wait around on cowboys. Although she held onto the hope that tomorrow might bring a different answer any way.
