第 4 章 (Chapter Four) 傘(Umbrella)
"So...How are you all related to each other...again?" Dawn blinked, staring at all of them with wide eyes as she took a sip from her mug. The young woman was sitting on top of the wooden counter while the other adults had gathered a few chairs around the register. In line with his normal behavior, Paul had chosen to lean back against the wall next to the coffee pots, hidden a bit by the shadow of the ceiling.
"Pay attention, Troublesome. Leaf is Gay's long-time girlfriend. He left without notice several months ago and just reappeared here with Ash to work on a project for his grandfather. Ash and Misty are old traveling companions and went on a trek through Johto as a celebratory "We're done with high school" deal and those two knew Leaf and Gary from Kanto. Just as it so happens, I'm friends with Drew here, who was May's boss until she quit or he fired her. Those two haven't spoken an intelligent sentence in years so I'm not sure what exactly happened."
Everyone stared at Paul in shock for a moment and he shrugged, "You could fill hundreds of little black books if you bothered to listen instead of talk all the time."
Gary chuckled nervously at this and chugged down his third cup of coffee, his leg jittering from both the caffeine and nervousness as he tried to avoid Leaf's continuous glare. Glaring at him, Leaf snatched his cup away and slammed a hand down on his leg to keep it still.
"I'm going to beat you if you keep that up, too much of this stuff is bad for you." She scolded as Misty rolled her eyes.
"You shouldn't care so much. If he's going to die of anything, let it be through his own actions."
Drew yawned and nibbled on a scone he had stolen from May. "This is as boring as your inventory reports, April."
"It's May, Flower Pot."
The awkward silence between them all stretched longer than a fruit roll up before Ash broke the thin ice. A puzzled look on his face, he stared at May for a moment before his eyes lit up as an epiphany hit him.
"April showers bring May flowers!" He looked around at everyone with a lopsided smile and they all groaned.
"So?" Dawn raised an eyebrow as she fiddled with the ribbons on the cookie jar.
"It's been raining a lot! The gardens at Parfum Palace will be gorgeous this year~"
Deflating, they all gave up on Ash and any chance at a conversation as the rain continued to pour.
-Several long hours later-
"I will shove your head into the toilet and give you a new hairdo if you don't shut up!" May growled as Paul tried to hold her back, the woman tied to a chair with an apron while Drew smirked, just barely out of arm's' reach.
Dawn groaned and shoved another cookie into May's mouth while Leaf had fallen asleep in Gary's lap and Misty and Ash debated the best sort of public transport. The answer? None.
Laughter ringing out, Drew shrugged at May and glanced down at his watch. "I can't help it that I'm better looking, more intelligent, and a hell lot more wealthy than you. I mean, sure, you probably get a few dates but I'm guessing they're caught using Brockslist. Do you come with a coupon as well?"
Well...if that wasn't the final straw, the game was headed into overtime.
The cookie had muffled most of the cursing and May eventually gave up, resigned to savoring the chocolate and glaring tempestuously at him.
'I swear to Arceus I'm going to run you over with a lawn mower and let's see how much you wanna tease me then.'
Paul sighed and Dawn handed him a cup of coffee; about to say something inevitably optimistic, she froze when the lights began to flicker and suddenly shut off. The constant hum of the air conditioner faded away and the fans slowed to a halt, the coffee machines squeezing out one last drop before they threw in the rag.
Everything was quiet. Well, it would've been except the silence awoke Leaf, provoking a shriek as she rolled off of the couch and onto the floor. They turned to face her and she sat up shakily, the shade of red spread across her cheeks turning more violent by the second.
"What's wrong?" Gary asked, leaning down in concern.
Face-palming, Ash trudged off to the bathroom to get away from what would most certainly turn into more fighting. For once, he had made the right choice.
"Head-lap-your-HNG!" Leaf's fingers spazzed as she tried to communicate effectively. Having just woken up, of course, meant that her vocabulary and ability to express herself had been severely limited and she was blubbering off until Gary slid down next to her and started to smooth down her messy hair.
May shrugged and finished her cookie before speaking, "You just fell asleep on his lap, it's not a big deal."
Slapping Gary's hands away, Leaf combed through her hair with a hand and wrinkled her nose. "I have no desire to encourage him. He's never going to let this go-"
"Dear, I'm never going to let you go," Gary smirked, ignoring her irritated squeals as he resumed fixing her hair.
Suddenly looking up from her winning streak on 'Flappy Pidgey', Misty raised an eyebrow and snorted. "You two squabble like an old couple."
"Troublesome, have you checked the things in the refrigerator yet?" Paul asked suddenly.
Dawn dropped her crossword puzzle and ran into the back room shrieking something about ice cream cakes, much to the amusement of everyone in the room but him.
"She's going to burn down the store one day when I'm not here, that troublesome girl."
Smirking, Drew didn't bother looking up from his newspaper. "Better tie the knot quickly, then. There's no knowing how dangerous it is for her living alone."
After a few minutes, Dawn came back, Ash following closely behind and staggering under the weight of a large ice cream cake. "This won't fit into the cooler so we might as well eat it... " She sighed and passed out spoons before untying May.
"Ah, Daaawn, you should've kept her tied up!" Ash cried as May began to stuff most of the ice cream down. A competitive spirit awakening, he gave up on any manners and soon followed her example, each of them elbowing the other out of the way.
Leaf, who had given up on resisting Gary and had just sat there in resignation until now, crawled over and shoved both of them out of the way to take a bit herself. Growling in sleepy irritation as the two adult vultures circled her warily, Leaf finished up half the cake then crawled back to the couch to lay down again, kicking Gary as she adjusted herself.
"Wouldn't she make a great mother?" He smirked and Ash shot him a look.
"I guess love really does blind…"
Laughing, Dawn glanced over at her manager,"Isn't this fun?"
"Yeah, in a 'I really want to kill myself right now' way." Paul frowned and stared at everyone making themselves at home. "Are you sure there're no umbrellas here?"
"Positive. You should learn to enjoy yourself more, this wouldn't be as awful if you would just smile…"
His eye twitched and he turned away sharply. "I'm going to stand under the canopy for a bit."
"Can I-"
"No."
The door slammed shut behind him and the little bell fell off, bouncing once before rolling to a stop at her feet. Off in the corner, Drew was teaching Ash lame pickup lines, Gary and May were trying to convince Misty to play a drinking game later that night, and Leaf was muttering insults in her sleep. The shop had never been more noisey but for some reason...for some reason, Dawn had never felt more lonely.
She sighed and plopped down in a chair. Dawn could feel the beginning of sleep take her but knew that when she awoke, she'd be far from well-rested.
Paul ran a hand through his hair, knocking the cat ears off. 'I had forgotten about those.' He perched on the window in a loose ball, resting a cheek on his knee. The soothing static of rain murmured in the background but for now, things were finally silent.
"Thank Arceus."
His own voice startled him. Since when had it been so cold, so rough? It made everything seem sarcastic and rude…
His storming out of the shop wasn't necessarily because he was annoyed, he just missed the quiet simplicity of it just being Troublesome and him. In a single second these strangers had just appeared and didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon. Heck, Dawn seemed to have become friends with them already. Where did that leave him? Would this be the beginning of the end or like the day he had gained a new coworker?
She was clumsy. Scratch that, she was a walking disaster. Dawn Berlitz, the famous socialite herself, wanted to work at his shop.
"What'd I ever do to deserve this?" He muttered under his breath, staring with mild disdain at the bright yellow and pink blob of cheerfulness that his ad had dragged in.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're like driftwood?"
"Excuse me?"
She blinked, long eyelashes reaching down to kiss her cheekbones before her cobalt irises stared at him curiously.
He couldn't help but think he saw a glimmer of intelligence in those eyes. Later, he learned he was wrong.
This girl was more than just a tiny bit intelligent.
"Never mind." Paul skimmed her portfolio. "So why do you want to work here?"
The way her lips formed each word was like a swinging pendulum. He was mesmerized.
"-and I want to make it myself without Dad's help."
"Excuse me, what?" Shit. 'You're supposed to be listening.'
She blushed, looking down nervously. "It's nothing. I need the experience and coffee has always had a soothing smell."
After several weeks, he would know that aroma therapy was the only way to calm her anxiety.
"I see…" There was no way in hell he'd let this idiot onto his team. She might as well apply for Staryubucks. He wanted only the-
"Sir?"
"I'm not that much older than you."
"I'm not good at much but I'll try my best. Please."
"Alright." What was he doing?!
Her mouth formed a delicate 'o', tearing up as she stood up and bent over, folding over rapidly and repeatedly. He could barely count the bows of gratitude.
There were thirteen in total that day.
Sighing, he swept past her but paused at the doorway. "One thing."
She froze and straightened, looking at him with a steely determination to fulfil any and all requests. "Yes?"
"Don't forget to tie your hair up, alright Troublesome?"
The giggles pouring forth wouldn't stop until the hiccups and "goodnight, see you tomorrow"s came at closing time.
Dawn Berlitz, the famous socialite, was not nearly as shallow as he imagined.
Awakening with a stiff feeling in his neck, it took a moment for Paul to notice the absence of rain. He stretched and winced at his cracking joints and stumbled inside where everyone was already enjoying another round of freshly brewed coffee.
"Paul!" Dawn smiled brightly at him and offered a mug, which he took grudgingly, before hanging her apron up on her hook. "The girls and I are going to watch a movie, is that alright?"
"Whatever." It wasn't like anything was going to get done today, it was a Monday after all.
Her smile grew larger and she gave him a quick hug before running to grab her bag and jacket. On the way back, her toe nudged something and she glanced down, her smile fading as she stared at the cylinder with horror. Picking it up, Dawn felt like crying. All this time...it...had been knocked out of her cubby by the blanket…
"Guys...don't hate me…" She whimpered. Everyone turned around to stare at her and then face-palmed, feeling both irritated and like sobbing.
In her hand was a large, clear umbrella.
"Troublesome, you frickin' idiot."
It could cover eight.
Responding to comments corner~
XxCherriesandChocolatexX-Thanks so much for coming back to this weird stor I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope these chapters have lived up to your expectations~
AllTheRage- XD I like your username. That's good, thanks for your input!
GuiltyCrown09- Pfft lol Ty~ I'll try!
Ready to Fly- Awww, you're too sweet ; 7 ; I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Katz Monster- Ty! I hope this chapter is alright!