Distractions Are Defeat (Michelle)

[Emil Leverato]

Past the Midtown Bazaar lie quaint shops where college students seeking to live a semi-normal life rented apartments and worked in the shops below. Consequently, this area became a hang out of sorts for college students, young adults, and people generally looking for a quiet area to stay. The mall was for the rowdy groups that were looking for a good time. The largest bunch of friends to walk into a store around here was at least three people, four if there was some kind of double date going on. Emil watched all of these little details spring up as she worked as a barista for Coco's Coffee and Cakes. She generally had the time to survey the kinds of people that floated in and out of the shop. It was a steady stream, never busy but never dull and the college kids always tipped well enough. She enjoyed her time here and listening to the conversation that fluttered around the room. It was a calming area, probably why Coco's was one of the hottest on the block.

Coco had taken Emil in as a favor for Miss Xiu Xun, at first as a grudge. "Don't need no young working here. Already turned down too many. Don't need you." Emil took the first few months in stride, doing her best to finish everything at the pace Miss Coco demanded while staying on top of her studies. Eventually Miss Coco warmed up to having an assistant, though never outwardly. Even still, after living above the shop for three years, Miss Coco bossed Emil around like it was the first day she arrived. With no raise but not having to pay rent since she didn't use much electricity or hot water, Emil found it a cozy lifestyle living on minimum and needing little. Her job wasn't difficult and the people weren't usually rude. She had enough spare time for learning and the library and she often got to come and go as she pleased before and after service hours. It was just the perfect fit for Emil.

Emil was behind the counter today, her nose stuck in a new book she had bought. While she glanced up briefly every now and then, she was slower than usual today. Her regulars noticed but didn't mind because they understood that the girl worked hard and they allowed her a bit of leeway. As it was, she was usually on top of things the rest of the time. But today she was slower and a customer, a new one, came up and complained, demanding to know what was so important about a silly book rather than her job. The girl -around 19 or 20- demanded to speak with the manager but Emil told er Miss Coco wasn't in and she apologized for her tardiness. "Whatever. This service is ridiculous. I'm out of here, and don't expect me back!" The girl turned on her heel and stormed out, pushing past a pink haired girl who had come in. Emil heard muttering and felt a cloud come over her. "Good riddance. Don't worry about it Em, we understand." Emil offered a nod to Mickey, one of her classmates who came in practically every day and tried to stick up for her when he could. But the customer had really hit Emil and she felt bad for taking her own time. She put the book away and walked over to the girl who had been pushed, leading her to a table. "I'm sorry you had to receive the butt end of that." Emil tried not to look as upset about it as she felt. She was used to people getting aggravated with her -Miss Xiu Xun was regularly and called her worse than ridiculous- but this was a customer. Probably popular by her looks. Emil supposed she was just worrying that the girl would go around and spread something about the shop and the "service". "What can I get for you, miss?" Emil raised her eyebrows and looked up at the girl. She rarely smiled at a customer but at least tried to look interested so as not to seem rude.

[Michelle Belmont]

Michelle had decided to meander through the Bazaar, waiting for her classes to begin. She was always up so early and found herself unable to sleep in. It frustrated her greatly many times because her first class was not until 10:20, and she was often woken whenever the sun rose. She usually attempted to go back to sleep, but she had decided this particular day to try and do something "normal" for once. Of course, nothing about the young woman was normal, right down to her hot pink hair, which she noted needed to be dyed again, especially at the roots. Brown was starting to show and she felt sadness creep into her heart. It had been such a long time since she had lost her father, but that did not mean she forgot about him. She had started dying her hair after her mother died, as if to push away who she used to be and try to adapt a new identity. Unfortunately, she was still weak enough to be restrained and helpless while knives sliced into her skin. She was almost sure that he thought he was helping, but, really, the magic was driving her insane as well as shortening her lifespan. She shook her head, clutching her messenger back tighter while quickening her pace. She greeted the desk clerk with a small, sweet smile on her lips before continuing on. She sympathized with the poor woman; she was going to have to work that afternoon after she got out of class. She glanced at her black wristwatch and sighed. 8:30 am.

After getting shoved aside several times, Michelle decided that she was going to go a little bit beyond the Bazaar itself to the shops at the end of the street. Many people in her classes talked about the little coffee shop run by Coco, rambling on about how great the service, food, and coffee was. Of course, Michelle was not much of a coffee drinker, but she had never really given it a try before. It was not like it was alcohol or anything; it was perfectly legal for her to drink, so there were no problems, right? With that thought in mind, she meandered down to the little cafe that everyone raved about. She was just about to step in the open door when a well-dressed young lady stormed out, shoving her aside. She looked startled for several minutes before shaking her head a little and stepping inside. She was the quiet type, so, sometimes people saw right through her. She supposed articulation was better than observation in this town, but she could not help herself. Sketching was a passion of hers, and, usually, the subject had to stay completely still in order for her to get an accurate rendition. Of course, most of her subjects were strangers that were passing by, so all she could really get before they left was a profile, or, if she was lucky, the subject's eyes. She put her thoughts of drawing and sketching aside to wander up to the counter to see what kind of food was there. None of it piqued her interest in particular; she was more of a candy girl, not a baked goods one. She glanced up from the glass case to see a young man with short, brown hair and big, brown eyes staring at her. A blush crept across her cheeks and she tried to find the words that she wanted to use to order. She was not used to being paid much attention to, since she really did not address anyone in the first place. 

"O-Oh, it's alright... U-um, may I have a small latte and an apple danish, please?" she asked quietly, only loud enough for the barista (baristo?) to hear. She noticed that there was a book on the counter and she bent over a little to see the title. She pulled up her shirt out of habit and blushed darker when she heard a whistle from behind her. She muttered under her breath before moving aside, wandering over to a table to sit at. She looked at the young man running the counter slowly pulling out her sketchbook and watching him as he worked. A small smile crossed her face as she started to sketch him; his features were slightly more feminine, but that was alright. He was kind of cute, after all. Of course, the other young man she had met was also cute, but there was something about him that unnerved her, even if she did not know what it was. Thankfully, this young man gave her a pleasant "vibe" so to speak, and the cafe was not particularly busy, so maybe she could make friends with him.

[Emil Leverato]

Emil noticed the girl's blush and inwardly groaned. she thinks I'm a guy, doesn't she? Not again. Emil sighed to herself but gave a smile, polite smile and nodded when she told her what she wanted. "It'll be right out" She noticed her looking over at her book and went to ask if she recognized it when someone whistled. Emil looked up with a glare and noticed it was one of Mickey's friends. "Mickey I think you guys have over-welcomed your stay." Mickey kicked the whistler under the table. "Aw c'mon little E, you're not kicking us out again are you?" Someone snickered from the other side of the room and called "That's the third time this week!" "And it's only Tuesday!" The whole cafe broke out in laughter and Emil had to turn her head so they customers wouldn't catch her smile. It was true. Whenever they were being bigots, Emil kicked them out. They were always back sooner or later because Mickey was the closest thing she had to a friend. Emil finished the drink for the customer and got her apple danish. She nodded at Mickey as he got up to leave with his friends, all messing around and grumbling in good humor, and she started over to the pink haired girl with her food and drink. However, just as she was about to pass them to get to her table next, one of Mickey's friends put his heel in her way without her noticing.

Everything happened fast and yet, in slow motion: the tray Emil was holding flying out of her hands; the drink landing all over the girl; the danish splattering on the ground; Emil hitting her head on the table; Mickey pulling the guy into the air and flinging him out the door, sending him flying out and landing hard onto the ground, skidding his arms; Mickey's gang rushing out to handle the guy; Mickey picking Emil up.

All in all is was less than a minute of chaos but it still burned Emil's face, crimson creeping over her cheeks. Her head was swimming but she was pushing Mickey off as he tried to help her up. "Ma'am, I'm terribly sorry. Please. Allow me get you to the back so we can clean you up and I can give you some fresh clothes." Emil turned to Mickey. "If you don't mind-" "We'll clean the place up and take over for you. Coco will understand." Emil nodded and held her hand out to the girl. "Again, I'm so very sorry. Please, let me get you some clean clothes and your order is on the house." For a brief second she turned to the rest of the room, giving a short bow. Everyone was quiet. "I deeply apologize for the disruption I have caused. Please excuse me." A few people who didn't know Emil gave her funny looks. Her fault? But a few classmates and regulars just waved her off. They knew she would blame herself and tried any way to take some of what they thought was stress off of her. But she figured it really had been her fault. She should've known he would've pulled something like that. Some of Mickey's friends were out of sight with the boy who had caused the fall. Others were inside, already cleaning. "Please follow me, Miss." Emil wouldn't listen to "no" and instead beckoned the girl to follow her behind a curtain of beads in the back room.

[Michelle Belmont]

She muttered a soft 'thank you' to the brown-eyed young man behind the counter and wandered over to a table, so as not to prevent other customers from ordering what they wanted. Her seafoam green eyes had already lingered too long on the book that the young man had been reading. She hummed softly as she sketched, trying to focus her attention on what she was doing. Of course, she was sure that the young people around her were staring at her. She did not seem to let it bother her externally, though, she felt self-conscious. She also prayed the that young man running the shop did not think she was weird for randomly sketching his graceful movements. She heard a conversation going on in the background, though she barely paid attention to it until the cafe seemed to erupt in hysterical laughter, which nearly made her yelp and fall out of her chair. Her hands instinctively flew up to her ears, shielding them from the lough noise that pierced her eardrums. Ever since she was young, loud noises had bothered her ears and brain. She reached in her bag and pulled out two Advil, placing them on the table. She was sure to have a headache later, thanks to the rowdy noise of teenagers and young adults. She placed her pencil down when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and scrambled to shut her sketchbook, a blush spreading across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She did not want the young man to find out that she was drawing him. 

She was surprised to find herself covered in hot latte not even a moment later. She stared down at herself for a moment, blinking stupidly for some time before squeaking and jumping up. She noticed the young man on the floor and squatted down to offer him some help up, but it seemed a friend was able to scoop him up. She was able to scrape up the danish from the tile, while scouring around for a napkin. She managed to find one under someone's feet and apologized quietly as she took it, crawled back to where the apple filling had landed, and wiped up as much of the gunk as she could. She then stood up, placing the napkin on the table and looking sheepish; she felt so bad for the young man, who was clearly irritated with himself. She blinked at the hand that was extended to her, hesitant to take it and follow the young man. A strange man wanted to help her change? that sounded pretty shady in and of itself. She felt metal brush against her leg as she shifted her position and nodded a little to herself; she had her pocketknife on her, so, if need be, she could use it. She gingerly placed her hand in the young man's, surprised at how soft it was. While his attention was elsewhere, she narrowed her eyes, hoping that she would be able to distinguish his features better up close. High cheekbones, big, brown eyes, a slightly effeminate jaw line... There was no way this person was a male. She stifled a relieved sigh; she was glad there was less of a chance of a violent crime to occur behind the beads. She walked through the "curtain", holding the strings of beads apart to prevent the awful noise they made when they hit each other. She followed the young woman and stopped when they had fully exited the cafe. "I-I'm so sorry, Miss... A-are you alright? D-did you hit your head when you fell?" It was quite clear that Michelle was more concerned about the other young woman than she was about herself or her clothes. That was just like her, though; she was always more concerned about others than she was about herself.

[Emil Leverato]

Emil looked up at the girl for a second, noticing she called her Miss, then turned back around to shuffle through some drawers. "I'm fine. Just a headache. Nothing a little medicine can't fix." Although I hope I'm not getting a bruise. She continued too look around the drawers until she found a spare uniform. It was a white blouse and green pants, not exactly flattering for a girl with pink hair, but Emil held it out to her anyways. "I can wash your clothes for you in the machine upstairs. Again, I apologize. You didn't have to help clean up. Thank you." Emil tried not to speak too shortly like Coco was always getting onto her for but she couldn't help it. For one thing, she wasn't exactly a conversation started and for another, it was a habit. Emil gestured to her left where there was a flight of stairs. "I can show you up to one of the rooms so you can change and I'll wash your clothes for you and get your another order on the house if you'd like." I also need to get some aspirin. My head is really starting to hurt. There was a commotion behind the curtains and Emil inwardly groaned. "You can head on up. I'll be there in a moment." Emil gave a small rare smile and stepped out of the beaded curtains. 

Emil saw that most of the customers had gotten up and gone to look out the window where a scuffle was taking place. Emil sighed softly and walked over to see what was going on. It looked like Mickey was trying to pull one of the boys off of the one that had tripped her. A few other guys pulled him out of the way and Mickey was talking to the offensive boy like a child. He told him to go and the group seemed to shuffle off down the road, making some customers nod in relief and a few groan with disappointment. "I apologize for the disruption. If anyone is having any troubles or has a complaint, please leave your number so I can speak with you." Most of the customers just brushed her off showing it was no big deal and Mickey came in looking like a dog with his tail between his legs. "I'm really sorry about that, Ems. He won't be back." Emil nodded. "See to that."  She turned around and walked back through the beads, hoping the girl had gone upstairs so that she could grab the aspirin from the bathroom.