Chapter 52

A/N: Book will be locking after this chapter.

I hope you'll continue supporting it though.

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Celeste had to do a double take as she stopped right outside the coffee shop. She couldn't believer who she was seeing inside talking with the manager. A small part of her had hoped that they were just there like other customers to get coffee and would be leaving shortly.

This hope got dashed however when she saw the other walk behind the counter and get ready to put the work uniform on. She really couldn't believe what she was seeing. Diana was supposed to be the coworker who was coming back?!

She didn't look half as much of the crazy lady as she had looked the other day when she barged into her apartment, but that didn't make the other any less intimidated by her being there. She was supposedly the same type of thing that Bane was after all. That was daunting in and of itself.

Celeste knew that she couldn't stand outside forever without risking being late for work again. She didn't want Edgar to write her up for it since she was actually really starting to like her job and didn't want to end up getting fired for something so simply.

"Welcome! How might I help you today?" Diana asked in a cheerful tone of voice when she heard the tinkle of the bell that signaled that the shop door had been opened. Her kindness faltered when she noticed that the person who had come through the door was Celeste. She didn't miss the look of disgust that quickly flashed over the other's face before it vanished behind a cheerful façade.

"Perfect timing. You two can get a chance to meet already." Edgar said eagerly as he came over to where the two girls were standing.

"I hope that the two of you won't have too much of a problem getting along. I know that you're just getting back to work Diana but try to get along with all the new people." he told her gently as he stepped to the side to allow the two of them to shake hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Diana." The other girl greeted in a fake sweet tone of voice. Even though it was the farthest thing from sincere, she managed to get the emotion to reflect in her eyes somehow though.

"Likewise. I hope that the two of us will be able to work well together." Celeste replied as she took the other's hand to shake it. She winced however when it felt more like the other was trying to crush her hand rather than actually shaking it. For such a thin girl, Diana certainly managed to have have a lot of power.

"Don't waste too much time trying to get schedules sorted out or anything. We can just focus on getting that done as time goes by. Customers will be here soon and I want everything to be near ready as possible for them." Edgar informed them.

Celeste had no problem with this. She had presumed that Diana would be the one to run the machines since she had always been tasked with taking customer orders and and getting any of the baked goods for them.

This however turned out to be the wrong assumption on her part. Diana insisted that since she hadn't been in there in a while that it was only fair that she be the one to handle the customers so that Celeste could take a break from having to deal with people and work with something lighter. Celeste didn't like the way that the other said it, but refrained from saying anything against her better judgement.

When Pepper came into work, she was even less thrilled than Celeste had been. It was evident that she didn't like the other girl all that much either. She did what she needed to do and avoided too much communication if possible. Celeste didn't have that luxury however. It seemed as though Diana was intent on making her life difficult if she could get away with it.

It was subtle things like critiquing the way she poured something or how long she blended the ice or mixed the ingredients together. The order of ingredients was wrong in one drink, it needed longer to be mixed together in another. Less ice, warm up the milk more so it'll stay hot longer.

Of course the way that she said it made it sound like innocently sweet advice from a veteran work to a newcomer. Celeste wasn't any less bothered by it however. She had done a fine job putting drinks together when she had to previously. After all, she always served Bane's coffee the right way, didn't she?

At least Diana hadn't spilled anything all over her yet like she had seen in movies when two girls were 'arguing' over a guy. Did this crazy human not already understand the fact that she had no interest in Bane despite whatever crazy things the human not-human might have been thinking that attracted him to her.

It wasn't like she could complain to Edgar about the issue either. She knew that he would just tell her to give Diana a chance since she is just coming back to work after a major family thing. It was only fair that she was given more grace.

From Celeste's perspective, it seemed as though the woman had been given grace far too many times and eventually needed to learn how to rightly handle things or understand what she was doing herself if she wanted to be successful.

Celeste didn't want to give up her job though if this was what she was going to have to deal with each day. One or two days were fine, she could understand bad days and mistakes happened. More than that though and it was going to start becoming a real problem.

She managed to survive the first day after a struggling conversation with Diana about one last order from a customer. She didn't think that it was a difficult order, but the other woman was making it harder with the confusing questions she asked. It was coffee. It shouldn't have been that hard to put it together.

"Why don't you just let the woman write it down if the two of you are going to be like that?" Pepper suggested. She was near the end of her rope as well with Diana even though it was only her first day back and she wasn't bothering the other woman.

Diana shot Pepper an annoyed look, but did what she recommended anyways. It really wasn't that had to get coffee together and ready for the customer. Most of them didn't want anything fancy in the first place either.

Celeste couldn't help but wonder if this was how things were going to be if she would really be able to handle the upcoming week?