Verity (jokeshopgirl) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-07-19 14:10:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, charlotte charles, verity |
Who: Verity and Chuck
When: Mid July
Where: The Pie Hole
What: Random Encounter/making friends
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete
It was one of those days. Verity was struggling with everything. The carseat wouldn’t latch, the baby wouldn’t stop crying, there was shit everywhere (well, literally. Both mother and child had to take a shower, making them even more late) and finally she had to call her sister-in-law and simply cancel for the day. Then she ended up getting lost, pulling over, and screaming at her steering wheel.
Verity put Christina in her stroller and headed into the closest shop she could find to use the bathroom or buy a drink or… pie. Oh, God, the pies. This place looked like heaven. Maybe today wasn’t going to stay so crappy.
Chuck was becoming a frequent loiterer at the Pie Hole. Once she got off work for the day, she’d generally swing by the shop and indulge in the daily offering and also just to see how Ned was doing. More so, because of how much time she spent there in her dreams, she found it a comforting and relaxing place to be.
When she saw a young woman come in with a stroller, Chuck moved over a spot at the counter and motioned to the now vacated seat at the end. “This is best place to sit with a stroller,” she said, cheerfully, “it’s exactly out of the way of the staff going in and out.”
Verity turned to the woman who was speaking, and broke into a thankful smile. She headed over and parked the stroller. “...thank you. I can’t believe that I’ve never been in here before. I guess I just figured it wasn’t baby friendly. It’s hard to find a place that’ll be happy with a little one coming in.”
“It’s still pretty new,” Chuck offered, as another excuse. “And it’s totally family friendly. Oodles of families, in and out, all day.” She gave the woman a grin. “Also, it’s hard to have people be grumpy about anything when there’s pie involved. So you should be good.”
“Oh, good.” Verity beamed, then looked down into the stroller. Christina was asleep. How did that happen? Whatever it was, she wasn’t going to question it too hard. “I love pie. Really love pie. Kinda want some with all the whipped cream in the world. What’s good here?”
“Pfft, all of it,” Chuck said, earnest as ever. “I mean it. Like, there is not one bad pie. I really like the cherry pie, personally. But the blueberry-lemon-cream cheese pie is amazing.”
“Blueberry lemon cream? You had me at Blue.” Verity said, the relieved smile on her face spreading. This day wasn’t turning out so bad, after all. She moved over to the counter to try and catch someone’s attention, so she could order. “It’s new, right? This place? I could really use a cup of coffee, too. ...half decaf.”
Chuck just laughed. Already she liked this other woman. And Chuck realized she didn’t have very many friends, so this seemed promising. “Yeah. Ned, the owner, just moved a couple months ago from Boston.” In an effort to help, Chuck waved down one of the servers.
“Oh yeah? Bah-stan?” Verity said, putting on her thickest, New England accent. It was really terrible. She was grinning brightly. “They have some really amazing lobster up there.” She added, then turned and gave her order to the server. “And whatever my new friend here wants, too.” Verity was feeling generous. “Have a piece of pie with me, ….” And she realized she hadn’t yet heard the other woman’s name.
Chuck had to snort. Thank God that Ned didn’t actually talk like that. He could probably mimic it pretty well, though. “Oh geez. I’ll have a slice of cherry, I think,” she said, then she turned to the woman and held out her hand. “I’m Charlotte, but the way. Or Chuck. I’m easy.”
“Hi, Chuck,” Verity said, reaching forward to shake Chuck’s hand. Her grip was firm, her skin slightly cool. Not like, Vampire cool, but Verity always ran a bit chilly. “I’m Verity. Not quite as easy, I know.”
If Chuck noticed the coolness, she didn’t say anything. She worked around all sorts of people, and, hey, if someone ran a bit cold, then they ran a bit cold. “And who’s the little one?” she asked, peering around to look at the sleeping baby.
“Christina,” Verity said, moving back over to the stroller so she could lift the shade a bit. Christina was out cold, the pacifier falling out of her slightly ajar lips. “She had a big morning, so I imagine she’ll spend an hour trying to recover.”
“Christina,” Chuck repeated, grinning down at the stroller. “She’s precious. Does she like to give you a lot of trouble?”
“She really does. Not too much, though. Just diapers and stuff. We’re still nursing, so… Practically attached at the hip.” Verity shrugged her shoulders gently. “It’s fun. We have fun. Even though I’m near constantly tired, in dire need of a shower and covered in spit-up.”
“Yeah, but I bet one you’ll day you’ll wish that you were still covered in spit-up,” Chuck said, then she laughed at how ridiculous it sounded. She shrugged, and when their pie came, she held up her fork and motioned to Verity. “Well, dig in. You deserve it.”
Verity laughed. “Probably.” She said, and gave a little, wistful sigh. “I both can’t wait for her to grow up, and don’t want her to at the same time.” She grinned softly, then gave a thanks as the pie was set in front of her. “Don’t mind if I do!” And together they enjoyed their pie.