Mermaid Dreams

by GiGi

A/N: Hey, I noticed there were no Pushing Daisies fanfics so I decided to be the first! Tell me what you think

Chapter 2: Work

A/N: So, yeah. It's been like 6 months since I started this story. I'm so sorry! I really have no excuse since I've started three other fics since this one, not to mention finished one of those! So here's Chapter 2. This is just a short little fluffy chapter. Not much going on but entertaining, hopefully!

Back in his apartment, Ned fell onto his bed, head spinning. "I shouldn't be thinking about her like this," he muttered to himself. "It's not right. It's not decent!"

"What's not decent?" Chuck's voice rang through the room like an alarm bell. Ned used to be a more introverted kind of guy, and now he was lying on his bed, mentally kicking himself for being such a blabbermouth.

"The last pie I made." The lie just rolled of his tongue. When had he become such a natural at lying? That was a bad thing, wasn't it?

"Oh, okay." Chuck smiled at him and blew him a kiss before climbing into bed. "Goodnight."

"Night," Ned muttered. Night. That meant morning would come, and that meant work.

Oh, God, how was he supposed to face Olive without his face turning bright red?

I guess only morning will tell, he thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

8D

Olive blew into The Pie Hole in her short green waitress uniform. Was that dress always so short? She had extremely long legs for her height, and was more than well endowed, a fact which Ned had discovered from the photo.

"Ned?" Olive was in front of him now, waving a hand in his face.

Had he seriously just checked her out? The thought made Olive giddy as she watched his face turn the slightest shade of red. She would have missed it had she not been searching for it.

What did this mean? Was he falling for her? Was he just appreciating her looks?

Hell, she'd take either.

But what had changed his mind?

"Ned?" she asked again. "You in there?" She rapped her knuckles against his forehead, which finally seemed to snap him out of his trance.

"Ow!" Ned exclaimed, both hands going to his forehead. But, truth to tell, they were there more to shield his glowing face than to nurse his now aching head. He was certain he felt a shock when she touched him. It was like the kind he got when bringing someone back to life.

Was she bringing him back to life...metaphorically speaking?

Interesting...he mulled. "Did you need something, O-Olive?" Hopefully, Olive didn't notice the slight catch in his voice.

"Just wondering if you were okay. You're acting kinda funny," she remarked, but before he could make an excuse for his odd behavior she had already run off when she saw Chuck.

That day was filled with awkward run-ins and constant blushes on Ned's part. He didn't even act this way around Chuck, his dead girlfriend. Ironically enough, girlfriend carried more weight than dead.

Ned began to treasure his newfound talent for lies as both Chuck and Olive kept asking what on earth was wrong with him. Apparently, according to Olive, he was acting like "a big mouth billy bass without the big mouth."

Where she got that expression, he couldn't even begin to wonder.

I don't know how long I can handle being around her every single day. Ned didn't like the idea. Olive was a great waitress. She was efficient and always made the customers smile with her natural cheery and bubbly demeanor. But if something went wrong in Ned's brain--some nerve went some place it shouldn't have--and he did something he shouldn't, that could be the end of that. So he had to end it. With one of them. Which one?

If he ended it with Olive, either he'd have to fire her or she'd quit.

But if he ended it with Chuck, she might kill herself by bitch-slapping him or something. She always did like to end with a big finish.

Damn it.

A/N: It's short, but I've already updated another fic today, so I'm written out. I'm going to have a nice long sleep now so I have more energy to write more tomorrow. Review please!