ArchivedLogs:By Chance or by Cupcake

By Chance or by Cupcake
Dramatis Personae Alexandrine, Melinda, Remy, Siddhartha	2013-01-14 Dessert for lunch, and a tense chat between (mostly) strangers.
Location <RP1> Cupcake Cafe
Salmon pink and gold lettering announces to the outside world that the Cupcake Cafe exists. The interior, however, is much lessostentatious. White walls and metal fixtures mingle with white formica and dark wood in aneclecticfashion, the subdued tones serve to showcase the beautiful and vibrant butter cream flowers that decorate their namesake fare. The cafe is small and cramped, especially when busy, but gives its patrons a break from the hectic midtown atmosphere outside. Remy for one is just in the mood for something sweet. He'd almost blitzed by this place on his bike, looking for a starbucks and a Mega Chocolate Muffin, when it screamed out at him. So now he is sitting at one of the few small tables, sipping a large coffee and with a pair of frosted confectionary delights beside him. Alexandrine decides that a walk is just not celebratory enough on its own merit, and a cupcake may be just what she needs to make her day before her later classes. Red hair is loose over an unzipped brown leather bomber jacket that may be older than she is, under which is a ice blue blouse and a brown and blue skirt, with brown heeled boots up to her knees. She's humming to herself, even after she's taken the earbuds out of her ears and eased sunglasses up as an impromptu headband. She'll take her time pondering the options of frosted goodness. Melinda enters the small cafe boldly, her attention locked firmly on whoever is behind the register. Her red coat is eye catching,so vibrant and bright, that it looks brand new. Her long hair is caught only a few inches from the end in a ponytail tie, leaving quite a few stray hairs to frame her face and demand constant tucking behind her ears. Atop her head, a black beret. Her jeans show signs of use and the toes of her black boots that peek out from under her pant legs are scuffed up as well. She pulls a small clutch out from under her arm and approaches the counter, eyes shifting to stare down those lovely pastries as she opens the purse and prepares to order. "Oh, you do have the blue velvet today. I'll have one of those." There's a smile in her voice, even if her face is mostly calm and composed. Hopefully no one else minds her barging in. Siddhartha holds the door for a departing patron and ducks inside. He wears a sharp navy blazer, light blue shirt, and royal blue tie in a perfectly symmetrical Winsor knot. The worn brown leather of his attache case looks sloppy by contrast. Moving briskly, back straight and eyes forward, he carries himself like a military man. He takes his place in the queue behind the red-haired woman, eyeing the pasteries with the haunted gaze of a man just off of a caffeine crash. Remy sips his coffee, making note of the new arrivials from behind dark sunglasses that hide his eyes despite the fact they are indoors and the day itself is hardly very bright. He watches the ladies coming in more closely of course, as both are genuinely attractive. but careful note is also made of the man. He glances arround the room further at that point. Of the four tables, two are already packed to the gills. One only has two patrons, but they are a pair of young lovers who are focused more on each other then the world...And of course his. Alex has kept to the side during her perusal, just so that others could feel free to order. The red coat catches her eye first, then the voice really grabs her attention and takes it away from sugary temptation. There's a hint of a smile, blue eyes warming. "Blue velvet what you'd recommend then, Mel?" She pipes up with that accent so blatantly obvious it can't be overlooked while fishing cash from the inside pocket of her coat. "Oh no," Melinda looks up and smiles brightly at Alex. "Al, love, blue velvet is a mood one kind of needs to have. The classic red velvet is more recommended, but if this is your first time here, the maple walnut is really second to none and should be tried out first." She finishes her order, adding a request for a cappuccino, then pays. She glances at the others in the cafe, focusing primarily on the tables themselves before adding, "I'll eat it here, thanks." Mel takes a step back before continuing her conversation. "You in a hurry, or would you want to sit for a while?" "Begging your pardon," Siddhartha says, nodding as he circumvents the conversing women to reach the counter. "Good day, Ma'am," he greets the shopkeeper as he opens his wallet. "I'd like a carrot cupcake, and a 16oz coffee. In this, if you're allowed," he adds, producing a slim vacuum drink canister from his case. "Oh, and I'll take it here." He hands over the cash, deposits his change in the tip jar, takes his prize and approaches the least crowded table in the house. "Is this seat taken, Sir?" he asks the young man in sunglasses. Remy raises his eyebrows as the man and offers a slight smile, "Non, 'elp yahself mon ami." He says in an equally blatent accent to the first ladies, taking a bite of his own chocolate choclate chip with cholate iceing, choclate filling and choclate sprinkled cupcake and getting just a bit on the tip of his nose as he glances at the women. "De names Remy." Alexandrine laughs, tipping her head a bit. "Ah'll go for the red velvet, Ah think. With cafe au lait, please." The redhead orders, before looking at Mel again with that lingering smile "Ah'm free this afternoon. Stopped in for a treat to celebrate. My first real job interview here in the city, for a teaching position." She jumps as the man begs pardon, and her 'window' opens a bit, gathering general empathic information about those in the shop. She blushes and murmurs an apology to him, moving a bit more to be out of the way without positioning herself rudely to Mel. "How have you been? Sorry I haven't been down, but Ah got that bug that was going around..." "Bug? You mean the country wide flu epidemic that has basically overloaded all of the hospitals in the area?" Melinda's tone is full of droll annoyance, eyes focused on the interloping orderer, Siddhartha. She draws in a deep breath and moves back to the counter when her drink and cupcake are ready, slipping another dollar into the tip jar before tucking her clutch under her arm and acquiring her food stuffs. "I'm glad you got over it. I've been okay, I guess. Last week was less than optimal, but..." She shrugs, playing down the mounting levels of stress inside of her, trying to keep it manageable. "Thank you," Siddhartha says, taking a seat across from Remy. "I'm Sid." He stares at his cupcake, as if momentarily forgetting how to eat, but then starts on the coffee first, which predictably results in a scalded tongue. He winces, bites back the profanity on the tip of his tongue. After four hours in that goddamned seminar, everything irritates him more than it really ought. Sighing, he leaves the cap off of the jar and starts peeling the paper from the cupcake. Remy gives an amused smile to the other man as he scalds his tounge, "Careful, dats 'ot." he says much too late for the advice to be worth anything. His grin almost playful as he glances up at the women and asks in some sort of French dialect "Loin de chez vous ne sont pas mon chre?" <> There's a hint of a blush, as the redhead collects her sweet and cafe au lait, a nod. "That's the one. Lots of water, tea, and misery." There's a hint of a smile as she glances to see where she and Mel can find a seat. Alexandrine starts, blue eyes widening before they blink, taken off guard by being addressed in French in such a way that just screams 'home' to her. "Si je suis,tes ainsi vous, monsieur." (If I am, so are you, sir.) But there's a smile to go with it. Melinda opts not for a table, but to find a counter against the wall with a stool. She sets down her cupcake and turns her attention to her cappuccino, brows raising as she glances between Remy and Alex as they start quipping in French. She is curious, but doesn't speak up. Instead, she relies on body language and questioning looks that only Alexandrine can see. "Yeah. I have had the hardest time getting a day off lately, due to other people's flus. I'm kind of afraid that I'll catch it now that I have twenty four hours of freedom, but I'm not letting that keep me down." Siddhartha tunes out the French--it sounds like French, anyway, and considers breaking out the flask. The fact that he packed it at all was telling. He flattens the wrapper around his cupcake and uses the butter knife he brought for his morning bagel to quarter the pastry. Wiping the knife off on a paper napkin, he replaces it in his case and eats the cupcake almost mechanically, one wedge at a time. After the second one, he takes a much more cautious sip of his coffee. Remy smirks a little to Alexandrine. "Oui, je suis,c'est vrai. Cependant vous et votre ami vous joindre nous? Deux belles dames, deux hommes beaux. On dirait que le destin de Remy." ~Yes I am, that is true. However would you and your friend care to join us? Two beautiful ladies, two handsome men. Seems like fate to Remy.~ He casts a glance at his table mate and smirks slightly, "Tryin' ta get us some company, non?" he adds to the cop in a whisper. "Well, keep up the fluids and the vitamin C, you should be fine. Me, Ah'm bound to get sick a few times this winter up here. New environ an' all. And Ah was bad an' ran out of my multi-vitamins. Momma would be ashamed." There's a snicker there, before Alex takes in the French with raised brows. "We've been invited to join the Cajun and his company, if you like." She says softly to Mel, clearly leaving it up to her. "Yeah, I could have guessed that. It's up to you, really. I'll play wingman, but I'm not really interested." Melinda keeps her voice low and discrete, but doesn't bother to whisper. She starts to peel the paper from her cupcake and pinches a bit of the cake itself to taste. Heaving a barely audible sigh, Siddhartha sets his coffee down. "I can scoot over or head out if you ladies would like to sit next to each other, but I'm not going to be particularly good company, that's for damned sure." He shrugs. "It's been that kinda day." Remy smirks a little at the other man, "Ah don' know where yah from mon ami," he says with a grin, "But Ah've always foun' dat de company of a beautiful woman 'zactlly de ticket ta turning a bad day arround, non?" he asks, watching the women decide if they will join them. Alexandrine looks at a loss. "Ah'm not exactly looking for a fella, but Ah wouldn't mind meetin' some people. Ah kinda still don't know a lot of folks. You haven't seen it, but Ah tend to be on the shy side." Come on Mel, give her strength! "Perhaps some good company can brighten your day?" She offers to Sid, her hand offered. "Alexan... actually, just call me Alex." She's off and blushing again. Melinda shrugs and picks up her plate and mug, turns to join the table, studying the pair of males over for a moment as her fingers work their way around her cupcake to remove the rest of the paper. Chocolaty blue crumbs scatter across the plate, but the delicate azure rose on top of the white icing remains untouched for now. "I'm Mel. Al and I work together," she offers helpfully, but her blunt and crisp words are friendly, but distant. "Come here often?" "Well, I'm not looking for a fellow, either," Siddhartha says, "but I'm game for socializing if you are." He slides his food, drink, and self over to the seat beside Remy so Mel can sit with Alex. "Name's Siddhartha, but most people call me Sid--on a good day. My first time here; it happened to be the closest food when I got free. 'Continuing education.'" He leans on the last two words where another might have applied finger quotes. Remy smirks a little at the two women, "Well Remy always looking, but dat jus' life non?" he asks with a grin. "Mah first time 'ere too. Ah was lookin' foh somet'ing ta indulge a swee' toot' and low an' be'old Ah find dis place." he takes an almost reverant bite choclate before adding, "Won' be mah last time 'ere 'owevah." Alexandrine blushes rather hotly at Sid commenting on what she'd meant for Mel. She's kicking herself for not being more careful. Carefully breaking off the lower part of the cupcake to leave her icing intact. "Mine too, but Ah'm still getting to explore most of the city, so no surprise. Decided to treat myself after getting an interview for a job that will actually /use/ my degree." "So, you're up for promotion and have to do some boring education to warrant it?" Melinda studiously ignores Remy's comments about looking for partners and begins to eat the icing around the flower on top. "Oh, congratulations. I hope you get it. It's always nice to get something you've actually spent years preparing for." "Best of luck to you, Alex," Siddhartha says, his tone sliding from perfunctory toward sympathetic. "It's a tough market out there, but keep at it. As for me, it's kind of the other way around--got promoted, then suddenly they want me to do a whole different thing from what I'd been promoted to do." He takes a liberal swig of his coffee. "Standard bureaucratic SNAFU with a bit of political icing on top. So, what'd you get your degree in, Alex?" "Secondary education. Ah already teach dance, but Ah'm hoping to get a regular teaching job." Alex manages before a sip of her cooled cafe au lait. "That's tough. What is it you do?" It's all polite conversation, isn't it? Melinda watches Remy get up from the table to take a phone call and finds her clutch vibrating as well. She opens the purse and reads the name displayed. Her express darkens and she inhales deeply. "Ah. It's work. I'm guessing someone else has called out and I'm on call. I'm so sorry, but I'm going to have to take off." She stands up and drains the rest of her mug and starts to back away. "It was good to meet you - and good to see you, Alex. I'll see you around." And with that, she takes off. "Police detective," Siddhartha replies. "Though all I seem to be investigating lately is a long-ass list of jargon to replace the /last/ jargon list they gave us, pardon my--" He almost says French. "--language. I just hate watching slides instead of doing my job, especially when it's only so some politician can say they're 'tough on crime'." Forcing himself to let it go, he shrugs and sips his coffee. "Teacher, huh? That's what we really need." He nods. "More good teachers." Alexandrine chuckles. "My father was a detective, actually. Not here, obviously from my accent, but.. he used to complain about seminars and stuff too, that he just wanted to do his job." She blushes again, eyes dropping to the last bites of her cupcake. "Well, Ah'm hoping Ah will be. Ah have to actually get the job, first." "Yeah, and it'd be easier for you to find that job if more folks understood how much we needed more good teachers," Siddhartha grumbles. "Keep your chin up, and don't you give up, now." He picks up another piece of his carrot cupcake and pops it into his mouth, wrinkling his brows a little while he chews it. Washing it down with a gulp of coffee, he looks back at Alex. "I recall hearing that the Harvey Milk School lost a couple of teachers recently--not sure why. Anyhow, you might try applying there." Alexandrine shrugs a little, finishing her cupcake. She washes it down with the last of her coffee. "You must not know a lot of Southern girls." She says with a grin. "Stubborn things, we are." There's a light in blue eyes, as she uses a napkin to wipe her mouth just in case. "Not likely to give up after all that school. An' thanks. If this one doesn't work out, at least Ah know somewhere else to send my resume." Siddhartha smiles an unfettered smile for the first time that day. "My mama's a Southern girl, but I guess I always figured that was just her." He looks a little wistful, and finishes his cupcake with the last of the coffee. "Well, I had best get back and start working on my /homework/. Really thought I was done with that for good." Putting away his vacuum bottle, he stands up and, hesitating, extends a hand. "Sorry if I've been a downer; inside every idealistic young cop is a cynical old cop trying to get out. Been nice talking to you, though." Alexandrine laughs, shaking her head. "You didn't treat me like a bumpkin because of the accent. Ah call it a win. Good luck with your homework." The redhead will smile warmly, shaking his hand. "Been a pleasure, Sid." She'll linger a little longer, before heading out.