Hot and dangerous

[Elsbeth Lupin]

After having spent quite some time at the outpost (read: two months), Elsbeth had finally decided to return to the cafe. Nobody had come looking for her, as far as she knew, which she found rather irritating. Granted, she would have told them to bugger off and leave her alone anyhow, but the obvious lack of care for her well-being she saw as a slight. She hadn't even heard from August, her own brother! She would have to send him an owl for sure. Perhaps a howler even, if she could convince one of the employees to help her.

She would have stayed longer - as the final game was not for another month - but had been experiencing a bit of pain in her lower abdomen and had decided that things were not quite right with her lady bits. She assumed she simply needed a break away from her rather loose lifestyle, as her days had been filled with liquor and her nights with international quidditch players (and their wealthier fans.)

The walk back to Irvingly in the summer sun left her hot and sweaty. By the time she had reached the cafe (wearing the same dress she had left town in), she was miserable. Grumpily, she shoved the door open and marched in. The cafe was not as cool as she would have liked, but it was cooler than being out in the sun.

She tossed orders at the nearest employee, not looking close enough to see who it was, "Draw me a bath, will you? A cool one."

  

[Vivien Blake]

Vivien wasn't the type to really do much other than what she knew needed to be done. Either for work or for her own little family. That wasn't to say she'd just sit about idly at work though, even on a slow afternoon. She was surprised they hadn't had more customers, what with the warmer than usual weather. But then again, the cafe definitely wasn't the coolest of areas in Irvingly and Vivien was fairly certain the majority of the Irvingly residents were rather comfortable within their own homes sipping on their own cooled lemonade or tea. The thought had Vivien wondering how her daughter was fairing, if she was staying cool enough in their small apartment or not. Serenity may still be young, but Vivien was certain she would know what to do if she needed to cool down. If nothing else one of their neighbors would be sure to check on her.



Her thoughts were quickly drawn back to present when she heard the door open rather forcefully and a woman she didn't recognize entered. A well trimmed and defined brow was raised as she watched the obviously warm and dusty stranger of the cafe walk across the room and quickly bark an order. Vivien glanced around behind her and quickly noticed that she was the only employee about so knew that the order was being given to her but it still didn't make sense. The woman clearly must have been mad to be walking into a cafe and requesting a cold bath to be drawn.



"Ma'am," she started, her voice a little wary as she watched this sloppy woman with cautious blue eyes, "We don't proved those services here. This is a cafe, not a boarding house. You should perhaps check at the Linnet apartments, I'm sure they have an open room you can rent and have a cool bath there."

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[Elsbeth Lupin]

The response that she received was far from obedient. Nor did she recognize the voice. It significantly lacked the disrespectful clip of Kaye Hadley. Elsbeth turned to look at the girl fully. Who was this? A pretty and young brunette. Had they hired more employees in her absence? Why hadn't August consulted her about it? She was the overseer of the cafe after all! She should have a say in who they employed and who she had to see every day!

"I know what this is," She replied haughtily, "This is my cafe. I own this place and I pay your wages. Now, I will only ask nicely one more time - go draw a bath in my apartment upstairs. It is what you're paid for."

It wasn't exactly the truth of it, but she didn't think this girl would know any better. She had owned the land that the cafe had been built upon, which was close enough to owning it for her. The entire reason the cafe existed was so that August had a safe place to keep her - and keep an eye on her in the mean time. She suspected that most, if not all, of the cafe's staff reported her comings and goings to her younger brother.

  

[Vivien Blake]

That raised brow only seemed to rise higher as Vivien watched this woman claiming to be the owner. She'd heard mention of August's sister being something of the proprietress but she had yet to actually meet the woman. Of course, she'd also heard quite a bit of talk from the other women she worked with as well as some of their male patrons. It really sounded as though she wasn't the type of woman to get on her bad side but that didn't mean Vivien was going to bend over backward all the time for her either. While yes, this woman may very well be her boss, Vivien was not a slave to anyone. She'd worked hard her entire life to become the young woman she was but it had also built a rather rigid backbone, one that perhaps got her in more trouble than she normally would have liked.

"I'll see to it, ma'am," she stated but there was an obvious icy coolness to her voice, "But I'm fairly certain I'm not paid just to wait on you hand and foot. My duties here come first and as soon as I've finished wiping down the tables, your bath will be seen to." Not doubt her tone and words wouldn't be well taken but Vivien was firm in the fact that her job was to the cafe first. That was where her focus would be before even considering seeing about drawing up a bath.

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[Elsbeth Lupin]

Elsbeth frowned. Had the others not told her what would be expected of her? She assumed August had left out the bit about being subservient to his sister, but she had thought that the other, more seasoned, employees would have filled her in on their true expectations. Unless they did not like her and wanted her to fail. The idea intrigued her.

"See that you do it and do so quickly," she replied, miffed. At least she had agreed to it. Kaye would have refused. She put up with Elsbeth just enough to avoid getting shanked in her sleep, but did not believe in making the blondes life easy. If Kaye did not like this new employee, perhaps Elsbeth could use her against her...

"What's your name?" She asked a bit more nicely, "I'm Elsbeth, as I am certain you know."

  

[Vivien Blake]

Vivien was glad when Elsbeth simply frowned and didn't jump into a yelling tirade that she'd been warned about before. And though Elsbeth's tone didn't sound all that please, Vivien was glad she was being allowed to finish her duties in the cafe before having to draw the bath. She set to work on finishing up wiping down the few tables that remained, not expecting Elsbeth to continue on having a conversation with her.

She paused at one of the tables, bent over it just slightly so she could reach the far side with the damp rag, as she turned to look back to the disheveled blonde woman. "Yes, I know," she answered simply before finishing up the table and standing up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "I'm Vivien." She didn't bother to elaborate, not really seeing the point. It wasn't like her name would be recognized coming from a lower class family back in Manchester. Not to mention her name was rather common.

Deciding she had better just finished, she turned away once more and to the final table to wipe it down. As she finished up wiping it off, she turned her clear blue eyes back to Elsbeth while wiping her hands on her apron over her skirts. "Would you like anything else to go with your bath?" she asked, though there was a hidden tone of sarcasm in her voice, an almost snarky addition.

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[Elsbeth Lupin]

Vivien. It was a decent enough name. She was far prettier than Kaye, that was for sure. Elsbeth bet the other blonde woman hated that. It was why she hated Elsbeth so much. Jealousy reared its ugly head in Kaye Hadley. It was a shame. She could have been a much nicer, more pleasant person to get along with if she didn't allow her jealousy to consume her so much.

"I'll let you know," She said thoughtfully, "I'll be upstairs."

The blonde turned on her heel and made her way up to her small apartment. She mulled over the idea of turning this Vivien against Kaye - and maybe even August. She seemed like she could have a sly streak to her. It would be nice to have an ally in this den of spies.

  

[Vivien Blake]

Vivien nodded simply in response to Elsbeth's own response. Without the woman's eyes over her shoulder, the brunette was able to get finished up a little quicker. Or at least, she moved a little quicker. It was just a few short minutes after Elsbeth's own departure that Vivien was soon following in near identical steps to Elsbeth's own. Of course, it wasn't hard considering there was really only the one route to her apartments.

Stopping in front of the door, she rapped on it with a few quick and short knocks before simply letting herself in. "Did you decide on anything else?" she asked as she made her way across the small apartment and into the bathing area to start drawing the cool bath for the blonde woman.

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[Elsbeth Lupin]

It didn't take long for Vivien to turn up. Elsbeth thought this a good thing. She had proved herself useful enough already, and the blonde had only known her for a matter of minutes. She lounged languidly across her bed as she waited for the woman to draw her bath.

"What do you think of Miss Hadley?" She asked in a manner that was meant to be innocent curiosity, though the look in her eye made it clear that she was far from such. Elsbeth hoped she didn't like the tiny freckle face. Otherwise, she'd have to try to turn her against her, and that could prove tricky.