| Chapter 10 | Fellow Acquaintance | {1}
THE MOMENT Aaron set foot into the shop, he was struck with various smells and sounds, he instantly caught a whiff of a sweet and spicy smell, passing reserved and vacant customer tables, reached to the counter, behind the glass displayed various baking goods
Aaron glances up at the menu board, spotting beverage options, specials, and other delicacies renowned within the little pantry
Distracted in his observations
Paula went ahead “Rojo! Are you here?”
A moment a boisterous voice calls from the back “That you Polly?”
“No, just a stranger calling out for you.” Paula sarcastically replied
“Geez someone must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed.” brushing aside the door beads “And I’m pretty sure you were quite chippy this morning-Oh!”
At the counter stood a petite fair skin woman, with bright red hair, dueled with light baby blue eyes, thin lips, and star-like freckles adorned on her skin
“My, my this is a surprise,” placing herself at the checkpoint, folding her arms over her chest “Now…as much as I would love to hear the tea behind this encounter, I would rather have paying customers, than lookers. So what can I get you both?”
Paula, unphased by her blunt comment, answered “I’ll just have a sprite thanks.”
“That's all for you? Wow,” holding that last syllable for a few seconds “I don’t know whether to feel worried or proud that you're not buying everything from left to right.”
“SIGH…that was one, One time.”
“Yes, and what a financial crisis you were left in.”
Chortling softly to herself, taking a pen, writing down a note, turning to her new customer “And what can I get for you?”
“Umm…” Looking through the glass vendors, indecisive on the various options
Paula sees his confusion, intervening with a suggestion “How about trying the Daily Treat?”
“Daily treat?” He repeated
Rojo then finds it her moment to intercept and answers “Basically it’s essentially my place’s daily special that changes every day,” tapping her pen onto her notepad “Which is either a dessert or pastry.”
“Hmm interesting…so what is your Daily Treat for today?”
Looking over her shoulder to the far right menu board, inscribed in red, yellow, and white chalk illustrated and described the dessert, “Welp today’s treat is a small box of Alfajores.”
Reading the description, he mumbles “...shortbread-like cookies…milk jam?....hmmm”
“It sounds good to try…it’s probably better than what Saul tried to bake.”
Despite muttering that last bit to himself, it was heard clearly by his new acquaintance and her friend, who stared at him as if he had grown a second head on his shoulder
“He did What?” Rojo questioned in disbelief about what her ears just heard
Aaron froze like a deer in the headlights, Sh*t…well…I’m a dead man now.
“Umm…so would you look at that–
“Yeah nice try, don’t dodge the question,” Staring him down with the stink eye
Crap…
He echoed inwardly, contemplating which fate was worse, facing the wrath of this shopkeeper; whose gaze could burn him to ashes on the spot, or face his oldest friend who wouldn’t hesitate to bury him 10ft in the ground alive
Neither was appealing, but neither was avoidable because whether he spilled the truth or not, he was a dead man either way
He stood there trying to figure out a loophole
After all, he had dealt with sibling debacles that were far worse than this, ones that even held grudges for who knows long, and he managed to find a middle ground for both parties to settle upon, so this should be a breeze
Aaron was about to speak — WHACK — Until he received a whack on the head
Eh?
He is tilted forward, looking down at his feet
…
It took him a moment to regain his train of thought, as he asked himself, Did she…just whack me on the head?
He was so dumbfounded, that he couldn’t hear the two friends bickering
Slowly raising his head, composing himself from that…act, he watches the onslaught between Paula and Rojo, his gaze bouncing from side to side, as if was watching a ping pong match (Table Tennis)
He let them continue, waiting for them to conclude, knowing better than anyone, to Never get between two (2) women’s fight
“What were you thinking!?” Paula shrieks “Hitting a customer! Much less a stranger!”
“Well, I ain’t gonna be lied to!”
“That’s your excuse!” Paula squealed in disbelief
“Hey! You're just as curious as I am Polly, and don’t even deny that.” Rojo retorted
“That’s not even the point!” The other groaned in mild despair
The small catfight continued, leaving Aaron in the middle as both the cause and spectator of the situation
Slowly, seeing that the pair were distracted, he scuttled away without suspicion, facing his back to them, and was just about to make a run for it but was caught by the collar, yanking him back, essentially choking him
“Ack!”
Cackling from behind, a demonic-like voice calls out to him “And where do you think you’re going? Huhhh?”
In all his existence, Aaron had only ever felt a shiver down his spine, at one type of people
Gossip Girls
Not only could they scout out juicy gossip, but are willing to go by any means to obtain details whether small or big, to have the full story, a similar personality one of his other siblings had; which at times could annoy you if you were the main target
With that said, his chances were slim of escaping without spilling the beans
Curse my big mouth. He criticised
It may seem dramatic, but when a guy with the personality that was so sour and bitter; making you crave for sweets, learning that said guy not only baked, but baked with a stranger whom you’ve never even of until now
And a Primary source, is more accurate than Secondary source
“Say…what did you say your name was?” Rojo asked lightly tugging at the collar, snapping him out of his thoughts
However, he was struggling to speak, repeatedly in desperation he taps the back of his neck, indicating he was struggling to breathe
“Oh sh*t! Sorry!” Releasing her grasp
Coughing for a moment, he takes short jagged breaths, evening his breathing after being strangled like a child trying to run away from trouble
Taking a step away for safe measure
Tidying himself up, respectfully turning to the owner of an ‘Iron Grip’ with little politeness he had, he questions bitterly “Now that you’ve stopped choking me, would you explain why you had to act as such to get an answer from me?”
“Ummm, well I- you see-”
From Fierce to Sheepish, it was such a cliche at how the tables had turned, it almost made him feel bad…Almost
Slowly his expression morphed with knitted brows and slight wrinkles appearing at his forehead, as much as he detested being the center of attention, he somehow always got caught in the middle...per usual
SIGH…
But admittingly it gave him a sense of deja vu, the nice kind
Which as always, pointed back to his siblings
— — —
MOMENTS LATERS, the trio of unique acquaintances, settled at the corner table, seated with a plate of sweets and savories, accompanied by a drink of their preferences. On the house of course
Shortly after they had spun around each other's questions, answering truthfully or to the best of their ability; AKA omitting the truth, of course
Raising his beverage, he takes a few sips, awaiting the next question to be thrown at him
Which ended up being the question that caused him to spit and choke on his tea
“So… how exactly are you buddies with Saul anyway? Are you secretly like an old man or something?”
PFFFFFTTT!!
It was so random, that he couldn’t comprehend her trail of thoughts, I mean who asks that out of the blue?
COUGH- COUGH– COUGH!
Paula- the sweet angel, repeatedly pat against his back, helping him clear his throat
Once he had regained his composure, he answered politely with a bitter smile “AHEM…I’ll have you know that I am NOT an old geez- I mean old man,” taking a small sip, “-but…he is a fellow confidante of mine.”
At his admittance; not acknowledging his small slip up in his sentence, Rojo began to pester him “Oooohh what kinda secrets has the geezer relinquished to you eh?”
“And why should I tell you anything?” Raising a brow at the question
“Well–we do have a common associate who in simple terms, can be a pain in the–”
“My, my, my…talking about me behind my back are we?”
Saul held a wide grin, as the two girls screeched at a glass-shattering pitch, while Aaron simply sat indifferent to the scene
There behold appearing out of air, almost as if the very mention of him, summoned him to rain hell on those who badmouth him
“Saul.”
“Aaron.”
Both acknowledged each other’s presence, Saul turns towards the other occupants of the table, who stare at him with a forced smile, small beads of sweat falling, both mentally screaming prayers to God
“Paula…and her fellow partner in crime, Boles∤awa [1].”
At the very mention of her name, she hissed like a cat
“Don’t. Call me Boles∤awa.”
Saul simply raised his hands in mock defeat
Whereas, Aaron simply pondered to himself. Does everyone here simply have a vendetta against their first names or something?
Saul then turns his attention to his friend
“As for you...SIGH...you can’t go anywhere without starting a mess, can you?”
Mockingly glaring at Saul, Aaron retorts back claiming “Blame your sh*tty personality, honestly the fact that she was demanding answers to why ‘You’ are nice to me, is both hilarious and embarrassing.”
Both Rojo and Paula sat in their seats both aghast at Aaron’s blunt remark
Before another word was spoken, Saul burst out laughing capturing other customers' attention, leaving many regulars flabbergasted at the sight of the Finance Demon, Laughing out loud
Some checked their drinks to make sure it wasn’t spiked or rubbed their eyes, before they did a double take on the spectacle, making sure it wasn’t a hallucination
Inwardly everyone pondered at the same time. What is happening?
Their question remained unanswered
As Saul’s laugh echoed throughout the eatery
If Aaron now thought he made a small impression on the locals, he was yet to see how much of an impact he would inflict, in the near and far future
More so the fact, that his little visit, may turn into an overdue period for him to rest easy
FOOTNOTES
[1] Boles∤awa /B·ow·Leh·SWAA·Vaa/