Day Job

Chapter Two: Morning Mist

I am actually for once starting a new chapter on the same day I finish the old one! It is nice to have inspiration for a story for once. All this forced writing takes its toll… So far, I really like this story. I hope I get some feedback on it…

The morning chill still clung to the ground when Lauren set off for her first day of work. She had woken with dawn, taking a few moments to watch the sky fade to pale blue before heading off for a quick shower.

Now she strode forcefully down the streets of Chinatown, heading towards the pet shop. It had been a few months since she had had her first encounter with the shop and its enigmatic owner, and since then she had not been back. But today was her first day at her new job, and she was determined to make a good impression. She pushed past the leaves of the tree that had originally blocked the shop from her view.

There it stood before her, seeming all the more mysterious in the swirling mist of the morning. Her new workplace. She pushed through the latticework of the doors, letting them shut lightly behind her. She glanced around, inhaling the scent of incense. It seemed as though nothing had changed. Ella was still lounging on the back of the couch. The tall blond man was still passed out drunk on the couch. She scanned under the couch and let out a sigh of relief. It seemed T-chan, at least, was missing from the scene…

A teenage girl that Lauren had seen before raised her head, shaking out her hair and fixing a steady gaze on Lauren. "You're back." She said. Lauren nodded.

"Well, yeah… I mean I do work here after all…" The girl blinked.

"I had forgotten." The girl said. With that said, she closed her eyes, and nothing Lauren said could convince her to open them up again. Ella laughed softly, a pleasant and soothing sound.

"Don't mind her…" she smiled kindly. "Bamboo's always like that. It's better than her murderous moods, I can tell you that." Lauren stepped a few paces back.

"Murderous moods?" She asked. Ella's smile never faltered.

"Yeah. Usually at night though. She mainly sleeps during the day, though in the very early morning she is usually demanding and whiny… I guess we skipped that today." Lauren sighed just a little with relief. She hadn't signed on for the night shift.

She sat indelicately on the pony-tailed man, detective Orcott, as Count D had called him. He woke up and groaned, raising his hand to his forehead. "It's your own fault, you know." She told him. "Alchoholics never end well." Ella nodded reproachfully.

"Neither do girls who sit on the stomachs of complete strangers with headaches." He told her. "How 'bout you get up, then start by telling me who you are?" Lauren sighed and stood up.

"We have met before. You were just passed out. That's what you get for-"

"Enough, Enough. I get the point!" He shouted, standing up to his full height before sagging back onto the couch, lowering his head into his hands.

"I'm Lauren. Count D hired me for the summer. Therefore, I work here." Orcott blinked tiredly at her.

"What's D want with a little girl?" he muttered, mainly to himself.

"A good worker, I'm sure." She answered coldly.

"Hmph. Another fan of the Count." He said, sarcastically.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of my couch this morning." Lauren turned to see count D standing behind her.

"Ah! Count D, he is awake!" D turned to face her.

"Yes, I can see that… Lauren, would you fetch this man some tea?" He said, seeming strained to retain some vestige of politeness. Lauren was grateful for the excuse to leave the room as D and the detective broke out into one of their constant fights.

She walked into the kitchen and stopped. Yes, tea, but what kind? Two walls of the kitchen were full of jars and bottles of loose-leaf tea. She turned away from that problem for the moment and focused on boiling some water before turning back to the dilemma at hand. It seemed as if the more she looked at the walls of tea, the bigger they seemed to become. What was more, she could have sworn that a type of tea she had just passed was gone when she got back… she turned her mind back to scanning. What kind of tea would the detective want? Which kinds were for guests? Were there rare or expensive teas here that should not be served for anything but special occasions?

A rustling from above startled her. She looked up and saw a boy perched in one of the higher shelves. She hadn't noticed him before, which was strange, seeing as it was not a large kitchen. He scrambled down limberly and touched down on the counter, bending down to look at her.

"Tea for the detective, eh?" He asked her, and she sighed inwardly with relief. He seemed to know what he was doing. He reached up onto the second shelf and pulled down a small glass jar with a label written in elegant handwriting. She bent closer to examine it.

"Tea for the Detective." She said, and laughed. "The count has, what, every tea that ever existed and then some?" she asked.

"Pretty much." He answered with a smile. Still, it didn't quite seem like he was joking… He reached his hand out. "Ten-chan." He said. She grasped it and shook it.

"Lauren."

The kettle whistled, breaking the silence, and Lauren began to prepare the tea, following the directions on the back. She had taken a class once a few years back, and therefore had at least some measure of skill.

Ten-chan walked over to admire her work. "So." He said, and she looked up. "Just out of curiosity, what's your deepest desire?" She thought for a moment.

"The power to grant my wishes on my own." She answered finally.

"Good answer." He said. "We hold a lot of stock in wishes around here. We are, after all, supposed to be granting them… "

Authors Notes: Yay for chapter two-ishness! I managed to finish writing it a day after chapter 1, but it is too late to post it tonight… I might get it up tomorrow. Hmm… I wonder who I will make Lauren end up with… probably T-chan or Ten-chan… but not D. Or Ella. For those who are interested, Ella is modeled after my cat Louie, and Bamboo after my cat… Bamboo. The characters are also both cats. Thank you for the review chapter 1 got!