Amina Nassiri (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} puremina) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} greenlife_rpg,@ 2010-09-01 23:27:00 |
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When: September 1st, 11:00am
Where: Redd Grain Café
Rating: PG - PG-13
Summary: Agatha is having a slow day at work and Mina desperately needs to get out of the house.
Warnings: Excessive self pity and maybe language
Agatha let out a breath she hadn’t been aware she’d been holding. Her older brother, Carlos, used to say to her that she took on entirely too much more more than her share when it came to work, but Agatha always shrugged his unsolicited criticism off. In her mind, someone had to do it, and who better than the one person she trusted the most in life - herself? Having such high stress levels had become the norm for her, so that when she wasn’t doing five things at once, she felt lazy and unproductive.
It was different now, and not only because she had a whole, new life ahead of her. That certainly helped change her perspective, but it wasn’t the only thing that made her start to look at things differently. The community in Green Life was small in comparison to what Agatha had known growing up and in the working world. Luckily, management demanded much of her time, so she didn’t feel out of her element. Today, though, took her a little bit by surprise. It was mid-morning, and Redd Grain was decidedly calm. One person sat in the far corner, sipping on a cup of tea and typing away on a laptop. The sun was shining, and a gentle breeze was tickling the tops of the greenery outside the establishment. She’d checked and rechecked today’s work and found herself ahead of schedule both times. For the first time in what felt like (and probably was) years, Agatha could let herself relax.
So, to celebrate her effectiveness on the job, her and her beloved’s new life, and the evident success of the café;, she fixed herself a small mug of what had to be the most delicious hot chocolate on the planet. She was on her way to sit when she heard the chimes on the door jingle, signaling someone’s arrival. There went her plan to relax. Oh, well. It was only one person, it looked like. Besides, getting some work in would give her drink time to cool.“Good morning,” Agatha greeted the customer. “Welcome to Redd Grain. How can I help you?”
Mina had spent her first few days in Green Life lounging around her house. Well, maybe 'sulking' would be a better word to use. The place was about ten times better than her apartment back in New Jersey but mainly, it was because she had realized immediately that she didn't want to be here. The day she stepped inside and saw the community sprawling around her, the entire place giving off an unfamiliar feeling of ‘newness’, she had wanted to hit herself over the head at the idiotic decision she’d made. Mina had been told many a time that she needed to think things through, that she couldn’t just make hasty decisions and go off half-cocked but most of the time she just figured people were being ridiculous. For the first time though, she’s starting to think they could be right.
She had just wanted an escape and she ended up signing away the life she knew.
Eventually, Mina started to think that locking herself in her own house wasn’t going to make this situation any better. No one even knew her here so who would she have to care that she was miserable? Who would she have to come and make her feel better? So she decided to explore the community she was now stuck in. During a short (and tiring) trek outside of her neighborhood, all she could think about was the fact that there was nothing in this place. No real cars, no shopping centers, not a Starbucks in sight, and no noise. It was like being in some weirdo twilight zone.
A cobbled sidewalk had taken her to Main St. and the narrow building that made up Redd Grain. Figuring it could be the closest thing to a bar this place had and she might be able to drink away her sorrows, she pushed open the doors and stepped inside. Instantly she was greeted by a soft voice and she turned her head to take notice of a dark haired woman with a rather open face.Mina didn’t return the greeting at first, blinking at her once in disinterest before taking a moment to scan the cafe. It was...empty. Save for someone tucked in a corner with their laptop.
“Is it too early for a Long Island Ice tea?” She asked, finally turning her attention back to the woman. Mina was pretty sure it was and she usually wasn’t much of a drink but she was feeling hot and sulky and that was the first thing that came out of her mouth. She moved farther into the cafe and dropped herself onto a stool at the counter.
Frigidity was not something new to Agatha. Frankly, anyone who’d been in the brainiac side of the high school food chain knew about cold-hearted competition the way the world at large knew the sky was blue. Agatha was neither intimidated nor fazed. She merely waited until the customer seemed at ease before approaching her on the employee side of the counter.
“I’d say it is,” Agatha told her, smile unfaltering, “but I can’t stop you getting one if that’s what you want. Have it with a sandwich and it won’t be half so questionable.”
She was still getting used to all the people here, relatively few though they might be. They came from all over, had all these different stories and backgrounds -- secrets, too, probably. Were they like her? Did they run away from their made-up truths so they could live out their real ones in peace? Did this young woman want to hide something in the burn of liquor?Even if she did, it wasn’t Agatha’s business, but that didn’t stop her being curious. “The avocado tomato melt is delicious,” she added, by way of recommendation.
Mina scowled up at the woman, finding herself feeling irrationally irritated with her continuing polite tone and smile. Didn’t she see that she wasn’t in the greatest of moods? She didn’t want to be smiled at, she just wanted the woman to take her order and move along.
She took the suggestion of a sandwich with a roll of her eyes but that did sound rather good. Mina had been feeling a bit too glum this morning and had skipped out on her breakfast, something she used to do at home when she feeling especially crabby and wanted attention. Unfortunately there was no one around here so that little tantrum had been rather pointless. A lot of things were already beginning to feel more and more pointless without anyone she knew around. It was like being dropped onto some strange planet with stranger people and she was feeling more uncomfortable by the day..
Mina waved away the woman’s recommendation with a dismissive flick of her hand. Just because she was a little hungry didn’t mean she had to take her suggestions. “Give me...” she tilted her head to look beyond the other woman at the board of specials behind her. “The grilled vegetarian panini. And the long island ice tea.”
Something about this woman’s manners felt very familiar to Agatha, but she wasn’t going to think on it now. She merely excused herself and went into the back to pass on the order. This wasn’t necessary, but she needed to short walk to let herself chuckle the slightest bit. Oh, she’d thought this would be some paradise! But no, things were going to be much the same as out there. Out there now took on the meaning it had for her parents, for her relatives on the island. Yes, that was what this felt like -- a nation within a nation, some small country where everyone felt different from the rest but wasn’t, not really.
In any case, Agatha waited for the iced tea to be prepared so she could bring that out. One of the waiters offered to do it, but frankly, she was bored and curious. Normally she suppressed her curiosity, but part of her deal with herself was that now she would stop hiding who she was. And if that meant potentially making an ass out of herself (though she wouldn’t quite do that, she hoped), then that would have to do.She hoped not, though.After promising to bring back any tips to the waiter who would’ve taken the customer, Agatha came back with the iced tea. “The panini is on its way,” she informed her. Having had her chance to get the laughter out, Agatha had toned down her smile a few notches, having noticed how put off by it her customer seemed. Agatha wouldn’t be winning any extra points with her next question, but what the law required was what the law required. “Can I see some ID, please?”
Mina had watched the woman walk into the kitchen with a frown, having noticed just the slightest twitch of her lips as she turned to walk away from her. Had she said something funny? She sure didn’t remember saying anything amusing. She dismissed it quickly though, what did she care anyway?
As the woman disappeared into the kitchen, the customer at the back of the cafe had gathered up his laptop, tucked it under his arm and walked out the door without a backwards glance. The moment he was gone, Mina rested her arms on the surface in front of her and dropped her head with an audible thump on the counter. Her eyes slipped closed and she sagged just a bit further, feeling the sun from the windows behind warming her neck. The room was cool, sunlit and comfortable. Everything was new and bright and anywhere else, she would love it but right then she was feeling a little...listless. Somewhere between depressed and tired and wholly irritated. She just wanted to go home.
Because the cafe was now empty and so silent, she heard the woman returning from the kitchen before she saw her and she snapped up. Pushing her hair out of her face and clearing her throat as she saw the drink in her hand. She was already reaching out for it, a ‘thank you’ on her lips when she was asked for her ID. She froze, staring at the woman with an incredulous look on her face. She wasn’t sure if she should be flattered or offended that she was actually being carded, something that hadn’t happened in a couple of years.
“Seriously?” She scoffed. Rolling her eyes she slid off her stool so she could reach into the back pocket of her jeans and promptly swore when she realized it was empty. Frantically her hands moved to her other pocket and then the two at the front and she swore a second time. She had forgotten her wallet. Looking back at the woman, she bit her lip. “Um look, I’m 25 alright. I’m legal.”
It wasn’t that Agatha assumed she wasn’t legal. It was just that she had to ask. What was it, again? Anyone who looked under forty had to be carded? Something like that, she’d once heard say. “That may be true, I really can’t just take your word on it,” Agatha stated, half apologetic, half firm. She held onto the drink and gave the customer few seconds, as if that would somehow make her wallet and ID magically appear. Actually, now that she thought of it, did this woman even have money on her right now?
Now the trick was to ask that in a way that wasn’t rude. Oh, boy. “Are you going to be able to pay for this? Not the drink, I can’t let you have that. But the sandwich?” She very carefully kept her tone light, not accusatory, because it wouldn’t be the end of the world if she didn’t have money. Agatha could just write it up somewhere and get her to pay later. It wasn’t as if this was New York. They were bound to run into each other again at some point.
Well wasn’t this day just continuously getting better? Mina hadn’t even made the connection between no wallet and no food so right then and there, she was very much feeling like an idiot. She could feel heat rising at the back of her neck and she was half tempted to turn around and walk out the door. It was like she was suddenly flashing back to when she was twelve years old; standing in front of an ice cream truck with a crowd of other kids behind her, discovering belatedly that she didn’t have enough quarters in her pocket for the cone she wanted. It was every bit as humiliating. Even though the woman’s tone was still pleasant, all Mina could hear was the accusations. The, ‘you’re obviously poor, why are you here?’.
“I...don’t think I can do that right now.” The words came out reluctantly, sounding very much like she was forcing them from her mouth.
The woman’s discomfort was clear as day to Agatha. That sealed the deal. Agatha couldn’t just let a person go hungry, no matter how obnoxious they could be -- and really, she’d dealt with far, far worse than this woman. So when the cook called out that the order was ready, Agatha said, “Wait here,” and went off to get it.
She came back not a minute later with the panini on a plate in one hand and a cloth napkin in another. “Don’t get used to this,” Agatha told her, firm but not unkind. “You’ll have to pay me for it the next time you’re here or I see you somewhere -- call me what you will for that -- but I can’t just let you go hungry when God knows what kind of day you’ve had.”
Life always had a way of coming full circle. It has been years since Mina allowed herself to be anywhere without money; growing up the way she had she’d been in countless situations where a lack of money had left her feeling embarrassed and angry. She had sworn to herself that she would never be in a place where she had to feel like that again and here she was. She was all ready to follow her earlier instinct and just leave with whatever dignity she had left when the woman asked her to wait.
Mina watched with confused eyes as the woman moved towards the kitchen again, not quite getting what she was doing until she returned with plate in hand.
“Oh.” She said, clearly surprised. She hadn’t been expecting that one. If it had been her, there was a good chance she would’ve just said, ‘get out bum!’ and sent her o her way. The gesture was so...nice she didn’t know how to react. Slowly, Mina lowered herself back onto her stool and cleared her throat. “I’ll be back tomorrow to pay for it.”
She cleared her throat a second time and made and effort to soften the attitude in her voice before she spoke again. “I’ve had a crappy one so far so yeah, thank you...” her eyes searched the woman’s shirt for a name tag.
One great thing about doing things without being asked was other people’s reactions. It was obvious to Agatha that this was the last thing this woman had expected her to do, and it warmed Agatha’s heart to know that her gesture was appreciated, even if that gratitude was not expressed. When she noticed the woman looking rather intently at her shirt, Agatha looked down and realized what it was -- her name tag was obscured by her apron. She pinned it on her apron instead, then, just because the tone of the woman’s voice made it obvious that was she was not-asking, said, “Agatha. I’m one of the managers, so I’ll be around tomorrow. I’m sorry you’ve had a bad day, miss. I hope some good food will make you feel better.”
“Agatha.” Mina said the name slowly, narrowing her eyes a bit as she attempted to commit it to memory. She wasn’t terrible with names or anything, it was just that Mina had a habit of letting the names of people she didn’t deem particularly important slip from her mind. She figured the least she could do for the woman who had given her free food was make sure she wouldn’t forget her name mid-conversation. “I’m Mina. I’m not, or planning to, do anything tomorrow or any other day so I should have enough free time to drop by.”
Mina glanced up at the woman and shrugged lightly. She felt the tense muscles in her face relax just a touch as her lips pulled into a thin smile. This Agatha was really being way nicer to her than she had any reason to. Mina was used to being around people a bit more similar to herself, people whose sympathies pretty much stopped at the end of their own nose. She wondered if there were more of these ‘goody’ types in this community. If they were, she definitely wasn’t going to fit in. “Why are you apologizing? It’s not like you can turn back time and fix my problem. For now the sandwich is good enough.”
Mina reached put and pulled her panini close to her before taking a careful bite, ignoring the rumble in her stomach that told her to devour the thing in favor of not looking like too much of a pig. She brushed invisible crumbs from the corners of her mouth before smiling, a little wider than before Agatha. “Looks like its already making me feel a little better.” As she held half of her panini in her hand, Mina glanced around the empty cafe before moving her eyes back to Agatha’s face. “So, how are you liking this place? Are you loving it like some of the eco-nuts here or are you just stuck here by some cosmic screw-up?” The mild curiosity in her tone had been touched by more than a little bitterness by the end there.
The less than happy notes in Mina’s voice didn’t go unnoticed, but Agatha figured she’d done enough to bother her today. Maybe later down the line, Agatha would get a chance to inquire. For now, though, she’d just play it safe, shrugging. “I like it just fine. I didn’t come here for the pure eco-living thing anyway. That was a nice bonus. Mostly I just wanted to be somewhere completely new.” She left out any mention of her girlfriend, but not on purpose. It was just a habit now to present herself as a loner to the world. It wouldn’t occur to her until later that she’d done it again.
“I love the house I got, and I like this place. I might not like it so much when it’s busy, but for now it’s really nice.” She smiled warmly as Mina continued to eat. Doing things like that for people had been a constant throughout Agatha’s life. Part of her had hoped she’d be free of this unspoken responsibility when she moved here, but maybe it would take some time. Maybe the problem was that Agatha was too soft, too willing to bend to people in Mina’s world.
Mina nodded along while Agatha spoke, not quite looking at the older woman and taking a bite or two more of her sandwich as she did. It was easy to hear the smile in Agatha’s voice, her words coming out like she honestly meant it every word. Mina was a little envious. She would like to be able to say that she liked this place but she was too busy regretting her decisions and wishing she was somewhere else to find something she liked. She couldn’t bring herself to enjoy the things around her, or even the fact that she was doing something other people were envious of, while in her mind was revolving around her own mistakes.
“I’m not sure if you could get more new than this place.” Mina chuckled shortly, rolling her eyes. “Well the houses are one thing you can’t complain about here. I can seriously say that mine is the best looking one in the neighborhood. Which one is yours?” That would be a pretty invasive question to ask in ‘the real world’ but Green Life seemed like the kind of place you could get away with it. She doubted there would be breaking and entering around here.
Agatha thought much the same, really. Part of this whole community seemed to be getting people to truly cooperate with one another. It was almost a modern form of subsistence living... or not, because that didn’t make much sense. Still, she didn’t feel like Mina was invading her privacy. Sooner or later, Agatha had expected to get to know everyone in the neighborhood even if only by name and face. Best to get started on that early, right?
“1002 Low Grün,” she answered easily, smile widening as she saw how Mina was enjoying her sandwich. Word of mouth would do the café; more good than regular advertising would, and that was great on its own. They’d save a lot of time and energy that way, not to mention all the trees they wouldn’t have to kill to make fliers. “How about you?”
“I’m at 1008. Big black house, lots of glass.” Mina answered a little proudly. That could probably describe more than one house on the street but she was sure anyone who had caught sight of hers would remember it inexplicably. She tried to recall if she had seen 1002 during her trek from home to here but honestly, other than her own--and the few she thought were better--most of the houses kind of blurred together in her mind. Mina would have to pass by 1002 and take a closer look on her way home, just to see how it measured up.
“They stuck me with a roommate which is kind of spoiling my love of the place. I can’t really remember her name, Jules or something? I don’t know but she seems pretty quiet which I guess is a plus. It means she doesn’t bother me.” Mina wasn’t sure why she was suddenly talking so much. She still wasn’t in the best of moods, even though the sandwich had made her feel a bit better, but she found herself relaxing in her stool as the words kept coming out. It was probably because without a familiar face around, she had barely spoken in the past few days and now that she had an audience she couldn’t stop herself.
“I don’t do well with roommates. I’ve had one before but it didn’t last long, I just can’t stand having people touching the same things I do or using the same thin-” Mina cut herself off, remembering that she was talking to a stranger and that she was probably making some kind of faux pas by not giving her a chance to speak. What she failed to notice was just how many times she managed to squeeze the word 'I' in her every sentence.
"Did you end up with a roommate too? Or are you here with family? That's usually a lot worse than a roommate."
“I’ve seen that house,” Agatha remarked amicably. “It’s very memorable.” So were all of them, what with all their unique features. She did have to agree that all the glass made 1008 stand out. “I’m going to take a walk around the block again when I get back. It looks like it’s going to be a really nice night.
“And, God, do I understand the bad roommate thing! Back in college, I had the worst first roommate you could ever imagine -- my complete opposite, a loud, mean gossip who brought back a different guy nearly every night whether or not I was in the room.” She wasn’t one to talk about herself much when first getting to know a person, but common experiences usually helped to make for strong first ties to a person. Mina could, at the very least, be a neighbor Agatha said more than hello to; at best, she might even be a friend. Although, given the way this first encounter was going, Agatha might have to work a little hard not to see Lisa Marie in Mina.
Mina’s question made Agatha pause for just a moment. Usually, she dodged that sort of inquiry without even thinking about it, but she’d promised that she was going to change. What better way to start than this, on her first day in the community and on the job?
“I’m here with my girlfriend, actually.” It felt so strange to say it that way, to volunteer that information freely. Normally, it was “my roommate” or “my friend.” But it felt so nice, too, so liberating. She smiled just the slightest bit as she let herself enjoy it. “We’ve been together for six years, so I’d say it’s a pretty good living arrangement.”
“Ah I had a roommate like that once.” Mina laughed, leaning forward to rest her elbow on the counter and cupping her chin. What she didn’t mention was that she and that particular roommate had kind of shared in some of those activities. Well, she had never brought a guy home like that but still, what Agatha didn’t know couldn’t hurt her.
Mina eyed Agatha when she seemed to pause before answering, noting the hesitance. She hadn’t asked too personal a question had she? Or was Agatha stuck with some horrible family she couldn’t stand and she just didn’t want to talk about them? She could understand that. But apparently that wasn’t the problem.
Carefully arched brows lifted in clear surprise at the world ‘girlfriend’. It wasn’t that her sexuality made Mina uncomfortable, just that it was a bit of a surprise. Agatha didn’t...seem like the type. But that was a bit of a generalization, wasn’t it? “Oh, that’s nice.”
And it was nice. Mina found herself watching Agatha’s face and the way her entire expression seemed to brighten when she spoke about her relationship. Her smile was small but still it was easy to see the warmth in it and Mina couldn’t help the stab of envy in her chest. She had never been in a relationship that lasted more than two or three months and never one that had any type of real depth. She couldn’t help but wonder what that could even be like. “After six years I should hope that the living is at least tolerable. Where did you guys come from?”
“Newark in New Jersey. We would go to the City all the time. New York, that is,” Agatha corrected quickly, realizing that she didn’t know what city Mina called ‘the City’. “It was pretty great, you know, just doing the regular old nine-to-five thing and going on hunts for cheap but good food and fun. Lots of people’s dream life. But it gets pretty hectic, you know?” She definitely missed that about where they used to be, just all the different types of food and entertainment available to them in New York City.
“How about you? I apologize if you’re from around there, too. I may have just bored you out of your mind.”
“Oh!” Mina gasped a little, smiling the most genuine smile she had so far. Without her noticing she lifted a thin hand and pressed the back against her lips for a brief moment before dropping it into her lap. “I was living in Ithica, New Jersey before this.” She wasn’t sure why hearing that Agatha was from the same place as she had suddenly excited her the way it had. Maybe it was just finding something in common with someone in this community? Whatever it was she found herself momentarily embarrassed by her own reaction.
Clearing her throat and ignoring the feeling of warmth in her cheeks, she rushed on to speak. “Yeah, I know. That’s kind of life in the city, right? That was how I liked it. I lived for the hectic and this place is nothing like that.” She turned her head to look out the door, noting the near emptiness of the sunny street just beyond and she wrinkled her nose. “It’s just way too quiet.”
“Oh, so there you go!” Laughing, Agatha shook her head. “Small world, isn’t it?” She had to agree to the bit about the silence with a smile. “It’s nice, though. I grew up in a full house, three brothers and sisters, both parents, family nearby... I never had my own space. Even in college, since I always had a roommate. But it was so crowded.” She drifted off for just a moment, lost in the memories of where she’d been, who she’d been. “Now we really get the chance to just be. That’s pretty much what we were hoping for when we entered the drawing, just to have somewhere to breathe and really live. Life’s too short to live the fast-paced city way. At least, that’s what I think.”
“I guess to each her own.” Mina said after Agatha finished speaking, voice sounding a bit distant. She had always wondered what growing up in one of those big, noisy houses full of family and siblings. She had her parents and her older brother but they had never been the boisterous types. Her mother had hated noise, mess and disruption and Kamal was always stuck in a book. The majority of noise in their home came from Mina herself whenever she was particularly...upset. The whining and tantrums and all.
“I guess its just something I might have to get used to.” But she wouldn’t. That she was sure of. There was a moment of silence as Mina frowned down at the remnants of her sandwich, thinking about home and family. She had lived barely half an hour from where her family was for over a year and she only visited them maybe twice. But here she was, miles away and now she was missing them. How ironic was that?
She slid off of her stool and smiled a bit at Agatha. “Thanks for the sandwich. I think I’ve had my fill of being out of the house for now.” Maybe it had done her a bit of good though, she was feeling better than she had when she walked out the door.
“And food, too, I hope.” Agatha smiled warmly at Mina, not yet reaching for the plate. There was no need to feign being busy when it was so obvious there was no reason to be. The customer in the corner had paid them no attention, busy sipping away at a drink and busy with his laptop. He was content where he was. Mina hadn’t seemed quite that before, and she didn’t exactly look ecstatic right now, but at least she looked a bit better than she had earlier. Besides which, she was no longer hungry, which was always a plus.
“Good luck with your roommate, and I’ll see you tomorrow. And hopefully some other time, not just for money-related reasons.” Now she did grab the plate, ready to stay a bit longer if that was what Mina wanted, or to go into the kitchen if that was that.
Mina’s smile widened a touch and she nodded. “Yeah, and food too.” Maybe she would have to stop skipping meals whenever she was unhappy, or at least she should start showing up here and have Agatha feed her.
She stood there next to her recently vacated seat, rocking back and forth on her heels and feeling hesitant to leave. She wasn’t quite sure what was keeping her there but looking across the counter at Agatha, friendly faced and genuinely warm, she felt for a moment that walking away right then would be like leaving behind her first friend. God that was pathetic. Her sort of solitude must be making her more sentimental than she had any right to be.
Mina pushed down the ridiculousness of that feeling and took a large step away from her stool. “I’ll be back with the money and after that, I’m sure I’ll see you around. We’re living in a big box basically so it won’t be too hard to run into each other.” She lifted her hand for a brief wave in Agatha’s direction before turning on her heel and heading for the door. Maybe she would take a few moments to look out for 1002 Low Grun on her way home. It wouldn’t hurt to know where her newest acquaintance lived. Who knew? It make it a bit easier to run into one another.
Without another glance behind her, Mina stepped through the door and back into the streets of Green Life.