I'm so sorry about the late update! I moved houses and didn't have WiFi :( Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope you guys had an amazing holiday :') ~Line break means change in POV~
Dear Mr. Jones,
We are delighted…
Jughead didn't bother reading any further, running into Archie's room instead, completely oblivious to the fact that it was half past seven on a Sunday. After all, he had been waiting for this for a week now. Ever since Jellybean had told him that getting a job to keep himself busy would be a good idea.
"Archie! Wake up! I got the job!" He exclaimed, and his red headed friend blearily opened his eyes, looking at Jughead through narrowed slits before turning over and going back to sleep. His parade had never had more rain on it. "Arch! Archie! Archibald!" Jughead called, shaking Archie awake, nearly throwing him off the bed in the process.
"What time is it?" Archie groaned.
"It's Jughead officially has a job time!" He replied, grinning at Archie. It took a few moments for Archie to absorb this information but when he did his eyes actually opened and he sat up too fast, the blanket falling off him.
"Jesus Christ, Archie! It's November – how are you sleeping naked in this temperature!" Jughead said, immediately diverting his eyes. Archie didn't seem to actually notice his nudity until it was pointed out.
"Fuck!" Archie quickly pulled on a pair of boxers lying on the ground nearby, much to Jughead's relief.
"Hey, um, what's going on?" A voice came from the door and Jughead turned to find Betty standing there, hugging a cup of coffee (presumably) close to herself. Instantly his smile grew.
"I got a job!" He said, thrusting his phone in her face. She squinted to read it and, once she did, she grinned.
"Oh my god, Jug, this is amazing! Lord knows Pop could use the help," she said and he laughed.
"Wait, you're going to work at Pop's?" Archie asked and Jughead stared at him incredulously. At this point, he was convinced that goldfish had memory superior to Archie's.
"Archie, I told you I was applying to be a chef there like a week ago," he said, slowly, knowing that speaking too fast would be too much for his roommate to process.
"You applied a week ago? Why didn't you tell me?" Betty asked, looking at him curiously. He looked at her nervously. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to tell her – he just hadn't had a hands on job that didn't involve a laptop in the longest time. He didn't want her to ridicule him or something. Also, he had only told Archie because, in addition to having goldfish-esque memory, Archie also excelled in having no sense of privacy and regularly walked into Jughead's room. One of these times, he caught him staring at one of the posters Pop had put up, asking for help.
"Hey Jug, I'm ordering some pizza and – what's that?" Archie asked, his eyes falling on the flyer Jughead was holding. Jughead quickly folded it in half and looked up, trying to act like nothing was wrong.
"Is that Pop's ad?" Archie's relentless questioning went on. Jughead merely nodded, not saying anything. Archie frowned. "Jughead, are you looking for a job?"
"So what if I am?"
"Nothing's wrong. It's just – I thought you had all this cash since you were a 'bestselling' author and everything," Archie said, shrugging and sitting down on Jughead's bed, opposite his chair.
"Yeah well, I'm bored. Also, Jellybean's keeping an eye on my bank account since apparently I can't afford that lavish French lifestyle anymore."
"Lavish? Jug, you stayed in a one-bedroom flat,"Archie said and Jughead rolled his eyes.
"Sarcasm, Archibald. Anyway, I'm thinking of applying to be a chef at Pop's."
"Well Pop loves you, so I'm sure you'll get the job. I mean, you've given him more business than the four of us combined," Archie said, and Jughead laughed.
"As usual, your faith in me is unparalleled."
"I'm just saying, man. I think you'll get it."
"Thanks, Archie," Jughead said, now a little flustered. It was a weird feeling, suddenly being surrounded with people who had faith in his abilities. Just last week Betty had got a peek at his chapter and he had rarely seen someone so excited about something he had written. It was weird that his sister wasn't the only one excited about his work anymore.
"So, pizza?" Archie asked, and Jughead nodded.
"I didn't tell anybody. Archie found out by accident too. I didn't want to tell anyone in case I didn't get it," he half-lied. The truth was, he had been somewhat awkward around Betty since Halloween since she was now one of the few people who knew as much as she did about him. She eyed him in disbelief but nodded regardless.
"Anyway, I'm glad you got it," she said with a smile.
"Wait, what are you doing here? It's seven in the morning," Archie said, only now registering that Betty was here. Betty looked at him curiously before her expression shifted to amusement.
"I was out of coffee," she said, shrugging and taking a sip of the coffee.
"Aw, it's okay, Cooper. We all know it's because you missed me," Jughead said, before he
could stop himself. Betty's eyebrows rose and, after a beat, a smile slowly curved her lips.
"Careful, Jones. Your big head may not fit through the narrow diner door," she said, and Jughead nearly sighed with relief that the banter was reciprocated rather than questioned. He resorted to laughing, more out of relief than anything else.
"Is there still coffee?"
"There's a little, yeah," Betty replied.
"Great. Archie, you want some caffeine?" He turned to find Archie softly snoring in his bed again. He met Betty's eyes and shrugged, going out of the room to the kitchen for the coffee.
"You're in an oddly good mood," she commented as he poured himself the small amount of coffee still in the pot.
"Oddly? Doesn't a man have a right to be happy about getting a job?"
"Of course he does. Wait, why do you need a job? I mean, doesn't being an author pay well?"
"Sometimes. But it's also very boring when you have nothing to write about. Jellybean said I should keep myself busy so that's what I'm doing. Besides, Pop's burgers are amazing but they're nothing compared to the ones I make."
"Really?"
"Yep. I had to learn how to make them as a kid, and ever since then, my skills have only grown," he said, taking a seat on one side of the breakfast bar.
"I mean, I'd argue that everyone here thinks I make the best burgers but you know, whatever," Betty said, looking away with a sly smile. Jughead's eyes widened at this – his burgers were the only thing apart from his writing that fell into the category "pride and joy".
"Tread carefully, Betty. You are walking on glass right now," he said and saw her smile widen.
"I stand by my statement. Ask anyone – my burgers knock even Pop's out of the park," she said with a casual yet calculated shrug.
"Miss Cooper, are you challenging me to a burger-off?" He asked, through narrowed eyes.
"Is it really a contest if someone's already won?" She asked and his mouth fell open at her audacity. She giggled and got up, making her way to the window to return to her flat. "You know," she turned at the window, just before climbing out, "I like this new funny, confident side of you. It's… refreshing."
"Are you implying that I bore you on a daily basis?" He asked, and she rolled her eyes, smiling.
"You said it, not me," she said and was about to climb back out the window.
"Betty," he said, and she looked back. "Next weekend. The burger-off."
"Sure. Prepare to lose spectacularly, Jughead Jones," she said, and he chuckled at her overt overconfidence.
"You just work on your burger, Betty Cooper," he said, and after flashing him a final grin, she climbed out of the window and went upstairs.
Jughead stood outside the diner, constantly glancing at his watch. It was five minutes to nine – when Pop had agreed to meet him and show him the working of the kitchen. The diner was already bustling with people, including his four friends, seated in a booth. It was probably the worst part about this whole ordeal – if he failed he now had witnesses.
Two minutes to nine.
With an exaggerated sigh, Jughead walked in, the bell overhead tinkling when the door opened. Pop looked up and Betty and Archie, who were sitting on one side of the booth, turned around. He locked eyes with Betty momentarily and she gave him an encouraging smile. He returned his own smile coloured with nerves, and made his way to the back.
"Ah, Jughead!" Pop said, smiling the second Jughead came into view. "Come, let me show you the kitchen."
"Thank you so much for this, Pop. I can't tell you how much this means to me," Jughead said, following him behind the counter and putting on the apron he was given.
"Oh please. If anything, you should be thanking Betty – she's the one who said I could use the extra help," Pop said and Jughead started, looking up at Betty curiously. "Lord knows she was right."
"Are we the only two chefs here?"
"Pretty much. There is one more but she never shows up," Pop said and Jughead nodded.
"Shouldn't you fire her then?"
"I did stop giving her a paycheck, but I haven't officially fired her."
"Whatever works, I guess," Jughead said, now eyeing the oven, the fryer, and the ice cream machine. "So when do I start work?"
"Tell you what – I'll close early today, so come back at around six thirty and I'll show you how everything works," Pop said and Jughead smiled, nodding. He already knew that he would like working here. "Good. Now, why don't you go join your friends and I'll bring over the usual?"
"So?" Archie asked as Jughead approached the table. "How does everything look?"
"Pretty great. Pop said he would show me how everything works in the evening. Just gave me a tour today," he replied, motioning for Archie and Betty to slide in so he could take a seat.
"I'm glad you like it, Jughead. I gotta rush, though – need to finish a report for Cheryl if I'm going to score that trip to London next month."
"Wait, next month? Archie, tell me you're going to be here for Christmas," Veronica said, frowning at him. Archie didn't meet her eye, guilt clouding his eyes.
"I'll be back in time for New Years?" He attempted to pacify her, unsuccessfully. If anything Veronica's apparent betrayal at these words increased.
"I can't believe you, Archie," she said, sliding out of the booth and stalking off. Archie glanced at Betty for support of any kind but she simply sighed, raising her eyebrows in a you-had-it-coming manner. Sliding out too, Archie ran after Veronica, who was already getting into the car. This emptied up the booth beside Kevin, where Jughead took a seat, with a smile of amusement playing along his lips.
"So, Jughead, Betty tells me you guys are planning to have a burger-off? Be warned, Betty's burgers are the best ones I've tasted in my entire life," Kevin said, clearly already betting on Betty. Betty flushed with embarrassed appreciation for this compliment but didn't say anything.
"Well, Kevin, you just think that because you haven't tried mine, yet," Jughead said, smirking at Betty.
"Was that supposed to scare me?" Betty asked, in a faux inquisitorial tone.
"I mean, they do say that the truth hurts," he shot back, and she gave him an impressed nod.
"Okay, guys, I'm loving the tension and sparks, but save something for the actual contest," Kevin said before Betty could respond.
"Luckily words aren't necessary to win," Jughead said, not ready to give up on the trash talk.
"Oh in that case, you'll definitely lose," Betty said, and Jughead feigned disbelief, going so far as to drop his jaw a little.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware I was in the presence of a fellow bestseller," he said and Kevin audibly sighed.
"Okay, I'm not staying here for this. Anyway, Veronica needs me… probably. Hopefully. Betty, don't you have work to get to?"
"What's the – oh fuck!" Betty exclaimed, glancing at her watch.
"What's wrong?" Jughead asked.
"I have a meeting in half an hour and Reggie will kill me if I'm not there. Fuck, I can't get there in half an hour. Not in the morning traffic. I could call and cancel – maybe call in sick? No, he'd know I'm lying – I'm never sick. Fuck, today of all days. Ugh."
"What's so special about today?" He inquired hesitantly. He was worried that Betty may explode.
"Today's his six month anniversary with Veronica."
"Six months? I thought you said it was a fling."
"It is! I mean it's their six month anniversary since they first got together. If we're considering all the inbetween breakups, it's actually their two week anniversary or something," she clarified impatiently, pulling out some money and leaving it on the table as she headed out of the door. Jughead ran out after her and saw her speed walking towards her car. Out of instinct, he got on his bike and drove to where she had parked her car. Hearing the revving, she turned around and her eyebrows rose at this sight.
"Hop on," he said, a slight smirk playing along his lips. She gave him a look of disbelief.
"Without... a helmet?"
"You can use mine," he said, holding it out. When he realised this hadn't put her skepticism at ease, he said, "I mean, you could take your car and brave the morning traffic. Or you could walk, which would probably be faster. Or you could-"
"Oh just give me that and drive," she said, quickly snatching the helmet out of his grip and putting it on. "Go a little slow."
"Oh, no, Betty. That would be much more dangerous," he said. He could feel the tension radiating off her so he said, "You can hold onto me if you want." Instantly a pair of arms encircled him from behind and he felt her relax considerably before he began driving.
If someone had told Betty Cooper a few months ago that she would be seated on the backseat of a motorcycle, holding on for dear life as the man in front of her drove through the lesser known streets of Riverdale, in an attempt to get her to work on time, she would have laughed until she cried. Today, however, her eyes were filled with tears due to the wind stinging her face as Jughead flew through the streets. More than once he had to ask her to relax her grip a little because she wasn't allowing him to breathe. However, true to his word, he got her to the office with five minutes to spare before the meeting began. Getting off the motorcycle, she glanced at her watch and grinned to see she still had time.
"I made it."
"You're welcome," he sang and she laughed, looking at him.
"Thanks, Juggie," she said and he nodded in response, a smile playing along his lips. They stood in silence for a few moments as she waited for her heartbeat to slow down a little.
"Betts?"
"Yeah?"
"Your meeting?"
"Oh. Right. Okay, yeah. Thank you so much, Jughead. I don't know how I'd ever repay you," she said and a slightly sinister smile appeared.
"Oh, I'm sure I'll be able to think of something," he said and she laughed in response.
"Anyway, I'll see you at home. Bye," she said, before running inside. She made her way to the third floor, where the meeting was being held, and, when the elevator doors opened, she found herself face-to-face with Cheryl, who was shaking hands with Reggie. They both turned to the elevator and Reggie smiled when he saw her.
Reggie never smiled at her.
"Betty! I was just about to call you and tell you that the meeting's been rescheduled to after lunch. Until then, I want you to spend the morning tending to Cheryl's needs, okay?"
"You make it sound like I'm incapable of doing anything myself, Reggie," Cheryl said, rolling her eyes at Reggie, who laughed at this.
"Well Betty's the best assistant I've ever had so she should keep you happy," he said and, although he probably meant it as a compliment, being called "the best assistant" meant she wasn't going to get a promotion any time soon.
"In that case, thank you for placing me in such capable hands," she said, giving Betty a smile. Betty gave a thin-lipped smile in return. Reggie nodded and stepped into the open elevator, to go down. Once the elevator was gone, Betty said, "What would you like to see first?"
"You know, I've heard great things about the record room," Cheryl replied and Betty frowned – there was nothing special about their record room.
"Betty's the best assistant I've ever had so she should keep you happy," Reggie's voice played in her mind and she internally sighed. Record room it is.
"Absolutely," she replied, leading the way to the record room. It was a dingy room with shelves and discarded papers everywhere. Reggie liked to pretend it didn't exist. However, for years now, it had served as a place Betty went to hide when the work got too much for her. But it was the first time in a long time that someone other that her was stepping into the room. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket just as they entered and pulled it out, glancing at it as she held the door for Cheryl.
I've been thinking and you can buy me a burger meal at Pop's and we'll call it even. -J
She couldn't help the smile curving her lips.
"Who is that?" Cheryl's voice made her snap up, looking at her curiously. Betty quickly put her phone away.
"No one. Is there an issue, in particular, that you're looking for?" She asked, quickly changing the subject. Age hadn't had any effect on the need for drama Cheryl Blossom had. This was evident when Cheryl narrowed her eyes at her for a moment before turning back to face the room.
"Do you have any issues from before the revival of the magazine?"
"Like… from the seventies?" Betty clarified, frowning. Cheryl turned around, a large smile made of sinister plastic on her face.
"Yes, precisely. Do you have them?"
"I think they were all destroyed in the fire in the nineties. This is a brand new office," she said and Cheryl's face fell.
"Yeah, I know. Oh well, a girl can hope."
"If there was a specific article you were looking for, I may be able to find it in the system. Anything that was salvaged from the fire was digitized the minute the perpetrator was caught," Betty said, watching Cheryl's eyes light up at this proposition.
"Oh, Betty, that's brilliant! Yes, could you look up an article for me. Or can you pull up all the articles that were published a week before the fire?"
"I'm going to need exact dates for that, Cheryl."
"But you can do it?"
"I should be able to, yeah," Betty replied, leading the way out of the record room. Cheryl, basically bouncing with excitement, followed close behind.
"Betty Cooper, you are a lifesaver," she said, and Betty gave a tired smile in response. As they walked towards the elevator to go to the cubicles, Cheryl said, "Wait, where are we going?"
"We're going to see Casper – he knows how to pull up the system. There's some code that needs to be run which I never learnt because Reggie didn't care about the old issues," Betty replied, pressing the button and waiting for it to come up.
"Oh. What's the deal with Reggie anyway?" Cheryl asked and Betty looked at her, confused. "Is he seeing someone?"
"What? I really shouldn't…"
"Oh come on, Betty! Give me the tea. Who's Reggie seeing?" Cheryl asked, her eyes shining with excitement and curiosity. Betty sighed and, stepping into the elevator, replied, "Veronica."
"No!"
"Yeah. Six months now, actually."
"Seriously? That Lodge? And six months? Wow, Reggie Mantle is whipped isn't he?"
"Veronica calls it a fling."
"Oh that's harsh. Does Reggie know?"
"That it's a fling? I think so?"
"What about you, Betty? Has Elizabeth Cooper found someone special? Someone with red hair, perhaps?"
"Cheryl, I'm flattered, but I'm straight," Betty said and Cheryl rolled her eyes.
"Screw you, Betty. I was talking about the incredibly ripped boy next door."
"Yeah no, Archie is not happening."
"What, why? Did something happen between you two? Does that mean he's up for grabs?"
"He's all yours," Betty said, just as they reached the floor. They made their way to Casper's desk and Cheryl got everything she needed (in addition to Casper's number). When they stepped back into the elevator, Cheryl pressed the button to go to the ground floor, surprising Betty.
"You're leaving so soon?"
"I got what I came for. Besides, what would I do here anyway?" Cheryl replied and Betty nodded. "You should come by sometime. Now that I've got Thornhill rebuilt and I've ensured mother dearest will not be allowed within fifty feet of the gate. It doesn't reek of death anymore, but it does get very quiet."
"Did you just invite me to your house?" Betty asked, giving Cheryl an incredulous smile. In her entire time knowing Cheryl, she had never once been personally invited to Thornhill. Sure, when the Blossoms had thrown parties she had gone, but never by Cheryl's request. In fact, Cheryl made it a point to show her how unwelcome she was every time she visited.
"Of course, Betty. We're family now," she said, with a slightly sad smile. "Besides, it's not like I have any real friends to call over. Lord knows everyone hates me after everything I've done in high school."
"I'm sure not everyone does. For one, I don't hate you," Betty said. It was a white lie – she often did think about how much better her highschool life would have been if Cheryl hadn't been in it.
"Thanks, Betty, but you don't need to lie. I made your life living hell. Especially after what happened between Polly and Jason," she said and the doors opened. "I'll see you around, Betty."
And she was gone.
Betty's phone buzzed again just as the doors closed, and she glanced at it:
Okay, Cooper, you don't have to get the whole meal – just the burger. I mean, seriously, I didn't expect you to be so offended by my request that you'd leave me on read. -J
Burgers.
On an impulse, Betty ran out towards Cheryl, who she could see was getting into her car.
"Cheryl!" She waved and the window went down as she approached. "Jughead and I are having a burger-off this weekend. Do you want to be one of the judges?"
She had never seen Cheryl look so surprised.
"Sure, but on one condition – it needs to be at Thornhill," she said and instantly Betty opened her mouth to fight the proposition. Cheryl held up a finger and said, "I insist."
"Okay," Betty heard herself agreeing even though every instinct told her not to go to that place.
"Great! Sunday afternoon, then. I'll send out a official invite to you and the others, obviously. Just text me the list of people by the end of today, okay? Veronica has my number. This means alot, Betty – bye!" She spoke so quickly, and she was gone before Betty could react. Betty stood there in stunned silence until she felt her phone ring – Reggie was reminding her that she had a job to do.
