NOVEL NEXT 42: Dinner Introductions
With the conflict in Marcen’s Cliffs resolved, several days passed by in a flash and Astrid and Valencia ran their little cafe together. Business was growing and day after day Astrid was getting recognized by more and more of their customers. Of course, because Astrid spent around half of each day drawing upstairs, her recognizability still paled in comparison to the amount of recognition Valencia got.
She didn’t mind though, Valencia was the primary “barista,” if that was even the term for tea shops. Plus, Valencia being more social and amicable was something Astrid always liked to see!
After all, Valencia, in Astrid’s opinion, would be a little problematic to date if she was always an unsociable, hot-headed fighter. That seemed more like a recipe for domestic abuse than anything else...
In the end, Astrid was lucky though! Valencia was kind, full of warmth, and compassionate beyond comparison... Or, well, at least to her. Sure, Valencia always had a sense of reason and an ability to control her emotions, but the “always nice and cordial to other people” was still erm... a work in progress.
Anyhow, the few days of an enjoyable slow cafe life passed in the blink of an eye and brought Astrid to the present: party day!
She and Valencia had debated whether or not to keep the cafe open, but, in the end, felt it was best to just close it for the day. They didn’t need the business and, well, if word got out that there was a party, their little reunion might spiral out of control into some weird public social gathering.
In preparation, Astrid and Valencia had spent the morning making some pastries, sweets, and other small confectionaries for the party. In tandem, they had also cleaned the cafe from top to bottom.
Well, Astrid had tried to help, but Valencia had just pulled out four sets of cleaning supplies and done it all while baking... So, maybe it was more apt to say “Valencia’s Telekinesis” had cleaned the cafe from top to bottom.
“We don’t need to make or buy lunch, right, Cia?” Astrid leaned over the counter to poke Valencia’s nose. With Valencia checking her phone, Astrid took advantage of the moment to sneak a couple of kisses onto Valencia’s forehead before sitting down across from her.
“Yeah, Solomon and Joanna are bringing lunch,” Valencia replied as she typed away on her phone. “Sorry, I’m just letting them all know they can come over whenever, even if it's a little earlier than our agreed upon meeting time. Also, there are five people in total coming today.”
Solomon, Joanna, Estelle, Sylvia, and Rainier...
Astrid was looking forward to it! From what she had heard from Valencia, Solomon and Joanna were on the older side and were in a very stable relationship. Estelle and Sylvia, on the other hand, were more on and off...
Rainier, the last one, was apparently in a relationship with another person called Clay? But Clay wasn’t coming because he was not in Marcen’s Cliffs.
Having zoned out, Astrid was brought back to reality by a light kiss from Valencia. Flinching for a moment before returning the kiss with a laugh, Astrid turned around as the bell chimes marked the door opening.
Composing herself, Astrid murmured a quiet “Don’t be shy!” before waving towards the couple walking in through the door.
Both were quite old... So, Solomon and Joanna?
“Nice to meet you!” Astrid called out as she stood up and made a light jog towards the door. “Solomon and Joanna? Nice to meet you two, I’m Astrid!”
Taking their bags and dishes from their hands, Astrid helped to push together a couple tables in the center of the cafe as the two took off their coats.
With both confirming their identities, Astrid took a second to memorize their faces while exchanging handshakes with the two. “Feel free to settle in, would you two like anything?”
“Just some tea would be great,” Joanna smiled, brushing her hair back, “So enthusiastic, you youngsters always liven up my day.”
“Indeed, and this place looks nice as always,” Solomon added while taking a seat.
With Solomon’s comment, Astrid felt a faint light bulb go off in her head as she helped Valencia carry over some cups and teapots for everyone to share once the party went into full swing.
There was that one day... She was pretty sure she had been sick, but it was a day when a ton of business people came by. Three different tables, one for each. But in the corner, there had been an elderly couple along with this one younger woman dressed in street clothes.
Astrid wasn’t one hundred percent sure the faces matched—she hadn't gotten a very good look after all—but they seemed to.
As if the world wanted to tell her she didn’t have time to ponder all day, even if she was still moving, Astrid was pulled out of her thoughts as another couple came in through the door.
“Heyyy~” a black-haired woman waved as she walked in through the door arm-in-arm with a green-haired woman. “Dang, how were we not first, we practically ran over here the moment Valencia sent the text!”
“You snooze, you lose,” Joanna murmured with a faint smile while sipping her tea. “You’re still young, you have plenty to learn.”
Getting an unimpressed “uh huh” from Estelle, Joanna just shrugged as the conversation began picking up in the store.
Hugging Sylvia and exchanging a mutual middle finger with Estelle, Valencia glanced at her buzzing phone as a notification lit up the screen. Floating her phone over from the counter while leaning against Astrid, Valencia scanned the text before sliding it back into the back pocket of her jeans. “Rainier’s going to be a little late, like another ten minutes, so he said to just get started without him.”
“We can still wait for him,” Estelle leaned back into her chair as she took a seat between Joanna and Sylvia while winking in Valencia and Astrid’s direction. “Ten minutes isn’t that long. Why don’t we all just do some introductions? We’re all here to get introduced to a certain... someone~ aren’t we~? Hmm~?”
Yelping an “ACK” when getting a pinch in the side from Sylvia, Estelle just grumbled as she took a sip of tea. “You all have no sense of humor.”
“No, it’s just your tone of voice when you try to act playful that is very good at inciting action,” Solomon observed from the side. “Even, I, probably the least violently inclined and most objective observer among us, felt the urge to slap you well up within me when you did that.”
With a chorus of “mhm”s and “yeah”s ringing out from around the room, Estelle just shook her head before getting into a dramatic pose. “The world just doesn't understand my beauty and charm.”
...
Fifteen seconds later, with everyone still staring at her, Estelle sighed before returning to her seat as the room was enveloped in silence.
“Anyway, I can start with introducing myself,” Sylvia volunteered as she leaned over to pour herself some tea. “Lovely Astrid, nice to meet you~ I’ve heard many splendid anecdotes from Valencia about you.”
Sipping her tea, Sylvia covered her mouth with a quiet, breathy laugh. “Alright, what else? I have plant-related powers so I often spend my time in the nature surrounding the city but it's nice to be back for a bit. I made up with Estelle during these past few days so it’s been a wonderful time.”
With a round of applause breaking out around the table, Sylvia did some mock bows before leaning back into her seat. “So, who’s next?”
