Ch 16:
The cool morning breeze nicely balanced out the summer sun that was rising up over the horizon, giving light to Chloe's journal page as the scrape of her pencil tip moved over the page. She glanced up and across the small yard to see Motley and Dude playing tug-of-war with one of their rope toys. For the first time in a while, Chloe was writing a story while giving Motley the chance to play like a normal dog before they started their day of training.
Carlos had been right, Ben didn't send them back to the Isle for summer. He actually set them up in one of the royal family's vacation houses for the summer. It was a relatively small, two story cottage near the woods at the edge of Auradon City, near the tiny village Belle lived in prior to meeting her husband. There were five bedrooms and two bathrooms, so they all got their own room, which was nice. Especially since Evie was drowning in cotillion dress orders now more than ever, so they insisted she take the master bedroom with the connected study so she'd have more room to spread out her work.
The sound of the cottage's back door closing made Chloe glance over her shoulder. She was still getting used to Mal's new hair. A few days before the school year ended Mal had changed her hair to blonde with purple ends, and Chloe wasn't sure she liked it, though she didn't say anything. She just found the light blonde color made Mal's fair skin look more washed out and pale. But it did help meet Mal's goal of looking like an Auradon princess.
"Morning." Chloe smiled in greeting as Mal joined her at the small table on the patio.
"Morning. Why are you always up so early? It's summer." Mal asked with a slight laugh.
Chloe gestured toward the two dogs. "Habit? I'm used to a schedule for Motley, where I get up around six. I've slept in to 6:30 a couple times, but that's about it." Chloe checked her phone, seeing that it was just after 7:30. "What are you doing up so early?"
Mal shrugged. "Couldn't fall back asleep."
Chloe nodded in understanding. "Do you have any, whatever it's called, Cotillion-Lady duties?"
Mal chuckled. "No. Wait-" Mal's expression turned mildly panicked as she dug her phone out and frantically flipped through what Chloe assumed was her calendar or text messages. A moment later, Mal sighed in relief. "No. Not today."
Chloe smiled, sympathetically amused. "Well, that's good. Have you considered making, like, a huge calendar to hang on a wall or something? So it's right there in front of your face to see whenever you need to, and not just popping up on your phone fifteen minutes before it happens?"
Mal tilted her head thoughtfully, her perfectly trimmed brows raised slightly at the suggestion. "That's actually not a bad idea." she admitted. "As long as I actually remember to put everything I have to do on the calendar." Both girls chuckled, knowing Mal had missed or been late to at least a couple events since she'd accepted Ben's proposal to be his date to Cotillion. "So, what do you have planned for the day?"
Chloe closed her journal and clipped her pencil to the cover, knowing she wouldn't get much more writing done, but that was fine. She'd reached a good stopping point in her story. "I was planning on doing some public access training with Motley."
Mal glanced up thoughtfully, tapping her fingers against the metal mesh of the tabletop. "And that's…basically making sure she is perfectly behaved in public places, right?" Mal checked.
Chloe nodded, grinning. It was nice that her friends were putting in the effort to learn more about service dogs. "Exactly. Basically, she's quiet and well-behaved. Not jumping on people or barking or anything like that. I've done a lot of training without actually taking her into public, apart from a few pet stores, but I want to try taking her out somewhere."
"Any place in particular?" Mal asked curiously.
"I was thinking the Mad for Tea Café." Chloe admitted. "Carlos and Ally have told me about that place; Ally's parents own it."
"Oh, I love that place." Mal groaned. "I've been there a few times, it's awesome."
Chloe grinned. "And Carlos mentioned they have a few outdoor tables. I'm not sure Motley is quite ready to go inside a restaurant of any kind, with all the food, and smells, and people…" she trailed off, both girls chuckling. "But I think an outdoor table would be perfect. Like dipping your toe in the shallow end of the pool, so to speak."
Mal nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah. There'd be people passing by, and some food, maybe people sitting at a nearby table, but it probably wouldn't be too overwhelming."
Chloe nodded. "Do you want to come?" she offered. "I mean, I was trying to figure out how I'd order anything without taking Motley inside."
"Sure." Mal nodded, smiling. "I can go inside and order while you wait outside with Motley. And they have menus I can bring outside so you can pick something."
"Perfect." Chloe smiled. "And maybe if we're feeling nice we can bring some pastries or something back for the others." she smirked, which Mal returned almost wickedly.
"Maybe." she agreed teasingly. "We could probably go now if you want. They're probably already open for the breakfast rush."
Chloe shrugged, having really nothing better to do anyway. "Sure."
They both stood from the table, Chloe calling the dogs inside. Dude went upstairs, presumably to go back to bed with Carlos, while Chloe put Motley's vest on her. The Dalmatian instantly calmed down, sitting obediently while the vest was clipped on. Chloe had tried to put the vest on Motley whenever they did any service training, hoping Motley would start to associate wearing the vest with "working", and it seemed to have worked so far.
Evie made her way down the stairs as the other two girls were getting ready to leave. As usual, Evie was dressed to perfection, in a blue sundress with her hair curled and in full makeup.
"Morning." she chirped cheerfully, starting up the coffee maker on the expansive kitchen counter. Mal and Chloe returned the greeting as they grabbed their bags, Chloe clipping on Motley's leash. "What are you two up to this morning?" Evie asked curiously.
"We're stopping by the Mad for Tea Café for breakfast." Mal explained.
"Do you want to come?" Chloe offered.
Evie hummed, glancing thoughtfully back toward the stairs, where her room and work was. "Not today. I just got five more orders yesterday that I haven't even started yet."
Mal gave her a slightly disapproving look. "Fine, but you have to have some fun this summer, E. I'll convince the guys to help drag you to the lake for an afternoon or something if I have to."
Evie rolled her eyes, but smiled slightly. "Yes, Mal. Oh, remember to do some studying on different cultural etiquette this week. You're meeting the Emperor of Northern Wei, Queen Elsa of Arendelle, and Aladdin and Jasmine this summer."
Mal turned away so Evie couldn't see her rolling her eyes, but Chloe did. "Sure thing, E. I'll do that this afternoon. Do you want us to bring you back anything from the café?"
Evie tilted her head, humming as she thought for a moment. "I'll have a small Wonderland Tea, please."
Mal nodded and both girls waved goodbye, going out the front door to follow the narrow path toward the small village on the edge of Auradon City.
"So, Evie sure has been pushing you, huh?" Chloe commented casually.
Mal sighed. "A bit yeah. She means well, and I'm grateful for her help, it's just…"
"A lot?" Chloe finished, to which Mal nodded.
It was about a ten minute walk before they reached the café. It was a nice brick building with large front windows, purple windowpanes, and a purple door. There were colorful flower bushes out front, stained-glass images in the windows, and colored lanterns hanging from the overhang.
"If you want to pick a table, I'll go grab a menu." Mal suggested, heading for the door. There were three tables in front of the windows, one of which was occupied by a couple. Chloe chose the table farthest from them. The tables were round, wooden tables, each with three different-colored wooden chairs. Chloe sat in one of the chairs before gesturing under the table with her hand.
"Under." she commanded. Motley immediately crawled under the table and curled up comfortably on the grass near Chloe's feet. Chloe rewarded her with a small treat that she carried with her.
Mal returned within a minute with a couple menus for them to look over. Chloe looked over the menu dubiously despite everyone raving about how amazing the food was.
"And you're sure none of these drinks are anything like the coffee at the slop shop?" Chloe checked, glancing over at Mal, who smirked.
"Nothing in Auradon is that strong. And they don't throw dead frogs in for extra protein." she joked, making Chloe snort despite her disgust. She'd never been a coffee drinker, though that might have been the fault of the Slop Shop. "You'd probably like one of the mochas. They're probably the sweetest drinks on the menu. I think I'll get the Cheshire Cappuccino, and…maybe a strawberry scone."
Chloe chewed her lip thoughtfully, her eyes scanning over the menu about five times. "I think I'll try…a White Rabbit Mocha and…a chocolate chip scone."
"Excellent choice." Mal joked in a fake posh accent, taking the menus and heading inside to order. She returned a couple minutes later empty-handed. "Ally's working, she insisted on bringing our order out as soon as it's done."
Chloe smiled. "Okay. So, any classes you're looking forward to this year?"
"Well, I'm taking a new Fairies class. And I think we're all taking that Advanced Goodness class Fairy Godmother mentioned." Mal commented, to which Chloe nodded. "But I'm excited for our new art class. It sounds like it'll be more variety of different kinds of art."
Chloe nodded, excited. "That's what I heard. There's some drawing and painting, but also sculpting and pottery I think. I'm really excited."
"Did you also decide to sign up for the art club?" Mal asked curiously.
Chloe nodded. "Yeah, Carlos and Anthony convinced me. I'm a little worried about getting overwhelmed with all my classes, art club, and training Motley, but I made sure to have a study hall period instead of taking all my classes, so I'm hoping that helps."
Mal smirked. "You're not going to fight with the registrar about needing to take more than the maximum number of classes?" she teased.
"Who do you think I am-my brother?" Chloe retorted. Carlos had gotten into more than one argument about needing to take more classes than allowed. He was such a nerd.
Both girls laughed, only subsiding when Ally arrived with a tray carrying their orders.
"Here you go." Ally smiled, setting the scones and drinks down on the table. Mal and Chloe thanked her, smiling politely. "I almost didn't see Motley down there." Ally commented, glancing toward their feet where Motley was still calmly laying under the table.
"Yeah, she's getting better at that." Chloe smiled proudly, glancing over the table edge. "Today's about practicing being in public a bit." she explained.
"Well, that's exciting." Ally clapped her hands eagerly. "So, she'll be joining you in classes before long, yes?"
"Yeah, sometime this year. Hopefully during the first week of school." Chloe nodded. "So, how's your summer been so far?"
"Oh, it's been wonderful. I'm working here with my parents mostly, but I'm meeting a few friends at the lake for a day this weekend. Oh, you should both come!" Ally invited them excitedly.
Mal and Chloe exchanged a glance and smiled, both nodding at Ally. "Yeah, I can check with the others and see if anyone has plans for this weekend, but we should be able to make it." Mal answered.
"Wonderful!" Ally clapped again. "And how's Beelzebub been? We should introduce her and Dino sometime this summer before we go back to school."
Chloe grinned. "That'd be great. Do you have a day off sometime that would work for you?"
"I have Thursday off. We live behind the café, if you want to meet here with Beelzebub Thursday afternoon? I can bring snacks and tea from the café."
"Sounds good. We'll be here." Chloe agreed, smiling. She was genuinely looking forward to it, too. She hadn't been spending as much time with her beloved cat this summer. Bee had taken to sleeping in Carlos' room during the summer because she disliked Chloe unintentionally waking her up early every morning. Doing something specifically for Bee for a change would be nice. Maybe she would also buy something nice for Bee next time she took Motley to the pet store.
Mal and Chloe spent the next hour or so enjoying their delicious scones and drinks, Chloe officially decided she was a fan of coffee if it was this delicious and sweet. They also continued talking about a number of things, from what they'd like to do over the summer, to a bit of what Mal had to do in preparation of Cotillion, to the next school year.
When their bellies were comfortably full, Mal went back inside to order a box of scones and a Wonderland Tea to go for the boys and Evie. Together, the two made the short walk back to the house, happy with the relaxed morning they could both enjoy away from the stress and pressure their lives sometimes held.