— DREADFUL FEELINGS OF DESPAIR season three — episode three
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CHAPTER THREE
THE NEXT MORNING, OLIVER woke up early — despite not having to go to work that day — and headed straight for Starcourt mall. He, Robin, Dustin, and Steve had all agreed to meet up again in the morning to try and crack the code. So far, they were having no luck. Oliver sat on top of the ledge beneath the window that divided the two rooms while Robin stood next to him, headphones sitting on her head with the cassette playing through it. Dustin and Steve had said that they were going to try and figure out what the code was from outside of the parlor, but Oliver knew that was just an excuse for them to play spies.
Oliver furrowed his eyebrows when the bell on the counter started to sound continuously. He turned and smiled at the sight of Erica — Lucas' younger sister — standing behind the counter with an annoyed look on her face. "Robin." He reached over and shook her shoulders, finally getting her attention. She turned and sighed, pulling the headphones off her head. For good measure, Erica rang the bell once more before an innocent smile grew on her face. "I'd like to try the peanut butter chocolate swirl, please."
"No. No more samples today." Robin said through amused — although partially annoyed — laughter. Erica pushed her eyebrows together and frowned. "Why not?" Robin leaned forward and gave her the same innocent smile she had just received. "Because you're abusing our company policy." Erica looked at her with an unamused face, pressing her lips together in a thin line. "Where's the sailor man?" It was obvious she liked Steve more than Robin.
"Sorry, he can't help you. He's busy." Robin answered, turning around to resume listening to the cassette. However, she had to turn right back around when Erica asked more questions. "Busy with what?" Robin gave her a sarcastic smile and simply answered with one word. "Spycraft." She turned around once more and resumed listening. Oliver chuckled lightly and got up from where he was sitting, placing a finger over his lips toward Erica as he picked up one of the sample sticks.
Quickly, he scooped up some ice cream and handed it to her, winking at her when she smiled at him. "Shh." He said and ushered her away before Robin could see anything. Erica nodded and turned on her heel, her friends following after her. He turned back around and hopped back onto the ledge, marking and circling words that he thought were important with a red pen.
Eventually, Robin and Oliver switched places — now she was sitting on the ledge and he was leaning against it, both of them looking at the sheet of paper that had the code on it. "The week is long—." Oliver had already heard the words multiple times, so he already had them planted in his head and no longer had to listen to the cassette. If he wanted to, he could recite it word for word with no mistakes. In fact, he could probably speak basic Russian by now from how much he had studied the dictionary if he was being completely honest.
