John walked into work the next Saturday way more enthusiastic than during the weekends prior. The sisters noticed of course, because he was normally so uninterested in his job.
"John, are you dying or something?" Peggy asked, tossing him an empty box that once held frosting containers. He shrugged, a smile still evident on his face as he tossed the box out into the recycling bin.
"Nope, just happy." Peggy squinted at him suspiciously.
"Angelica!" She called out, "I don't think John can work today. He's sick."
"I don't give a shit!" Angelica yelled back.
"I'm not sick, I promise!" John shouted out to Angelica anyway. Peggy rolled her eyes in a dramatic fashion.
"You do seem strangely excited today, though," Eliza mentioned as she walked into the room. John smiled over at Eliza as he walked back to his small frosting station. "Does this have to do with that guy you keep staring at every time he comes in?" John's face turned beet red, and as all normal people do, he denied everything.
"Psh, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Peggy told us everything, John." Eliza announced, making John glare over at Peggy. She just sent him a shrug and an innocent smile.
"Just ask him out," Angelica suggested. Before John could respond the sounds of the bell above the door rang throughout the store. John breathed out a sigh of relief, then sucked in a breath of anxiousness when he saw that the clock read 10 am. He hastily adjusted his hair as he bolted for the front counter.
"I got this one, guys." John shouted as he ran to the front. He stopped abruptly when he saw that it was Alex standing in front of the line of pastries, ready to order what he always did. A grin appeared on Alex's face when he glanced over to where John was standing. However, John's eyes didn't move from the bruise that sat on top of Alex's left eye. He swallowed hard as he made his way to the counter.
"Hey, John!" Alex greeted, happily. John's once happy mood had disappeared upon seeing Alex's bruised face. However, customer service forced him into faking happiness no matter what.
"Hey, Alex." John greeted back, a smile present on his face that screamed 'fake', but Alex didn't seem to notice. "What can I get for you today?" Alex's smile dropped for a second before he put it back on. John noticed but didn't say anything because he knew it would scare him off.
"Two cinnamon rolls and two large coffees, one with lots of cream and sugar." Alex ordered, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. "Please don't forget the cream and sugar." John couldn't help but noticed that nervous tone Alex's voice held when he said that. It was as if there was someone waiting for him that would hurt him if the order was done wrong. John wanted to say something, he wanted to ask if Alex was going home to a safe environment, but he was way to timid to do such a thing.
John turned around and began to make the coffees, when he developed enough courage to start a casual conversation. "How are you?" John asked, his voice squeaking and making the sentence more awkward than it already was. It took a moment before Alex responded.
"I'm good. How about you? Working in a coffee shop can't be that fun." Alex hurried through his words, barely meeting John's eyes. John chuckled a little at Alex's attempt at a joke.
"It's not that bad. I work with two nice women and Peggy, who've you met. Someone nice will come in every so often, though." John hoped that Alex had understood that he was referring to him, but Alex didn't say anything hinting towards that.
"That's good." Alex sounded distracted as he said that. John looked up from what he was working on to see Alex staring nervously at the clock on the wall. John finished the coffees but still had to retrieve Eliza's cinnamon rolls from the oven that was keeping them warm. John turned around and started to grab the pastries from the oven when he heard a quick, "Hurry up." come from Alex, then a quiet, "Please." John frowned to himself while he bagged the items, not sure of what to make of that. When John set the white paper bag onto the counter Alex quickly paid and bolted out the door.
What the hell was that? John thought to himself as he turned back towards the back room to continue decorating various different bakery items. Peggy noticed that John's behavior had changed within that short moment of taking care of a costumer. She decided to show her caring side for a few minutes.
"Are you okay, John?" Peggy asked, spreading bright blue frosting onto a sugar cookie. "You seem actually sick now." John just shook his head. He didn't want to talk about it, even though it was eating him inside. The rest of the day, all John could think about was the bruise on Alex's cheek and the way he ran out of the store. He decided to properly ask Alex about it the next week.
But Alex never showed up.
Peggy was manning the counter during the afternoon. John said he was feeling sick, so he went home a little after 10:30. It was the next Saturday, and the boy that John was usually fawning over hadn't shown up.
Peggy was playing on her phone, ignoring the outside world, when the bells above the door rang. She lifted her head up to see two men had walked in, one had a pony tail while the other was wearing a beanie and was quite intimidating. She stood from the stool in front of the register and walked over to the pastry counter. "Hi. What can I get you today?" Peggy stated the same words that she did for every customer.
"Bonjour." The one with the ponytail greeted. The guy next to him groaned and rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Just say hi like a normal person, Laf." The more intimidating one (who Peggy decided to call Beanie Man) grunted out. Peggy stifled a laugh as she waited for their orders. "Okay, lady, let's just cut to the chase here. Our friend Alex, you heard of him?" Peggy nodded hesitantly. "Cool. He keeps talking about some guy at a bakery. John, I think. Is he here?"
"Uh. No. He left this morning."
"Dammit…"
Peggy glanced anxiously between the two people in front of her. "Listen, I'm really confused. Maybe you should talk to my sisters or something." Peggy ran to the back room, just wanting to get away from those two people. "Eliza, can you please go deal with the two customers out there?" Peggy asked when she found Eliza.
"Sure, Peg." Eliza answered as sweetly as ever.
"Can you take Angelica with you?" Peggy added when Angelica walked in. Angelica shook her head. She really didn't like dealing with customers.
"No." Angelica answered without any hesitation. Eliza started for the front of the store without Angelica, so, in a hurry, Peggy pushed Angelica towards the front and stood behind to watch.
"Hi, how may I help you two today?" Eliza asked. She was surprisingly not faking the happiness in her tone.
"Our friend needs your friend's help," Ponytail Man stated. Eliza stared at the man with a slightly confused expression.
"Pardon me, but, what?" Beanie Man rolled his eyes in frustration.
"Our friend Alex is in a really bad relationship right now," he explained. "We think that the guy he keeps freaking out about-someone named John who works at a bakery-might be able to convince him to break up with his whore of a girlfriend." Ponytail Man gave his friend a small slap.
"I'm sure John would love to help, but he isn't here-" Eliza was cut off by her older sister.
"What do you mean by 'really bad relationship'?" Angelica asked. The two men in front of her glanced at each other nervously.
"Well…" Ponytail Man hesitated to speak. "It was fine at first. Alexander and Maria seemed to really like each other when they started dating. But, now…" He shifted uncomfortably, and his friend continued for him.
"Now she just takes advantage of him and-and hurts him all the time."
"Why is he still with her, then?" Peggy wondered, finally stepping out from behind her sisters.
"Because he's broker than every other college student," Beanie Man said. Then he mumbled, "And because he's an idiot." He was slapped again.
Angelica gave her sisters a look of confirmation before turning to the two men again. "We'll make sure John comes in next Saturday. You two need to make your friend come in, too." Bright smiles formed on the guys' faces.
"Of course! Merci!" Ponytail Man cheered.
"Your welcome," Eliza smiled. "Also, what are your names?"
"I'm Hercules," Beanie man said. He pointed to his friend, saying, "and this is Lafayette."
"I'm Eliza, and these are my sisters, Angelica and Peggy." Peggy gave a small wave.
"It's nice to meet you," she said. "Even though you look absolutely terrifying."
Hercules stared at her in confusion before asking, "Now that we're introduced, can we get some of those famed cinnamon rolls?"