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Chapter 5: Order Up

"You're working for Raeger?"

Corona struggled to balance the armloads of groceries she was carrying as she and Maya made their way out of the Trade Depot. It was a busy morning for the vendors, particularly Asche as she'd just gotten some new stock in. Maya loved seeing the Trade Depot bustling with activity; it reminded her of why she was doing this at all.

"Just for today," she explained, catching a tomato as it rolled free of Corona's paper bags. "I'm more helping him out than anything."

Corona snorted, eying Maya with disbelief.

"You're telling me Raeger asked for help? Raeger? Not a chance."

Maya laughed, conceding the point to her friend. Raeger was nothing if not stubborn, even a little proud in his work. He wouldn't ask for help unless he had absolutely no other option, and sometimes not even then.

"He invited me to help out so he could 'keep an eye on me'," Maya sighed, though her lips twitched with a smile. As Maya was leaving the restaurant the night before, Raeger asked her to run the counter for him after she was finished with her farm chores. He'd made a joke about the recent events with Fritz and Klaus, citing the fact that he could barely let Maya out of his sight without her getting in some sort of trouble. She'd protested, but after some gentle prodding agreed to his suggestion. It seemed to her like Raeger was a little more worried about her than he was openly admitting.

"That makes more sense," Corona nodded, reaching in her dress pocket for her keys. The first order of business for the day had been to stop by the Trade Depot for some things that Raeger ran out of, and Maya had bumped into Corona on her way. The restaurant wouldn't be open for another hour or so, so she offered to help her friend in the meantime. "Raeger is such a sweetheart. It doesn't surprise me that he was worried about you."

"He's the best," Maya agreed, holding the door for Corona. "But he worries too much sometimes. The last few days have been hard, sure, but it's not worth stressing him over."

Corona laughed, unceremoniously dumping her bags on the counter.

"Raeger will worry about you as long as you keep him around," she pointed out, contemplating where to start putting things away. "And rightfully so. I'm still considering having some words with Klaus about the other day."

Maya told Corona about the incident after she'd left Raeger's, and as expected the young woman was furious with her old friend. It was strange, of course; he'd never acted like that before, at least not that Corona could remember. Still, with how protective she knew the chef could be, it was no surprise to her that he'd been hovering over Maya ever since.

"I wish you wouldn't," Maya frowned, separating her bags from Corona's. "It really wasn't a big deal. I'd prefer if everyone just stopped talking about it."

Corona sighed. "If that's really what you want, I'll keep my mouth shut. But I'm not happy with him, and one way or another he's going to know it."

Maya shook her head but dropped the conversation. She wasn't keen on continuing down this particular path of discussion. The amount of concern shown to her by her friends touched her, but Maya didn't want to deal with the potential escalation that would follow any one of them intervening.

"I hate to run so soon," Maya frowned, looking at all of the work Corona still had to do to get her kitchen organized, "but Raeger will be expecting me back. I don't really want to give him another reason to hover."

Corona laughed, ushering her out the door with a dismissive wave.

"You're probably right," she grinned, "you'd better get going."

.

"We have a really great pineapple ice cream today, made in house!"

Maya's cheery voice ignited curiosity in the potential guests standing before her. An older couple, summoned to Oak Tree by rumours of the bustling Trade Depot, who'd stopped at the local restaurant for an early afternoon snack. They'd been staring at the menu for nearly 15 minutes, and Maya was worried about the quickly lengthening line.

She didn't need to sell to the locals. Raeger's cooking was well known and respected around town, so whenever Maya spotted a familiar face she didn't bother with the welcoming speech. Agate was sitting at the bar, sipping on a glass if iced coconut milk. Fritz was in the corner, munching on nachos and bothering the table next to him with mindless chatter. Angela had just finished her salad, cleaning up her table in spite of Raeger's protests. Each and every one of them had walked in, greeted Maya, placed their order without glancing at the menu, and waited patiently for their food. Tourists were not quite so simple.

"I'm not sure…" the older woman hummed, her wrinkled face collapsing in on itself as she scrunched her nose. "Do I like pineapple, Walter?"

"You've only been eating it for 34 years, Helen." Her husband grumbled just loudly enough for her to hear, blush, and order the ice cream.

"Anything for you sir?" Maya beamed, her 'customer service face' plastered firmly in place. Back in the city she'd worked with the public nearly every day, and she'd mastered the art of being polite to a fault.

"Pancakes." Walter grunted, dropping a handful of cash onto the counter. Maya counted as she gathered it into her palm, gave him his change, and directed them to a table near the window.

"Bravo, Maya!"

As the elderly couple drifted away, a familiar face came into view behind them. Iris smirked at her, rolling her eyes at Walter and Helen as they complained amongst themselves about various décor choices Raeger had made.

"I'll never understand people who work in the service industry," she sighed, resting her elbows on the counter. The line behind her wasn't quite as long as Maya feared, so after she took Iris's order, she flew threw the rest as quickly and efficiently as she could.

Once they were alone, Iris shook her head.

"Seriously," she continued, glancing around the room. "This looks exhausting. Having to be polite and smile all the time? I have enough of that at those horrible functions Klaus drags me to."

A hint of panicked guilt flickered across Iris's eyes as she realised what she'd said.

"I can only imagine," Maya laughed, ignoring the beat of awkward silence. "Klaus told me they can last for hours. I'm only doing this for the day, I would hate for it to be a regular thing."

Maya knew Klaus often brought Iris to the various galas and functions he was required to attend. He had to sell his work, after all, and Iris was a talented author, but talent was never enough in a fluctuating industry. She had to make a name for herself as often as she could manage, and meeting with hordes of important people on the arm of a world-renowned perfumer was certainly an effective way to accomplish that.

"It's not really that bad," Iris conceded, thinking to all of the elegant gowns she had frequent opportunity to wear, "but it can be exhausting. Luckily Klaus makes great company. Oh-!"

Another slip. Iris began to wonder if she'd skipped her coffee this morning.

"It's okay," Maya smiled, feeling the strain in it. Even Iris knew about Maya's feelings for Klaus, but that didn't mean she should have to police herself around her. "He's your friend, you're allowed to talk about him."

Iris hesitated for just a beat, but it was long enough for Maya to guess what was coming next.

"You're very kind Maya but-" Iris paused, confirming Maya's suspicions. She busied herself with the cash register while she waited for the inevitable. "I heard about what happened the other day. I wanted to bring it up so I could check on you, I just didn't know how. Apparently, I decided on the worst possible way."

"I'm fine, Iris," Maya assured her, picking at a spot on her nail that had hooked into the fabric of her shirt. "Really."

And she was. Maya had been upset, about many things, but after a good night's rest she found herself feeling much better about the situation. A full day of hard, enjoyable work was just solidifying her recovery.

"I'm not sure what got into him," Iris continued, feeling a sudden burst of determination. "He can be absolutely imbecilic when he sets his mind to it."

Maya laughed, surprising Iris with the genuine sound.

"You've got that right," she agreed, smiling brightly. "That seems to be a common problem with the men in this town."

Her comment was directed at Raeger, who'd just emerged from the kitchen and was making his rounds with an impossible stack of plates.

It was Iris's turn to laugh, shaking her head at Maya's sense of humour. "Tell me about it."

Silence fell as the girls watched Raeger work, both with fond smiles on their faces.

"You know," Iris began, choosing her words lightly, "he has such a big heart. That's what I loved about him; he's kind, and funny, and he can be so wonderfully devoted. It's such a shame that he's incapable of fully trusting his heart to someone."

Maya swallowed. No matter what Raeger said, it wasn't hard to believe that Iris still loved him. As mad as she'd been, as hurt as she'd been, as extravagant as their fallout had been, when Iris spoke about Raeger with that wistful look in her eye, it seemed that some part of her still clung to the feelings she'd held for the copper haired chef so long ago. The thought made Maya's nose sting.

It wasn't the first time Maya had heard Iris say things like this about Raeger, but it was the first time that hearing it bothered her.

"He came pretty close with you, from what I hear," Maya tried to smile, to make her words sound light and airy, but she feared that she failed.

Iris didn't seem to notice, snorting with a wry grin.

"Close but no cigar," she sighed, pulling her attention back to Maya who'd begun sorting receipts to keep her hands busy. "My relationship with Raeger went down in a fiery blaze of glory, and I think everyone agrees it was for the best."

For the best.

Maya wanted to believe that.

Something about Iris and Raeger always struck a painful chord in her. Even before everything had happened, before she'd started to consider the… possibilities, Maya had nearly laughed out loud when Raeger told her about Iris. The two fit together like oil and water, complete and utter opposites.

But then again, maybe that was the point.

Before she could think too hard on it, Iris interrupted her with a gasp.

"What on earth are you doing?" She exclaimed in horror, snatching the stack of papers sitting in front of Maya. The young farmer started, fumbling her pen and nearly losing it to the floor.

"I'm making a transaction record," Maya answered honestly, her eyebrows twisting in confusion. "So Raeger can tally the sales later. Is that weird?"

Iris huffed. "It's only weird that he's making you do it on paper. The cash register automatically sorts through all of this stuff; you just have to print it at the end of the day. Didn't Raeger tell you that?"

Maya groaned, shaking her head in defeat.

"No, he didn't tell me that. But to be fair, he didn't ask me to do this either. This is how I keep track of my own numbers." Maya snuck a glance at Raeger as he bid farewell to another table. "But he still didn't mention that."

Iris rolled her eyes. "That sounds like him, alright. So smart, but so cutely absentminded." A pause, long enough for Maya to nod in agreement. "What a terrible friend he is, forcing you to endure this torture."

"He's the absolute worst," Maya said with a smirk.

"I can hear you, you know!"

Maya ducked quickly as a dish towel flew past her head, narrowly nicking her ear.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, rubbing the side of her face and swatting at Raeger with her free hand. "Rude! I'm helping you today, you know!"

Raeger laughed, sidling up next to Maya and wrapping his arm tightly around her in a playful embrace. He'd left her alone for most of the day so far; apparently, he'd reached his limit of behaving himself.

"You're right, Love Bug, I'm sorry. Kiss and make-up?" He puckered obnoxiously, earning more swats and protests from Maya.

"You haven't changed a bit," Iris smiled, observing their exchange with a glint of surprise in her eye. "Still hellbent on harassing every attractive woman you meet. I'm shocked you haven't scared them all off yet."

Maya felt Raeger's arm stiffen around her, and her gaze found the side of his face. His expression was normal, if a little playful, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something lurked beneath the surface of his eyes that she couldn't quite see.

"Oh, hey Iris," Raeger grinned, plastering his usual smile across his face. "Distracting my employees, are you?"

"Employee?" Maya repeated in mock-outrage. "I will accept 'partner', and nothing less."

Raeger wiggled his eyebrows seductively. "Is that a proposal, my dearest?"

"I'm simply having a lovely conversation with my friend," Iris retorted, folding her hands delicately in her lap and ignoring her ex's antics. At least, on the surface. Her surprise had grown into suspicion, and now she wanted to do a quick test. "Is that allowed, Chef?"

Now Raeger did stiffen, visibly, and Iris thought for just a moment that she'd made a mistake. Raeger paused, barely enough time to notice had she not been paying attention, before he slipped back into himself.

"As long as you're not trying to corrupt her," he laughed, hugging Maya close to his chest. "She has a very delicate disposition, you know."

Iris smiled. Apparently, she hadn't made a mistake after all.

"Oh, go back to work already!" Maya huffed, pushing him. Raeger relented with a devilish smirk, raising his hands in surrender as he walked away.

Maya smoothed her clothes as Raeger disappeared, shooting annoyed glares in his general direction.

"He's like a child sometimes," she shook her head, fighting the smile that was making her cheeks hurt. "I can't imagine how you dealt with that all the time."

Iris's lips pursed in amusement, her disposition suddenly wistful and secretive all at once.

"He was never like that with me," she confessed, deliberately avoiding Maya's face to encourage an honest reaction, "I've only ever seen him conduct himself that foolishly with you and you alone."

A quick peek at Maya's blinking expression told her that her plan had worked out just fine, and it was exactly the reaction she'd been hoping to see.

Most of the restaurant guests were finishing their meals, and Iris suddenly felt like she should take her leave. Maya had yet to respond to her little revelation, and that was perfectly fine. With a fake yawn, Iris pushed herself away from the bar.

"I should get going, I suppose." She lamented, giving a polite wave as the warm summer air hit her pale skin.

Maya watched her leave without saying goodbye, still struggling to process what the older woman had just let slip to her.

.

The town was alive despite the lazy sun, and Iris made her way to her favourite bench in her favourite garden to partake in her favourite sport: people watching.

Notebook in hand, Iris was prepared for anything. Words, at least spoken words, were never her strong suit. She could speak publicly, of course, but sentiments of the intimate variety had a tendency to escape her at the best of times. Writing was simple; a little hard work and some creative lies would have people swarming to their nearest bookstore to eat up your work.

And that's what writing is, isn't it? Lying.

That was something Iris was good at. Lying. She'd done it her whole life, whether on paper or to those she felt had gotten too close to her. Creating distance. That's all she ever did.

People often asked her why she wasn't committed to someone, and while she would never admit it, the reason was as simple as: she couldn't.

Raeger had gotten too close to her. She loved his spunk, his spontaneity, his kindness, his smile, everything about Raeger reminded her of the sun. Iris needed a sun, to pull her from the dark recesses of her life, the recesses that she kept hidden.

Iris had needed Raeger to pull her from the darkness she'd been trapped in with Klaus.

Even thinking about it, Iris almost laughed. Clearly, she and Maya had a lot in common- they were both in love with the same men.

Men? Yes, men. Iris was almost positive of that now.

Iris was in love with Klaus. Was still in love with Klaus. She had been for many years now, and apart from the brief romance she shared with Raeger, that fact had never changed. Had she ever told him? No, of course not. She didn't know how.

And so, she lied. To herself, to Klaus, and to Raeger.

When Raeger asked Iris on a date, she'd thought about declining. She'd just returned from a gala with Klaus, another painful night of denying their relationship, and she was ready to throw in the towel altogether. Forget about love, forget about Klaus, just be her. Be Iris.

But then Raeger came by with his stupidly genuine smile and sparkling green eyes, and Iris couldn't refuse him.

She thought it would work, for a time. Iris thought she was in love with him, and Raeger thought the same. And yet, despite how happy she thought she was, there was always something that bothered her.

What about Klaus?

"Shoo!"

Iris jumped in sudden fear as a flock of birds took flight around her, chased impressively by Margot wielding a broom like a weapon of war.

A quick scribble. She would use that description later.

When Maya moved to town, and when she began to show interest in Klaus, Iris was heartbroken. The farmer was young, attractive, and full of life, everything wonderful that would surely attract the perfumer with very little effort. But what right did Iris have to be upset? She'd had her chance with Klaus, hadn't she? Sure she had, and she'd blown it every time.

Iris promised to do everything she could to stay out of Maya's way. Even support her, if she needed to, and that was how she could finally show her love for Klaus; by making him happy. By lying to him. By lying to Maya. By lying to herself. It was what she was good at, after all.

Now…? Now, she wasn't so sure that was a good idea.

Iris had heard the rumours about Maya and Raeger of course, everyone had. She hadn't believed them, though, knowing how flirtatious Raeger came across. What she'd said to Maya was absolutely true, and the very reason she doubted they could ever be a couple: Raeger couldn't devote his heart to anyone.

It took two of them to end their relationship, after all.

No, Iris hadn't believed the rumours were true, ever could be or ever would be true. Until, that is, today.

Iris had also been telling the truth when she claimed she'd never seen Raeger act that way with anyone else, not even her. It was the blatant warmth he showed Maya that tipped her off, the protective, loving gaze he shot her way even when she wasn't looking. Iris dreamed of being on the receiving end of a look like that.

And Maya? Well, she was just as smitten, wasn't she?

Iris tried to tell herself that she was forcing truths that were never there in the first place, to give her a second chance at winning Klaus's heart, but after she'd performed her little test with Raeger, she couldn't deny that her instincts were right.

Raeger was falling in love with Maya. Maya was falling in love with Raeger. And Iris was immediately supportive of the idea.

The sun started to set. Iris had been sitting on her bench much longer than she'd thought, contemplating everything that was going on in town. Raeger, for as long as she'd known him, deserved to be happy. For a time, Iris didn't think the right girl would ever come along.

Evidently, she just hadn't waited long enough.

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