"I need your help on a project I'm doing for school."
"Is this going to have to do with my physical appearance? You know I don't like that stuff much."
"You don't need to go on camera, but...I might need your voice. Just for a few sentences though!"
"First Nino, now you. Why do I end up getting recorded so much?"
"Cause you have a nice voice. Seriously though, it's just a few lines and I need a 'witness' for a fake news program I need to record. Can we meet up and I can give you more info? I'm about ready to head into class."
"Same. I'm free at two this afternoon, but then I really need to get those international orders mailed out before the post office closes. Can we meet for coffee then? My room is kind of messy with packing materials right now."
"I'll buy if that gets you to agree to do this..."
"You know the answer to that one. Just meet me at Coutume Cafe around four."
She checked her phone as the other hand simultaneously grabbed the metal bar to the glass door and pulled. The second the doorway parted for her, the smell of coffee and inside chatter greeted her. She took a deep breath to enjoy the smell, even as she dove into it, and let the chill stay outside as the door closed behind her.
The place was pretty packed for the afternoon, but that was normal. The narrow, white walls were full of college students, travelers needing a break, and retirees wanting a chat on a chilly day. Her eyes roamed through the masses, checking the two-seater and four-seater tables for the sole occupant she was here to meet. Her head whirled around a few times as she slowly headed in, giving a quick nod to the employee who greeted her as she neared the counter.
It took a moment or two, but that was mostly because the back of her head was in view. Just past the ordering counter in a low, two-seater table, was her friend.
With a confident clack of her boots on the tile below, she momentarily ignored the cashier and headed straight for the table. "You could've picked a place near the front on a day like today." She greeted, dropping her backpack near the empty chair.
Blue eyes darted up, a smile soon joining them. "It's too cold in the front. Plus, the servers can see me easier back here if I need a refill."
She snorted and sat down for a moment, eyes jerking down at the steaming cup in her friend's hand. A brow rose, arm propping her head up on the table. "Thanks for waiting for me, Marinette." She cracked.
Marinette merely smiled and picked up the coffee cup. "It's been a long day and it's going to continue." She mumbled around the liquid. "I need as much as I can for now to get me to the evening before I fall asleep."
She sat back in the chair, arms crossing. "When you mean evening, you mean crack of dawn, don't you?"
Marinette smirked. "Let's not go that far. I have class in the morning. Try one a.m."
She stood with a shake of her head and tried not to cringe at the thought of having once pulled those hours for her friend's benefit. "I'm going to grab something and be back." She replied, eyes on the black menu board against the wall. After getting a small Indonesian coffee, she watched the clerk make the hot drink and took it moments later.
Marinette barely gave her a chance to sip her drink before starting in. "I don't want more than two, maybe three sentences." She mumbled, face serious.
She sighed and shook her head, trying not to burn her fingers on ceramic. "It's not as big of a deal as you're making it out to be." She reached into her purse and grabbed her phone to open up the news story. She held it up, noting blue eyes intently watch the whole thing, head slightly turned to hear it over everything else.
When it was done, Marinette sat back and met her eyes. "So...how am I supposed to witness that?"
Her head shook, hand grabbing the stylus from her phone. She pulled up her notes, leaning forward on the small table to show them off. She went into the general idea she had formulated since the day and the various angles she was looking at. She tried to explain how she needed a simple voice recording that would be "eyewitness testimony" that the police found and the very little that actually needed to be said.
"I thought that maybe you could give a basic description of the thief or what happened at the scene." She finished, sitting back and going for her cup. "Something to the effect of you saw the news report and called the police with info." Marinette looked to her own cup and took hold of it in silence. She could tell that the gears were going on high as Marinette weighed everything and hoped this little bit she described would be enough to sway her friend.
After a fairly long drink, the cup was put back on the table. "Okay... I'll do it." Marinette muttered, chin going for her hand. "But I don't want to have to be privy to any more of these things for the rest of the semester, okay? I've got so much to do and not much time to get it all done in."
She smiled. "It's a few lines. Don't make such a big deal out of it."
"It is a big deal! I'm going to be recording my voice and it's going to affect your grade! How can I not stress out on something like that?"
"Don't worry about that. You'll do fine." Her hand snaked out across the way and lightly grabbed her friend's. She gave a quick squeeze, getting a smile in return. "I'll be with you if you need help on the recording, okay?"
A raven brow rose. "You plan on being with me that late in the evening?" Pink lips twitched. "Are you sure you can hack it?"
She sighed again, propping her chin up in her hand. "Are you planning on doing this when you're supposed to be sleeping? I think I'll have to forbid that."
Marinette grinned and went for the last bits of the coffee. "I'll keep it around midnight for you. Good?"
She stuck out her tongue and shook her head. "Get your homework done earlier girl. Seriously, stop pulling such odd hours."
Marinette ignored the look and shrugged. "I've got a business to run, you know that." Blue eyes looked to the menu, teeth nibbling her lip in decision on ordering another or not.
She stood at the look, knowing what her friend usually ordered. "I'll order it as payment for helping me with my homework."
Marinette was out of her seat in a second. "I don't need you to buy me another coffee." She quickly denied, going for the Euros in her back pocket. "I can get it myself."
She shot her friend a look when she was actually pushed a little out of the way. "Don't be so nit-picky about taking money from people...geez." Fingers reached out and flicked Marinette's forehead lightly.
Marinette swatted at the hands messing up her bangs and shook her head to settle her hair. "Maybe some day I will. But not today. Now go sit down and write my lines for me."
She smiled and gave up at that. No reason to argue anything further and damage the "in" she just got.
Leaving her friend for the order, she plopped back in the chair and grabbed the stylus. By the time Marinette came back, she had a few basic sentences scribbled out of various aspects depending on how she would give the report itself.
"I'm not saying all that!"
She sat back and moved the stylus away. "Relax already. I don't have your script down, let alone my own lines yet, so I was just thinking of as many aspects as I can get right now. I need to work on your part tonight and I can get them to you tomorrow for you to do. The project isn't due for a week and I just got it, so I've got time."
Marinette sighed, her shoulders relaxing. "Thank god...I thought you were going to make me do all that. I don't have enough time to get it right with all the other work I've got."
She snorted. "Don't be such a perfectionist." The stylus tapped on the table a few times before she saved the work for later revision. "I'll type out your stuff on my tablet and let you use it for the recording program I've got on there. All you need to do is say them and I'll play with some background noise to give it some credibility for 'on the scene' reporting...maybe. I haven't got that set up later."
Marinette snorted. "Sounds like you need a lot of help." A brow rose. "Want some?"
She smiled. "While I know that you're good to bounce ideas off of, I also know that your anal retentive way with details gets a little much at times." Sip. "It's my assignment and I want to do it. I'll give you the little I'm asking from you and not make you do more. Thanks for the offer though."
Marinette sat back with a grin, cup in her hands. "You know I don't mind. I like that kind of stuff, oddly enough. Nothing like a good puzzle."
"Yea, yea." She muttered, putting the extra things away. One hand cradled the cup, fingers going to push up her rims as she sat back. "So...how's the ordering going? Need any help with the website at all?"
"Haven't had any reported problems in a while. Your sister does good work." Blue eyes looked to the phone in her coat pocket real quick. "You have any more time to chat or do you need to get going? I have one more hour and then I need to check on any order updates."
She smirked. "Any homework scheduled in there?"
There was a sheepish cringe in response. "Maybe..."
"It sounds like you're going to be busier than I am tonight." She laughed. "I work for mom, but not until six when dinner is in full swing. We're good for a bit."
01010
It was always good to catch up with friends one hadn't seen for days. Especially when that friend was a college student and entrepreneur with her own business. It boggled her mind sometimes how Marinette managed to get any sleep with all that she did and it almost made her feel bad to ask for more of her friend's precious moments. But, she knew that Marinette wouldn't have agreed if she didn't think it could be fit into her schedule.
An already too-full schedule, but schedule nonetheless.
A pair of ornate glass doors slid open for her, a cordial voice bidding her an evening greeting. She nodded to the bellhop and strode inside, taking a hard turn at the front desk and waving to the front help as she passed into the employee hallway for the back. There was a quiet hum of conversation that permeated the area, created by well-dressed and rich individuals. One in particular she hoped wasn't around right now. She didn't need to hear any flack. She wanted part of her brain for work and the other on the lines she wanted to get done tonight.
She shrugged off her purse and backpack in a locker and grabbed the extra wear resting inside. After donning a white apron and packing her hair away in a quick bun, she headed away from the employee area and into an enormous kitchen.
The noises of chattering chefs and cooking food filled her ears almost to the point of being too loud. Everyone was talking at once, hurriedly moving around, hands moving as fast as possible to get whatever delicacy cooked as quickly as time would allow.
She stood in the corner of the room until she found her mother amidst the madness. She watched the woman flip food in a pan with ease, people moving around her, and waited for the right time to slip through the small crowd to get started. One did not step in front of a hurried chef with a hot pan after all. Once the second presented itself, she scurried past others and stopped at her mother's side.
With a smile, she gave a mock salute. "Reporting for duty, chief chef." She cracked.
Her mother smiled, eyes one the ladle. "I need five big pans washed in less than ten minutes. They haven't really been soaking long. Good luck."
Cringing a little, she tried to sigh too loudly as she nodded and turned for the sink. Doing dishes was essential, but she hated dishpan hands later. She was kind of hoping to do some server work or at least make a dish or two. But, the night was still young so who knew. Maybe she could work her way up and get away from the sponge.
Over the next two hours, she gravitated from dishwasher to front server to spice selector to waitress. There was nothing she was new to, though she did worry about one thing every time she was outside the hotel's kitchen.
Chloe Bourgeois.
It was a nice night when she could walk in, do what her mother wanted her to do, and then head home without seeing the annoying blond. Since the hotel had been Chloe's home for so many years, it was a given that they would meet at least once a week.
Once a month was better if she had a say.
Thankfully, Chloe's "high opinion" of things in her own home applied to the Cesaire cooking quality and thus Chloe often ate out on her father's money, but the tranquility was worth it. The few times she managed to get out of the back found Chloe nowhere nearby most of the dinner hours and she breathed a sigh of relief at that.
Once eight thirty rolled around, her mother bid her a goodbye and to head home for the evening to work on her homework before bed. She headed for the lockers to put her things away and grabbed her bags.
She tightened the coat around herself a little more when the cold air greeted her with a whoosh from the doors. Hands delved deep into the pockets for gloves as she started away from the extensive place, allowing her mother to finish up with the few remaining chefs.
Not even a block away from the place, her mind instantly switched to the assignment. Details she had made, questions of things she had yet to answer, and optional roads she had to keep in mind. By the time she was pushing the main entry door open, she was already formulating the initial words she wanted to say to start the broadcast.
She greeted her father and twin as she passed the living room for the stairs to her room. She was warned that her twin intended on heading to bed when the show was over and waved a hand in acknowledgment as she headed up.
The bag full of books, notebooks, and her tablet were littered about the bed. She grabbed the notepad and opened it to her other scribbles, also opening the original note app on her tablet. She grabbed the stylus on her phone and opened a note-taking app, eyes flying around all the info she had accumulated until now.
Extra info for possible music to consider, though it may be too late in the day to worry about that right now. Bullet points for the intro that she intended on saying. Rehashing some of the original info on the old broadcast to "remind" viewers what had already transpired with notes on when to include it. Spots on where to write in Marinette's part in the whole thing. A revision of the words she wanted Marinette to say. Times to keep it to and possible mention of commercials.
She was just looking at the words to give to Marinette when the door opened. She looked up and met brown eyes looking to the surrounding mess.
"I'm going to get ready for bed and shut the lights off when I'm actually going to sleep." Arms crossed. "You've been at it for forty-five minutes so far."
Her gaze jerked up to her sister's, eyes wide. "Really?! Well...maybe I'll do the same. I've got classes in the morning."
With a mumbled agreement from her sibling, she idly watched her sister pass for the closet and slowly gathered her things for their spot in her backpack. A yawn escaped, deeming it a done day for now.
Cafe: lefigaro fr/sortir-paris/2012/04/24/03013-20120424ARTFIG00527-coutume-cafe php
