Chapter Seven-Misty's Discovery

"Leaf, what's going on? You have customers out there who have been waiting for ages," Chris called as she walked into the kitchen to check on the brunette. "Melody can't handle them all."

Leaf was usually the only one to work at the counter with another one of the workers to take orders or to deal with the cash. Today, however, Leaf left that job for only one of the workers while she went into the kitchen to work on something. The brunette figured that since it was a weekday, there wouldn't be a lot of people walking in, especially at ten in the morning when everyone was at work.

When Chris entered, she took a double take of the kitchen and refrained herself from yelling. The place was a mess, with eggshells scattered carelessly around the counter that held multiple mixing bowls, several bags of flour and sugar, and batter spilled on one edge of the countertop. On another counter across the room sat a tray of assorted mini colorful hamburger-like pastries.

"Sorry, Chris," Leaf apologized as she wiped some batter from her face, only to have it smeared in the clear areas of her face. "I wanted to try a couple of new flavors for the macarons. You know how much people love them. I can't seem to get this flavor right, though…"

"Leaf," the manager said. "You can't just leave your job for this. Yes, I appreciate you trying to help with the finances, but you also have to remember that you have a job. You can do the baking when you're on your break or before work starts, if you ever come in early."

The brunette chuckled sheepishly and set the mixing bowl down onto a clear table before grabbing a macaron to hand to her manager. The older woman stared at it in bewilderment, caught off slightly from the brunettes' sudden move.

"This is one of the new flavors," Leaf informed. "It's supposed to taste like chocolate covered strawberries, but it doesn't seem to taste right."

The older woman took the macaron and took a bite out of it, allowing the ganache to melt in her mouth, to which she was able to taste out the chocolate. It tasted amazing to her.

"What's wrong with it?" Chris asked as she finished up the remaining piece. "It tastes fine to me. Strawberry flavored at the foot, and chocolate ganache."

Leaf shook her head as her manager went on about how great it was. Sure it tasted fine to any other person, but to the brunette, it wasn't right. She couldn't place her finger on it, but something was off about her recipe.

"I don't know, Chris, but something about it doesn't seem right to me. I mean, it's perfectly good enough to sell to the customers, but I'm just not satisfied with it." She sighed as she picked up one of the trays that held the macarons. "I'll just work on it tonight. I'll bring these out right away."

And for the rest of the day, the macarons were a hit. Many of the customers who came in during their lunch break bought at least twelve of them, which really helped out the bakery since macarons weren't the cheapest thing on the menu. It was the most delicious though, so it was worth it.

"Excuse me, miss?" someone called from a table, catching Leaf's attention.

Melody had left for her lunch break, which left the brunette to take the lunch shift on her own. Normally, there were four workers in the bakery, but because two of them were sick, it only left Leaf and Melody.

"Yes?" Leaf asked as she approached the table.

The woman pointed at her plate, which held four pieces of macarons, and smiled up at Leaf. The smile, the brunette noticed, was a friendly one.

"These are delicious," she complimented. "May I ask how you thought of such a brilliant concept of chocolate covered strawberries?"

Leaf grinned sheepishly before saying, "This'll sound weird, but I was just really craving them at that moment and that's when I thought, why not make a macaron of it?"

The woman smiled softly as she picked up another one to eat.

"It truly is delicious. I'll take a box of twelve of just this flavor," she ordered. "I want to share it with my co-workers. Please bring the check when you've picked the twelve pieces as well."

The brunette nodded and went back to get the box of macarons. Though it didn't taste like how she had anticipated for it to be when she first made it, she was still glad that many people loved it. And as long as they liked it, then she as fine with it.

She opened the thin box and gently placed the red chocolate-drizzled macrons into the box in a neat fashion. Afterwards, she taped the box shut and placed it into a bag before bringing it back to the woman along with the check.

"Thank you, and please come again," Leaf chimed as the woman left.

She went back to the counter and seeing that the few customers were still enjoying their lunch at the tables and that they didn't seem to need help, the brunette whipped out her phone started playing on it until the door chimed open. Leaf didn't notice him until he was in front of her and cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized as she put her phone away. "How may I help you?" she greeted as she looked up, only to be met with a handsome man that she swore she recognized.

He scanned the menu and as he did that, Leaf noticed how his eyes were a light shade of brown with a hint of blue mixed into it. It was a strange pair, but it was unique.

"Can I get a Smoked Turkey Sandwich? For here, please," he ordered as he pushed his brown hair back. "And an Ice Green Tea," he added.

The brunette calculated his order and gave him the price. While he was paying, she remembered that there were still macarons.

"Would you also like to try our new macaron flavors?" she inquired. "We have a couple of new flavors."

He scanned the roll of macarons available and decided on the chocolate covered strawberries one and rose.

While Leaf was getting him his change, he looked at her and asked her a question that she wanted to ask herself but didn't want to sound weird.

"I'm sorry, but have we met before?" he questioned. "I recognize you, but I can't seem to remember where I've seen you from."

The brunette shrugged. "I'm not sure. What's your name? I'm Leaf Green."

The man snapped his fingers and grinned before replying, "That's why you're so familiar! I helped you move into your apartment a couple of weeks back when you and your friends moved into that apartment complex. You were the one to show up late. By the way, I'm Danny in case you forgot."

Leaf smiled. So that's where she had met him. She knew he had looked familiar, but now that he brought up the move, it made a lot more sense to her.

"Yup, that sounds like me! I'm surprised you recognize me," she said with a giggle before looking at the time. It was about the time of her lunch break and since the few customers already took their leave, since customers pay before they eat. "I'll get you your food, and may I suggest we have lunch together? Since you know, we're basically the only ones here."

Very smooth, Leafy, she thought to herself. She never thought she'd be able to be that smooth with someone like Danny before. It surprised even her.

Danny chuckled and nodded before saying, "Sounds good to me. Oh, and keep the change," he said as she handed him the remaining money.

"Well, in that case, thank you for the tip."

And with that, she went to prepare his food along with hers, and in ten minutes, they were enjoying lunch together.

Dawn was currently in her office, designing shoes because she was in the mood to design a few. Since she was growing a bit tired of her old shoes, she decided to work some new ones.

"Dawn," someone called as she popped her head into the room. "Fantina wants to talk to you about a couple of your designs. You should go right now since she has a meeting to attend to in half an hour."

Dawn placed her pen down and stood up, straightening out her outfit before stepping around her work table.

"Thank you, Bianca," she started. "I'll go right now."

The blond nodded in response and made her way back to her work station while the bluenette made her way out to her boss' office.

Fantina Veranda was one of the top fashion designers of all the regions and the fact that she took Dawn under her wing to help her pursue her dreams of being top fashion designer surprised the bluenette herself when she was notified of the news. And because she had shown Fantina her amazing ability of designing, Dawn was able to quickly move up the ladder and was now a respected designer of the Unova region.

When Dawn arrived to Fantina's door, she knocked on it three times before hearing her boss's voice ring through the door with a, "Come in."

The bluenette entered and when her boss saw that it was the gifted bluenette, she motioned for her to sit down and Dawn did just that.

"Ok, Dawn, I'm sure Bianca already told you that I needed to talk to you about your designs," she started with a serious tone, which caught Dawn off guard considering the fact that she was rarely serious. "

Dawn nodded. "Is something wrong with them?"

The woman shook her head and gasped as if she had just heard terrible news that someone close to her had passed away.

"Heavens, Dawn, no," she answered. "Your designs were fabulous as always! What I wanted to talk to you about was about how you will feel if Elisa wore it for her fashion shows."

The younger woman sat on the chair as she tried to process what Fantina had told her. Elisa was the number one model of all over the regions and she only ever wore designer clothes. When Fantina told her that the Elisa King wanted to wear it to her fashion show, Dawn couldn't help but think it was a joke.

"Are you serious?!" Dawn nearly screamed out of excitement. "Elisa wants to wear my designs on the cat-walk? This isn't a joke, is it?!"

Her boss simply laughed at her reaction and shook her head in the process of it all. It amazed her that someone like Dawn could think so lowly of her designs when she had such a great talent of design.

"It certainly is not a joke, Dawn," Fantina reassured. "Elisa contacted me this morning, telling me that she saw my fashion show from two weeks ago and she fell in love with the dress that you designed. When I told her that you designed about fifty percent of those, she immediately asked me if she could borrow you for her show. Of course, I told her I'd had to ask you first."

"I would love to help her design a few clothes!" Dawn informed, nearly jumping off her seat. "It would be honor to design something for someone like Elisa."

Upon hearing this, Fantina smiled and nodded as she jotted down Dawn's answer and a reminder to call Elisa to inform her of the great news.

"Very well," Fantina started again after writing down her reminders. "I have a meeting to attend you. As for you, Dawn, I'll give you the full details tomorrow morning. Have a good day."

As she made her way out, Dawn stalked behind her and closed the door before heading back to her own office. When she reached there, she closed the door and cheered quietly to herself while she danced happily around the room.

"Elisa's going to be wearing my clothes!"

Misty knocked on Gary's door when she arrived home to check if he was at home. However, right after she knocked, the door opened just slightly, though no one was on the other side.

Mustn't have closed it, she thought as she peered inside to see if he was perhaps sleeping.

When Misty didn't see him, she was about to close the door to send him a text to ask if he wanted dinner until something caught her eye and she couldn't help but to invite herself into his room to get a better look.

Though his nightstand was quite far from the door, the orange-headed woman had perfect vision and spotted the picture he had up on the stand. From afar, Misty swore she recognized the little girl as Leaf, but she had to get a better look. When she moved closer, her suspicion was confirmed as she stared at the picture, registering it. The two boys, she noticed, resembled Ash and Gary.

"He knew Leaf?" Misty asked herself as she picked the picture up. "But Leaf has never talked about them. And she didn't even recognize them on the first night when we all met them," she muttered to herself as she took a closer look at the photo. "But this girl is her…"

Misty decided to take the photo with her and right when she left his room, the front door of the apartment opened and she was met with Gary.

"Oh, you're home already," he murmured as he removed his shoes and took a seat on the couch, going on his phone. "Are you cooking or are we eating out? If we are, I'll go get it."

Instead of answering him, she simply walked up to him and he looked up at her, curious that she had yet to give him a response. When she sat down, she held out the framed picture and his eyes widened as he looked up at her.

"You went into my room?" he inquired, hoping it'd drive her away from firing questions at him.

"Why do you have this?" she shot back, ignoring the question he asked earlier. "This is Leaf. The Leaf I know. How do you know her and why doesn't she know you?"

Gary opened his mouth to retort but clamped it shut as he contemplated on whether or not he should tell her. He didn't even know her all that well. But then again, she was close to Leaf. The look in her eyes, however, indicated that she didn't want to hear a made-up story from him. And she already took him as creep who stared at her friend after she ran, so he didn't know if telling her was the best option.

"It's complicated," he finally said, avoiding her eyes.

"If it includes Leaf, I honestly doubt that. Now, tell me or I'll go ask her myself."

Suddenly, Gary snatched the frame from her hand and although he glared at Misty briefly, his expression turned to a frantic one, which surprised her because he had never shown her this side before. He was only cocky.

"You can't," he breathed out. "Don't ask Leaf anything about me or Ash. Don't even ask her anything prior to meeting you and the others."

"Why not?" Misty questioned, eyebrows raised at him. "It seems to me that you three were close as kids. Did you do something to her?"

He rolled his eyes at her assumption before saying, "No, we didn't do anything to her. Just…don't ask her anything about it. So can we just let this subject drop? I really don't want to talk about it."

Though Misty was still curious, she decided to stop prying. Even if it involved Leaf, she knew that she shouldn't force Gary into telling her everything when he wasn't comfortable.

"Fine," she sighed. "What are we eating tonight?"

That night, May came home rather late. When she closed the door as quietly as she could, a lamp flickered on and she turned around, only to find Drew sitting on the couch, sipping a cup of tea, and looking as innocent as ever.

"And what were you doing out so late?" he interrogated as he placed the cup down on the coffee table before leaning back to the couch.

She rolled her eyes at him and placed her car keys on the counter as she went to the kitchen to grab a drink of water.

"It's only ten, Drew," she answered as she returned with a glass of the clear liquid. "And I was out with someone. I thought I texted you that I wouldn't be home for dinner. Didn't you get it?"

He nodded before answering, "Oh, I got it. But you never told me what time you'd be home."

She frowned at him as she looked at him with a confused look.

"You're not my dad, you know?" she dead-panned. "Why are you treating me as if I'm a kid? I'm a grown woman. I can take care of myself."

The green-headed man merely shrugged at the statement and took another sip of his tea before smirking up at her.

"Sorry," he apologized, though it sounded sarcastic to the brunette. "I didn't realize that trying to care for my roommate was a crime."

At that, May flushed just slightly but faded in a second when she realized what was happening. Before she allowed him to make her flush again, she stood up and started for her room.

"I'm going to sleep."

"Without showering?" he called when she was halfway to her room. "That's disgusting!"

May simply shut her door. Or rather, she slammed her door shut.

It was midnight and Gary was still up finishing his report on a recent finding for his research. He had been so fascinated with his new research that he couldn't help but get a head start on the report to document his current findings.

Feeling that it was rather stuffy in the living room, he cracked open the window slightly before he smelled a sweet scent thanks to his sensitive sense in smell.

Being the curious man he was, he deducted that it came from Leaf's apartment and decided to check it out by going to knock on her door.

"Gary?" she asked as she opened the door, frowning. "What are you doing here?"

Shit, he thought. Do I just tell her that I smelled it? No, she'll think I'm a freak.

"Uh…I was wondering if Ash was still awake?" he attempted, hoping she wouldn't ask any more questions.

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "At twelve in the morning at work night?"

"Well, you're still awake," he pointed out.

"Touché," she remarked, smirking before she opened the door wider to invite him in. "I need you to try something for me. Come in."

Before he could decline, she made her back into her apartment, heading to the kitchen. He suspected she had knew he'd come in anyway. So he entered and closed the door, following her into the kitchen, where he was met with a small red hamburger-like pastry to his face.

"A macaron?" he asked as he accepted it from her. "What flavor is this supposed to be?"

"Chocolate-covered strawberries," she answered as she popped one in her mouth, only to frown slightly at the taste.

Gary, noticing it, popped it into his mouth to taste it, but it was fine to hi-Wait, no it didn't.

"Something's not right," he stated before he could stop himself from saying it.

Rather than receiving an offended look from the brunette as he had expected though, her eyes widened in awe.

"You notice it too?" she inquired excitingly. "No one's noticed that difference and I thought it was just me!"

The older man leaned back on the chair as he grabbed another macaron to eat. Though the taste was a bit off, it wasn't bad.

"I used to eat these as a kid," he answered. "The place where I bought them from had the best ones. I think the strawberries you used for these aren't that fresh, are they?"

And from there, the two went off on a conversation about macarons, which later led to the two getting to actually know each other, which Gary really wasn't expecting until he found himself telling her about his childhood.

"Your friend sounds like such a nice person," Leaf said before he could go on with his story. "Ash told me about your friend who moved away. I wish I could meet her one day."

But you're her.

"Ok, that's enough about me," Gary finally said so he wouldn't actually say it aloud. "What about you?"

"Well," she started sheepishly. "I don't really remember much of my childhood. I just remember that I use to play with these two boys a lot as a kid and then one day, they were gone. My parents never really brought them up and since we moved so much, we lost the pictures I took with them. I do remember everything that happened after I met the girls in Hoenn."

"You don't remember your childhood?"

She shook her head sadly. "I wish I could. I want to remember those fun times I had with them." She then giggled, catching the man's attention. "Wouldn't it be funny if you and Ash were those two kids I used to play with?"

Gary chuckled at that, though he wanted to blurt it out already. But he had to restrain herself. He didn't want to tell her something that could potentially harm their friendship. And he highly doubted that she'd believe him.

Instead, he said, "That would be hilarious."

SO LIKE I LIKE TO PICTURE LEAF WORKING IN A REALLY GOOD PLACE LIKE PANERA, YA KNOW? ACCEPTING IT ALSO SELLS MACARONS AND YES CHOCOLATE COVER STRAWBERRIES MACARONS ARE REAL. I actually had them recently because this place had it for limited time and omfg it was amazing.

THIS CHAPTER IS NOT EDITED. I DO THAT WHEN I HAVE TIME.

So review and send criticism. This chapter got really bad towards the end and I apologize for that. I'm just too tired. SO YEAH. REVIEW AND GIVE ME REALLY LONG REVIEWS BC I LIKE TO READ THEM. AND SEND ME STUFF ON ASK FM PLS. SO OKAY BYE.

I talk you guys soon. Byeee!