Who: Peeta Mellark and Thalia Grace What: Thalia comes to visit Where: Mellarky When: Recently Rating: G Status: Complete
It was just about summer time for the various schools around the area, so business had been picking up lately. More families were coming in and asking for various baked goods, so he had been focusing on that rather than breads and the more ‘boring’ things. Earlier today he had his little group of employees working on some cupcakes and cookies while he finished up a cake order for a birthday that was coming up in a couple days. There had been a bit of fun with some flour in the back and he was still dusting it off when he stepped out into the lobby.
There was something relaxing about getting his hands dirty, but he had to make sure that they stayed clean when he was in the main lobby. But he had missed a spot of flour on his face as he went to take care of a couple of customers before he went into the main seating area to clear a few plates off. The bell on the door went off and he lifted his greet the new person that came in, “Welcome to Mellarky.”
***
“Oh, I know I’m welcome,” Thalia said cheerfully as she stepped in and headed straight for the counter. She’d been in here enough to be a familiar face, even before school had let out, because of her sweet tooth. And thankfully, she had a fast enough metabolism that the pies and donuts she ordered never went to her waistline. At least not yet. There might be a time when Thalia would puff out like the Pillsbury Doughboy, but in the meantime she planned to take advantage of her metabolism as much as she could.
“What have you got for me today, Peeta?”
***
“Oh it’s just you, Thalia,” Peeta teased with a smile. Thalia had become a regular around his bakery and he was just so conditioned to give that greeting automatically when people walked in. Thankfully he was able to relax a little bit as he finished cleaning up the table he was at. When she asked what he had for her today he had to give her a look of confusion, “What? You expect new things when you come here?”
A small smile tugged at corner of his mouth as he walked to the case so he could set the plates down back there. “But hm….since you asked so nicely. Let’s see what’s in the case of wonders today,” he chuckled as he bent down to study the case before straightening back up again, “I’ve got some rhubarb crisp, cream cheese filled snickerdoodles, raspberry brownie cake, pink lemonade cupcakes, peanut butter and jelly cookies.” He could probably keep going, but those were some of the newer things he had made recently. They were doing a lot of experimenting back there.
*** Thalia was drooling even before he had finished. “Yes,” she said with the fervency of a born again Christian at church. “I'll take one of each.”
In addition to a great metabolism, Thalia also had the advantage of a really big allowance. There were many ways in which her life sucked, but her ability to gorge on baked goods was not one of them. And Peeta, bless him, didn't judge her at all. He just seemed amused by the bottomless pit that was her stomach.
***
“One of each?” that earned a couple blinks from Peeta. Even if she had become a regular he was always astounded when someone ordered multiple items in one order. The most amusing thing about Thalia was watching her eat it all. She took her time, but there usually wasn’t a crumb left on the plate by the time she finished up.
“Comin’ right up,” a low chuckle escaped his lips as he bent down to grab one of each item to put it on a plate, “But, you have to give me honest reviews of everything so I know which ones to make again.” It was a small price to pay and he usually cut her a deal on payment, so at least both of them would benefit out of this relationship. He brought the plate over to the register and grabbed her a glass of milk to help wash it all down.
*** “Oh, I'll tell you,” Thalia said. She was never shy about voicing her opinion - but once he set down the pastries, her mouth was too full to say anything.
It wasn't until the plate was almost empty that she spoke again. “Okay, that was really good,” she announced. “You should do the cupcakes and the snicker doodles again. And the crisp.”
*** Watching someone eat was on the top of Peeta’s creepy list, so he made sure to keep himself occupied for the most part when she was trying out the desserts. When he noticed she was on her last piece she came over to her and took a seat in a chair across from her. It was crazy how fast some people could eat and he really hoped she wasn’t the type to get sick later.
“I’m glad you liked them. And I’ll make sure to add those to the list. They’re definitely more summery, so they’re going to sell really well. By the way, if you need something to do for the summer once school is out you can always come work here,” Peeta didn’t offer that up to very many people and he knew who Thalia was and that she didn’t need the money, but it would be good experience.
***
Thalia had a stomach of iron, or at least she had one to date. This didn’t seem to be an exception; she polished off the food without any sort of discomfort. Just a contented sigh.
“That’s sweet,” Thalia said, with full understanding of how much it meant to Peeta to offer the job to her. “But I’m good.”
She paused, thinking of Luke and his job hunt. Dared she suggest him as an option? The only thing was that Luke didn’t exactly have a history of sticking around, even when he’d promised, and she’d hate to leave Peeta in the lurch if Luke did take off again. But maybe if he had a job, he wouldn’t feel the need to…
Thalia tried to quash that bit of hope so she wouldn’t get disappointed down the line, but it was a small seedling in her heart that refused to be trampled.
“If you’re looking for someone, though...I know someone who’s looking for a job. He’s hardworking and charming and good at getting the job done.”
***
It wasn’t surprising that Thalia was good to go on the job front, but he at least wanted to offer it up to her. He could always call her in to taste test things and be something of a consultant when he wanted to try new things. The tried and trues were always good to go, but he wanted to make sure that the new things were going to be good enough to sell in the bakery.
However, he wasn’t expecting her to offer up someone else as a possible job applicant. “Well, you can certainly have him stop by the bakery at some point. I’d be willing to talk to him and see if this might be a place for him to work,” Peeta was usually open to meeting anyone and everyone that wanted to apply here. It was the least he could do.
***
“Yeah, if it comes up I will,” Thalia said, her voice growing distant as her thoughts turned to Luke. Having him back in her life was throwing her off. Her relationship with him had taken place in another place and another time, one she’d neatly segregated from the rest of her life here. Now, he was mixed in with her real life, and with the pain of his betrayal still strong in her mind, she wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. She wanted to be mature about it, but what she really wanted to do was kick him and demand answers for why he’d abandoned her when he’d promised to run away with her.
“Anyway.” She brought her attention back to the here and now. “Do you have an application form or anything, or should I just send him by?”
***
“I would say just have him come drop by. That way I get a good feel for him when he shows up. I like to creep on applicants while they fill the application out,” Peeta commented with a chuckle. He had no idea about Thalia and her relationship with the guy, but he was hoping that she wouldn’t steer him in the wrong direction if he potentially hired the guy.
“So, what else are you up to now? School’s finished, right?” Caroline’s school seemed like it lasted a long longer than most colleges. Hopefully Thalia was out and able to enjoy her summer, “Got any awesome summer plans? I kinda of miss having a summer vacation, but I also don’t miss doing homework.”
*** Thalia nodded and wiped her mouth once she'd finished off even the crumbs. “Yeah, trying to figure out what to do for the summer. A few people are talking about going to Nice, but I dunno.” She'd thought about it, if for nothing else than to get away from the stupid paps, but now that Luke was here, she wasn't so sure. There was too much left unspoken between them for Thalia to risk taking off while he might do the same.
“What about you?” she asked. “You have the shop and everything, but do you plan to take any time off?”
*** “I’m taking my girlfriend out on a trip up to the Northern part of California after she finishes her finals. But other than that, not a whole lot planned. Maybe I’ll talk to her about figuring out another vacation while she’s on summer break. And Nice would be fun - what’s stopping you from that?” Peeta would have jumped at the chance to go abroad when he was younger, so he would probably tell Thalia that she should at least go for a brief period of time. It might get boring after a few weeks, but you never knew. Sometimes vacations turned into more work than you bargained for.
*** “Some stuff that’s going on,” Thalia replied with a shrug. She didn’t want to get into her whole history with Luke here. She liked Peeta, but that was a whole lot of drama to dump on someone who was keeping her happily fed. Thalia wanted to keep their relationship happy and uncomplicated.
“Anyway, it’ll get sorted out one way or another.” Because either she’d get some closure, at which point she could leave, or he would’ve taken off by then and there would be nothing to keep her here. “Thanks for the pastries. They were awesome.”
*** “Well, hopefully you pick the right thing for you and you don’t regret your decision. Take some time to think about it and search your soul,” okay, maybe baking pastries had turned him a bit soft in his years, but he knew what it was like to have regrets about things. Hopefully Thalia would get her things figured out quickly and it would end up in happiness, “And you’re welcome. Feel free to stop in more often now that you’re out of school.”
*** “Mellarky: come in for the pastries, stay for the advice,” Thalia joked. Her smile was warm, though; she appreciated him looking out for her, in his way. In a place where fakery and false friendships abounded, Peera was one of the precious few sincere people around. That, more that the delicious goodies, was what kept bringing her back.
“I'll see you soon, Peeta. Thanks for everything.”