Previously on 'Airbenders in Love':
Myra leaves the forest and finds a town called Hakida Village. She finds a job at the Red Rose tea shop…
4. The First Day of the Rest of My Life
When I wake up in the morning, I wash up, get dressed, and enter the main part of the shop to receive my duties for the day. My first day of work and I have no idea what to expect…
When I exit my bedroom, I place my fists on my hips and proclaim, "This is the first day of the rest of my life!" I then proceed to enter the kitchen where Lara is already waiting for me.
"Good morning, Myra!" she greets me.
"Good morning."
"Today will be a true test of your abilities. I have business elsewhere in town today, and I will need you to look after the shop. Today is ordinarily a slow day, so you shouldn't have any problems. But since this is your first day, I've asked my nephew Hirok to come and assist you."
Just as she finishes this statement, a tall, handsome man walks through the door.
"Myra, this is Hirok. Hirok, Myra," Lara introduces us.
At the air temple, I never even considered love. Nor do I now…
"Hello, Myra," Hirok says while walking towards me to shake my hand.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you." We smile at each other for a moment.
"Okay, then," interrupts Lara. "I will be going now. Hirok, show Myra around the place. Tell her how things are done around here and tell her what is to be done. I'll be seeing the both of you later on for dinner."
Hirok and I both wave goodbye.
As he shows me where everything is and explains the way the shop is run, we have a light conversation.
"Are you here often?" I ask him.
"Whenever Aunt Lara needs me, which has been basically everyday lately. The only people left in our family are her, me, and my brother Pollko and sister Abima. Pollko's a traveling merchant, so he's hardly ever around and Abima has a family of her own. I do odd jobs here and there, so I can offer Aunt Lara help whenever she needs it."
"What a delightful nephew you must be!"
"I guess you could say that," he smiles lightly. "Well, what about you? What brings you to Hakida Village?"
"Well…" I try to gather my thoughts. How can I explain this to make people understand? "Well, I'm an air nomad. I just left my air temple yesterday, in fact." This is all happening so quickly! "My brother told me that there was a town around here, so that's how I got here. Then I realized that I don't have any money to fund my travels, so I decided to get a job. And here I am."
"Wow, a bender in Hakida Village!"
I found it odd that he only said 'bender' instead of 'airbender'.
"Don't you have any earthbenders here?"
"No, actually. Well, it's time to open up shop."
I straighten up a bit, double-checking that everything is in proper order, while Hirok opens the doors to the public.
Hirok and I sit down at a table while we wait for a customer to come. We are both relatively quiet.
Finally, an old man with a cane walks through the door.
"Good morning," Hirok and I greet the first customer of the day at the same time.
"Hello," he mutters as he takes a seat at a nearby table.
"I'll take the orders, you make the tea," Hirok whispers to me as he makes his way over to the old man.
I make my way into the kitchen and prepare the necessary materials. I boil some water and pick out a mug for my very first customer. Soon Hirok enters and gives me the order. I prepare the tea with ease and ring a bell which indicates to Hirok that the customer's order is ready. He comes in, says nothing, picks up the tea, and leaves. A few moments later, he comes back with two more orders.
****
The day continues on in the same way, until finally it's time to close shop. Lara returns not long afterwards.
Hirok is telling me about Hakida Village, when Lara walks into the room.
"Hello, you two. How did things go on your first day, Myra?"
"Wonderful," I answer simply. "And Hirok was a great help."
"That's good. Hirok?"
"Today went very well."
"Good. And to celebrate Myra's first successful day of work, the three of us are going to Miko's Dragon."
To be continued…
Author's Note: Hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm really curious about what people think of how the story's going, so please review! Thanks for reading! :)