"You be safe out there, ya crazy old man!" Jim half-shouted at the pirate.
This was it, the day Silver to depart away from the inn. His job as a cook was a nice little 'vacation' for him, but now was the time for him to live the life of a pirate once again.
Everyone gathered on the beach to bid farewell. Of course, Silver being a genuine old man whose charisma never failed to impress, left them feeling sad. However, the only person to hold a handkerchief was someone who couldn't even produce tears; Ben, though Jim, who's a boy who thought real men do not cry, was trying his best not to cry.
"Safe? Hah! The universe will never be safe with me around!" Silver replied, turning on the engine on his boat.
"You're the ones who need to stay safe," he pointed his metal index finger at the crowd behind him.
"So long!"
The boat accelerated into the horizon, turning into a small dot that eventually took an altitude to the open sky. It was headed to the place where people would go in order to go further, Montressor Spaceport.
Soon, the Benbow Inn staffs turned around to head back to the inn. While walking, Ariel took Jim by the hand, and laid her head on his shoulder. A deep sigh was followed.
"I'm gonna miss him…"
"Me too, Ariel. Me too."
A tear managed to escape her eyes, and she prevented the rest from escaping by wiping them off right away.
Knock Knock
Ariel lifted her chin up, taking away her attention from the book she was reading onto the source of the sound. It's an unusual thing to have someone knock the entrance door of Benbow Inn, as people simply just come in and the bell placed above the door would announce the presence of the guest. She questioned this for a second, but then the second knock was heard, so she rushed to the entrance right away.
The female twisted the knob, and another female was there to greet her.
"Um, hi!"
Her hair was dark green, and her crimson eyes contrasted her hair, giving a sense that she's someone from out of this planet. However, her attire was, well, very much from this planet. She wore jean overalls with one strap loose, with a light-yellow shirt tucked behind it along with an oil stain. The same oil stain was found on her boots, and the strap of her backpack.
Ariel thought about behaving as a normal person, but then she decided to behave the stranger as an employee of the inn. "Hello, welcome to Benbow Inn! How can I help you?"
"Uh, you guys need a pair of extra hands in the inn? No?"
Ariel cocked a brow. "Pardon me?"
"Do you have any vacancy available?"
The girl's request was something Ariel had never encountered. This was clearly a job that only Sarah could handle. So, Ariel turned around with a hope to find the person right away. She only saw the other Hawkins instead.
"Jim!"
He turned to her. "Yeah, what is it?"
"Could you tell Sarah to come down here?"
Here they were, in Sarah's 'office', which was basically on the dining table in which it was positioned by the window that faced the sea. It's been too long since Sarah actually interviewed somebody who had an intention to work in the inn. So, she was learning as she's interviewing the mysterious girl.
"Okay, Paige, I am going to be honest. I have a slight guilt for hiring someone like you, to be frank. Because… how old are you?"
"I'm fifteen, ma'am!"
Her eyes widened. "You're fifteen? I'll give it that your height is… a fifteen-year-old height, but your face represents someone younger than fifteen," Sarah commented.
"Oh, I get that a lot, ma'am, hahaha! Everybody says that to me."
"Okay, let me sum it up so far. Your name is Paige, no surname, no nothin'. Your skills involve fixing anything that has a machinery in it, cleaning things."
Sarah paused herself, and eyed for the stains all over Paige's clothes, which suggested the opposite idea of her last statement.
"And your weaknesses, they're nonexistent. I just hope my best that it's true," Sarah put a bit of sarcasm into her tone, which was returned by an uncomfortable chuckle by Paige.
"W-Well it's just, I think it's hard to figure that part, you know? I'll let you and other employees to be the judges for that."
At this point, Sarah had already found one weakness from Paige, and it's her overconfidence. But she let it slip away for now.
"May I ask you about your parents? Where are they? Did they tell you to find a job?" Sarah asked. Paige's uncomfortable smile turned into an uncomfortable frown.
"About that… my parents, uh, they're dead. Or missing, but most likely dead for now," her red eyes rolled down, finding her lap more interesting to see.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Sarah cleared her throat. "Um, do you live somewhere?"
The girl pursed her lips, once again, feeling uncomfortable with the question. "Do you know the bridge that connects Wildelight and this coast?"
"Yes, why?"
"I… live under that bridge."
Sarah's eyes bulged right away, but hid them with a hand as she looked away. Certainly, there's a feeling inside her that made her feel sorry for the girl. But, considering Sarah barely knew her, she didn't know if she could hire someone like her, because the biggest chance was that Sarah would feel sympathetic for the girl, and let her live in the inn.
As much as she worried the girl, Sarah had to be smart about this as well.
"Right. Um, could you wait for a moment?" Sarah stood up from her seat, "I have to think for a moment. It won't be long."
"Oh please! don't mind me."
With that, Sarah left to the lobby of the inn, separated from the dining room with a wall. Inside the lobby, Ben was sat by the counter, eyes closed. Hibernating, most likely. But he was not the person whom Sarah wanted to talk to. That very person was inside the aquarium, a red crab who was relaxing on a fake coral.
Sarah knocked the aquarium with a finger, awakening the resident in it. Sebastian.
"Oh, uh, Sarah!" Sebastian headed to the surface and breached it. "Sebastian, at your service."
"Seb, it looks like the inn will have a new employee. But I'm not so sure…" the woman held her chin.
"What's the problem?"
"You see, the name is Paige. She has no surname whatsoever, which is unusual. Judging from the way she speaks, I can tell that she's a friendly person. But," she raised her shoulders. "That's not… going to be any useful in the inn, you know what I'm saying? Plus, she's from the poverty, which, to mean no offence at all, is not going to help either. And she's… as young as Jim and Ariel, but they're my children, basically. And this… is someone else's child! And her parents are dead! Or missing, I don't know, she doesn't know either because she literally said dead or missing. Oh God what do I do…"
Sebastian noticed that the woman's speaking phase was getting faster and faster. She didn't give a sign of stopping the ranting of her situation until Sebastian clapped his claws together to gain her attention.
"Sarah! Calm down, I understand the situation now. All I can say is… follow your heart. Do what it says."
"My heart… tells me something completely the opposite of my brain! What do I do—"
"Follow the heart! Trust me!" Sebastian assured once again. "You're a good woman with a good heart, Sarah. I believe you know the best for the little girl."
Sarah silenced herself for a moment, taking her decision mentally before turning around to face back her problem once again. In the middle of her way, she forgot something important.
"Seb, thank you," she whispered, blowing a kiss.
Seb would be lying if he said he wasn't touched by the simple gesture.
And Paige would be lying if she said she didn't take a peek at whom Sarah was talking to. As soon as she spotted the woman approaching back, Paige returned to her seat right away.
"Right um," Sarah stopped beside the girl. "I will accept you as an employee, Paige."
The girl's face turned so bright, as if a sun had just materialized inside the inn. The hopes that she had had come true.
"And…" with a heavy but sincere heart, Sarah took a deep breath. "You will be staying in here, because I don't see anyone deserving a life under the bridge. From now on, you're a resident of the inn, and also an employee."
"Oh my lord, Ms. Hawkins, you're the kindest person ever!" Paige stood from her seat in excitement.
"However," Sarah paused the girl's excitement with her index finger. "I am expecting the best out of you. And I mean it. Work your hardest, or receive my hardest. Understood?"
To acknowledge the warning, Paige gave the woman a soldier salute and a genuine grateful smile. Seeing the behavior made the woman smirk a little, last time she saw a salute was from Jim years back then.
"Will a couch and a blanket do?" Sarah crossed her arms.
"Oh, I won't even mind a carpet."
"What does she look like?"
"She looks like a basic girl from the town, I think. Basing from her language, I think she's from the, not to mean any sense of arrogance, lower class of the society."
"Whoa, Ari. Where did you learn that?" Jim chuckled at her statement.
"From…" Ariel looked left and right at the book shelfs, and spotted the one she meant. "That one, Linguistic 101."
He merely scoffed, and returned his attention to the book in front of him. But his attention was once taken away when Ariel deeply sighed.
"It's probably just me, but I think she came from a harsh environment. I can see it, in her eyes. Do you think your mother will accept her?"
Jim pondered of an answer for a moment, then shut his book once he came up with one.
"Yes."
"Why so?"
"Because she's Sarah Hawkins. No matter how much troubles the universe throws at her, she never hesitates to help the other troubled ones," Jim scoffed to himself. "At least, that's what I've learnt from the past fifteen years."
"Soon to be sixteen though…" he whispered the last bit very quietly, as his purpose was to only hint it.
"Soon what?" Ariel asked.
"Ariel, Jim."
The two turned to the entrance of the library, and there Sarah and Paige were stood. The couple stood from the couch right away. Seeing the two on their feet, Sarah gestured at the surroundings.
"This is the library, and that's the couch that I meant, Paige. This mini library closes at 7 pm, and it's your duty to clean it afterwards. The library opens at 8 am, so I expect you to tuck your pillow and your blanket away before it opens. Also, make sure the couch is at its cleanest condition," Sarah explained. The girl nodded in reply.
"Jim, Ariel, this is a new girl around here, Paige. Paige, Jim and Ariel."
"Hello guys! Nice to meet ya!"
The couple replied, "uh hey," in unison.
"Now the next guest is expected to arrive at 4 pm, which means plenty of time to get to know each other," a smirk curled on the woman's lips. "Easy first day for you, Paige. I'll call the others to go up here to meet you."
Giving several pats on her shoulder, Sarah left the room to call Ben and Morph. There was a brief moment of awkwardness between the trio, as they didn't know what to do. Thankfully, the male took over the control and broke the ice.
"You can sit down, Paige, if you want," Jim said as he dropped his body onto the couch where he was sat. Ariel followed his gesture right away.
"Oh thanks."
So, she did.
"So…" Ariel dragged the word. "Where are you from, Paige?"
"I'm from Wildelight town, though I'm pretty sure this is still the area of that town, right?" Paige asked, unsure of her statement.
"It is, geographically. But people simply call this area as the coast, though it is the coast of Wildelight, but the name was never mentioned. So, socially, it's the coast," Jim explained. "Wildelight, huh? What led you to here?"
"I'm… broke. I need a job to survive," Paige added a forced chuckle in the end. Ariel noticed this.
"Well," the red hair raised her shoulders, "obviously. But, why the Benbow Inn? Don't get me wrong, I'm completely okay with you in here. But we just wanna know why."
"Oh, I heard the owner is very kind, which is very true. I assume she's…" Paige pointed a finger at Jim. "Your mother, am I right?"
"Correct."
"Your. Mother. Is. The. Best. I mean, I came here as an unemployed girl, but she offered me a drink! A flipping drink! I mean, who does that? Who in the good name of Planet Montressor offers a drink to an employee candidate?" Paige's grin was only widening and widening at this point. Her cheerful side was showing up, and it was something that neither Jim nor Ariel expected.
"Hehe, but let's not get you ahead of yourself. A reprimand is something that she wouldn't hesitate if she found one of us not working. Jim here had experienced that, hadn't ya?" The female pushed her male slightly with a cocky smile.
"Yeah, yeah. It was a simple mistake—"
"Are you two together?"
The sudden question froze the couple in an instant.
"Y-Yeah, we are," Jim answered.
"OH. MY. GOODNESS. YOU'RE THE CUTEST COUPLE IN TOWN, I'M TELLING YOU," the fangirl palmed her hands. "When did you meet? Where? Oh don't tell me that you guys met during a…"
The question regarding the origin of Ariel's and Jim's relationship seemed to come in a package of a thousand questions, as Paige was not showing any sign of stopping. Briefly, the two shared a glance, and during so, Ariel conveyed a message that she was not willing to share everything yet by simply twitching her left eye slightly. Luckily, someone was there to save the day. It wasn't Jim, it wasn't Ariel, it certainly wasn't Paige. Ben!
"Hey guys, Sarah told me there's a new girl around here."
From Ben's view, he only saw both Ariel and Jim. That was, until a head popped out from the chair in front of him. In a flash, Paige was mesmerized by the robot's appearance. In her eyes, she saw Ben as something that her wrench could fix. Moved by instinct, her hand grabbed the object from her pocket.
"Oh, that's a nice wrench you have there. Hello, I'm Ben, Bio Electric Navigator. But just call me Ben," he gave his hand for a handshake. Paige noticed the gesture, and put away her wrench with a shy smile as she returned the handshake.
"N-Nice to meet you too, Ben. I'm Paige," she introduced.
"Oh, Paige. I bet we'd make good friends. Now, where is he again?" The robot put his hands on his hips, searching his left and right for the presence of his companion.
"He who?"
"Morph—oh," the robot cut himself when he spotted a flying wrench floating about next to the new girl. Paige exhaled a gasp when she noticed the weird phenomenon, and backed off a little. Afterwards, a 'squeaky' laughter was heard. The flying wrench morphed into… Morph. The cuddly little one immediately greeted the little girl by rubbing himself against her cheek.
"Ah, there he is. His name is Morph, a creature capable of morphing into anything, anyone, but size may not be the same as he's merely a small guy," Ben explained. "Ah, little fun guy, he is."
"Anything? Heh," Paige asked. "Can he turn into a screwdriver?"
Morph did as she questioned. He turned into a screwdriver.
"A bolt?"
Once again, Morph did as she questioned.
"A ten-millimeter socket?"
Morph did the same, morphing into her request. But this time, Paige's eyes spotted a flaw.
"That's a twelve-millimeter. Not a ten. But still, oh my god, that's super cool. Morph, you're so awesome!"
Morph blushed a little, and by 'blushed', he simply turned his colour entirely red. However, at this point, Paige was merely thinking of the works that she could overcome with the help from Morph. She wouldn't need to reach for her utensils, she could simply ask Morph to turn into the one she needed! A little selfish intention, if anyone were to know what she was on about.
"So, what's your duty? When's your shift too?" Ben asked, as he joined Jim on the couch.
"Oh, that's still to come, Ms. Hawkins will figure that out for me. For now, I guess I'll just take care of anything that can be taken care of, such as…" Paige paused herself, grabbed her wrench from her pocket, and suddenly tightened the bolt on Ben's knee joint. Her eyes saw the bolt being loose, and erupted the need to tighten it. Jim and Ariel spectated the scene with worry, because there was a reason for Ben to let that specific bolt loose.
However, Ben stopped her before she could finish. "Oh oh, no need for that young lady."
"Why not? It's loose, you can lose a leg anytime at anywhere, literally!" Paige responded.
"Because, if it's too tight, it will…" Ben attempted to straighten his leg, which he managed, only after producing uncomfortable screech of rusty steel being scrapped each other by the tightened bolt. The rusty steel produced the same ear bleeding noise as Ben positioned his leg back to normal again.
"Whoops," Paige removed her hands from her ears, "sorry?"
"Ah, it's fine. Good deeds are always appreciated," Ben said. Morph turned himself into a wrench and loosened the bolt right away.
"You're rusting up. You're gonna need some lubricant and a coating for that area," Paige said, worry filling her tone.
"By this time, it'd be much better to replace it, really. We have planned to do so in the future when the money is there," Jim responded. "I will be his surgeon."
"Surgery never sounds scarier than before," Ben responded. Everyone except Paige burst into a small laughter, because in here, she saw an opportunity.
"Can I be his surgeon too?" Paige asked.
"Uhh… I'm sure Jim needs someone to hold the flashlight, right? So then he wouldn't loosen the wrong bolt," Ben nudged the boy jokingly.
"Oh shut up, or I'll tighten that bolt on your jaw," Jim threatened, in a friendly way, of course. But someone decided to take it dramatically.
"Oh Hawkins! You did not just threaten Ben like that!" Ariel slapped the boy's shoulder, covering her agape smiling lips with the other hand.
"I can do whatever I want, Ari. I can throw you back into the ocean, if I want," Jim added a big laughter in the end, which was ceased right away after Ariel attacked his weak point, his sides. Jim's laughter turned into a pleading for mercy, but no sign of mercy was anywhere close. Ben somehow decided to join in, and so did Morph. The scene was quite the entertainment for the new girl, but a question popped inside her head.
"What's with Ariel and the ocean?" Paige asked, with an innocent and curious smile.
Ariel stopped her tickling, and so did everyone.
"Wha—what was the question?" Jim asked, collecting himself again.
Before Paige could repeat her question, Ariel answered, "I'm… not the best swimmer in the world. I know, it's embarrassing. Hahah."
"Oh, well, I can teach you how to swim!" Paige suggested.
"Mmmmaybe, in the future, maybe," Ariel clapped her hands once, steering the direction of the conversation to a direction she desired. "How about a tour of the inn? Pretty sure you haven't seen every corner of it, eh?"
"Sure!"
With that, everyone left the library after agreeing to the suggestion. Ariel was glad that she evaded questions from someone who had a strong sense of curiosity. She'd be glad to answer them, but would be gladder to keep her origin hidden for now.
While walking down the hall, Jim nudged his girlfriend, curling a cocky grin on his lips.
"Bad swimmer, huh? One hell of an excuse."
"Oh shut up."
Not much had happened here, but a lot more to come. There's your new character, Paige! An illustration of her will come in the next chapter!