Chapter 3
A girl walks into a café and steps up to the counter. Smiling to the young girl waiting to take her order, she requests a cinnamon mocha. The child, the nameplate on her shirt identifying her as Anna, had already begun making the mocha the moment she had seen the well-liked customer enter the premises. As she adds the whip cream topping to the mocha and slides it across the counter, she waves her hand to the girl, signaling that this one is "on the house".
Smiling her gratitude, the girl waits until Anna turns her back and slides a five-dollar bill into the jar on the counter marked "tips". Then, taking her warm drink, she makes her way to a seat in the corner with a window that provides an excellent view of the mountains. Blowing gently on her mocha, she pulls out a small pad of paper and studies it intently. Glancing up briefly to study a man entering through the door, she then turns her attention back to the pad of paper.
Unconcerned by the scrutiny, the man calmly strides up to the counter and orders a plain black coffee. He pays for it, and then walks over to the already occupied table by the window. Without glancing up from the papers, the girl quietly says, "Sit". The man rolls his eyes at her manners and plops down on the seat with a sigh. "In all the training you have been to lately, they have obviously neglected anything to do with etiquette… Kalina, are you listening to me?"
"No Ricky, these papers are so fascinating that I have been staring at them for the whole five minutes that it took you to meander your lazy butt over here…Of course I am listening. Now, why did you call me here? I hope it isn't just to give me another lecture about my perfect manners…" The girl, currently called Kalina, replies with a sarcastic roll of her eyes. "Alright, cut the sarcasm. I have good news for you, but if you are going to be rude, I will take it elsewhere…" He responds, only half-joking.
Knowing he is partially serious, she decides to be serious as well. "Ok, you have my apologies. It wont happen again." She says this with a straight face causing Ricky to almost spit out his coffee upon hearing this new outright blasphemy of the truth. "Yeah, and that will be true on the day that the gundams actually manage to bring peace to the colonies!" He smiles at her then continues, "Ok, so you may be happy to know that I have tracked down the interesting news that you do have some family out there. Apparently, somewhere on earth or the colonies, you have a younger brother. That is, if he is still alive with the war going on and all. Congratulations."
Outright shocked by this new piece of information, the normally quick-witted Kalina is shocked into silence. Not one to let an opportunity slip by, Ricky decides to try his luck with, "So, since I was so successful in gaining this impossible to track down piece of information, can I take a couple of paid weeks off?" This promptly launches her back into reality as she automatically responds with, "Since you DID find this information, it is hardly impossible to track down. Furthermore, you just got back from a paid vacation a month ago. You know that we are short staffed right now, and you are just TOO valuable for me to let go of…" The last bit was laced with obvious sarcasm. "Wow, no need to get personal there. If you can't afford to manage life without me, all you have to do is say so…" Rolling her eyes, she considers if this one is even worth responding to. Taking the bait, she replies with, "Ok, smart aleck, since I value you so much, you can continue your search by tracking my brother down. Don't worry, I will, of course, pay you well for it." He lets out a long sigh, considering if he should take the assignment or not, but already knowing that he will. He's just about to give his acceptance, when simultaneous beeps fill the air. They glance at each other just as the message comes out over their pagers: The Fire Department is needed to respond to a multiple fires and a hazardous materials release at the military installation. All personnel report to station.
Glancing at Ricky, Kalina mutters, "It's those Gundams again. I'll bet you lunch tomorrow." He coughs and responds with, "You know I am not that stupid. Of course it's those guys again." After a moment, as they are heading out the door he continues with, "I hope that you do realize that if it weren't for them, we would be eternally bored and most likely out of a job as well." Frowning at the evident truth in that statement, Kalina quietly says, "Ricky… Shut up…"
