Alright! I don't really have anything to say so I guess...Enjoy! :D
(I know, this is rare isn't it? I always have something to say! Wow, it's a miracle! Okay, no, it's not. I'll shut up now. Read on.)
Oh. My. God[dess]. No wonder I had nothing to say! I forgot!
I always seem to forget. Hmm.
Night World belongs solely to its amazing creator, LJ Smith! Gotta love her.
It was the fifth day of work for Mary-Lynnette, and she was really enjoying her job. It was fun and not too tiring – they didn't get lots of customers at Café Eternal, she supposed – and she'd made friends with the three other employees and Adam, who was her employer, she'd learned with surprise. She never noticed it before, but Adam was…pretty hot. OR maybe it was just the change of setting.
Not that Ash wasn't good-looking. But it couldn't hurt to have eyes, now could it?
All was well, and Mary-Lynnette was relishing being able to work and earn her own money. Except…
She glanced out of the corner of her eye at their lone customer, sitting in his usual seat by the window, leisurely sipping his usual order or mocha.
"Ash," she hissed, "What the hell are you doing here? Again?"
He looked up at her innocently, his eyes a clear, honest blue – too honest. "What? You agreed to let me check up on you, remember?"
"Yeah, well, when you said 'randomly,' I didn't know that meant 'everyday'!"
Ash blinked. "Well, it technically is random. See, on the Monday, I came at one oh two, Tuesday was one seventeen, Wednesday I came at one thirty-five, yesterday was one fifty-two, and today I came at two oh three. See? No correlation between the times, whatsoever. Completely random."
Mary-Lynnette rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat. "Whatever."
"Besides," Ash, continued, eying the empty shop, "it looks like you could do with the business."
She scowled. He had a point. And, though she wouldn't admit it, she did like being able to see him at work.
"Mary-Lyn!" Adam came out from his office. He didn't even bother to look at Ash – the fear of Ash's intense vampire staring had worn off after five days in a row. "Could you see me in my office, please?"
Mary-Lynnette opened her mouth to reply, but Ash butted in. "No, she can't. Whatever you're gonna tell her, you can say it here, since no one's in here anyways. And her name is Mary-Lynnette, in case you'd forgotten."
Mary-Lynnette glared at her soulmate. "Ash. I can speak for myself, you know. I'm not mute." She turned to Adam. "And yes, Adam, I will be there in a second."
Adam nodded, threw a smug look at Ash, and returned to his office to wait.
Ash snarled at the space Adam was standing in before he looked at Mary-Lynnette. "I don't like that guy. I don't want you alone with him for more than a second. Actually, I don't want you alone with him, period."
Sighing, Mary-Lynnette walked over to him. "Ash…He's my employer. Please don't get me fired. He's not gonna hurt me, okay? No need to be jealous, if you are."
"I'm not jealous!" Ash practically yelled.
Mary-Lynnette just grinned at him and walked into her employer's office.
. . .
"Here, Mary-Lyn, your paycheck for the week." Adam handed her a slip of paper.
Mary-Lynnette winced at the nickname and replied, "Thank you. And I would really appreciate it if you called me by my name. It's only one syllable longer."
"Oh, sorry!" Adam apologized. "You should've corrected me sooner. Well, actually, I should've asked if you minded, but I didn't. Sorry. I'll call you Mary-Lynnette from now on." He smiled repentantly.
Mary-Lynnette laughed, "It's fine. Actually, I should apologize. I know a lot of people think my name's too long, and I wish I could make them happy and just pick a nickname, but for reasons unknown, I am suddenly attached to my full name." She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."
"It's no problem, Mary-Lynnette." Adam winked at her.
She had a sudden, explosive thought: Is Adam flirting with me?
Smiling uncomfortably, Mary-Lynnette decided it was time to get back to Ash. "Um, I really should get back to work." She turned to go.
"Wait!" Adam caught her wrist. "I, uh…" He looked down awkwardly. "I'm not sure how to put this…Um, so, well, this is your first week working here so you don't know yet, but we get loads of customers on the weekends, especially Saturday. And I know that might surprise you, seeing as we only seem to be getting one customer a day during the week," he looked pointedly a the doorway, "but it does get really busy and…I was just wondering…Since we've been, uh…kinda running short on staff…"
"You need me to come to work tomorrow?" Mary-Lynnette guessed. "Sure, it's no problem! Maybe I'll learn something about waitressing if you have lots of customers."
"No, you don't have to come!" Adam quickly injected. "Only if you want to. I know your work contract included only Monday through Friday and…I mean, I guess we can deal with three waitresses…"
Laughing, Mary-Lynnette assured Adam, "Really, it's fine. I want to come and learn something. It'll probably be fun to be here when it's busy. And it does seem like you need some help around here. You should hire some more waitresses. And maybe waiters too, since guys are so strong."
Adam brightened a little. "That's a good idea! Wait. You sure you want to come?" He peered at her suspiciously.
"Don't worry. I'll be here bright and early tomorrow, ready to work."
"Actually…you might not want to come until seven at night. No one will be here before then."
Bewildered, she agreed. "Right, then. Seven at night, sharp, I will report for duty."
Adam smiled sweetly. "Thanks for your help. Your shift's over. See you tomorrow."
. . .
"What'd he say?" Ash was on her the minute she stepped out of the office.
"Nothing much. Just gave me my paycheck for the week and asked me if I could help out tomorrow." Mary-Lynnette shrugged nonchalantly. "No big deal."
"What? He asked you to come tomorrow too? I thought you only worked Monday through Fridays!"
"Well, yeah, but he says it gets super busy on Saturdays so…I said yes."
"YOU DID WHAT?" Ash grabbed her shoulders. "Mary-Lynnette! You should've asked me first!"
"You're not my mother, Ash. I'm a legal adult. I can make my own decisions now, thank you very much." She jerked out of Ash's hold and glared at him. "What's wrong with you? It's just a bit more work! I figure I owe it to him, since he gave me this job and paid me even though I technically didn't even do anything, this week!"
"Look! Okay, yes, maybe I am a little jealous of Adam," Ash held up a hand to stop Mary-Lynnette's objections, "but that's not the only thing. I don't get a good vibe from him. And besides, it's not like I'm asking you to quit or anything. I just want to make sure you're safe."
"Vibe?" Mary-Lynnette laughed. "What, are you psychic now? Well, you are part witch." She took Ash's hands and looked him in the eyes, which were currently a stormy gray. "Listen. I don't think Adam would do anything to me. Even if he were some horrible guy, he knows that you'd beat him up without a second thought if he hurt me. And he's human, right?"
Ash nodded.
"Exactly. He stands no chance against you, and since you exude this predatory feel, I'm sure he knows it." She pecked Ash on the cheek. "I'll be fine. Besides, you'll be walking me here tonight, so I'm sure you can stay and watch the whole time, if you want. And yes, I did just say that."
Ash sighed miserably. "I can't win against you. Alright. What time do you need to be here tomorrow?" He took her hand and they began walking home.
"Seven."
"At night? Mary-Lynnette! That's dinnertime!"
"So what? I work at a café. Eat something there."
"But they only have coffee! And milk! And cookies!"
"Well, aren't you a cat anyways?"
"Hey!"
Ah, the joy of young love.
Okay, so I think something interesting is gonna happen in the next chapter!
I know! O-M-G! Something interesting! It's been so long since this story has had something interesting, I know. I feel yer pain. I unnerstand!
Yeah, okay anyways...
Look! I've updated twice - no make that thrice - in TWO days! Whoa! Gotta be a world record or something! O_0
Alright!
Write on. Read on. That's my motto. :D
© Copyright 2011 The Siege :D