Cosplay Shenanigans

19 - of repeated offender and stupid loser

With pink hues tinting her cheeks, the clumsy server skittered straight to the kitchen, disappearing from everyone's penetrating gazes. Can't blame her.

Jasmine shrugged nonchalantly, before she withdrew her attention towards an old lady who was waving her hand. Well, that left Mairi to be serving this man Michelle had abandoned and should have been grateful for. Strangely, his brown eyes glittered when they hovered over her, while his smile ripped into one cheeky grin. It seemed as though he had known her for a long time, and that they finally met again.

"Oh hey, you're Abel's friend!" He exclaimed out of the blue, nearing her when she lent him the menu. "Thanks for helping him!"

Abel?

Mairi blinked, before she surveyed this man up and down. With disheveled charcoal hair sweeping to the left side of his face, it complemented his black polo shirt and denim shorts. Did he look familiar? Shockingly, her mind concurred, fishing out past images of this particular customer and shoving them right in her sight. One of his friends? Definitely not that dumpling boy.

"Do I know you?" Mairi questioned.

The man's smile shriveled. "Goodness me, how did you not even remember me?" He sulked. "You're always the one helping me!"

"Too many regulars. It's tiring to remember them all," she muttered, pulling out her notepad and pen. "But I see you know Abel. If you're here to visit him, he's not in today."

"Brother. I'm his older brother. Jethro's my name." His toothy grin returned as fast as it had disappeared, as he wiped his hand on his pocket before he bestowed it to her. "Also I'm not exactly planning to visit him... Like I said, I'm a regular."

Jethro. Epiphany towered over her like a skyscraper, then it crashed hard upon her. Flashbacks of Abel launching into all kinds of rants about him came flooding into her head. This was the same dude who caused her friend to nearly greet him with a thrown fist if not for her. He better thanked me for that or his teeth would have been gone.

Mairi found herself clicking and unclicking her pen while she shook his hand, but she kept her poker face. "Well then, I've heard a lot about you," she commented. "Not a lot of pleasant things, it seems."

His chest went up and down as deep laughs emanated from him. "That's mean, but coming from Abel himself, I can see that. I'm not all that bad though, I'm just being a wise and sincere man."

The purple-eyed server might not mutter a word, but inside, her nerves instantly shriveled and her muscles contracted from all the endless waves of cringe. Both the brothers might contain that same exact energy of spreading their egos far and wide, but at least Abel's pride never reeked like rotten eggs. Never did she experience difficulties of having to maintain her deadpan look. I feel bad for Abel now.

"But how was he here?" Jethro interrogated. "He's not lazing around is he?"

"For a lazy person, he sure does learn pretty fast and follows all of our orders, so he's doing better than you think. Thanks for your concern though, surely Abel will appreciate that," Mairi paused to take a breath. "So what are you gonna order for today?"

"Hmm, that's cool." He paid no heed to what she asked. "Abel's usually slacking back home... reading and watching those weird Japanese stuff and then dressing up like some kid. I guess he studies, but then he goes back to those things." He shrugged. "Okay, I got one of his comics, and that was actually good, but my point is he needs to step up and get in touch with reality. And finally... after like years... he woke up! I guess you guys helped open up his mind?"

The restaurant's ambiance and Mairi's clicking pen quickly filled in their conversation, leaving the man's question to hang in the air. Behind her straight lips she strove to maintain, she clenched her teeth. A variety of emotions began swirling in her head, battling against each other as they tried to gain control of her actions.

Wow.

Just, wow.

Finding the perfect description to convey her thoughts was like searching for common sense in whatever this guy had spat out. His thought-process... was way beyond her comprehension, so his speech did not deserve even her slightest commentary. However, Mairi was his only audience, while the rest of the world simply went about.

No choice but to say something.

"... I was about to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I really shouldn't have stopped Abel from going at you." It took every ounce of her energy to even utter all of this out. "Thanks to you, I now understand why your brother throws crap at you."

Jethro contorted his face. "Wait, what do you mean...?"

"You're wise. Surely it won't take you time to figure it out." She crossed her arms. "At least you're sincere enough to make fun of him and never care to see his passion and what he can do. Perhaps one day, he'll climb to the top and end up being more experienced than you... but if that's how shallow your mind is, guess I can't say much."

He immediately closed his mouth and fiddled his hands into his pockets.

"But hey, what do I know?" She went on. "You're hearing this from someone who also loves reading and watching weird Japanese stuff and then dressing up like some kid." She whirled around, but not before she pointed at her chest. "Definitely not wise to take advice from this stupid loser."

When her raising voice trembled at the two last words, she immediately flounced off and blocked off Jethro's distant calls. She didn't bother taking his order — Jasmine could deal with that — as with a lowered head, she mindlessly trudged to the kitchen. Her heart was practically bludgeoning her chest to its breaking point as her lips fumbled for breaths.

This was the same feeling I had when I was with Mama.

The storm of words rolling off her tongue as she shook Mama's shoulders, the unexplainable weight inside of her, and the way Mairi finally left her dangling in her chair... it was all feeling too similar.

"You, a cosplayer of all things?" Mama cackled. "You've always disappoint your mommy further and further... what a stupid loser, just like your father..."

That slurred remark had been haunting her ever since. No matter how much she tried getting rid of it... it somehow latched onto her again and again. Well, a very heavy sigh and a subsequent view of Mama's poker chip were the proper responses to all of this.

Ow. A pang of pain suddenly tore through her neck. My throat hurts.

***

A/N: After months of not updating, I finally published one with full Mairi's POV! Life has caught up on me combined with writer's block, but I hope you enjoy the entire chapter :) Thanks for reading and supporting my book <3