Jocelyn Klaes || Hel (tohelandback) wrote in paxletalelogs, @ 2017-05-07 10:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | hel, uke mochi |
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Who: Jocelyn & Alice
What: Apartment hunting already sucks, and now it’s raining?
Where: Rosemary & Thyme
When: Sunday May 7th, mid-morning
gdoc complete!
It was right about the time that the first heavy droplets started dotting the sidewalk in front of her that Jocelyn realized that she should have checked the weather forecast before heading out for the morning. But the morning had been cool, with a nice breeze coming in off the ocean, and she thought it would have been the perfect time to go for a walk and try to find an apartment listing.
Well, she had found one, but she had walked what seemed like a good mile or more from Nishka’s apartment complex, and the rain was starting to come down harder. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a cheery-looking sign for a bakery, which seemed as good a place as any to wait out the rain. She hurried across the street and slipped through the door, setting the bells jingling.
Alice looked up from the laptop she had placed on the counter to work on some recipes and flashed a smile at the newcomer. She had made it to work despite feeling under the weather and after a few hours in the bright bakery, she was feeling a little more like herself. After a busy morning fulfilling birthday cake orders and serving customers looking for muffins, it had slowed up enough for Alice to attend to her blog but a customer was always welcome.
“Good morning! Welcome to Rosemary and Thyme. Take a look around and let me know if you have any questions.” She grinned at the woman then politely returned her attention to her laptop--people often didn’t enjoy being watched as they browsed.
Jocelyn stood just inside the doorway, over the mat, making sure she wasn’t dripping water before she moved further into the bakery. Outside, the clouds opened up, sending water sheeting down. She smiled at the woman behind the counter. “Looks like I got out of the weather just in time, eh?”
She walked through the bakery slowly, browsing the various cases as she went. Everything looked so delicious, and she made a note to herself to bring home something to share with Nishka later. After her tour of the shop, she approached the woman. “So, I’ve never been here before. What do you recommend today if I’m looking for a bit of breakfast with my coffee?”
Alice smiled, a bright spot on the gloomy day, and closed her laptop with a soft click. “Well, I have coffee and tea. I also have scones and muffins. Scones are either a vanilla bean, blueberry, or raspberry. Muffins are plane, blueberry, or chocolate. And then I have croscants which are typically the big crowd pleaser in the morning. Regular croscants--” Alice pointed to the display, “and then croscants that have cheese and ham inside of them. Both can be served room temperature or hot.
“Would you like a minute to think it over? Or a coffee or tea while you consider?”
“Hmm…” Jocelyn said, thoughtfully. Then she smiled brightly at the other woman, “No, I’m ready. I’ll have the hot ham and cheese croissant, and a raspberry scone. And coffee.” She fished in her purse for her wallet, “I assume I pay you right away?”
“Yes, please!” Alice replied with another smile. She hopped off her little stool and slipped on plastic gloves to retrieve the croissant and place it on a plate for heating. Into the toaster it went and Alice turned her attention back to the woman. “Is this to go or would you like to eat it here?”
Jocelyn glanced outside, where the rain was still drumming down against the window, and chuckled. “For here, I think! I wanted to look over the apartment listings for a few minutes anyways - plot the rest of my expedition.” She pulled a couple of crisp American $20 bills out of her wallet, and waited for the woman to ring up her total.
“Oh, that’s fun!” Alice replied as she moved about to grab the scone and place it on a brightly colored plate. Pulling off her gloves, she placed the plate on the counter and accepted the money before handing off her change. “I just moved into the area this year and live nearby. Where have you looked so far?” She turned back to the small oven and retrieved the now hot croissant with tongs and placed it on another plate.
Jocelyn tucked her change away in her purse as she considered the other woman’s question. “I just got into town a few days ago, so I haven’t had much time to look around yet. My friend Nikki thinks I should put in an application at her place - Pax Letale? - but…” she considered the two plates and the mug of coffee. “Hmm...guess I’ll have to make a second trip,” she said with a grin, picking up the two plates.
“Pax Letale? That’s where I live!” Alice exclaimed. “And don’t worry, grab a seat and I’ll bring this to you.” She gathered the coffee mug and a little bowl filled with various sugar packets. She considered the name Nikki for a moment and how much the woman’s friend shared. If this woman was considering moving into the complex, she obviously had not shared the details of the floors changing or the strange changes in the people who lived there. But Alice kept her smile on her face as she came around the counter with the coffee in hand. “And I don’t know a Nikki. I’ve met a handful of people at the apartment so far…”
“Oh- shit!” Jocelyn blushed a bright red as she slid into her seat. “I keep forgetting that I’m not supposed to call her that anymore.” She picked up the cup of coffee, and ducked her head over it as she took a sip, buying a moment to collect her thoughts. “Sorry, Nishka - is that more familiar? - and I grew up together, and...well, old habits die hard,” she explained. A recognition hit Alice’s eyes and she gave a nod.
“You live at Pax too? It seems really nice, but I doubt I could afford to live there.” She considered that, “Then again...I’m starting to suspect that I’m not going to be able to afford anywhere around here. I didn’t realize she lived in such a high-rent city…” She shrugged and looked back up at the other woman. “Do you like it there?”
Alice’s lips parted but she paused. Before the floor changes, before the strange dreams and the odd changes to her hair, before feeling like she had a cold every time she was near the apartment, before seeing her friend’s change or make things change before her eyes… she would have easily said yes. The answer was right there at the tip of her tongue. But something in her, something deep, cautioned her against total honesty. It was too odd and she’d sound too insane.
“I love my apartment,” she offered, and she was honest in that. She sat the coffee down and placed a hand on her hip. “It has a great kitchen and this beautiful view of the ocean. I also have a few close friends there and it’s great to be so close to them.
“I know Nishka, though I call her Nish. I’m not incredibly close with her--we met through my friend Rafael, her, well, I guess he’s her ex now. We never had many opportunities to hang out but she’s always been very sweet to me.
“I bet you could afford the place. They have different apartment layouts and prices, so it’s certainly worth looking into.”
“Maybe I will,” Jocelyn said, though she sounded a bit dubious. She took a bite of her scone, chewed thoughtfully, then smiled. “Mmm! These are really good!”
“Thank you, so much,” Alice said with a smile. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave a nod. “And there’s more where that came from, if you decide to move to the apartment. I do a lot of tests for new recipes at my apartment and I leave the leftovers near the mailroom or at the front doorman’s desk.”
“I’ll have to keep that in mind,” Jocelyn said, as she took a long drink of her coffee.
She ate her meal slowly, listening to the drum of the rain against the window as she paged through the listings, a thoughtful frown creeping across her face as she looked through page after page of listings.
A short while later the rain slowed, then finally stopped. Jocelyn stacked her dishes neatly in the proper location, and thanked the woman at the counter. Then she slipped out and started working her way back towards Pax Letale.