I don't own The Three Stooges
A/N: Many years ago, I wrote a fanfic for this fandom and I have been intrigued to do another one. If I have any OOC concerning the stooges, please let me know and I shall do my best to change them.
The rain splattered against the surface of the pavement as her kitten-heels rapidly click-clacked against it. From one job to another, she had hoped that she would make it home before the thunder sliced the sky in half but to her demise, it was something that she couldn't outrun. Her breath came out in pants as her running slowed down, causing her to lean against a light pole.
"Mommy?" a small voice caught her attention as she looked down at the figure before her. Her little girl held onto her hand as her ringlet curls became soaked in the rain. "Why are we stopping?"
It was not her choice to bring her daughter everywhere she worked. There would be moments where she would have to stop her work at an unreasonable time and give all of her undivided attention upon her. At tough times like this, there were moments where being a single mother was something that she thought she couldn't handle but there was that mysterious force that pushed her to do all she could. Taking responsibility in these two jobs as a waitress and a potential actress on top of being a mother had caused severe exhaustion where she wished she could find some form of break from it all. She felt the rain pounding upon her shoulders and knowing that she was only a couple of blocks away from her apartment, she took a hold of her daughter's hand and ran inside a nearby coffee shop. "In here darling," she whispered to her daughter and guided her inside.
She took off her soaked hat and jacket, feeling the chills running up and down her shoulders before turning her attention to her daughter. "Oh you're soaked," she muttered and proceeded to take off the jacket that her daughter wore. Upon doing so, her daughter wrapped her arms around herself and shivered, her teeth clattering against one another. Seeing her daughter in such a state, made the mother feel distressed. How much she worked was not enough to buy her daughter a new jacket to keep warm during the rainy days. The last thing she needed on her plate was a sick child where she didn't know show could take care of or not. Trying not to think of the worst, she guided her daughter to one of the empty chairs towards the bar and plopped her onto one of the seats.
"I'm cold," the little girl whispered as she looked at her mother, "when are we going home?"
"Until the rain stops," she whispered to her daughter, "I don't want you getting sick from that rain."
It would have been nice to be curled up in her small bed and off into dreamland but that was something that the little girl knew was going to have to wait. She sniffled and ran the back of her hand across her nose and felt an oncoming sneeze. "ACHOO!"
The mother shut her eyes, knowing that this was going to be an upcoming symptom of a cold. "Oh darling," she said as she placed her hand gently on her daughter's shoulder, knowing that there was nothing she could do at the moment. She took a napkin from a nearby holder and gave it to her daughter for her nose. Taking a look at their surroundings, at least it was mildly warm in the shop and the aroma of coffee that one of the men in the back of the shop was having was slightly tempting. She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a couple of cents, hoping that this was enough to pay for a small cup of coffee for herself and some soup for her daughter. However, one thing that was missing from the atmosphere was the owner of the shop. One thing that she needed to do as of this moment was to remain patient and wait.
In the back of the shop, the gentleman that was cordially reading the newspaper took a sip of his coffee spitting it out. With a disgruntled noise, he slapped the table with an open palm of his hand. "Service! Oh service!"
That gruff tone of voice made the woman jump as she turned her head and looked at the angry customer.
"Service coming right up!" another voice from the other side of room yelled as a man with Einstein-like hair quickly walked over to the customer. "What can I do for you?" he asked.
The woman squinted at the other man's presence in the room, but couldn't make out his features from the distance that they shared.
"This coffee is too bitter. I asked for sugar," the customer demanded and pushed the small cup towards the owner.
"Sugar coming right up!" the server said as he took the cup of the coffee with him to the back of room, brushing past the woman that sat on the chair. "Pardon me," he said to her slightly glancing back before he went on his way.
The woman tilted her head to the side as she could feel an incoming memory, but it wasn't clear enough as to put a finger on whom he was.
The server didn't give the woman's presence much of a though as he tried to find some sugar in the back of the room. Before him, there were two containers labeled 'sugar' on the left and 'salt' on the right. As he made an attempt to grab one of the containers, his attention was then bought over to one of the pots that was rapidly boiling on the stove. Droplets of soup was being thrown in different directions, making his attempts futile in lowering the temperature. He looked around the room, to see what objects he could use and the first thing he noticed was the handle of the mop. Taking the mop in his hands, he used the handle and touched the temperature dial with it, feebly but successfully brining down the temperature to a non-boiling point.
"Whew," he said as he reached up and took a hold of the container on the shelf for the coffee, "anymore of that and the soup would be on the ceiling." He sunk a spoon into the container and poured in the three spoonfuls onto the coffee. "Bet that'll be sweet enough." He took the coffee back to the customer and placed it onto the table before leaving.
"'Bout time," he customer said and bought the cup to his lips and took a large sip. His features changed from neutral to disgust and spit out the coffee back again. "Is this a joke?" he yelled at the server who was a couple of feet away from him.
"What happened?" the server said, "I put sugar in there."
"Then why does it taste like salt?" the customer snapped and he took a hold his newspaper and almost formed it into a ball from the anger that was beginning to consume him. "I have never had such a lousy service in my life. Wait till I speak to corporate about this!" he stomped out of the coffeeshop and slammed the door behind him.
The woman looked from the customer to the server who was unfazed by the whole situation. "Ahhh," he said and waved his hand in the air, brushing off the customers threats before he went back to doing his job. He walked behind the bar, knowing the presence of the woman and asked, "what can I get for you?"
The woman looked back at the server and right then and there, that memory came back to her. "Larry?"
Larry stopped wiping the counter of the bar and looked up at the woman who had spoken her name. Those blond curls and the brown eyes that looked at him were evident enough that he had seen them before, though it was only years ago that he had done so. "Susan?" He then looked over at the little girl that curiously looked back at him.
"Oh," Susan's elated voice caught his attention as she clasped her hands together and smiled. "It's been so long Larry."
Yes it has Larry mentally stated. "Five years," he said to her, though he tried to keep that bitter tone away from his voice. "Didn't know you had a kid."
Susan couldn't tell whether that was a comment or an insult but she wasn't going to bring up her past at this moment. "Yes," she said as she took her daughter and placed her on her lap, "this is Emily."
Larry looked at the child before him, whose lips titled into a smile.
"Hiya," Emily waved back at him.
"Ain't she as cute as a button," Larry complimented as he gave Emily a soft pinch on her cheek, causing her to giggle.
Susan smiled at the gesture before she looked up at Larry. "How have you been doing these past years?"
"Me and the chums going from job to job," Larry said to her, "but this one we've finally been luck to have."
"Really?" Susan said, "how long have you been working here?"
"Three weeks since yesterday," Larry answered her, though she didn't expect that would be the answer. "Usually we can't hold onto a job for a week but this one, it has been good."
I can see why it's been difficult Susan thought after seeing the interaction that Larry had with the customer. "Is it normally busy?"
Larry shook his head. "Mornings, afternoon, and nights we're lucky if we even get a customer."
"And who is 'we?'" Susan asked, "your chums."
A lot can happen in five years Larry thought, though this was a fact that he had not spoken to her about when they first met. "Yeah..." he said, not adding anymore detail to the topic.
Susan looked at him, waiting to hear whatever detail he had to say about his 'chums' but when he didn't utter a words further about them, she couldn't tell whether Larry and his friends were on good terms or not. "I do hope all is well," she finally said.
"Nothin' to worry about," Larry answered, "in fact, I work with the both of them here."
"Well where are they?" Susan asked.
"They're out helping the boss buyin' some things for the shop," Larry said, "what about you? What have you been doin'?" he asked her as he pulled up a chair from behind him and sat down.
Susan took a deep breath, wishing that he had not asked such a question. In those five years, she had hoped that she would be successful in the movie industry and not living in a small apartment with a child that she worked hard to support. Having Emily wasn't a regret. In a way, it was a blessing for Susan but working for that money was just too difficult that she barely had the time to be with her daughter. "I am a waitress," she answered him, "and a theater actress...barely making any dough." She looked up at Larry and shrugged her shoulders. "It was a bad decision on my part...especially getting involved with a double crosser."
You forgot to mention that he was rich too Larry thought but chose against saying it out loud.
"Now I am left with this treasure," she smiled as she pulled Emily closer to her. "But it's hard to work and care for a five year old at the same time."
"She doesn't look like a handful," Larry commented when he noticed how quiet Emily was sitting on her mother's lap.
Susan let out a light hearted chuckle upon that comment. "She's ready to go to sleep now, that's why she isn't as hyper." Just then, she turned around and looked out the windows of the shop seeing that the rain had stopped. "It stopped raining cats and dogs outside. I ought to heard home, I have a long morning ahead of me." She planted Emily's feet on the floor and jumped off the chair. "It was good to see you Larry. Come on Emily," she said as she took a hold of her daughter's hand and was about to walk out of the coffeeshop.
It was interesting to see how much someone had changed during that span of five years. Before, Larry remembered her as a materialistic woman who wanted to live the high life and when they were barely making ends meet she had run off with some rich guy and now she was left alone with a child. Larry didn't know the full details about her past, and nor did he wish to, but he could see the difficulty that she was having through those tiresome look in her eyes. "Wait a minute!" he exclaimed as an idea suddenly came to him and he ran around the counter before standing in front of Susan. "I'll look after her."
There was a sudden gleam in her eyes when he asked that question. "What?" she asked him, as if she had not heard him, "you would?"
"Sure," Larry said as he looked down at Emily, "I'll take her for the hours that you work an' you'll get her back when you're done."
"Are you sure about that? She can be a bit of a handful," Susan stated only to have Larry wave a hand in the air.
"It's nothin' that the three of us can't handle," Larry said. How hard is it watchin' a kid?
A smile formed upon Susan's lips as she looked at Larry. Something about him hadn't changed and that was he was willing to help and say 'yes' to whatever was asked. "I appreciate it," she said to him. "So tomorrow, I will drop her off here in the morning. What do you think Emily?" she asked as she looked down at her daughter.
Emily looked at her mother and smiled. "Yes," she said before looking over and smiling at Larry.
"So it's settled," Susan chuckled and looked at Larry once more. "Have a nice night. I will see you tomorrow."
"You too," Larry added.
Then, Susan and Emily turned around to walk out of the coffeeshop. It wasn't long before she glanced over her shoulder and have Larry a grateful smile before gently colliding with the door. Blushing at her foolery, she quickly opened the door and walked out.