So Surreal – So Real
Chapter Nine
Kagome had reached a new stress level. Her brother had a cold, her mother had locked herself in the back room until the launch party, her grandfather was out of town visiting an old friend, and she had to run the bakery and do all of the Christmas shopping as well as help cater the big party. Thankfully, school had let out for Christmas break a few days ago. Which reminded her, she had a butt load of homework from most of her classes. Great.
So why, exactly, was she sitting on the edge of the bathroom sink of a movie theatre being attacked by a makeup brush? Sighing, she tried to push it away from her face and attempted to hop down. Eri just pushed her back forcefully,
"Sit! I'm not finished yet!"
"This was a bad idea, Eri," Kagome tried to reason as she balanced precariously on the lip of the sink that just happened to be running… "I don't have time to go see movies with guys."
"But this isn't just any guy, Kags. This is Houjou! You're responsibilities can wait for a few hours. Now hold still so I can finish. He'll be here in a few minutes."
Kagome just rolled her eyes. Why the hell had she agreed to this? She didn't really even like the guy! Eri painfully gripped her chin and forced her head upwards. Kagome suppressed a wince and squeezed her eyes shut. This was going to suck…
X
A few hours later, Kagome and her 'date' emerged from the theatre. Even though she'd spent the whole time with Houjou, she had enjoyed the movie. She didn't know why, but she'd always loved old Sci-fi movies with really bad special effects. It was probably the joint influence of her grandfather and father. It'd been a while since she'd last been to the dollar movie theatre that showed old black and whites on Thursday nights.
The two walked around for a while, just looking at all of the window displays of the old working district. Kagome hugged her coat to her chest with a smile. The night wasn't too cold for heavy jackets so she was fairly comfortable in her thick pink sweater and jeans. They passed by a coffee house and she dragged her companion inside. Hot Chocolate sounded good right then.
They sat down at small table in a far corner and blew and sipped at their steaming cups. The coffee house was full of other such couples talking quietly. The lights were dimmed and soft music played in the background. Kagome smiled into her cup.
"So, Higurashi, what've you been up to?"
"Since elementary school or since we last saw each other at the market?"
"Either one."
She took a gulp of cocoa before beginning. "Well, school, I guess. Taking care of my family. Mama's been extra busy with the shop for the past couple years, so I run the house when she's not in. Nothing special really," she shrugged and gazed at the table top, tracing the patterns in the wood with her eyes.
"Okay, that was pretty general. How about since I last saw you?"
"That album launch is this weekend and Mama's practically living in the shop to finish everything. That's been fun. So I run the shop, which is fine since school let out for Christmas. And on top of that, I'm taking care of Souta and his cold while Grandpa's out of town for the next few days. And the whole catering thing and finding help is a mess right now."
"You need help?"
"Yep. Servers. Since Mama doesn't have anyone besides me to help with the shop, we don't have staff to serve food, and the place this thing's going to be at won't provide any either," she said sullenly.
"Well, I could help out, if you want."
Kagome's head snapped up and she stared at him wide-eyed. "Would you?"
"Sure. It'd be no problem," he said with his trademark smile.
Squealing, Kagome bounced up and hugged him excitedly. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me!"
Houjou awkwardly patted her back until she let go. Beaming like the sun, Kagome sat back down, ignoring the stares of the people around her. Taking a large swig of her hot chocolate, she still continued to grin madly. Maybe this night wasn't so bad after all…
X
The next day, Houjou, Eri, Yuka, Ayumi, Rin, Ayame and Sango all assembled at the bakery early in the morning. Kagome had called in favors from Eri and Yuka after they'd forced her on the date with Houjou. Ayumi had become an unofficial employee at the shop over the past few days, and had volunteered a few days earlier. She'd even offered up Mark's services, but he'd been unavailable. Kagome had also called Rin and pleaded for help. Rin had readily agreed and volunteered Sango as well on the condition that she be let out early for one of their previously scheduled gigs. Ayame was busy that night, so she couldn't help out, but she was happy to be there for the morning for transport.
So that morning, the small group packaged and carted all of the food to the hotel. Kagome's mother had been dead on her feet and couldn't keep anything straight, so Kagome had sent her home to rest. After a few minutes of arguing, her mother had eventually relented, leaving the teenagers to their own devices.
"Okay, that tray needs to go on that cart and all of the appetizers need to go on that cart. And all of it needs to go in the refrigerators in the hotel kitchen," Kagome ordered as everyone else rushed around the back room.
"Uh, Kagome, does all of this go to the hotel?" Rin pointed to the bins of food on the counter.
"Um, yeah. Everything goes. Mama set everything out. But don't touch the cakes in the kitchen. Those are for other things. And the pastries that are supposed to go out front need to be put in the display window in front of the counter. Could someone do that for me?"
Ayumi rushed out of the room to set up that day's displays. Sango and Ayame started wheeling carts of food and trays out to the van. Houjou, Eri and Yuka were off on the side, packaging bins of food and tongs and towels and what not. Sighing, Kagome leaned against the steel island in the middle of the back room. They still had to deliver and set up everything. This was going to be a long day.
At one o' clock, they all had a light lunch and then transported everything to the hotel in the van. After that, Rin, Ayame and Sango had to leave to confirm everything for their gig that night and have a final run-through. It was only Kagome, Yuka, Eri, Ayumi and Houjou then. So they set up the kitchen and put everything in the refrigerators to keep it all fresh. Kagome sent them home with orders to be at the hotel at four in white blouses and black slacks ready for work. Then she went home to take a shower, wake up her mother and call a sitter for Souta after shoving soup down his throat.
X
By four-thirty that night, the kitchen of the hotel was in complete chaos as the group of volunteers and the Higurashi's ran around heating up food, setting it on trays and making last minute touch-ups. The party hadn't even started yet and Kagome was on the verge of a meltdown. All the others weren't doing much better as the time for the party drew closer.
"The mini-quiches got a little burned!"
"Where're the fruit trays?"
"Damn it! I just sliced my finger! I need a towel! It's a gusher!"
"I think I'm gonna be sick!"
"Put it under the faucet to clean it off!"
And with each passing second, Kagome's frazzled nerves grew just a bit more frazzled.
X
After the party had started and most of the temporary staff had been shooed out of the kitchen, things seemed to calm down just a little. They settled into the groove and rhythm that was needed to keep things going smoothly and no real disaster happened, so Kagome actually started to enjoy herself. In fact by the time Rin and Sango had to leave for their gig, Kagome wasn't worried at the lack of manpower. So she took up a tray of her own and slipped into the throng of people grabbing for food and drinks.
Loud, pulsing music played overhead and the crowded room surged and swirled in time, loud chatter turning the atmosphere into a frantic, blurred wall of sound. Kagome held her tray up high, trying to fight off groping hands and the solid mass of bodies that she had to navigate through. Deciding that staying along the edges of the room was the better choice, she fought her way out, emerging from the crowd with a sigh at the fresher air filling her lungs. If she hadn't have clawed her way out right then, she had a feeling she would have developed a case of claustrophobia.
Straightening her white blouse, she walked around aimlessly, smiling politely at people she passed. After a while, her tray was empty and she headed back towards the kitchen. But then she noticed the amount of trash and half-empty plates strewn about the table and decided to clean up a little. Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her hair, she gathered dishes and crumpled napkins onto her tray.
At one table, a man sat staring off into the crowd, an empty plate in front of him. Shrugging, Kagome made her way over and pointed to the plate.
"Excuse me, are you finished with that?"
The silver-haired man jumped slightly at her voice and turned sharply to face her. His face twisted into a scowl at the sight of her before turning back around with a humph. Taken aback, Kagome just stared at him for a moment, frozen in place.
"So not only do you humiliate me with some other guy, you now have come over here to finish the job in front of I-don't-know-how-many people?" he said angrily, not even gracing her with a glance.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, bitch. Well guess what. I don't need you. We're through."
Kagome sputtered for a second, digesting what he'd said. Who was this guy? How in the world could they be 'through?' She'd never met him in her life. Heck, she'd never even had a boyfriend to break up with.
"So why don't you take your stuck up ass and go fuck the guy from last night?"
"Last night…? You mean Houjou? Why would I-"
"Yeah, sure, Hobo, whatever. Just get out of my sight."
Her anger was boiling by now. He had no right to speak to her that way. She was just here to cater the stupid party, not be harassed by some arrogant, self-centered jerk who'd obviously gotten his heart broken and was taking it out on her. Setting her tray down firmly with a loud clang, she put her hands on her hips and leaned forward.
"Listen, buddy," she started, jabbing a finger in his chest heatedly. "I don't know who the hell you think you are to talk to me like that, but you'd better quit it. I'm just trying to do my job here, okay?"
"That's your excuse for everything, you whore! Were you just doing your job last night with Homo?" he demanded, twisting in his chair to face her just as heatedly.
"His name is Houjou thank you very much, and no, I wasn't. That's not part of my job!"
"Well it didn't look that way to me, Kikyou!"
Kagome opened her mouth to yell right back in his face when the last word he uttered caught her attention and she choked down her retort. The guy in front of her smirked at her small frown.
"What's the matter, Kikyou? Don't know what to say for once?"
Kagome scoffed at his self-righteous statement.
"Hardly. But I suggest you take a closer look at who you're speaking to before opening your big mouth."
"Stop acting like the Queen of Sheba or whatever. You're not that special," he gloated, turning back around as if to dismiss her presence and their 'conversation.'
Kagome angrily snatched up the plate in front of him and banged in down onto the quickly filling up tray. She scooped it up with a huff and turned to leave. The man sitting at the table just smirked at her retreating back. But Kagome came up short and twisted her torso around to pin him with a glare.
"And just so you know, my name isn't Kikyou, you blind jackass. It is Kagome – Ka-Go-Me. And I don't enjoy being insulted by a complete stranger."
And with that, Kagome turned back around and stomped back to the kitchen. The young man at the table stared after her blankly before swiveling his head back around at the sound of a very familiar voice. There stood Kikyou flirting with some guy that looked strangely familiar…
"Oh, shit…"
X
"Kagome, dear, what's the matter? You looked so happy a few minutes ago," her mother commented as she bustled around the kitchen, stopping in front of the gigantic oven and pulling out a cooking sheet of some sort of cookie-looking food.
Kagome just shrugged and sat down at the steel island to help place more food on trays. Picking up one of the 'cookies' off of the tray, her mother shoved it in front of her mouth.
"Eat," she ordered with a smile.
Kagome complied and took it from her mother and placed it in her mouth. She expected it to be some sort of gourmet and exotic pastry her mother had baked especially for the event. Instead, she bit into an average, run-of-the-mill chocolate chip cookie. Her eyes widened and she glanced at her mother in confusion. Her mother just chuckled softly and began removing the cookies from the tray.
"I figured you and your friends would want a treat after all the hard work you've done tonight. You have no idea how much I appreciate all of this."
Kagome smiled and turned back to her work. Mrs. Higurashi always knew how to cheer people up.
"So, are you going to tell me what was bothering you, or am I going to have to pry it out of you?" her mother said casually, not even pausing in her removal of the warm cookies to look up at her daughter.
"It's nothing, Mama. Someone was just giving me grief because they were hungry and I had nothing left but trash on my tray."
Her mother nodded in understanding. Kagome sighed quietly and moved on to another tray. She didn't notice when her mother glanced over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow, studying her daughter carefully. She knew Kagome wasn't telling the truth, but she wasn't going to push her. It was her daughter's business and she would let her know when the time was right. Or, at least she hoped so.
E
I'm frustrated with myself right now, and I have a feeling it's showing in my chapters. I really hope they're up to par, but I'm not sure. Maybe it's just that blasted writers' block. And stress from school starting up in less than a week. But I got awesome news yesterday and I'm totally psyched and sort of torn about my plans for next summer… I know it's really early to be thinking about it, but this is huge! Well, until next time! – Hope Swings