Like a horse on a carousel | squishy

[TheLivingDead]

It was almost time. She returned her gaze from the clock back down to the table she was cleaning meticulously. The one that selfish boy sat at everyday. For quite possibly the thousandth time, the brunette sprayed the table with the floral disinfectant and finally gave it the last wipe over. Returning to her full height, she brushed down the little black dress she wore, and straightened the little pink petter pan collar at her throat. She always felt more comfortable shouting at someone when she knew she looked pretty. Well, she had decided against screaming in his face, and was merely going to question as to why he didn't like her finest fucking strawberry pie cake.

Crossing the little coffee shop, she glanced up at the clock again. Ten more minutes. Going underneath her counter, she pulled out her finest coffee China cup, which was the most adorable shade of duck egg blue, and turned on the barista coffee machine. The machine whirred for a second, gave a little wheeze of steam and began chugging happily away to itself, content to begin its work once more. Valentine fetched the sugar and sweetener bowls, and placed them on the young mans table. She straightened the little vase on the table, pulled out his chair and went back to her station behind the counter. Looking out onto the hazy street outside, she watched as people bustled on past. People would often stop and admire her quant little shop in the middle of the high street, but most were put off by something. The tattoo shop her best friend owned tended to drive a lot of the customers away. The constant buzzing of the pen was apparently distracting, but she couldn't cover it with calming music, it was far too... Piercing. But she never had the heart to move her coffee shop. Darren would be heartbroken.

It was at that point that the bell finally tinged at the door. Standing to attention, she gave the young man a smile and quickly said "Good afternoon sir! The same as usual I take

[{ squishy }]

His entire schedule was made around the daily visit to her cafe, where he knew he could get the best cup of coffee and where he could help her make ends meet by purchasing her strawberry pie cake, despite him never eating it. Every time he left the shop, he always left the cake untouched, knowing it was bound to set her off. Little did she know, he always left a hefty tip for her under the plate. Sometimes, he left hefty tips under both plates that occupied his table. he slowly strode down the main street, decked out in his usual uniform for the Army, the brown looking quite dapper on his body, bringing out his blonde hair and grey-green-blue eyes. His senses were a bit heightened at this point in the day, since he was getting ready to start his shift at the military base, and he always had to look and be at his sharpest. It would never do to be dull on the job and something happen. It would be his fault. He was the finest recruit they had, and he was quickly jumping up in rank in the military.

Though, his time to decide whether or not to reenlist or retire from the military was fast approaching. He was always preoccupied in his visits to the cafe, and whether or not Valentine knew this, he was always glad to have her there to kind of distract him from his mind and problems. He hoped today that she could offer the same bit of respite from his many thoughts. His gaze latched onto her cafe door and he grinned brightly, his eyes sparkling in the sunlight as he did so. Grabbing the door handle, he pulled it open and walked into the store, the wonderful smell of vanilla, coffee, strawberry, and all the delicious scents she used enveloping him warmly as he strode to the middle of the store. He did this every day - looking at the menu, wondering what he should get. He was her most loyal customer, and he enjoyed the aesthetic the quaint little place possessed. Khristian was a man of a well-off background, but if he could help her in any way possible more than he was already doing, he would in a heartbeat.

He looked at Valentine as she spoke to him, and he strode up to the counter, chuckling. "Good morning, miss. I think so, yes please." He always made sure to treat her warmly, kindly. He would have liked her to do the same if things were reversed.

[TheLivingDead]

As he ordered the same as usual, Valentine felt herself grow angrier and angrier. She didn't take criticism very well, and this was blatant to her. Why come in and mock her every single day? "Certainly sir. You just take your seat over there, and I'll pop straight over and bring it to you." she gave him a sweet smile, and then turned and began making his coffee, muttering away to herself in German. She made his usual, a big frothy cup of coffee and placed it on its cute little saucer, and then onto the tray. It was then that the buzzing started. She quickly went below her counter and turned the storewide stereo up just a touch to try and cover it. The soft piano drifted calmly through the store, ignoring the monotonous sound of the tattoo pen upstairs. Satisfied, it was then that Valentine lifted the glass dome off of her prized strawberry pie cake. Little did the young man know, Valentine had been constantly working on the recipe, changing the appearance, adding more layers, adding less jam, adding more strawberries... you name it, Val had tried it. She was just desperate for him to one day eat the frigging cake she always cut and made for him.

Slicing into it, she took great care to make sure the slice was clean, not a single crumb was misplaced. She laid it onto the tea plate. She wiped off the plate. She gave it a little squirt of cream in the corner. Christ, she even said a little prayer. Finally, it was almost ready. Chocolate sprinkles were laiden onto the foamy top of the coffee and the order was complete. Carrying the tray over, she placed it before him and stood there infront of him for a few moments. She couldn't hold her tongue any longer. She twisted one small, tattooed hand into her little frilly apron and said. "You know, I'd really apppreciate if you actually ate the cake today." and then, once she had started, she didn't know where to finish. "I work day and night in here, and nobody ever helps me. I make all of those cakes from scratch and whatever doesn't get eaten just gets wasted. I mean, at first I fed it to my dog, but then she went off of the cake..." and with that, she dragged out a chair loudly and sat herself down. She huffed, brushing her hair out of her face. "I just don't understand why you don't just eat it? Look? I'll help you." and she grabbed the plate, and cut the cake clean in half. She shoved half of the cake in her mouth, coating her lips in pink icing. With half a mouthful of cake, she mumbled "Hmmhmbbm? Ibs guurd?"

Shit. She was doing it again. Val realised she was doing her eccentric thing again. She swallowed the cake, then looked at the mess on the plate. "... are you gonna finish that..? I mean maybe I should eat it... You never eat it... I don't get it. You come in here in your cute little uniform, which, looks great by the way, sir-- and you don't eat my best strawberry pie cake."

[{ squishy }]

She told him to take his seat at his usual table, and he smiled softly, ever so softly. Truthfully, he could never treat her so poorly; it was completely against his persona. he wasn't like any other guy his age. he had something called manners and it made the girls around him swoon, but he had eyes for only one little lady. He departed the counter finally and strode over to his normal table. it was right in front of the window, and he could watch the world going on out there from where he sat behind the glass window of her petite cafe. He loved the atmosphere in here; it felt like home to him, and it was always warm and welcoming. he looked out at the world going on outside as he sat down in the chair, his posture so straight it looked to be painful if tried by anyone else. ah, but it wasn't to him. he glanced up at valentine as she started making his coffee, and he chuckled to himself, turning his head to look back outside. he heard the tattoo pen start to drone on from upstairs, but he found the noise to be comforting, relaxing. if he wasn't here, and he wasn't on duty, he could find himself drifting off to it. Valentine had turned up the soft piano music to drown out the sound of the buzzing, and he nodded to himself, finding both sounds appealing.

he watched people drifting lazily by the cafe, most not even giving the place a second glance. it angered him, in all honesty. he knew that the little miss put her entire life into this place, not to mention her savings. he felt the anger bubbling beneath the surface, but he pushed it back down, knowing he couldn't do anything about the people passing by. he frowned to himself, trying to come up with an idea to get her more business. unfortunately, none came to him, and he looked around at the empty cafe, though one person was sitting across the room from him. the man looked to be elderly, the coffee in front of him still steaming, the cake nearly gone. Khristian glanced up at valentine as she brought him his order. he continued to look at her as she stood there, but before he could gesture toward the open seat in front of him, she started speaking. he calmly listened to her little tirade, and he just smiled as she chastised him. "In all honestly, I only buy the cake from you because i know your little place is struggling. it looks wonderful, it does. i feel bad that I'm insulting you, but I buy it to help you out. it's your most expensive item on the board, which is why I get it." Oh, he was going to be in some kind of trouble. he watched her calmly and silently as she dragged a chair out noisily and started chowing down on the cake in front of them. he picked up his coffee mug and took a sip, a faint smile appearing on his lips. he knew he was going to get chewed out in some way, but it was so worth it if he was helping her out.

as she continued to eat the piece of cake, he couldn't help but smile at her, his brows arched, the coffee mug pressed against his lips. she suddenly paused in her actions, and he set his mug down, studying her. "No, no. you can eat the rest of it. really. i'm not even sure I'm supposed to eat pastries while I'm on duty." He grinned at her and lifted the mug once more, taking a sip from it. she complimented him and his uniform and chuckled, not answering her.