Paisley followed Winifred around like an eager puppy. She nodded continuously, trying to keep up with all of the new information. "Iced coffee, hot coffee, smoothies," she repeated, looking around and studying the layout as Winifred covered each area.
"So, will I have to make the drinks and take orders?" she asked, keeping up with the other girl's pace. "Is it one or the other, or am I going to do both at the same time? How busy does it normally get?"
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Winifred shrugged slightly.
"It usually depends on the weather" she said with a smile. "Im kidding, the weather hardly changes in Arizona, but it does depend on the specific temperature and how much people want coffee. Sometimes we only get like twenty people throughout the entire day, sometimes we make close to a thousand dollars a day." She explained.
"Depending on how busy it is today, I might just have you follow me around, to see how everything works, then tomorrow, I'll actually start explaining how to use the register and what not" she added, with a small smile.
"Oh, wow," Paisley remarked. "Between twenty people or making a thousand dollars? That's a big difference!" She nodded eagerly. "I'll do whatever you need me to do!" she chirped, grinning excitedly.
While looking at Winifred, her gaze slipped past the girl, and she looked out the window behind her with a sigh. "I bet these views would be much better with color," she murmured quietly.
"i'm sure they are" Winifred sighed with a small smile. "I'm sure they are" she said more firmly, shaking her head and walking to the front door, changing the sign to saying open.
She planted her hands on her hips and stood for a moment.
She then moved back behind the counter, taking place in front of the register.
Paisley winced slightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up colors. I know it can be a painful topic for most people." She watched Winifred change the signage, and she giggled quietly at her little "power position" before she returned.
"And now we wait?" Paisley asked, coming to stand beside her and look up at her sweetly.
"yep" Winifred said checking her phone. "Okay uhm, so Freddie is having family issues do you think we'll be fine by ourselves?" She asked Paisley, with a small frown.
"Oh, uh, sure!" Paisley agreed hesitantly. "Are you sure you'll be able to handle it? I'm basically dead weight at this point…" She half-smiled over at the girl. "But I can do whatever you want me to."
Winifred looked up for a few seconds, still holding her phone in her hand.
It's Tuesday, we never have to many customers on Tuesdays and it's slight rainy outside, so that also means less people, so today should be dead she thought to herself.
"I think we'll be fine" she said aloud and typed a response to Freddie quickly, shoving her phone in her pocket as the bell chimed above the door, signaling a customer, WInifred smiled widely when she saw it was Ms. Hunz, an elderly woman with chocolate colored skin and short, curly white hair, whom came in almost everyday, no matter what.
"Good morning Ms. Hunz!" Winifred said excitedly, waving at the elderly woman, who's cane was decorated in light blue streamers.
"Darling!" Ms. Hunz said with a soft southern accent as she hobbled up to the counter.
"I remembered my straw this time" she said, pulling a metal straw out of her large purse that hung from her arm.
Winifred turned to Paisley. "Ms. Hunz is a regular, comes every morning." She said happily "we give every new customer a metal straw, if they remember it, the next time they come in we take 50 percent off of their purchase." She explained.
Paisley nodded at Winifred's words. Still, she worried. What if she messed something up? What if she forgot how to make a smoothie, or she mixed up the ingredients, or–
The tinkling of the bell by the door pulled her from her thoughts, and she pasted on a sweet smile at the older lady as she came up to the counter.
"Hello," she greeted warmly before listening to Winifred's explanation. "Oh, that's clever," Paisley remarked.
Winifred nodded and looked at Ms. Hunz.
"The usual?" She asked, seeing the older woman nod she turned to make her the usual blueberry smoothie.
When she finished she handed the cup to Ms. Hunz who thanked her and exited the store.
"Don't snitch me out, but I never make Ms. Hunz pay, because my first day she came in and I spilled her smoothie and she told me 'your doing your best hun, take your time' so like yeah" Winifred said quickly.
Paisley was more focused on the process Winifred had used when making the smoothie than the fact that she hadn't even charged Ms. Hunz. "Oh, okay. I won't. I wouldn't dream of it," she remarked, a shy smile lighting her face.
"So, would you mind, um, showing me how you do that the next time?" she asked awkwardly. "I mean, I think I got most of it from watching you, but specific instructions would be helpful."
Winifred smacked her forehead lightly.
"Yes, yes, sorry" she said quickly and apologetically "I will"
"im sorry, i'm not used to training others and when Ms. Hunz comes in I get so distracted" she explained shamefully.
Paisley's eyes widened. "No, no," she insisted gently. "There's no need to be sorry. I get it if this is something you don't do a lot. I was watching what you did anyway, and I think I picked up a bit from you. She's very sweet. I can see why."
She gently reached out and touched Winifred's arm with a smile. A dazzling burst of color filled her vision for a split second, and her eyes widened at the sight of Winifred in beautiful colors. Then it was gone. She gasped and staggered backward a few steps. "S-Sorry!"
"it happened to you too" she whispered to herself.
"You okay?" she asked, concerningly, resting a hand on Paisley's elbow and shoulder.
She drew her brows together and frowned.
Paisley pressed her lips together and nodded. "Mhmm!" she hummed quickly. "Yep, I'm good. Just… sorry."
The girl looked up at Winifred with a hesitant smile. She'd seen color. And it was beautiful.
"What happened?" Winifred asked Paisley eagerly, wondering if the girl had seen what she had, color.
If she had that meant they might be soulmates and the thought of meeting her soulmate both terrified and thrilled Winifred.
Paisley wasn't sure if she should mention the color or not. Not yet, she thought to herself. She wanted to be sure before she said anything.
"Uh, nothing," she answered quietly. "I don't know. I think you just shocked me or something. Like, static. I don't know…"
Winifred pulled her hand away quickly
"sorry" she apologized.
"I didn't mean to" she added, backing away slightly.
"No, no! It's alright," Paisley insisted gently. "I mean, you don't have electrical powers or something that I should know about, do you?" Her eyes sparkled with amusement, and her tone was playful. "A superhero in disguise?"
"I wish" Winifred scoffed playfully.
"But no, no secret superhero here" she added with a smile, scanning the large windows for a person that might walk in.
"So, tell me about yourself" she said, leaning her elbows on the counter and looking up.
"If you don't mind" she added with a small smile.
"Ah, too bad," Paisley teased, scrunching her nose and beaming. "I like superheroes."
She followed Winifred's gaze briefly before looking back at her and returning her smile. "Well, I guess the most important thing about me is that I've never lived in the same place for more than five years, and this is the seventh state I've lived in."
Winifred raised her eyebrows at this.
She had lived in Arizona her whole life, sometimes she longed to move somewhere else, but everyone she loved and wanted to be close to showed no signs of leaving the state anytime soon.
"I've lived here my whole life" she stated, frowning slighly.
Paisley's smile faltered a bit. "You're saying that like it's a bad thing," she remarked. "Believe me it's not." She couldn't count on her fingers the amount of people she'd had to say goodbye to over the years. The "always keeping your stuff partially packed because you never knew when your parents would upend your life again" was tiring.
"I guess that depends on how you look at it" Winifred said, looking at Paisley with a small smile.
"I've always wondered what it'd be like to leave, not even permanently, just to see a different place, new scenery" she added wistfully.
"Well, I suppose you're right. Moving always was fun," Paisley remarked. "I like living in the new houses, getting to rearrange my room every few years with different walls. But I never formed any real friendships. Only one person ever cared to continue talking to me, despite the moves."