"As long as they don't cause a mess, I'm fine. And don't hit me in the face sponteneously," August added with a playfully teasing tone.
"Hit in the face?" Cruz asked with a mischevious grin, "Maybe I should start bringing pets to work."
Fae blushed, scratching the back of her neck sheepishly. "Sorry about that." She headed towards the door. "See you tomorrow!"
"Goodbye!" August called with a smile.
"Adios, ¡Señorita!" Cruz called back.
Fae waved cheerily as she practically skipped out the door, a smile stuck fast to her face. She hummed, content, as she walked North, headed towards the road overlooking the falls. A few minutes later she was walking, footsteps bouncy, right next to Horseshoe Falls, one hand trailing on the black iron railing.
It was dusk, but Fae could still make out the majestic set of waterfalls, huge sheets of icy, jade green water cascading down and crashing into the river below. The wind picked up, and Fae pulled her jacket tighter around her, checking to make sure Smudge was still sleeping.
It was dark when she arrived at the homey little bakery on Bernice Avenue, and the place was closed, so she unlocked the side door and climbed up the narrow stairs into her family's little flat. Her mother was waiting in their cozy little kitchen, greeting her warmly when she came through the door. "So, how'd it go?" Ellie ushered her to the square wood table by the butter yellow wall, where a warm cheese croissant and some hot chocolate was waiting. "I got the job!", Fae hugged her mother, cheeks still pink from the cold. Ellie gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek. "Wonderful! It's a shame you didn't want to work in the bakery with me and your father. I suppose you had to start branching out, though."
Fae finished her dinner quickly, bade her mother goodnight and tiptoed into the small hallway, where she gave her snoring father a kiss on the forehead and slipped into her own little bedroom, tired. She fell asleep immediately.
The kiss of both morning sunlight and the ring of an incoming call pulled Fae from a good night's rest.
(awesome sentence omg)
(also, can it be Easter Break so that Fae doesn't have school?)
Stretching drowsily, like a cat, Fae lazily checked the time. Her alarm clock read 7:45. Her parents would be downstairs getting the bakery ready, meaning she had slept in. With a jolt, she realized that there would be no one else to pick up the phone. Flinging the covers off of her, Fae half ran, half stumbled down the hallway to the bright yellow landline attached to the wall. Yawning, she picked it up. "Fae Bonnerly speaking, how may I help you?"
[I'll join next opportunity, when my character can make an entrance in the open shop..?]
Yeah! )
"I want a large-" It was Cruz, laughing at the same time and fighting off an August from the phone, "Large pizza and a religious pamphlet-" he laughed, with Augustus yelling for the phone in the background.
Fae pulled back, startled. "Cruz?" She blinked her eyes to clear them of gunk. "Is that you?!"
"Yes!" He exclaimed warmly.
"No! This is your boss!" Augustus tried to yell through annoyed laughter, voice slightly distorted from the distance.
Fae laughed, filled with a warm bubbly feeling. "It's not even 8 in the morning yet, Cruz! I have to go help with the bakery!", she grinned, stomach growling.
"Bakery? What are you a French grandmother with a fetish for baguettes?" He teased.
The phone crackled when August hit it from Cruz's hand, laughter echoing in the background among their voices. "You totally like her!" Augustus picked on Cruz to irritate him.
"Aye, ¡que asco!" He retorted, "You're the one who's turned on by a clay lump!"
"What can I say? Sexy texture."
"You know like, half the store can hear you," Cruz burst into laughter.
The phone was picking up all of this, amusingly.
Fae held her breath to keep from laughing until her face turned red, but it burst out from inside of her and she doubled over, in stitches from laughing. She could hear Cruz and Mr. Ponticelli laughing on the other side of the phone as well as several dragons poked their heads out of doorways, slightly concerned. "Remind me again why you're calling?", Fae asked, still giggling.
Both the boys fell silent, with a quiet "oh [shoot]" from Cruz. Then he finally hung up, without answering. How mischevious and unsurprising.
Fae sighed, unable to keep the wide smile of her face as she grabbed a simple, clay-stained maroon sweatshirt and plain black leggings, sliding a brown headband into her hair after she brushed it. She got everything else ready for the day, packing a handbag with a few essentials and placing three dragons in; Smudge, an elegant white dragon with orchid-purple eyes on two legs and dainty ears named Grace, and a roundish, chubby dragon the color of orange-y sandstone named Leum (Lee-um). She then ran downstairs to the bakery, checking the time on her watch, which read 8:15.
Fae ran into the bakery, hugging her father tightly. "Good morning sleepyhead!" Ben Bonnerly exclaimed in a booming British accent, ruffling her hair. "Ready for your first day on the job?" He grinned at her, scratching at his almost bronze-colored mustache. "Breakfast in the back.", he said with a wink, patting his slightly overweight belly. Fae rushed into the kitchen, bid her mother good morning, and grabbed a chocolate fudge muffin and some raisin bread with butter for breakfast, wolfing it down and licking her lips when she was finished. "My, you're hungry today!", her mother exclaimed teasingly as Fae inhaled another muffin. "Now, who wants to help me make some raisin buns?", Ellie asked, waving a spatula at her daughter.
An hour later, the heavenly smell of Evelyn Bonnerly's special raisin bun recipe was wafting through the cozy bakery, which was already packed with friendly customers. Fae placed about ten buns of freshly-baked goodness and a few chocolate fudge muffins in a little basket to take with her for Mr. Ponticelli and Cruz, quickly snatching one more from the tray and feeding it in little chunks to her dragons.
"Bye mum, bye dad!", she yelled over the layered conversations to her parents and hurried out the door, overwhelmed with anticipation as she headed for the shop.
The old open sign was hanging in the big window of the shop, curtsins drawn apart to let the sunlight into the shop. The door to the front of the store, painted war, red and propped open just a crack to let in the brisk air, but not enough to let in a bitter wind.
Fae couldn't resist skipping a little when she entered to wonderful little shop, the smell of clay filling her nostrils. A few stray customers milled about, quietly chatting and selecting their charming little buys. "Good morning Mr. Ponticelli!", she greeted the kindly man gaily as she approached the counter. "Where's Cruz?" She checked the time. 9:50 am, meaning she was ten minuted early.
"Ehm, he's not here yet," he replied back with a mirrored, cordial tone.
"I brought you two some raisin buns and muffins from our bakery, where should I leave them?" she pointed to her basket, and Grace poked her head out of Fae's handbag, looking around at this curious new place. Flapping her wings delicately, she flew over to Mr. Ponticelli, head tilted to the side.
""Um, there's a table in the clay room we put snacks and stuff on," Cruz informed.
"Hey there," August offered a hand for the tiny thing to land on.
(hey, I'm back for just a few minutes, after this I will be unable to come on for about 4-5 hours)
Grace landed lightly on Mr. Ponticelli's hand and wrinkled her snout at him thoughtfully, wiggling his thumb back and forth. Apparently satisfied, she sneezed contentedly and perched on his shoulder like a shiny scaled bird, regarding Cruz curiously with her large purple eyes. "Oh, and that's Grace.", Fae introduced, pulling out the baked goods and walking with the pair to the back. "What was that phone call about, by the way?", she grinned, handing Mr. Ponticelli a raisin bun.
"Em," August stammered with a laugh, taking the pastry with two fingers.
"Boys being boys," Cruz shrugged with facetious nonchalance.
Fae laughed with them, enjoying the rush of happy belonging as she plucked a chocolate muffin from the tray. “So, am I going to be by the cash register today, or helping to restock the shelves?”, she inquired, hoping to be allowed what she had not spoken, to start making items for the shop. She called Grace back to her, pulling Leum from her bag as well and feeding him a bit of gooey chocolate goodness.
Augustus thought for a moment, eyebrows hunching, "Um, probably restocking. Today is going to be super easy for you, since I need to start learning how to disperse roles.." he pondered aloud, resting his elbow against the pastry table.
Cruz took a sizeable bite of a muffin, watching and listening with a laid back demeanor.
"Anything's fine by me!" Fae said and stood up. "Would you like me to start right away, sir?"