Java Chip Frappe
Act Four
Rye pushed around the food on her plate, mixing the mac and cheese, tuna and chips until they became one pile of mush; that was just the way she liked it. She drove her fork into her meal and removed a hunk of casserole from her platter. She pressed the fork to her lips and took a bite of her food. Ah, could comfort food get any better? It was a familiar feeling she had learned from eating food this heavy. Her sister's food truly rivaled her Mother's.
After moving the food around in her mouth for a while, she swallowed the warm meal. Her stomach and taste buds demanded refreshment and so she reached out for her can of cola. She took a quick swig before placing the can back down on the table.
"Oh Ms. Heather, this is scrumptious!" Pops said with glee. "Who knew the combination of fish and pasta could be so ingenious!"
Heather released a few nervous giggles before she replied to Pops' compliment. "It's my Mom's recipe actually.
By this time Mordecai had introduced all the men to Heather and vice versa. Thank goodness because Rye wasn't sure that she knew everyone's names exactly. There were quite a lot of faces and names to remember at once, but she was sure she would get it eventually.
Rye looked back to her nervous sister and held back the laughter she held. Poor Heather, she looked just dreadful! How could she be this nervous? Was it the fact that she was surrounded by men? It had to be, otherwise she was pretty outgoing. With Margaret and Eileen Heather had no problem stating her opinion so it had to be the fact that she was around so many males. How cute.
"So Rigby," Mordecai's voice caused the oldest female to turn to the right. "What do you think of the food?"
The raccoon hummed to himself for a moment before stuffing another forkful of food into his mouth. He chewed for a few silent moments while Heather sat at the other end of the table, waiting anxiously for his reply.
"It hasn't stopped you from eating any." Rye said with a grin.
The small brown mammal paused then swallowed. He then reached out to his soda and cleansed his palate. "It's alright." He said, refusing to look in Heather's direction.
"That's saying a lot," Mordecai released a few friendly chuckles. "Seeing as you don't like tuna."
"I think that means you pass, Hea." Rye turned to her sister and winked.
"Oh!" Pops' voice echoed through the kitchen. "Hea? What an adorable nickname, would you mind at all if I used it, Ms. Heather?" He turned to the young female with a large smile on his face.
"Nope," Heather said, fluttering her eyelashes.
"Hey!" Rye turned her attention to Muscle Man, who was seated beside Heather. "What are you doin' drinkin' water?" He asked without hesitation. "I said we have PLENTY of cola to go around!"
Heather flinched, the blush returning to her cheeks. "I didn't see any diet soda, that's all."
"Diet?" High-five Ghost gave the baker a confused stare. "What for?"
"I don't lik-"
"You need more meat on your bones!" Muscle Man stated in a deep, loud voice. He then proceeded to reach out to the glass casserole dish and spoon heaps of food onto her plate. "Eat up!"
"Yes Hea," Pops shut his eyes and nodded his head. "You need all the strength you can get, you are helping us with the landscaping aren't you?"
"What?" Heather flinched and turned to Pops, who sat on her opposite side. "When…"
"About the landscaping," Skips broke into the conversation and locked stares with Rye. "I heard that we have a certain amount of time to finish it."
Rye nodded her head to agree. She could only be left to assume since Pops was in the room, that not much could be said about the party his Father was having for him. He seemed innocent enough to be naïve about it, so it was better if she kept her yap shut.
Her eyes returned to Skips, "Yes, I've already ordered the flowers from QVC's website, so that's covered."
"Are you sure they'll get here in time?" Rigby asked, his mouth still full of food.
"Its called express shipping." Heather shot the raccoon an evil stare from across the table.
"HEY!" He slammed his paws on the table and sat up in his seat. "I knew that!"
"Anyway," Rye cleared her throat, capturing everyone's attention once again. "All we need to do is get fertilizer and the planting equipment."
"Hum, hum," Mordecai nodded his head. "We can do that, no biggie."
"Oh yeah?" Rye's right brow arched, "It's going to take Superman to carry more than a dozen bags of dirt and fertilizer."
"We have the cart," Rigby swirled what remained of his food on his plate. "It's covered."
Rye rolled her eyes. If they wanted to think that way, she wasn't going to fight it. They would see soon enough that planting a major landscaping project was far from just digging a few holes. Then again with so many men around, it just might be easier than she expected. It wasn't everyday she had so many guys around to carry huge bags of soil.
"You looked concerned."
Rye glanced up from her plate to see Skips looking back at her. "Oh, I'm just a bit nervous about the Honeysuckle."
"Why?" He asked.
"I have an allergy to bees."
"No problem!" Pops exclaimed, more excited than he should be at the moment. "Hea and I can plant the Honeysuckle, right Hea?" He turned to look at the young woman sitting beside him.
"What?" Heather flinched. "When was I assigned a job here?"
The look of joy left Pops' features, turning his smile into a frown. Then in a small, sad tone he spoke, "You aren't going to help?"
"Uh…" A blank expression spread over her features. "Well, I do have work…"
"Then again we're gonna need all the help we can get." Skips said as he dropped his fork onto his cleaned plate. "Especially if Benson wants the job done before two weeks is up."
"Aw, come on Hea." Rye knew exactly what buttons to hit with her younger half. She forced a frown while her pitch changed. "It'll be fun, besides I think Pops would appreciate it." She then nudged her chin in the direction of the older man.
As if on cue, Heather turned to her right to see Pops with a large pair of puppy dog eyes. His bottom lip poked out and his mustache quivered. The young baker let out a loud sigh before allowing her head to drop in defeat.
"Fine. I'll get some days off work."
"Whoooo!" Mordecai and Rigby jumped from their seats and began to fail their arms in the air.
Oh so the two besties saw this as an opportunity to do less work, eh? Who could blame them anyway, after all this was going to be a lot of work? Especially seeing as this was her first job as a landscapist. But no one else, save her sister, knew it and now they didn't have to. The more helping hands she had, the better her work appeared. This job was going to set her for life, she was sure of it.
XoXoX
The warm spring air passed by Mordecai's face as he steered the small white golf cart through the park. Though Rigby and Rye were by his side, the drive was oddly silent. What was this, some kind of awkward silence before a terrible storm? Ugh! He could hardly stand it! Someone had to say something soon or else he'd flip out.
The gazebo came into sight and at no better time; now they would have to talk to one another. Mordecai moved his foot over to the brake and pressed down gently. The cart came to a slow halt just in front of the large gazebo. So Mr. Maellard was going to throw the party here? Not a bad idea, a few flowers could lighten the place up after all.
The weight in the vehicle shifted as the trio exited. Rye was first to whip out her small notebook, her pen resting on her ear. She stepped toward the gazebo before reaching back into her pocket. She pulled out the small map Benson had given her the day before. Reading over the paper she began to jolt down more notes. What they were, Mordecai and Rigby had no idea.
Rigby's small body became the better of him and he dropped to the grass. His backside lead the way and finally he was laying down on the grass, staring up at the blue sky above. He released a long, loud groan before turning his head to face Rye.
"MORE notes?" His eyelids grew heavy with boredom.
"I have to see where the light hits the ground," Rye said as she pushed her glasses up over her forehead. "That way I know what plants get the most sunlight." She then removed the pen from the top of her ear and placed it to a clean sheet of paper.
"What's the big deal?" Rigby shut his eyes before moving his snout to face the sun. "Just dig a hole, throw the plant in and water it!"
"Its more of a science," Rye muttered.
"Whatever, man." Rigby sighed.
So it wasn't just about digging a hole? Mordecai watched as Rye as she lifted her head upward and looked around the surrounding area. She took a few short steps to the bare area of dead grass where Benson wanted the flowers and bent down on a single knee. It looked like she knew what she was doing, for the time being…
"Is it really that important?" Mordecai followed after the female and stood above her, hands to his hips.
"I also have to mark which flowers go next to each other," She pulled her eyes away from the ground and began to write something down in her notebook. "Some plants will use and steal more energy from other plants. That's why we can't plant the Honeysuckle near the roses."
At least she appeared dedicated. She knew more about plants then either he or Rigby, which was always a good thing. And if she wanted to do all the thinking, that was fine too. How hard could digging a bunch of holes be? Mordecai had to admit; he'd rather dig then do all the thinking. He also had to say, it was impressive watching Rye work her magic.
"So is Heather your younger sister or what?" Rigby's voice vibrated in Mordecai's ears.
"Hm," Rye pushed her body off the ground. "Younger."
"Ugh!" Rigby's arms shot into the air. "Younger siblings are a terror!"
"Oh yeah?" Rye glanced over her shoulder and lifted a brow in the raccoon's direction. "Brother or sister?"
"Younger brother."
"Haha," Rye returned her glance to her notes. "I have two younger sisters."
Mordecai felt his interest peek. "Two?" He asked, jerking his head to the right.
She nodded. Ah, was this the reason why she was so patient? Nothing they had been through in their forty-eight hours together had seemed to even spark any anger in Rye, so this must be why.
"Heather then Ailea."
"No wonder she's such a brat," Rigby moved his forearm over his eyes. "She's a younger sister."
Rye jerked her head around once more, facing Rigby. This time her eyebrows shot down over her eyes and her bottom lip quivered. "Hey," She spoke in a angered voice, "Don't talk about Heather that way."
"Harsh dude." Mordecai folded his wings over his chest.
"Besides," Rye's body spun around to face the boys completely. "I know the reason why she's been acting out. Its thanks to you actually."
Rigby's small torso jolted out of place and he locked gazes with the older female. "WHUT? What did I do?" He asked, shoving his index finger into his furry chest.
Rye allowed her arms to rest against her sides. "You criticized her baking." Rye released a small sigh that caused Mordecai to relax. "She's…"
"Hey!" Rigby jumped on his hind legs. "I was just tellin' the truth! I know cake, and I was explaining the facts." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked to the left.
"She's sensitive when it comes to people tasting her baking."
Mordecai flinched. Was that the real reason behind Heather's hostility? The reason she came out of the kitchen with a scowl only her tone could rival? But why would she be sensitive when it came to that? After all, she was a baker.
But she was also a chick.
"You have a problem with my food, pipsqueak?"Girls were more in tuned with their emotions. They had feelings.
"That's not my fault!" Rigby barked back in defense. "How was I supposed to know that?"
"Just check yourself next time," Rye spoke in a dark tone, her cheek twitching along the way. "I'll let it slide once but next time you won't be able to eat solid foods."
"GEE-HEEZ!" Rigby threw his arms down to his sides. "I get it!"
Had Heather really been that upset about what happened the pervious day? It was obvious that Rye was much more protective of her sister on this day then she was about it yesterday. Perhaps Heather had confided in her older sister when they got home? Either way, making a girl cry was not cool. He had to make sure Rigby didn't run off at the mouth like that again.
"Hey looooosers!"
Mordecai shuttered. Gah, why did it have to be Muscle Man of all people? Didn't have enough joking and socialism during lunch? Now he had to drive up in his white cart, High-five Ghost by his side as usual, and act slick? It was because there was a chick around, wasn't it? Ugh, lame.
"Whadd'you want?" Rigby curled his lip at the sight of the short male.
"Just came to check up, that's all." He said with a wide grin. "Make sure you're treatin' Rye with extra care, if you know what I'm sayin'."
"Cut it out, man." Mordecai released a groan while he rolled his eyes.
"You're cramping our COOL!" Rigby's arms extended upward and he waved his hands in the air. "Beat it!"
"What party poopers," Muscle Man replied as he shook his head in shame. "Hey Rye, wanna come hang with some real partiers?"
"Yeah!" High-five Ghost was quick to agree with his bestie. "Let's get out of here!"
"Nah," Rye lifted her pen and notebook to chest-level. She then nudged her head in the direction of the bare land that needed planting. "I have to get more notes before I can do anything."
"Lame," The short, pudgy male sighed. "The ONE time we get a chick around here, she's work motivated. Oh well." He shrugged his shoulders before gripping at his stirring wheel once again. "If you decide to have fun, let me know."
The sound of rubber grinding against the rocks and gravel didn't seem to face Rye. She stood still and watched as dirt and dust were flung into the air after the cart's wheels began to spin. The small vehicle coughed and spurted before pulling forward. It was out of sight within a few moments, leaving Mordecai alone with Rigby and Rye once again.
"Wow!" The small raccoon was quick to begin the dramatics and sarcasm after Muscle Man and High-five Ghost's departure. "I've never seen a GIRL turn down Muscle Man before." He added a roll of his eyes.
Rye released a small chuckle as she turned back around to face the future garden. "Not really my type."
Mordecai felt a smile take over his features. "Good to know."
Act End