Two Mornings Later

Katniss kissed Gale as he left for work, taking a sip of her coffee as she shut the door behind him. She made her way over to the couch, setting her drink onto the coffee table as she took a seat. She picked up her laptop and booted up, logging straight into her author e-mail account. When she had woken up that morning, she glanced at her smartphone and saw that she had a new message.

Sure enough, the new message was from Serene-Pilot.

Hello Warrior-Woman,

Attached are my notes on chapter four. Watch your tenses, you flipped back and forth between present and past a few times. Considering what you are dealing with I'm not surprised you missed that before sending it to me. You mentioned that things were going to heat up but I have to say you are the master of the slow burn. I really enjoyed this chapter and I can't wait to see how others react to it.

I'm sorry to hear about your business troubles. I work in the business world too. My best advice is to figure out how to best differentiate yourself from the competition. Determine what makes your business special and make sure your customers know it. Feel free to bounce ideas off me if you need to and I'm always here if you just need an ear.

So your boyfriend calls you by a nickname you detest – will you share it with me if I promise never to call you it? Now I'm very curious. ;)

It's time for me to crash. I need to get up early tomorrow to visit a new work site. I'll talk to you later.

Best,

Serene-Pilot

Katniss smiled to herself as she read the message and opened her internet browser to check Tumblr. There were no new messages, but there were some funny posts and great fanart in her dashboard. She opened up her beta's Tumblr page to send him a quick private message.

I'm sure you are already off to a busy day visiting your new work site. Thank you for the quick return of my chapter. I'm still working on the next one. It's giving me some fits.

I appreciate your advice and encouragement. You are right. We just need to communicate why our services are better.

We agreed no personal information so there is no way I'm telling you that horrid nickname. ;)

-Warrior Woman

Katniss chuckled to herself as she finished the note and clicked send. It was time to get ready for work.

The message from her beta was exactly the advice and encouragement she needed to hear. It put an extra bounce in her step as she prepared for the day. She acknowledged to herself that yes, his advice was similar to what her friends and Gale had told her, but for some reason hearing it from her beta made her believe it.

The bounce in her step remained for the rest of the morning. As a result, the little things that normally turned her mood surly, like Annie messaging that she'd be late or her produce supplier showing up without organic onions – because what can you cook that doesn't require an onion – all seemed to roll off her back. Nothing could dampen her mood.

Fortunately, Haymitch showed up again to help her with the store while she helped Johanna in the café during the lunch rush.

Katniss walked up to one of the tables in her section where a customer she didn't recognize was seated. Most of the customers were regulars who worked in the surrounding business district.

"Welcome to Everdeen's. I'm Katniss and I'll be your server today. Please let me know if I can answer any questions you have about the menu. Would you like me to take your drink order while you decide?" she rattled off automatically.

He looked up from his menu and her breath hitched. He had the prettiest blue eyes framed by dark, long lashes, which she didn't think could be possible considering his blond waves. Most women would kill for his lashes or spend a small fortune.

He flashed a bright smile. "Um, sure. Can I have an ice tea?"

"Sure, I'll be right back with it. Take your time."

Katniss walked back to the prep area and poured the ice tea. After delivering it to his table, she immediately walked away since his nose was still buried behind the menu and she needed to serve a couple tables that already had meals waiting under the warmer.

By the time she had finished delivering the food, she saw his menu had been put aside, so she walked up to take his order.

"Have you decided?"

"Actually, I'm not sure because it all looks so good," he responded. "Do you have any recommendations?" he asked with a smile which reached his eyes, the corners of which crinkled.

"Honestly I think everything is good, but are you a vegetarian or vegan?"

"I'm neither, but I'm not opposed to eating a dish that is. What do you recommend?"

"My favorite thing on the menu is the 'Let's Go Nuts' which is a sandwich with finely chopped walnuts, almonds, and hazelnuts, a slice of melted jack cheese, a little mayonnaise, your choice of lettuce or sprouts, and a slice of tomato on toasted sprouted grain bread."

"That sounds delicious. I'll try that with the lettuce."

"Half or whole?"

"I'll take a whole."

"It also comes with your choice of either soup of the day or our side of the day."

"What is your side of the day?"

"French potato salad."

"That sounds good," he answered as he handed her the menu.

"It should just be a few minutes," she nodded as she turned and walked away.

Katniss handed the order over to Sae in the kitchen when she felt Johanna bump hips with her.

"The new guy is cute, isn't he?" Johanna said just loud enough for her to hear.

Katniss glanced over and saw her friend's sly look. "I don't know what you are talking about. Besides, I have Gale."

"Girl, you have a boyfriend. You're not dead. No harm in looking."

Katniss shook her head at the woman as she grabbed the order for another table and walked away. However, Johanna's comments lingered in the back of her mind, so she felt heat rise to her cheeks when she delivered the blond man's food ten minutes later. Of course, Johanna noticed because she never misses anything. Katniss could hear the woman's cackle from across the room.

When the blond had finished his meal she walked back up to the table and asked, "How was everything?"

"It was excellent. I'm glad I ordered your recommendation."

She smiled at him. "That's great. I don't recognize your face. Are you traveling for business or are you new around here?" she inquired.

"I'm not sure."

Katniss smirked. "How can you not be sure?"

"It's a little bit of both. I did just move here for work but I don't know how long I'm staying. Probably at least six months."

"Well, welcome to Panem. I do hope you come back to Everdeen's. Is there anything else I can get you?"

"Just the check and I definitely plan to…come back that is," he responded

Her stomach did a little somersault at his smile. The man really was too handsome.

"I'll be back with it in a few."

"No hurry." He returned his attention to his smartphone, probably pecking away at a message to someone.

Katniss nodded as she walked away. She checked on the few remaining tables from the lunch rush before ringing up his ticket.

She walked his bill back to his table and handed it to him as he pulled out his wallet. "Let me give you my card now."

At that moment, Annie rushed into the café. "I'm so sorry I'm late, Katniss! My starter went out in my car this morning. I had to call Finnick to take care of it and catch the bus."

"It's no problem. We were able to manage," Katniss assured Annie while the blond man listened.

"Oh Katniss, I was talking to Finnick about Mellark's going in across the street and he also thinks things will be fine. Our customers will stick with us."

Katniss smiled at her friend. "I agree. We just have to differentiate ourselves from the competition so people understand why they should choose to come to Everdeen's. We can discuss it more later. Let me ring up this man's ticket."

"So are you the owner of Everdeen's?" the blond man asked.

Katniss smiled, feeling a blush come over her cheeks as she answered, "Yes. My parents started this business before I was born and now it's mine."

"Um, I've changed my mind about using my card. Let me pay in cash." He handed her a twenty.

"I'll be right back with your change."

The man shook his head. "Don't worry about, keep the change."

"Thank you!" She beamed. "Be sure to come back. What's your name so I can greet you next time?"

"Oh, it's Peeta," he mumbled as he stood up.

"It's nice to meet you, Peeta."

"Same, Katniss." He nodded before walking out of the café.

Annie walked up to her murmured, "He's kinda cute!"

Katniss glared at her friend before removing her apron. She grabbed a sandwich that Sae had waiting for her before calling out, "I'll be in the back office."

She sat down at her desk and blew out a breath before chuckling. The blond was cute and Johanna was right, there was no harm looking.

She took the first bite of her sandwich as she logged into Tumblr. She felt a little jolt of joy as she saw a few messages in her inbox. The first one was an "ask meme" which she decided she'd answer later that night. The next was a note complimenting her on chapter three of her fic. The last one was a response from Serene-Pilot from her message this morning.

How is asking for your "horrid" nickname too personal? Will I be able to derive your real name from it? I thought only identifying personal information was off limits at this point in our internet friendship! Now I'm imagining something really horrendous. Perhaps your parents were huge Disney fans whose favorite characters were always the villains and named you Maleficent so you are stuck with "Mallie" or maybe they named you "Ruth" and so your nickname is "Baby Ruth" after the candy bar. My imagination is running wild. You really should put me out of my misery and just tell me. ;)

-Serene-Pilot

Shaking her head, Katniss hit the respond button.

Okay. Good for you for calling me out on my B.S. :P I just really hate it. I only tolerate my boyfriend calling me it because he is my best friend. Maybe someday, if we meet and I drink enough wine I'll share it with you.

Aren't you supposed to be working?

She smiled to herself as she clicked send.

A/N:

Thank you very much to Pookieh for being an amazing beta. She turned around this story so fast and I'm grateful.

If you'd like more information about my fanfiction please visit my tumblr: dispatchesfromdistrict7

The characters are the property of the amazing Suzanne Collins and do not belong to me. I occasionally weave lines from her novels. Those totally belong to Ms. Collins too.

As I mentioned the plot is inspired by the movie You've Got Mail so I credit the creators of that film for the story idea – which I've adapted to modern times and Everlark.