Before you read I want to than all of you! This story has been up for over a year now and, while I sometimes have a hard time with time off for this, you all have been very patient and loyal. Thank you all so much. If you have any ideas you want to share or anything you want done or even a vote of who Aria should be with, PM me and I'll reply as soon as I can. Again, Thank you all so much. Enjoy. :-)
Chapter 44: Invasion Of The Cockroaches!
*Aria's POV*
Okay! Weird day began at 9 am this morning! It was 2 days after Gleebo was caught, 1 day after my whole day date with Dilton, and 10 days into spring break. I woke up and rushed to shower and get ready for work. Pops had called last night and wanted me to be in early so I agreed. I didn't want to wake Archie up so I skated all the way there. Turns out a fancy food critic, oddsocks, was coming to review Pop's food. I tried not to panic with him. Not only was he a very powerful man, he reviewed a few places in the city I loved and closed them down.
"Don't worry Pops, I'll help you out. I don't care if I work all night for free, I'll help anyway I can. He shut down 3 places in the city I loved to eat at. I won't let him shut down a 4th!" I tell him with a smile and fire in my eyes.
"Thanks Aria. I knew I could count on you." He says happily. We worked together to clean and open the shop. He showed me the food lids and cloth napkins for the customers. I told him about my idea for the champaign glasses for the milkshakes, the flute glasses for the soda the glass Irish coffee glasses for coffee and vino glasses for the floats. He loved the idea. I had rushed to the store and quickly bought a few boxes before carefully skating back with the sets. It took a few trips, and some of my money, but it was worth it to help Pops out big time.
"You might need a new uniform." He tells me as I looked at mine. It wasn't stained or worn out but I understand his perfection. I didn't say anything and agreed if he had one. He didn't.
"It's ok. I know an Andrews' secret to get this uniform to look new again." I tell him simply. Customers were rolling in and he wanted me to use the food cart. Yeah. I didn't like that.
"I know you want fancy, but I can be fancy and still hand food out like I'm used to." I tell him.
"Do that for drinks and menu's only." He tells me. I sighed but agreed. He was my boss after all. I did as told and kept my cheery self. The customers were confused but still enjoyed themselves and tipped really well. I saw Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead enter. I guided them to their seats and gave them the menus. I took their order and skated off with the menu's to give Pops the order.
"Aria. Is there any way you could sound fancier?" He asks me. I was starting to get offended.
"Want me to use very fancy words and try to use French as well?" I asked him, trying to hold back the sarcasm.
"If you could, it would be nice." He suddenly replied. I sighed.
"Oui monsieur." I say as I go back to refills with a pitcher and coffee pot, replaced empty milkshake and float glasses with full ones, cleaned the tables quickly yet thoroughly, the whole nine yards. I saw Archie and the group talking to Pops but I didn't have much time to listen in or anything. Work needed to be done. Before I knew it, my shift was done. I sighed in relief as I went into the back to count our stocks. I was slightly faster than Pops. When I got done I looked and saw the gang, minus Reggie, cleaning. Well, actually, Veronica was doing her nails.
"What's going on?" I asked them.
"We volunteered to help you and Pops." Archie said as he was scraping gum off from underneath the tables.
"Thanks guys. We could use the extra set of hands." I said as I grabbed some cleaning supplies and began scrubbing down the bathrooms. After 3.5 hours it was spotless. I'm not exaggerating when I say it was sparkling. I went out and saw everyone resting, so I joined them.
"I am spent." Veronica tiredly said.
"I'm running on auto pilot." Jughead added in the same tone.
"How do you think I feel right now?" I asked them as I closed my eyes, ready to nap.
"Stop lounging you slackers! I thought you promised to help!" I heard Pops scold us. I opened my eyes to see his arms crossed. He didn't look too happy.
"We did help Pops." Archie defended.
"Didn't I make it clear that I wanted to wow this restaurant critic?" He questioned us.
"And you will." Betty said in a reassuring voice. Pops didn't look to happy right now.
"How?! With streaks on my clean windows?! With the music that loud?! When the napkin holder is off center?!" He yells at us.
"Relax Pops. The place looks great for a burger joint. Don't get frantic over a few minor details." Archie reassured him as he goes over and rests a hand on his shoulder. I smacked my forehead. I know Archie meant well, but he shouldn't have said that to Pops unless he wanted him to rant. Pops shrugged his hand away and turned to walk.
"Don't you see? Oddsocks won't love this place if it isn't perfect. Perfect!" He stressed out.
"Pops, You haven't even met this guy yet and you're already letting him run your life." Betty tell him. Pops sighs.
"I know. I just want to look good for that...Cockroach!" He yelled out suddenly. I looked down in confusion until I saw the roach.
"Roaches! I hate Roaches!" He yells out as he runs behind the counter.
"Need me to get bug spray from the store?" I ask as I grabbed a couple napkins and got ready to grab and squish it.
"Don't bother. I have a homemade bug formula that has been in my family for generations." He says while digging for something under the cabinet before grabbing a spray with yellowish orange liquid in it and getting right where the roach was. "Watch." He tells us. He bends down in front of the roach and sprays the spray. Now I read roaches can survive a whole lot of things. No way this spray wi-Holy gumballs! It killed it! I used the tissues to pick it up.
"We should put non scented bug repellent along the baseboard so this doesn't happen again. After all, if Oddsocks would've seen that, it'd be the end of this place." I say as I go to throw the bug down the toilet and gone for good. When I came back out I saw the gang walk out the door. I went over to Pops.
"Why are they leaving?" I asked him.
"They're not going to help. That's fine. We'll just stay up all night and re-clean the place." Pops told me. We?
"Um, Pops….I have to go." I say to him.
"What?! You too?!" He questions full of anger. I whimper as I have flashbacks of my parents, mainly my dad, getting like this.
"I-I'm sorry." I whimper out. He stops and gets a softer look.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. You're right, you do have to go. I can't have my amazing, and only, waitress become sleep deprived." He tells me. I felt bad.
"I can stay and help another hour if you need me too." I say softly out of guilt.
"It's alright. Just be here early tomorrow." He tells me. I smile and nod.
"Yes sir. And try to sleep. You need it too." I say as I grab my bag and rush out the door to catch up with the gang.
"Wait up!" I yell out. They stop and let me catch up.
"Don't tell me he fired you." Archie said in shock.
"No! You made that amazing place so magical!" Jughead commented. I blushed and looked away.
"N-no. Pops is letting me go home to sleep." I say as I felt tired. We walked and I lost my footing. Jughead carried me and told me to rest. I snuggled up to him as he carried me. I guess I fell asleep because when I woke up, I heard Archie rush in and tell me there was a mystery at Pops. I jumped up, still in my uniform, and got on jeans and my kiss tee before tossing on my sneakers and out the door we went. We hopped in the car and drove over to Pop's. On the way I was told he saw 2 giant roaches.
"Pops, Are you sure that's what you saw?" I asked him.
"Yes! I'm not lying!" He said loudly in a panic.
"Alright, alright." I said as we got there. We slowly open the door the door and peek in.
"They're over there. In that back booth." Pops whispered and pointed to the back booth. Archie and I nodded as we crouched down and sneaked over to it. Nothing. There was nothing there.
"Uh Pops….These alleged bugs are allegedly invisible." Archie tells him.
"I'm telling you Arch. There were two of them." He says as he goes over to the spot.
"This big!" He adds while stretching his arms out as wide as he could.
"Pops, you're so tired, you're seeing things!" Archie scolds as he stands up. I stand up and look at the booth.
"Archie might be right this time Pops. I'm not calling you a lier, but you might be tired and over stressed. You should go home and sleep. I'll get here an hour extra earlier to make sure everything is set up." I tell him as I guide him outside.
"I guess so. But..." He started to fight back but I took the shop keys from him.
"Pops. If you don't sleep, you won't be at your best. Go home and sleep. I'll get here early and get things ready." I assure him.
"Alright…...I trust you." He says with a little worry. I smiled and followed Archie back to the car. We drove back, Archie mumbling and grumbling the whole time, and went inside. Archie went back to sleep as I yawned. I made breakfast and a power smoothie before washing my uniform and showering. I dried my uniform and stretched in my sweats. I took Allegro on a quick walk before getting in my uniform and leave to go to work. I skated there and used the keys to get inside. I made sure everything was clean as I warmed up the grill and got everything up and running. I grabbed all the plates, silverware, glasses and made sure everything was absolutely perfect. As soon as I triple checked everything, Pops came in looking well rested.
"Great job Aria." He compliments as he looks around.
"We ready for the day?" I asked him as I kept a positive attitude.
"As ready as I'll ever be." He says as we got ready for customers. I spoke partially in French and did my job as I saw Oddsocks walk in. I immediately walked up to him, making sure I looked good.
"Bonjour Monsieur Oddsocks. Follow me to your table as My boss personally serves you." I say with a sweet smile and show him to a table reserved just for him. I gave him the menu.
"Drinks to start?" I asks him. He looks at the menu.
"What would you recommend?" He asks suddenly.
"I can make an incroyable milkshake that everyone amours." I say kindly to him.
"Then I'll have a vanilla if you don't mind." He tells me.
"Oui. Coming right up." I say as I speed into the back and start the milkshake.
"Oddsocks is here. I'm getting him a milkshake before you take his order." I tell him as I pour it into the champaign glass, put a touch of whipped cream, a small amount of pink sprinkles with a cherry perfectly placed on top before I quickly, yet elegantly, rushed over and placed it in front of him.
"The extras are complimentary." I say politely before I heard a small crash on the floor. I saw some kids dropped something and made a mess.
"Please pardon me." I say as I rushed to put on an apron, some gloves and grabbed the cleaning stuff before going over and cleaned up the mess.
"Sorry Aria. We didn't mean to make a mess." One of the kids, I think his name was Aaron, said to me.
"It's not a big deal. Happens a lot." I say as I made the spot look like nothing happened and disposed of the stuff. I tossed the apron to the side and took the gloves off before washing up and using hand sanitizer on myself. I rubbed it into my hands as I got back to work. I saw Oddsocks talking to Pops and tried not to worry about it. What's the worse that could happen? I tried not to think about it as I handled everything. I peaked and saw Oddsocks eyeballing me for a small moment before talking to Pops again. What was going on?
*Pops' POV*
He was telling me about how he could almost give me a 5 start rating on the burger alone and told me what to replace.
"But...The kids like them." I tell him.
"Exactly. If you want an upscale place, aim for the adults. Kids are useless." He was telling me.
"I don't now." I say as I look around.
"You think?" He asks quietly.
"No, I know. All kids are useless. Except her." He suddenly said. I looked over and saw Aria.
"She's the only employee you have?" He asked me.
"Well, yes. I haven't needed more people and business was low. She brings, not only the kids in, but adults too. She's amazing." I told him. It was true. I could never fire her. She did so much for me and rarely takes any time off.
"She might be a kid but she acts like an adult. Get her a different uniform and have her keep speaking French and being fancy. She makes an amazing milkshake just like she says." He tells me as he finished the milkshake she gave him.
"Change everything and you get a five star rating." He adds. I grew shocked but nodded yes.
"Yes sir. I can do all that." I say to him.
"Then you, good sir, get 5 stars. I'll have it in the paper by tomorrow. Good day." He says before leaving. I sighed but was extremely happy. When the day was over I told Aria about the review. She seemed happy at 1st until I told her the changes.
"Pops. You shouldn't do that. These kids love it here. It's a place for them to be themselves. There aren't many places like that." She told me. She was always the voice of reason.
"I know, but I need better business." I tell her. She sighs and shakes her head.
"Just don't loose sight as to why you really opened this place up. Why you take good care of us kids." She says to me before she continues cleaning. I know she means well, but she was still young. She didn't fully understand the business world. I had her go to the store with me and set a few things up before sending her home, told her to wear something fancy yet simple until I got her a different uniform, and doing the rest myself.
*Aria's POV*
I was worried about Pops. He was loosing his values and turning his back on the teens he considers friends. Let's hope he doesn't go over board. I get to work and see everything is decked out nicely.
*Yup. He's lost it.* I thought as I walked inside in my black laced dress I wore when I got turned into a vampire.
"Good. You're here. Get started on setting up, I'll Greet the customers and seat them." He tells me. I nod my head and get things started. As soon as I walk out of the kitchen I see 3 booths filled already. I quickly give them menu's and got their drinks. I got the drinks and then saw two more booths filled. Oh boy. I got to work and was so busy, I didn't notice Pops was outside talking to the gang about the prices and other stuff. I was so busy, I ended up skipping lunch. I was let go and it was dark. Aunt Mary and Uncle Fred weren't home, because they were still out on business, and neither was Archie. I called Ronin and he came and got me.
"Thank you so much Ronin." I say as I stiffed a yawn.
"Been busy huh?" He asked me. I nodded yes. Then my stomach growled.
"Here. It's not much, but it should help." He tells me as he hands me a granola bar. I smiled and took it.
"Thanks. I skipped lunch today." I tell him as I opened it and downed it quickly.
"You can't do that." He tells me.
"I know. But I'm the only employee Pops has right now." I tell him as I look out the window.
"How've you been?" I ask him.
"Been doing good." He tells me. I smile.
"I've read some of the mystery columns. Well, the ones you helped Archie with." He says with a small blush.
"Really?" I ask in shock. He never liked reading them.
"Yeah. After the werewolf attack I only read the ones you write with him. I figure the others are just false leads or made up." He says to me. I took it as a compliment. We talked a bit more before he dropped me off.
"Let's hang out again." I say to him.
"Yes. Lets." He says to me. He watches me go inside before leaving. Probably best really. After Vinnie jumping me last time. I shuddered at the thought. Hadn't seen him much but I knew it was only a matter of time. I made dinner, ate, did dishes, then went to go upstairs before I heard the door open. I looked and saw Archie.
"Thanks for the ride. Where were you?! I had to call Ronin for a ride." I said to him as he went past me and up the stairs.
"Sorry. Just saved the town from giant roaches!" He yells as he goes to his room. Wait what? Did I hear him right? I rushed upstairs and saw him typing.
"Did you say giant roaches?" I asked him. He explains everything to me as he types.
"Aww! I missed an awesome mystery? Dang it!" I yelled out.
"How come you didn't notice?" He asked me.
"Archie. The place was packed. I skipped lunch because of it." I told him honestly.
"That's not good. But it's taken care of now." He tells me as he keeps typing.
"Good job cous." I say and pat his shoulder before yawning. I go to my room, dress in my gown and go to sleep with Allegro next to me.
*Afternoon Aria's POV*
I was working my usual shift until I felt the ground shake. I looked outside and saw a humongous roach outside, the size of godzilla, breaking down buildings. Pops saw this too and we both hid behind the counter.
"We can't keep hiding. We need a plan." I tell him. Then we hear the door open and close as foot steps came closer to the counter.
"Pops! Aria! You two here!" Archie yells out.
"Archie!" I say as I show myself.
"I told you I saw giant cockroaches. See? See?!" He says in fear.
"Yes Pops, we believe you. But we need your help right now. Where's your home made bug spray?" Archie asks him. He then pulls the bottle out and puts it on top of the counter.
"Here. But it won't be enough to stop that monster." He says as he looks at the stuff.
"Not unless we make enough. If we can gather the ingredients, then we can make enough to kill her!" I say as I figured it all out.
"Exactly." Archie said to me.
"Where would we get a huge amount of ingredients?" Pops asked us.
"We'll call all our classmates to pitch in." Archie says as he picks up the phone.
"After the way I turned them away from my restaurant...They'll never help me." Pops said as he stands up and looks down in sadness.
"Sure they will. Veronica. Take down the ingredients from Pops while I start the ball rolling." She says as Veronica gets a paper and pen and Pops perks up with a small smile.
"Ok. We'll need 2 buckets of fish guts, 30 gallons of vinegar, 400 onions, a bag of manure, 30 cans of sauerkraut, 6 pounds of blue cheese." He said as he listed things down. I turned green at that moment. That would kill anyone!
"And a fire engine." Archie added.
"Huh?" Pops asks in shock.
"Trust me." Archie says with wink. I got the plan right away and whispered it to Pops. Soon the kids gathered up with the ingredients needed and we all helped Pops mix it as he wore a gas mask. The roach was destroying the town as we hurried. We then started loading the stuff into the fire truck and moved quickly. Betty, Veronica and Jughead got inside the fire truck while Archie and I got in the top area with the hose.
"Aria!" Archie yelled out.
"You need help! The hose will be too strong for you!" I scold as I banged the side. We soon got going. We headed to the school where the queen roach was. She was about to destroy it before we got there.
"Hey!" I yell out. She looked at us.
"Keep away from our school you overgrown garbage muncher!" Archie yells at her as we readied the hose.
"You unruly juveniles think you can stop me huh?!" She yells as she started to get in our faces.
"Yep." Archie said as he aimed.
"That's the plan." I added in.
"Any last words?" She asks us as she readied to swipe.
"Yeah." Archie said.
"Just two." I say after. We looked at each other and nodded before looking at her.
"Bug off!" We say at the same time before turning the hose on. We hit her arm and she screamed as steam radiated off her. She then got down on her belly and started to crawl away.
"Oh no you don't!" I yell as we soon chased her. We couldn't turn the hose on while the truck was moving so we waited until we drove out of town and at the edge of a cliff.
"Gotchya now ugly!" Archie said to her. I then saw her about to swipe.
"Look out!" I yell as I grabbed him. We went flying and I cushioned him. My shoulder hit a rock pretty hard as Archie rolled off me.
"Aria!" He yelled out.
"Get the hose! I'm fine!" I yell as I hold my right shoulder. The queen roach made her way to me.
"We cockroaches have waited 400 million years for this!" She yells out as she was about to step on me.
"You're right! This is getting old!" I screamed as Archie turned the hose on. He sprayed her all over as she started screaming and steaming. She backed up and fell over the edge of the cliff into the ocean, where she drowned and sank to the bottom of the sea. I got up and ran next to Archie while holding my shoulder still.
"Do you think she'll ever return?" Veronica asked as all three got out of the fire truck.
"No. We got her. And if we didn't, well, We'll be ready." I say as I looked at where she sunk. We watched for a couple more minutes before hiking back into town. We got someone to get the tipped over fire truck before we headed back to check on Pops. Poor guy was upset as he takes down the curtains.
"The adults don't want to come back to my restaurant. It reminds them of bad times." He says as he pulls down the last curtain.
"So I guess I need to shut down the business now." He says as he slumps over in depression.
"What are you talking about Pops? You still got us." Jughead said as he gestures to all of us. Pops shakes his head no.
"No. I can't expect you teens to come back after the way I treated you. I wouldn't blame Aria for quitting after all I put her through." He adds as he feels guilty.
"Pops…..You're an idiot." I say as I shake my head. Everyone gasped and looked at me in shock.
"We're your friends. We're not going to abandon you. Heck, all the teens rushed over to help you. They understand and forgive you. Especially now that you see where your true customers and values lye. Expanding isn't bad, you just went overboard. It happens to the best of us. As for me quitting…..It'll take more than that for me to leave. I stuck by you through all of this and I'm sticking through to the end." I say as I give a smile while my arms were folded over my chest.
"You're right. You kids were the only ones who helped me when the chips were down." He tells me.
"And speaking of chips." Jughead said as he ties a napkin around his neck and starts ordering a large list of food. Pops started to smile big and bright as I giggled.
"Coming right up." I say as Ii give him a kiss on the cheek and head into the back to help Pops out.
"You don't have to help." He tells me.
"It's ok. I'll eat when this is all made. I know Jughead will share with me anyhow." I tell him as I start the fries.
"Aria...Thank you." He says to me.
"No problem." I say with a smile as we cooked. We soon served the food and Jughead pulled me into his lap before feeding me a fry. I won't lie. I was starving. Didn't eat a big enough breakfast and helped defeat a roach queen? You bet I was going to eat as much as Jughead. After we ate We helped Pops clean up before other kids came in. He apologized to them and they quickly forgave him. Pops said I could go home but I decided to help out. How could I not? Either way, the day ended and Archie drove me home. We got a phone call from Uncle Fred saying they'd be home in a couple more days. We made dinner and after that we went up and finished the article together.
"And so the teens came back to Pops' Diner and everything went pretty much back to normal. ~Aria. The fake cockroach people were rounded up and the queen was never seen again. ~Archie. Good thing too. I don't want to deal with her again. Anyhow, Pops discovered that you can't trade in friendship for a good magazine review. You always have to be true to yourself. ~Aria. ….Even in a little town called Riverdale! ~Archie & Aria!" We ended the article and I hugged Archie from behind.
"You should sleep." He tells me. I shake my head no.
"Pops is giving me the day off tomorrow. I can sleep in." I tell him just as the phone rang. Archie reached next to him.
"Andrews' residence, Archie speaking." He said.
"Sure. Hold on." He said then handed me the phone.
"It's Dilton." He whispers to me. I took the phone immediately.
"Hey Dilton." I say cheerfully.
"Salutations Aria. I was wondering if you had any plans tomorrow." He says to me.
"No, I don't" I tell him.
"Great! Can we go on an all day date tomorrow? I haven't seen you much and I miss you." He says to me. I can tell he was blushing, as was I, as I softly giggled.
"Sure. Sounds wonderful." I say to him.
"Really? Great!" He tells me. We made plans to meet up at a park in the morning and go from there. I hang up the phone and smiled.
"Ok. Time for bed. Night Arch." I say as I toss the phone on his bed and happily skip to my room. I got ready for bed and had Allegro next to me as I fell asleep rubbing his ear.