ArchivedLogs:Breakdown

Breakdown
Dramatis Personae Hanna, Jayna, Melinda	2013-10-07 '
Location <NYC> Happy Cakes Bakery - TriBeCa
Happy Cakes Bakery is a cheery little spot of vintage charm amidst the hustle and bustle of the Manhattan neighborhood, a refurbished pair of row homes that hardly resemble their previous selves - the front walls are almost entirely gleaming glass, with the logo of the bakery painted onto the top, and rainbows of cupcakes dancing along the edges. Eclectically styled, it seems homey and welcoming - if the cross stitched sign by the door wasn't obvious enough - "All are Welcome!" it reads, with the "All" underlined in a sparkling bubble gum pink and yellow dotted line, with the logo of the bakery, a cheery smiling pink and white cupcake, beneath the lettering. Once inside, the walls of the combination bakery and coffee shop are covered in crisp clean white ceramic tile, with the occasional randomly placed tile with an color engraving of a tropical flower, or tile made of reclaimed China. Ambient music reminiscent of the Big Band era plays through the shop, loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to make conversation difficult. Tables and chairs in a variety of sizes, colors, and styles fill one side of the room, none of them quite matching each other, but all of them seeming to work together. The other side of the shop is a long series of gleaming glass and chrome bakery displays, filled with colorful sweets and treats of every description. To one end of the counter is a gleaming chrome espresso machine with far more tubes and bobbles than is really necessary, but producing excellent espresso beverages. At the other end is the old style cash register, a chrome and cherry wood relic from a bygone age that dings cheerily with each sale. The wall behind the counter is covered in photos of a tropical island, as well as a pair of shops that look like a smaller version of this one, several including a pair of dark haired women. Happy Cakes has closed for the evening, and the door is now locked, the neatly hand embroidered "Closed" sign placed just below eye level, the cheery pink and yellow cupcake logo is depicted fast asleep, little green ZZZs coming out above it. Beyond that, Hanna and Jayna can be seen through the freshly cleaned windows going about the motions of cleaning up the shop, quietly chatting to each other in the dimmed lighting inside; Hanna is dancing around with a mop, still following straight lines, but dancing to music not quite loud enough to be heard from outside, while Jayna is carefully cleaning and polishing the glass cases and the countertops, hips swaying in time to the music as well. Each time Hanna's path passes close to Jayna's position, she leans over to give the other woman a peck on her cheek, before continuing on her quest for clean floors once again. The whole scene is even more saccharine than it ever is when the bakery is open for business and people might see. The chairs have been pulled up onto their respective tables to facilitate cleaning, although one decent sized round table has been left down, with three chairs around it and a plate of sweets stacked in artistic dissaray on a plate beneath a protective glass dome. Three mismatched cups sit empty on the counter, waiting to be filled with the beverage of choice when Melinda arrives, but for now just acting as part of the quirky charm of the place. Every so often, Hanna glances out towards the front, checking for Melinda's approach, but also watching for the potential danger that always seems to lurk in the dark outside the shop these days. It's Melinda's day off, so she is dressed accordingly, wearing jeans and a floppy t-shirt that hangs off one shoulder in a light beige, the mint tank top underneath showing through the gauzy layer. She's wearing thick chunk heels that add three inches or so to her already impressive height. She's been hanging back for a little while, watching the glowing tableau with a tired expression - just out of sight of those inside. Eventually she pulls herself together and pastes something a little more pleasant on her face and adjusts the ribless corduroy purse around her shoulder and walks forward. She heads to the door and taps lightly on the glass without trying the handle, waiting to be acknowledged and let in. The knock on the glass makes both Hanna and Jayna jump in surprise, even though they had been expecting Melinda's arrival. It is Hanna who approaches the door, cheery smile on her face as she unlocks and open the door, wiping her hands off on the flecked and stained apron that she wears over her swishy copper a-line day dress. "Hello Melinda! Pardon the cleaning - we try and get through it as quick as possible, but I delayed too long stting out the menu for tomorrow, so we're a touch behind," Hanna offers, stepping back and letting Melinda walk past into the bakery, locking the door behind her once she is inside, glancing out into the darkness of the street for just a brief moment. Jayna offers a smile and a wave, inadvertantly waving the cleaning rag before setting it aside sheepishly, wiping her hands on the stained apron she wears to protect her fluttering brown sundress, "Hello, Mel. How are you this evening?" The bundle of dreads that protect her hair fronds appear to have thinned out some, with fewer autumnal colored leaves poking out between the matching cotton wrappings. In a few places bare twigs protrude from the bindings, and she herself looks a little worn out. "Hey, Hanna. Hi, Jayna." Melinda steps inside so that the door can be locked behind her. "Take your time. It's me who is interrupting. I am sorry to have sprung this on you and all." She glances around the room and moves toward a clean section or for a chair that doesn't get get picked up at the end of the day. She settles uncomfortably, but tries to keep the stiffness from show. "I'm okay." She sweeps a length of hair behind her ear. "It's been kind of a crazy day weatherwise. Did you guys get out in the wind at all?" "No worries! We've been busy - sort of difficult to track down more often than not," Hanna says with a hand wave, returning her mop to the bucket and pushing it out of the way, "Besides - visits from friends are the best kind of interruptions, really." Hanna moves towards the table left intentionally out for seating and talking, and gestures at the pastries, pulling out a chair for Melinda, "Help yourself, if you'd like any. If not - no worries. I just figured I'd have them out in case you were snacky or anything." There's a look of concern at Melinda's discomfort, "You alright, Mel?" Jayna snorts at the weather question, rolling her eyes up towards her hairline, "I stepped out for half a minute and lost half my leaves in one good gust. Fall is here, and with it comes odd weather. Same as summer, I suppose." She offers a lopsided grin and shrugs, "It happens. Can I get you something to drink? Haven't started breaking down the machine for cleaning quite yet - if you're an espresso drinker this late in the day." Melinda peruses the selection and pulls out the first thing she sees that's chocolaty but not too chocolaty, before moving to take a seat. "Actually, I could really go for a cup of tea if you have it. I'm sorry if that's a terrible blasphemy, but it is the evening and I can't do caffeine all night. Got to get up at four the next morning." She wrinkles her nose as she gets settled again and smiles at Jayna's story. "I'm sorry it's happening so suddenly. You've got a couple fronds left, no? It's not a total loss. Besides, I'm quite sure you're one of those people who makes bald look amazing." She looks back toward Hanna and purses her lip. "I'm okay. I promise. Just been stuck in my own head too much lately." Hanna helps Jayna prep the beverages, three cups of fragarant green tea steeping away in their mismatched cups, carrying over her own and a little tray with sugar cubes in it, while Jayna brings the other two steaming cups. "No worries. I know that feeling well enough - think everyone gets that way once in a while with the city like it is," Hanna says, sitting down at the table and preparing her tea, three lumps of sugar into the relatively dainty cup of tea. Jayna looks disapprovingly at the amount of sugar Hanna puts her her tea, shaking her head and grinning, She sets one of the cups in front of Melinda before sitting down in the last open chair herself, stirring the tea idly as she talks, "Certainly not blasphemy. I can't drink coffee at all - tea is a wonderful alternative. I just wanted to offer, as I know some people can drink double shots and fall asleep moments later." The last phrase is said with a sidelong glance at Hanna, a slight shake of her head. The bald comment gets a faintly green blush, and she nods, "I look decent, I suppose, I'm used to it by now. They'll all be gone by the first or second frost usually. And bare twigs before that." Hanna gently blows over her tea, attempting to cool it off a bit while she listens to Jayna, sticking her tongue out at the caffeine comment, "I'm from Hawai'i. I grew up on coffee. Caffeine is my birthright." Her smile and chuckle fades slightly, and she looks towards Melinda, eyes a vaguely hazel brown, tinged with bile green around the edges, "So. I rather assume you didn't call in advance to come chat about the weather over tea and cookies. What's on your mind, Mel?" "You know, my friend Jim might be able to put some leaves on your head no matter the season, if you were really concerned about it." Melinda offers off hand as everyone gets settled, drawing over a mug of green tea for herself. She does not add any sugar, but inhales the aroma for a while. "Okay. Straight to business." She exhales, a twinge of sadness pulling at her features. "I've been discussing our endeavor with a few of my friends, people who are more experienced, so to say, with the development of mutant specialized things. They've been wholly unencouraging." She looks up at Hanna for a moment and then over at Jayna. Finally, she looks down at her tea. "I'm not one to be swayed away from what I think is a worthwhile cause just because people disparage what I want to do, but at the same time, everything they've told me is -- well, I'd be a complete fool to ignore their caution. I ... I wanted to discuss with you two what you thought before I made any decisions, but I'm feeling like perhaps the speakeasy isn't wise in the current climate." Jayna chuckles lightly, "Oh, really? I... honestly can't say I've ever considered it before. Huh, I wonder what happens if Corey comes around during the winter. That... huh." Jayna muses quietly, taking a sip of her unsweetened tea - a floral, light tea that has its own sweetness to it without being overly sugary. She falls quiet and listens to Melinda's reasoning, her gaze falling sullenly to the tabletop, "Oh." Hanna raises an eyebrow at Jayna and the talk of leaves, smirking slightly at her reaction. Her smirk fades into a faint frown, brow creasing as she listens to Melinda speak, her eyes fading from the uneasy hazel into a muddly, dull brown shade, flat. "Oh... I, well, can't say they are wrong," Hanna says quietly, her voice catching in her throat, which she hides with a delicate sip of tea, glancing at Jayna. "It... was a nice idea to talk about. To think of as a hypothetical - but gods know mutant friendly places are bloody lightening rods right now. I completely understand if you don't want to move forward with it. We both do," Hanna says, looking at Melinda, but reaching over to squeeze Jayna's hand under the table. Even as Hanna speaks, there's the faintest feeling of creeping dissapointment - that faint ache that catches in your chest when something you wanted falls from your grasp - it enhances what already exists, subtle, creeping. She sighs, taking a moment to select a pastry from beneath the glass dome for herself - something obnoxiously chocolatey. Melinda takes a deep breath to fight the feeling and finds tears coming to her eyes. "I ... I am sorry. I had to tell you guys how I'm feeling. It's - I guess I had hoped that one of my friends would be excited about this and be supportive." She swallows hard and looks down at the table, trying to rally. "I'm not saying I'm out. I just... everything has been a lot lately and to have active discouragement where I thought I'd get help has been detrimental." She picks up her tea and sips at it, burning her tongue and trying to focus on that. "I can't not do this something though. I can't really settle back where I was hoping that I'll find meaning again. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop at my work and it's driving me crazy." Another sip and another deep breath to calm herself. "Maybe we can proceed with the bean roasting and wholesaling - but make sure that we get a space that could accommodate expansion and make sure the front store is grounded before moving on?" Hanna takes a deep breath, and dabs at the tears she finds welling from her eyes, looking genuinely startled at their presence on her cheeks. "Oh," Hanna says quietly, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, trying desperately to calm herself back to neutral, "It's ok. Really. With what happened in Harlem, and the violence that still seems to crop up lately, it's haredly safe to walk outside while being a mutant, let alone operating a secretive business with potentially shadowy motives." Hanna opens her eyes, though they stay a muddy brown color, and she glances at Jayna, "Maybe the coffee roasting business could be nice. Drop the hiding aspect - just roast our own beans, maybe have a tiny little cafe section. Room to grow, but just be... a business. Don't turn people away who want coffee? That always struck me as a poor business move, anyway." The dissapointment lightens a bit as Hanna speaks, feeling less prevalent with each deep breath the woman takes. Jayna just stays quiet, squeezing Hanna's hand in return and looking concerned at the other woman, the faintest glisten of tears on her cheeks. "I am so sorry, Hanna. I don't want to give up and I don't want go back to letting other people determine who I can and can't have in my cafe. I just - what's the point in opening a restaurant if we end up getting fire bombed?" Melinda draws in a deep breath, more motional than she expects, one hand raising to her forehead to rub lightly. "Why do I feel like everything is wrong and coming apart? I'm sorry." Her hand moves to rub at her eyes now. "Tiny cafe in the back is good." "Depends on why you do it. Point of Happy Cakes has always been to provide baked goods and coffee to people who want and enjoy baked goods and coffee. Regardless of genetic happenstance, or physical appearance," Hanna says, her eyes closing again as she talks, taking a deep breath, her voice a decidedly uncharactaristic flat tone, "Start small, coffee roaster and nice little cafe. Place to sit, talk. Not too much, not too little. No secrecy - just general good business practice - people want to buy coffee? They can buy coffee." Melinda's apologies get a grimace from Hanna, even as she keeps her eyes closed, "Don't be sorry. That's my fault, and I am really, really sorry." She takes a deep breath, opening her eyes slightly, glancing briefly at Melinda, then back at a point on the table, her irises having shifted to a dark blue color, "I am so, so sorry. I usually keep it under control way better than this. But I dropped by guard once the shop closed, and... I was caught off balance, and sometimes emotions sort of... I'm really really sorry." She doesn't further explain, but instead closes her eyes again, and does everything she can to pull the creepy despair back to her, at leat trying to lighten the mood. "I really understand if you'd want to back out of partnering up with me in a business venture now, after this." "Why would I want to bail on you? Just because I had an emotional break down? That's ridiculous. I'm having one myself and ... well, I guess I am the one who is sort of backing out. I'm sorry." Melinda presses her hands hard against the tabletop and splays her fingers. "Please, don't feel like I'm ditching you guys. I just - my friends are quite expressive. One is already planning my funeral and others are probably planning some sort of panic room. But we're all human here. Getting smacked in the face with ones potential mortality tense to shake a person." She draws in a deep breath. "All I want out of life - and this business - is a place where I feel like I will never be called upon to discriminate. We'll get a foothold, we'll make it prosperous, and then, when we're sure that we're not going to collapse after one violent day, we'll expand, right?" Hanna blinks her dark blue eyes and looks at Jayna, then back at Melinda, "Oh, no. Mel. It's... um," she takes a deep breath and clutches gingerly at the teacup in front of her, sighing slowly, "I'm making the emotional breakdown worse. I don't mean to, I just..." Hanna takes another deep breath, "I'm a mutant. And occasionally, even though I keep it under control most of the time, strong emotions... leak. And I am so, so sorry. As I said - I wasn't entirely expecting this, and I was caught off guard. Hence... I'm making things worse and really, truly, not meaning to. I am so sorry." She bows her head slightly, staring down into her tea again with sad blue eyes. "And again, I'd really understand it if you want to back out. If not... start small. Build a niche. Get your footing, and a feel for it. Maybe then expand further. You'll get threats when people realize you're open for mutant business, too, and some of them might even be scary enough to make you reconsider your choices," she glances up and around at the shop, at the relatively new glass cases filled with sweets, "But do it for yourself. Your friends will worry, and that's fine, that's what friends are for. But if you want this, go for it." Melinda gives a small soft laugh, smiling at Hanna and shrugging a little. "Well, I thought it was just your eyes, but... I guess that's good to know." She draws in a deep breath. "I get so tired on the weekends, I feel like I must be resting for the entire week." She rubs at her temples for a moment and takes another deep breath. "No, I don't want to back out just because you're a mutant or because you 'leaked' if you will. Please, don't worry about that. And I'm sorry I surprised you with this." She leans back in her chair and slowly turns the tea cup. "I don't want out. I just... want to move slowly. I think that is probably the best course of action." Hanna looks considerably relieved when Melinda responds, the slight tension that had been building in her posture fading quickly, her eyes slowing transitioning back to a coffee brown color as she sips her tea. "Mm, at one point I did try to pass it off as just the eyes. Doesn't work all that well, really. But I would... appreciate your discretion. Very few people know," she says with a chuckle, nibbling on the pastry she had been holding. She takes another deep breath and smiles at Melinda, nodding, "Start small, slow. No speakeasy, just roasted coffee beans and good coffee. But, whatever you want to do, we'll be supportive. If you want to walk away, fine. If you want to do the roastery and nothing else, no worries. Coffee shop? Certainly. I'd been lucky enough to see my mom handling a business for years before I had my own place - I'm happy to help." She she talks, the normal bounce and brightenss to her voice returns and she smiles, "No worries. Whenever you decide to move forward. We're here." "You make it sound like it's just my baby," Melinda adds quietly, looking at teensy bit more worn out now, but less stressed. "I should probably go. You guys have been wonderful. I'll let you know when I have more information for you, but it feels like I still have to find some peace in this some where." She finishes off her tea and gets to her feet. "Don't worry. We're going to do /something./ I just... well, I've pretty much said it all at this point." She smiles as she starts getting herself together. Hanna chuckles and shakes her head, "It takes a village. I don't want to push you into partnership in a business unless you want it - so we'll follow your lead on this." She finishes off her tea, as does Jayna, and starts to collect the little China cups to take to the back, rising and stretching for a moment. "If you need to talk, you know where to find us. Even if it isn't about business plans or anything like that - we're here. Oh - Did you want some tea or cookies for the road?" Jayna chuckles at Hanna's worrying, and stands, smiling at Melinda, "We'll do something, yes. And it will be amazing. Have a safe trip home, Melinda. Let us know if you need anything."