・❥・i'm new to writing so once u finish this chapter and you want to leave some advice, please do so!! also some events might be out of order according to how they appeared in the show so just go with it ☺️
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punisher - phoebe bridgers
i. "the only reason i moved to the east side ; i love a good place to disappear."
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MARGARET ADLER'S life had revolved around food since her birth. Her mother owned a small restaurant in Northern California called, Beatrice's Diner. That place was her second home up until her mother's passing.
Shortly after the funeral, her father flipped and sold the land the diner was on, packed everything up and moved back to his home town of Chicago, Illinois with Margaret.
Their new apartment was cold. Empty. It lacked the warmth that her mother provided through her paintings and photographs she had framed around their California home. There was not a family photo around the house. It hurt her father too much to even see his late wife's face.
There was never the pleasant smell of homemade food wafting through the house, just whatever canned items her father picked up along with his 12 pack of beer that would be gone the next morning. Margaret tried her best to master her mother's recipes from her cookbook but always fell short from the lack of ingredients or her father getting drunkenly involved in her cooking process, sabotaging it without meaning to.
Margaret grew up resenting everything her father was.
-★-
"God, I hope this is the right address." Margaret muttered as she approached the sign that read "The Original Beef of Chicagoland". The restaurant had clearly been established for a while or was just kept poorly.
Or both.
She pushed the door open, the hinges squealing slightly, the bell above the door ringing as she stepped inside. Sydney sat slumped over the register, perking up at the sound of the bell.
"You must be Margaret?" she asked, pointing at her with a pen. Sydney walked around counter to meet Margaret. She wore the standard outfit, a white tee with black slacks paired with a blue apron. She extended her hand out and Margaret took it, giving it a firm shake.
A loud crash came from the kitchen followed by a male voice yelling, "Fuck!"
"Um.." Sydney scratched the back of her neck, "Just ignore that. That's Richie." Her pen waved around in her hand as she spoke, "Your application looked great; we're going to show you the ropes today so you can hopefully start tomorrow."
She began to walk to the kitchen and Margaret took this as her que to follow. The kitchen was bustling as everyone was getting ready for the lunch hour rush. It was loud. Exciting.
"We'll just teach you the basics today, like procedures - behind!!" Sydney called out loudly as she walked around a short woman, "That's Tina," she pointed behind her at the woman. "As I was saying, like procedures and stuff." she finished her sentence as they moved away from the kitchen.
They rounded the corner to the 2 rows of lockers in the back. They weren't very big at all, just wide enough to fit a pair of shoes side by side. There was billions of post-its and reminders on the sides of the both lockers.
"Go ahead and pick a locker, doesn't matter." Sydney laughed, "Well it does matter, don't take a locker that's obviously claimed." she smacked her pen repeatedly on her palm.
Margaret winked, "Got it." She picked the locker at the end of the row and set her worn leather coat and beige tote bag on the hooks. She closed it, but the door swung back open. She tried again and got the same result.
Sydney interjected, "Oh, that one does that all the time, you just got to.." she lined her foot up with the bottom, giving it a swift kick, "kick it towards the bottom." Margaret looked down and saw the dents from others in the past doing the same.
Sydney continued to show her around the kitchen, telling her tips on how to get the clunky kitchenware to work, advice on what not to do. "I learned that from experience." she would say every once and awhile. She introduced Margaret to the rest of the staff, and they all took immediate liking to her despite her being an outsider in their world.
Well everyone but one took an immediate liking to her. Carmen Berzatto.
"Carmen," Sydney caught his arm, stopping him, "This is our newest hire, Margaret." Carmen turned back around, irritated. The front of his apron was stained with some type of red sauce, if Margaret had to guess what it was.
Carmen looking at Margaret through the corner of his eye. She was on the smaller side, just below his shoulder. She wore a green, knit top paired with blue denim jeans with 2 red stars on each ass-cheek. Her outfit was completed with her blonde, curly hair.
"Nice to meet you Margaret," he looked at her with his annoyed expression, then back at Sydney, "Can I go? I got something to take care of."
"Yeah, sure, whatever." Sydney spat, clearly ticked off by his rudeness. Once Carmen was seemingly out of earshot, she leaned over to Margaret, "By take of something, he means have a smoke break." she said quietly.
"I heard that!" Carmen called from the front of the store, before opening the door.
Sydney finished up her small tour of the kitchen, which ended near closing time. "You need help cleaning up? I have no where to be." Margaret asked sweetly at the doorway of the restaurant. That was a lie; she had an Al-Anon meeting to attend but if she was late, it wouldn't be the end of the world. She wanted to make a good impression.
Before Sydney could open her mouth, Carmen butted in, "No, we're fine but thank you." he called from the kitchen. She located him and watched him furiously scrub a pan, his forearm veins visible from the force he was putting into the pan.
"Thanks for the offer. Goodnight Margaret." Sydney waved her off from the kitchen. Margaret waved back and left, the door ringing behind her.
"What's her deal?" Carmen asked Sydney as he swept. He held the dustpan with his foot, carefully sweeping the floor contents into it.
Sydney stopped sweeping to look at him, "Who? Margaret?" She put a hand on her hip while the other one held the broom.
Carmen had also stopped sweeping, "Yeah." he paused for a beat, trying to gather his thoughts, "She's just too..."
"Sweet?" Sydney finished for him. Carmen nodded his head then went back to sweeping. He bent over to the pick the dustpan up off the ground. Sydney walked closer to him, "What's wrong with that?"
"She won't last in this environment." He set the broom against the wall and tossed the handheld dustpan into a bucket in the corner, "She seems like a pushover."
He walked to his locker and began to pack his things up for the night. Sydney followed him, walking to her locker and grabbing the contents. "Just give her a chance, you don't even know her." she threw her jacket on, fluffing the hood up.
"I'm usually right about my assumptions." he gave a sarcastic smile as he closed his locker. He leaned against the wall, waiting for a smart-ass response from Sydney.
Sydney zipped her coat up, "Oh really? What was your assumptions about me when we met?"
"Stubborn." He pushed himself up off the wall then headed out of the restaurant, "Bye Syd!"
"Bye." she said grumbled as she flung her pastel scarf over her neck.
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Margaret arrived on the steps on the church for the Al-Anon meeting a little bit early. She pulled out her phone, checking the time. 15 minutes early. She opened the doors quietly, peeking her head in. They were just setting up when she got there.
"Margaret!" the group leader greeted her with an embrace. Margaret offered to help set up for tonights meeting and the leader happily accepted. They set up the chairs in a large circle, taking up half of the space they were allowed in the church. The pool of people slowly started to trickle in as the start time was nearing.
The meeting began, people sharing what they needed to get off their chest for that week. As everyone shared, Margaret scanned the group, looking for new and familiar faces. She was almost through the entire group when she stopped on one.
Carmen sat directly across from her.
He had lost the apron but kept the black slacks and white tee, which was covered by a fleece-lined corduroy jacket. She noticed the red sauce from earlier stained near the collar of his shirt.
The 2 made eye contact by accident, causing both looking away quickly. A minute went by before Carmen suddenly grabbed his backpack and stood up to leave.
"Thank you for joining us Carmen!" The group leader called out. Carmen let out a quick "yup", pushing the church doors open and leaving in what seemed like a hurry.
-★-
Syndey used the slow morning to show Margaret the system they had installed. She was a quick learner, making mental notes throughout the entire training process then was eventually put in charge of prepping the vegetables for tomorrow. Sydney was stationed next to her, in case she needed to ask any immediate questions.
"You know what you're doing, you got it." she reassured.
Throughout the morning, she continuously kept making awkward eye contact with Carmen. When 3:30 rolled around, Margaret excused herself to take her break. She walked out the back door, unaware of Carmen's eyes watching her as she left. He noticed her white shirt was too big for her, most likely one of the extra ones from the back.
If they were on speaking terms, he would've ridiculed her.
Margaret sat down on the wooden crates near the door drawing in a deep breath. She rested her head in her hands as memories of her mother played through her head like a movie. Being back in the kitchen like that reminded her all too much the diner. She lifted her head up, blinking rapidly to hold back the tears welling in her eyes, repeatedly smoothing her apron to try and calm herself down. She stood up just as Carmen had walked out to take his smoke break.
"Hey." she greeted him. He swiftly walked past her, mumbling a "hi" back as he pulled a lighter out of his pocket. He flicked it a few times before it finally caught. There was a long beat of silence before Margaret spoke, "Who was it for you?" she asked, one hand on the door. Her question certainly caught Carmen off guard.
He turned around, wanting to confirm what he just heard, "Excuse me?" he took in a long draw of his cigarette as he waited for her to ask the question again. He watched as she delicately tucked a piece of floppy hair behind her ear.
She cleared her throat, "I saw you at the meeting. Who was it for you?" she asked again, but with less confidence.
Carmen shook his head and turned back around, "Can't a man have a fucking cigarette in peace?" he said, blowing the smoke from his lungs. Margaret huffed and went back inside, annoyed by his response.
Once he heard to door shut, he relaxed. Standing outside in the brisk Chicago weather, he robotically smoked his cigarette, mind empty. He lifted the cigarette to his lips with a shaky hand, taking one last inhale. Flicking the butt on the ground, he exhaled and crushed it with the toe of his shoe.
-
"Why is Carmen so defensive?" Margaret asked as she washed her hands.
Sydney sighed, "That's just Carmy. It's always a guessing game when it comes to his mood." She shook her head as she spoke, "I always just assume the worst."
"Carmy?" Margaret recited as she returned to her station, picking up her knife. She delicately diced the remaining onions on the cutting board, pushing them aside to put away later.
Sydney turned around to stir her boil, "Yeah, Carmy is his nickname. Pretty much everyone uses it. Except Richie. Richie calls him 'Cousin.' I would suggest calling him Carmen for now, I don't think you're at the 'Carmy' level yet." Sydney added, making finger quotations.
Richie's voice cut Margaret off before she could answer, "Margaret, register!" he called from somewhere in the front. Margaret walked to the front, almost bumping into Carmen, who was coming back in from his smoke break.
"Sorry chef." she apologized and kept walking. Carmen just shook his head at her, walking back to his station, still ticked off from her question from earlier.
"Who asks a complete stranger that?" he thought to himself, as he took the meat out from the oven. "Fucking ridiculous." he said outloud.
Margaret sped-walked to the front, but Richie stopped her before she reached the register, "Can I call you 'Margy '? It's just that 'Margaret takes too long to say and 'Margy' is just easier, you know?" Richie asked.
"Um yeah, that's fine." she said as she walked over to the register. She turned back to the customer, "Hi, what can I get you?" she greeted him with smile.
"I didn't like my meal, I want a refund for it." he demanded flatly. He was a larger man, both in weight and height.
"Well, you finished the meal sir, we can't give you a refund." she said, a bit confused by his request.
The man slammed his hand down on the counter, "Listen bitch, I asked for a refund so cough up the money."
Margaret felt her nose sting as she looked over at Richie for help. He shook his head and silently encouraged her to figure it out herself. She turned back to the customer, "If you had something to give back to us, we could've given you a refund-" her voice wavered as she was cut off.
"I want my $9 back, fucking now!" he yelled. Richie set down the label maker and walked over to the register. "You can't get a refund. You ate the meal." he stated.
The man looked at Richie, then Margaret, then back at Richie. He scoffed, "I don't have time for this shit," and turned around to leave.
Margaret sighed, resting against the counter. "You okay?" Richie asked lowly.
She looked up at him, brushing her hair out of her face, "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks Richie."
"Margaret, a word." Carmen had called from his station. She excused herself from Richie, then went to follow Carmen to his office. There was piles of manila folders with papers sticking out of them that read "overdue", "rejected", etc.
"Sit down." he motioned to the chair in front of her. He stood against the wall, with his arms crossed. She timidly sat down, not knowing what to expect from him. She picked at her fingernails as she waited for him to speak.
"Why'd you get into this business?" he finally asked her. He kept his hard stare on her the entire time. She parted her lips to speak but nothing came out.
"What was that?" he asked. She cocked her head slightly, not understanding what he was talking about. "At the register." he clarified.
"There was a customer-" she started but was cut off by him. She bit down on her lip before she could say something rude.
Carmen pushed himself off the wall, "You let him walk all over you. Richie had to step in." he said as he walked to the doorway.
"He didn't walk all over me." Margaret disagreed. Her back was turned to him, so she was not able to see his reaction.
He stopped, turning around to look at her, "If you can't hold your own, maybe this isn't the place for you, California." he said. He hit the doorway twice then left, leaving Margaret with her thoughts.
☆。*。☆。
AU: sorry this is sort of short! again if you have any suggestions on how improve my writing, please tell me!! have a great day/night <3