She's been working at Arthur's Diner for two weeks now. Erzsébet has begun to refer to it as her diner, as it feels so familiar already.
Arthur has taught her all the English words for the foods and phrases such as, "Will that be all you're ordering?" Learning all this English is a bit difficult, but it sure is helpful.
Along with learning English, she's met all of the diner's regulars as well as the several who come only on a specific day.
Erzsébet finds out that Mr. Zwingli is a frequent customer. He comes on Wednesday with his little sister.
Still angry about him insulting Feli, Erzsi tries hard not to glare at him.
"Mr. Zwingli," she says, monotone. "What brings you here today?" What she really wants to say is, "Why are you eating in my restaurant after you insulted my roommate?" She doesn't, of course; that would drive away customers. There is also a little girl sitting in the booth seat across from him and she doesn't want her to get involved with this conflict. This is for her and Mr. Zwingli alone.
"This is my sister, Lily." says Mr. Zwingli. "I love to treat her, but too many treats aren't good for a growing girl. So I only take her on Wednesday. Isn't that right, Lil?" He reaches over the table and pats her on her head.
"Right," says Lily, giving Erzsébet a gap-toothed smile. "I'm Lily and I'm in the third grade. I'm gonna be nine soon. I'll have the tuna fish sandwich, please!"
"Will that be all?" Erzsi asks.
"Um, could you make it a tuna fish melt with cheese? And fries, please? And can I have an apple juice, too?" says Lily, eyes wide.
Erzsébet finds Lily absolutely adorable-and so entirely different from her big brother.
"Sure!" she says.
Erzsi looks at Mr. Zwingli. "Would you like anything, sir?"
"I'll just have a coffee, please."
She writes down the orders and then rushes off to the kitchen.
Erzsébet smiles the whole time while preparing Lily's meal. That little girl just makes her so darn happy. She gives Lily extra pickles and squirts a smiley face of ketchup on the plate for dipping and sets the plate before Lily with a flourish.
If only Erzsi had a camera to photograph such a happy face.
Wednesday is her new favorite day of the week.
The Zwingli's leave after Lily has to be taken back to school. Erzsébet waves them goodbye and then asks, "I very sorry, sir, but I forget your first name. It is…?"
"Vash, Vash Zwingli. If you've noticed, I care about my sister very much." He looks at Lily. "Um, Lily-I would like to talk to Miss Erzsébet for a moment. Would you please go and wash up while I talk with her?"
"Okay," says Lily. She skips off to the ladies room. Vash talks in a hushed tone, speaking in German for more privacy.
"Lily and I-we don't come from the best home. She would get hit by my parents. I would always do what I could to save her and take the beating for her. Then I went and moved out. I got my own apartment so I could get away from them."
"Oh. I'm so sorry!" says Erzsi, hand to her mouth. She's been so sorry for herself recently; the thought of other people having bad lives hasn't even registered in her mind.
She feels rather ashamed.
"I felt so bad abandoning Lily like that, but it was only so I could have a place for her and me to live together without our parents.
"Luckily, Lil got taken away by social services recently. One of the neighbors noticed and finally did something I could never do: call the police. They were my parents, for crying out loud, the would never forgive me! In retrospect, I don't think that them not forgiving me really mattered. I regret not calling the police myself.
"Anyway, I was so glad that it happened. Right now I'm doing what I can to get adoption papers to become her legal guardian, and it's been stressing me out a bit.
"I-I'm sorry that I yelled at you that other day. The stress has been really getting to me. I want the best for my sister, that's all. I'm just wondering if there is anything you could do about your roommate? He's-"
"I'll do what I can," says Erzsébet, cutting Vash off.
"Thank you for being so kind to my sister, Erzsébet. She really likes you. I think she may just want to invite you to her birthday party!"
"She's so cute," says Erzsi. "I hope for the best for you two. It's awful to think about the life she's been through. She deserves to be in good hands."
"Bye, Erzsébet!" Lily says, back from the bathroom. She runs to Erzsébet and gives her a big hug. "You made me the best lunch ever."
"Guess this means I'm gonna need to learn to cook, then." Vash says with a smile. The siblings walk out the door hand in hand.
Erzsébet can't wait for Lily to become her neighbor.
The rest of her week is rather ordinary, save for Friday afternoon. Erzsébet leaves early so she can go to temple.
On the way into her building, she runs into a young blonde man, maybe a bit older than Feliciano. His hair is tied in a loose ponytail with a beret placed at the top of his head. He smiles to himself, carrying a hefty stack of magazines.
Erzsébet isn't watching where she's going. Neither is he. The two collide; hurting Erzsébet's face and making the man drop his magazines.
Goddam it! Erzsébet thinks. What have I done? She looks at the man, his beret now askew.
"Sorry. I will help you now?" says Erzsi. She still needs to work on her English.
"Oui, that would be fantastique," says the man. Apparently, his English needs work, too.
"Excuse me?" says Erzsébet.
"French. I am no speaking Anglais."
How strange it feels to be in the presence of someone with worse English than her!
"Oh. I know little English. Your name is?" asks Erzsébet.
"My name Francis Bonnefoy," says the man.
"My name is Erzsébet Hedervary," says Erzsi. "I will help you now?"
"Merci beaucoup," says Francis.
The two pick up his magazines. Erzsébet stops abruptly once she gets a closer look at them.
Woman and men alike adorn his magazines, most wearing hardly anything at all. This disgusts her greatly.
"You pervert!" she cries, and slaps the magazines on the floor.
"J'aime les hommes et les femmes, d'accord? Mais entre vous et moi, j'aime mieux les hommes."
She's picked up a few French words here and there, but she has absolutely no idea what that means. Whatever he said doesn't help that she thinks he's a disgusting jerk.
"I am going to my apartment!" She shouts. Erzsébet runs up the stairs and slams her door shut.
Inside, she finds Feli resting on their couch. He's been working on a painting today. Feliciano's work is quite impressive. If only he had the courage to attempt to sell his pieces.
He rises from his light sleep. "Erzsébet, you're home!" he says. "How was your day?"
"It was quite an interesting day, Feli," says Erzsébet. Before she's able to go on and explain her day, Erzsi's interrupted by a knock on the door.
She opens the door, only to find the perverted Francis standing in her doorway.
"We are neighbors, mademoiselle Erzsébet!" exclaims Francis.
"Au revior," says Erzsébet, and slams the door in his face.
"So your day was interesting, Erzsébet?" asks Feli.
"Yes," she says flatly, "an interesting day, indeed."