The Love Shop

"Right away, sir!" she said, hightailing it to Aerith and passing along the order. As Aerith poured the tea, Skuld muttered, "That guy keeps staring at me!"

"Part of the job description was to let the customers stare and flirt," Aerith replied, pouring the green tea in a green Chinese style cup that looked like a bamboo shoot. "You signed up for this and are getting paied for it."

Skuld sighed and took the tea. "I know, I know."

She returned to the creepy guy and said, "Sorry for making you wait. Here's your tea."

Skuld thought for a moment about the guy's comment. He didn't seem so bad, just a little creepy looking. Well, I suppose I should give him a chance. "I'm not sure if the owner picked out the design, to tell the truth. Aerith's the one usually running the place, so I think she might've decorated. I know she's the one who keeps everything organized here."

Curious, Skuld tried to look into the customer's past. It was like hitting a brick wall, though. Must be connected to a Shinigami somehow, she thought, but the guy didn't seem like Kira. "My name's Skuld, by the way. You are...?"

"You know, I'm not even sure if the owner's a man or a woman," Skuld admitted. "I've never actually met the person."

"So do you have any hobbies, Kid?" she asked. Death wasn't a good name, so she decided she'd call him "Kid."

Skuld smiled. Under the creepy staring kid exterior was just a nice, shy guy. "That's better than me," she said with a small laugh. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but I'm rather bad at organizing things. I'm just good at remembering where I put stuff."

It wasn't so bad, talking to Kid. He seemed like a good guy, better than some of the people she'd talked to.

Aerith raised an eyebrow at the man knocking to come into a cafe. He was one of their employees who for some reason had skipped the day before. Sighing, she walked over and opened the door. "You don't have to knock to get in a store," she said, stepping aside. "Well? Aren't you coming in?"

Skuld froze as the new guy entered. Vampire... she thought, paling. She hated vampires. They especially loved the blood of a god. She hoped Aerith knew what she was doing, letting a vampire into the shop.

She noticed another person enter, and quickly bowed to Death the Kid. "I'll be right back," she said, before going over to the other man's table. "Hello. What can I get for you?"

"Coffee. Got it." Skuld went behind the counter and had to pour the coffee herself for once, since Aerith was busy with various employees and a customer. She grabbed some cream and sugar, in case the man might like some in his coffee, and returned to the man and set the cup down carefully.

"Do you play?" she asked, looking at the large cello case. "If you do, you're welcome to play in the shop. A little music would be wonderful."

Right after she asked the man about his instrument, another woman sat across from him. That was perfectly normal in this shop. It was a place to meet new people and grab a bite to eat and perhaps leave with more than just a full stomach.

"Is there anything I can get you, Miss?" she asked the new woman.

Everyone was talking to Aerith all at once again. Of course, that came with the job of pretty much being in charge, so she took it all in stride.

"What should I do first?"

"Well, Skuld pretty much has everything under control right now, so just wait for some more people to come in and--"

"Is she the only other employee?"

"No, no, we have a few others working here, but they're not--"

"Sorry I'm late again--I got caught up in something last night and overslept...again. I'm truly sorry!"

"It's fine, Christie. Skuld and I have managed just fine before you got here. Just don't let it happen again." Aerith smiled and decided to introduce Christie to their newest employee. "Christie, this is Johnny. Johnny, Christie."

Two more customers walked in, one she recognized.

"Aerith, I didn't know you worked here."

Aerith smiled at Cloud. "I didn't know you were coming by here," she said, dodging his comment. "Why don't you have a seat and get something to eat? You look hungry." She was teasing him, of course. She still remembered how much he ate during their various adventures.

Aerith took the letter and read it over quickly. So the boss would be stopping by some time soon. He was a decent manager, but his not being there had forced Aerith to take on the role instead.

"Thank you for delivering this, Cloud," Aerith said, a little disappointed that he wouldn't be staying. "Please, stop by any time. It's nice to see you once in a while."

"One iced tea, coming up!" Skuld went behind the counter, poured the drink, put a slice of lemon on the glass, and then returned. She placed it on the table in front of Miranda and smiled. "If you need anything, just wave me over."

She then glanced over to where Death the Kid had been sitting, only to find him gone. "Where'd he go?" she wondered aloud, but decided he'd probably come back.

Since everyone was served, she joined Aerith by the counter. She was careful to stay as far as possible from the vampire, though.

"An event could work," Aerith said uncertainly, "but what kind of event? We can't give anything out for free--I need Manager-san's permission for that." She looked helplessly at her other employees for a possible idea. "Honestly, I think we're doing fine the way we are. It's just been slow. We had a couple people yesterday."