talk - beabadoobee
iv. "why'd you have to be so complicated?"
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"Hey Marcus!" Margaret greeted as she walked into the restaurant. She walked into his small bakery corner carrying a box, "I got you.." she said as she opened the box, "a new stand mixer." she smiled, showing him the contents of the box. "I know it's small but your current one is so clunky and loud-"
Marcus cut her off with a quick hug, "It's great, thank you, Margy" he let go and slipped it out of the box and set it down gently.
"Oh now you too with the 'Margy'?" she said sarcastically.
Marcus shrugged, "Blame Richie." Marcus said as he started to toy around with the settings.
"What about me?" Richie asked, rounding the corner and peering into the bakery. "Woah-oh-oh, what the fuck is this?" he asked, observing the mixer.
"It's a new mixer I got for Marcus. It was on sale so," she said to Richie.
"Sick."
She gave Marcus and Richie a small wave then continued through the kitchen to the lockers. Sydney smiled as Margaret walked over, "Hey girl."
Margaret opened her locker with a creak, "Hey Syd." she smiled, slinging the tote bag off her arm and hanging it on the hook. She shrugged off her puffy coat and hung it over the tote bag.
Sydney shrugged, "So..I overheard you got Marcus a gift," she said as she tied her apron around her waist, "I was just wondering when I was going to get a gift," she leaned against the lockers, hands behind her back, "from you." she quickly added, in her loveable, awkward tone.
Margaret sat on the bench to tie up her non-slip shoes, "As soon as I see something on sale that reminds me of you, I'll get it." she sympathetically touched her heart as she stood back up.
She pulled her apron out from her locker, then kicked the silver door closed. Her and Sydney walked to their stations together as Maragret tied her apron around her waist. As they prepped, they jumped from topic to topic, content with the quietness of morning.
Carmen came into the building frazzled, quietly mumbling under his breah. He sped walked through the kitchen then went into his office, slamming to door shut. Everyone looked around, silently sharing the confusion.
"What the hell is his problem?" Tina asked with a confused look on her face. Sydney and Margaret looked at her, then shrugged their shoulders as they continued prep. Tina dismissed it with the wave of her hand then went back to searing the meat.
Carmen was in his office for about an hour, sorting through files upon files before he opened the door back up.
"I'll be right back." Margaret said, excusing herself from her station. She smoothed down her apron as she slowly approached Carmen's office. She leaned against the doorframe, softly knocking on the side. She watched as he furiously scribbled in a notebook, adding up numbers and writing notes next to calculations.
He looked up at the sound of knocking, then back down at his paper, "Shouldn't you be prepping?" he asked, still writing. He seemed agitated by her presence. Annoyed.
"Yeah but-" she started but was cut off by him sighing.
"Go back to prep." he said, still not looking up from his writing. He paused looking at the numbers, only his harsh breathing filling the air. He smacked his hand on the table which caused Margaret to jump. He stood to leave, clearly frustrated about something unrelated to their conversation,
"I wanted to talk to you." Margaret said, a hint of conviction in her voice. He brushed past her, bumping her shoulder by accident. Or potentially on purpose. It was impossible to tell with him,
"Then walk with me." he called out, looking back quickly. "Behind!" he walked around Ebraheim to the front and around the counter. She rolled her eyes, pushing off the door frame of his office and followed him to the front.
He popped the register open, and started counting the money in it, sifting it from one hand to the other. "I have an idea on how to grow business. You know, get more people in here." she stared at him, waiting for him to be done counting the money.
He stopped messing the register, looking up at her. He narrowed his eyes, waiting to hear her pitch, "And what would that be?" he asked as he leaned against the register counter, crossing his arms. She could see the indent his fingers made on his arms as he failed to relax.
"Well," Margaret tried to compose herself. "make business cards then slip them into each order." she said, anxiously waiting for his response. She picked at the skin around her fingernails, then silently scolded herself for. He let out a dry laugh, looking away from her.
Looking back, he stared at her for a moment to see if she was truly serious, "You want is to make hundreds of business cards and slip them into each of our take out orders?" he paused and Margaret nodded her head, "It would be a waste of time and money."
She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Tina yelling her name, "Margaret, dishes!" she called out from the kitchen. A few bangs and clanks followed her voice afterwords.
Margaret looked back at Tina, giving her a thumbs up. She turned back to Carmen, "Can we continue this conversation by the sink?" she asked, her eyes begging him.
He let out of long sigh then motioned her to lead the way. She whispered what sounded like a "thank you" as she walked past him. She quickly walked over to the sink and began to wash the dishes that were left by Tina. "Imagine how much business these could potentially bring in. You need to pay off that debt somehow." she shrugged as she dried off a plate, setting it into the growing pile.
Carmen pinched his brows together, growing annoyed, "I don't care how much goddamn debt this place is in, and I hate to break it to you but we're a resturant not a printer." He glanced over his shoulder to monitor what Richie was doing with the new shipment of food then turned back to her, "Do you know how expensive card stock and that shit is? We don't have the money to just go out handing cards with every takeout order."
Margaret stared at him defeat.
"And do you think our customers would actually take the time to read the cards?" he said, shifting his position from foot to foot.
"If they were loyal customers-" she started, but was cut off by him once again. She could feel herself growing increasingly irritated as this conversation went on.
"Loyal customers." he sarcastically laughed, "There's no such thing as 'loyal' customers. If our menu turned to shit, how loyal would they be then?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "How about you dry those dishes instead of worrying about my problems." he rudely spat.
Margaret huffed, not letting go of her idea despite his refusal, "I know it sounds stupid but I talked to the others. They think it's a good idea." she said, rinsing off a plate.
His grip on the countertop tightened and he clenched his jaw to keep from yelling but it was clear he was mad. "Really?" he scoffed, "You talked to the others and they agreed with you?" he glared before looking around the kitchen, seeing everyone had momentarily stopped their tasks, "Hey! I don't pay you all to stand around and gossip so get the fuck back to work." he yelled, the veins in his neck bulging out. He breathed heavily as he looked back at Margaret.
Margaret wore a concerned expression, brows furrowed together. "Why are you acting like this?"
He clenched and unclenched his fists at his side, "Because you think you know what's best for this restaurant, and apparently, everyone else agrees with you." he yelled, raising his voice with each word.
Margaret dried off a plate as she spoke, "Carmen, I'm sorry you feel that way but-" the plate slipped out of her hands and landed on the floor. She let out a small yelp and knew this would be Carmen's last straw.
The look of annoyance spread over his face as he watched the plate shatter onto the floor. "Just. stop." he held out his hand to get her to stop talking, "Just drop it. Then clean this up." he motioned to the plate on the floor.
Margaret shamefully walked over to grab the broom and dustpan. the shuffled back over. She tossed the dustpan on the ground, stabilizing it with her foot then began sweeping. "Can you at least hear me out on the business card idea?" she asked pathetically. Her hair was falling over her face as she looked up at Carmen through her brows.
He raised an eyebrow and sighed, taking a deep breath, "Fine. I'll hear you out but I'm not promising anything." He stepped away from the countertop, turning to lean against the wall. "Make it quick." he crossed his arms.
He carefully watched Maragret sweep to make sure she didn't miss a single piece. "I don't have an exact plan yet. But I just want you to think about the idea." she said as she dumped the glass into the trash. She stood up and set put the broom & dustpan back then returned to her station. Carmen was still in the same position, the same annoyed look on his face.
"I will think about the business cards you suggested, and I'll probably hate the entire idea just as much as I did 2 minutes ago." he said coldly. "But I'll think about it, for now." he added.
Margaret could feel her confidence coming back, proud of her small progress, "Promise?" she held out her pinky.
Carmen stared at it, then turned to leave, "I'm not doing that again." he said with his back to her. She could see his back muscles move against his t-shirt as he walked away.
Margaret lowered her arm, a bit hurt and feeling stupid, returning to wash dishes. As she scrubbed, she could hear a pair of fast footsteps coming up being her. She turned around to see Carmen holding his pinky out, in-patiently waiting. She smiled, interlocking hers with his, then went their separate ways.
Once Carmen was out of eyesight, Margaret walked over to Sydney's station, watching her prep. Sydney looked up at Margaret and just shook her head, "You're..you're crazy." she smiled, pointing a knife at her.
"Woah, woah!" Margaret held her hands up as if she were under arrest. The 2 girls laughed, then Margaret settled into helping Sydney. "What's his problem?" she asked, grabbing an onion from the pile to begin dicing it.
Sydney sighed then set her knife down, "There was about 20 pounds of meat missing from the delivery this morning. So that's what has him all worked up." She pursed her lips together, having the same frazzled look Carmen had earlier when he first walked in.
"Stupid fuckers." Richie walked by, eating an apple. "They revoked part of the order because we owe money to them. And they didn't fucking tell us ahead of time!" he threw his arms up in the air.
"Richie can you like.." Sydney pushed him a foot or two away from her station, "back up a bit. I don't need apple in my stuff." she demanded, walking back backwards to her station. She picked up her knife and continued to dice the onions.
"Oh come onnn," he looked over at Margaret, "tell Sydney I'm not a slob, Margy." he joked. Margaret shook her head, focusing back on prep.
"Whatever," Richie waved his hand, "I can't be over here much longer otherwise I'm gonna start fucking crying." he yelled as he walked away.
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"Fucking buisness cards." Carmen mumbled under his breath, laughing on how stupid the idea was. He turned the fan on in his office and got to work on the finance papers. Over time, he slumped over his desk and began to drift off.
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"But I'll think about it, for now." Carmen glared, as if he was daring her to bring it back up. She shook her nodded her head, walking over.
They have never been close like this. Sure, there was plenty of times they had been close, Carmen practically breathing down her back while she cooked. But never this type close. Intimate.
"Thank you." Margaret gave his forearm an innocent squeeze. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when she touched him. "What was that for?" he asked, his expression softening. His eyes darted around her face, observing every part of it.
"I'm sorry, I squeeze people's forearms as a sign of reassurance. It's something my mother did to me and I picked up on it. It's weird, I know." she softly laughed, giving him a cheeky smile.
He glanced at her hand still on his forearm, then back at her. "Well, it is kinda cute. When you do it." he added.
She innocently looked up at him with her doe eyes, licking her lips, "Yeah?" She could see his cheeks flushing with color as she egged him on.
His eyes dropped to her lips as the sides of his mouth pulled up into a smile, "Yeah...real cute." He was quiet for moment as his eyes lingered at her lips for just a little to long.
She took a step towards him, "How cute?" she smoothed back a curl that had flopped over onto his forehead during their argument.
His breath hitched as he felt her body graze against him. The heat from her body radiated through the fabric of his shirt, "Extremely." he whispered, leaning down just enough so she felt his breath on her neck.
"You're real quick with those responses." she quietly joked, looking at his eyes then down at his lips.
He smiled at the compliment, his eyes locked on her lips. He moved his face closer to hers, just so they cenitmeters away. He bit his lip to hold back from kissing her, meeting her gaze.
"You wanna see how quick I can really be?"
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Carmen woke up to the slam of a heavy folder next to his head, "Wake up asshole." Richie said, looking down at Carmen, "Why the fuck are you sleeping?"
Carmen rubbed his eyes and sat up, "Fuck off cousin." he groaned, stretching his arms out. Richie dismissed him. a sour look painted on his face, then walked away.
"What the fuck was that?" Carmen thought to himself.
The rest of the day was pretty odd for the both of them. Margaret was much quieter than her typical self. Carmen had tried to avoid her the rest of the day, rather walking around the whole kitchen than have to say "Behind" as he walked by her.
Everyone had left for night, leaving Margaret to mop the front and Carmen in his office, still tackling the papers. She mopped the front, taking her time as she listened to music. She moved around to the beat of whatever song was on, makin the mundane task enjoyable. She was still ticked off at Carmen for exploding at her earlier though.
She wheeled the mop and bucket to the back, kicking the door open with her foot. "Watch it." Carmen called from his office. He stopped what he was doing and listened for anymore banging or a smart-ass response from her.
"Fuck off." she mumbled under her breath as she dumped the dirty water outside. She closed the door, a bit too hard just so Carmen would be pissed off, then wheeled the mop bucket back to the sink. She grabbed the faucet, the hose extending just far enough to reach the bucket. She turned the water on, watching the bucket fill up slowly.
Carmen came out of the office, clearly exhausted. He looked at the bucket then at her, "What are you doing?" he watched as Margaret filled the mop bucket.
She looked at him in confusion before answering. "Filling the bucket up.." she said, taking an earbud out.
"What was wrong with the water in it before?" he asked, putting his hand on his hips. He could not look more unserious than he did right now. He elected to move his arms off his hips and crossed them across his chest instead.
Margaret turned off the water, wheeling the bucket and mop back to its corner, "It was disgusting." she said, turning back around.
Carmen leaned with his back against the sink, both hands gripping the ledge, "Was there mouse guts in it or something?"
"No, but it's fucking nasty. If you want to be mopping the restaurant with that," she walked over to the lockers, "go ahead. There's a reason this place got a C last time." she said, pulling her apron over her head and hanging it up.
Carmen chewed on his lip in annoyance. Annoyed that that she was right. But, of course, he would never admit that.
"Whatever." he said, walking over to the lockers to join her. He turned his back to her as he took off his apron, hanging it on the hook in his locker.
Margaret scoffed and turned around, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." he answered, still not turning around. A lie. His rather intimate dream had him looking at Margaret in a light that he did not want shown on her.
"Carmen, don't bullshit me." she pressed, turning around to sit on the bench. She off her non-slip shoes and slipped her Birkenstock clogs on, standing back up.
Carmen slammed his locker shut, a bit harder than he intended. "Nothing. is. wrong. chef." he said, taking a pause between each word. He set his backpack on the bench as he put on his coat, "I'm fine." he tried to reassure. He knew it was essentially impossible to do due to her overly kind attitude.
"Well obviously not." Margaret said, throwing her coat on. She pulled her hair out from her coat, the curls falling in a big, blonde pile on her back. "I thought we were friends now. That was the deal." she said, referencing the agreement they made back when they catered for the children's party.
"It's just.." he paused, sighing and collecting himself, "This place is in a financial grave. And I'm struggling to fix it." he breathed.
Margaret nodded, closing her locker with a kick, "Is that why?" she asked, slinging her tote back over her shoulder.
"Yep."
"Ok. Night." she said curtly, walking away. She returned the same rudeness that Carmen had dished out to her earlier. He didn't respectfully dismiss her idea so why should she acknowledge his feelings?
"Maggie." Carmen breathed, looking at the ground. She turned back around, looking almost pitiful. "I'm sorry chef." he said, looking back up at her. His eyes stared a hole into Margaret's body.
She gave him a saddened smile, "It's ok." she said quietly, giving him a small wave as she left for the night.
Carmen let out a heavy breath as he went around to power off all of the machines. He flicked off the "open" sign in the front and walked outside. "What the fuck am I going to do?" he said outloud, then began walking to his house.
END
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AN: apologies for this chapter being so random, i've been swamped with schoolwork so it's been hard to right good quality chapters. next 2 chapters will be good though, i promise.
with love,
marlowe