ArchivedLogs:Hangover Relief

Hangover Relief
Dramatis Personae Hanna, Melinda	2013-05-26 '
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. The Happy Cakes bakery is relatively new, but has been growing in popularity of late, as can be seen by the slight crowd curently bustling about near the gleaming glass and chrome cases of baked goods, apparently picking up last minute treats for holiday get togethers. A green haired woman pushes a large bakery cart, lined with trays of primarily red, white, and blue cupcakes (although other colors are present), from the baking room, promising that there are plenty more treats to replace the rapidly vanishing ones in the cases. Almost immediately, a rather nondescript teen starts filling the cases - were it not for the fact that the person in question were filling the cases with sugary treats, they would hardly have registered in your perception. The crowd begins to ebb a bit, as several large bakery boxes are handed over to customers, who then bustle out of the shop with cheery smiles. The woman filling most of the orders is an almost insanely bouncy woman with a long braid of jet hair and cafe au lait colored skin, a dazling white smile on her rounded features. Hanna, the proprieter of the shop, wears a 19050s style house dress in a pale lime green, over a neon pink peti coat that gives it swing and fluff, accentuating her curvey figure. Each guest who enters the shop to the tinkling of the silver bell by the door is greeted with a wave and a, "Welcome to Happy Cakes Bakery, please take a number and I'll get to you in just a moment. If you'd like to start with a coffee or beverage order, Jayna will be happy to help, right over there." She gestures towards an ornate espresso machine, and the green haired woman who now mans the machine. Melinda comes in quiet, with sunglasses over her eyes and a little bit of disdain for the world in her posture. She's wearing a loose rust orange shirt, with a denim skirt and gray leggings that stretch down to her ankles. She moves slowly into the shop, looking around and making her way first and foremost to the smell of coffee on the brew, the espresso machine eyed with great longing. She is content to shuffle quietly in that line, waiting until it is her turn to order an extra large, extra espresso latte, with cinnamon and sprinkles on top. She is also equally willing to fork over cash to get this transaction going. Happy people are cringed away from until the coffee comes to her hands, their cheerfulness crashing like waves against a stony shore, not wearing away at her hangover at all. She moves to wait in the receiving line. As soon as the coffee order is placed, Jayna jumps into action, pulling multiple shots on the machine like a pro - the machine is loud, and produces more steam that is really necessary, seemingly for show from the steam-punk style gauges and valves dotting the surface of the machine. The grassy haired woman hums quietly to herself, combining them into a massive china patterned coffee cup, with an accompanying, yet not matching, saucer. Balanced on the metal stir spoon sitting on the saucer is a pair of chocolate molded leaves, cradaling a chocolate covered coffee bean like a tiny delicious berry. Despite Melinda's not-so-cheery atitude, Jayna offers the coffee with a smile, but no aditional or unnecessary talking. Hanna quirks an eyebrow at Melinda's shuffling and cringes, tilting her head curiously, but continues servicing the customers clamoring for the obnoxiously patriotic cupcakes. There are still plenty of normal pastries in the shining glass case, including a wide variety of unusually flavored cupcakes, like lime, cherry, vanilla blueberry, and even an espresso based cupcake. If Melinda makes a motion to approach the pastry counter, Hanna offers just a smile, but keeps her voice relatively quiet and even as she asks for her order, as though she can sense the hangover rolling off of the other woman. Melinda does not approach immediately, instead takes her cup and gets a little further away from the throng of people, sipping carefully at first, then trying to load herself with more small sips of the hot liquid. Behind her sunglasses, her eyes flutter happily as caffeine starts to course throughout her veins, relaxing her shoulders down again. She continues to balance the cup on its saucer, looking at the chocolates before moving to the cupcake line and taking a number. She's still looking at the case when Hanna approaches her for an order, looking up slowly at the woman, like a creature rising from the depths of the sea. "Um. Chocolate?" Hanna smiles at Melinda, waiting patiently for her order, taking a moment as the last of the throng of cupcake-demanding crazies exit the shop to wave to the exiting customers. "Alright, we've got a decent selection of chocolate. Chocolate chip muffins were popular this morning, and we've got eclairs," Hanna points through the case to each in turn, her smile never faltering, "But, judging from how much you seem to have enjoyed that coffee, I'm going to suggest our chocolate espresso bomb cupcake. Made with real espresso, fresh pulled before each batch." At this time, she is pulling a deliciously dark cupcake from the case, and setting it onto a plate - the cupcake wrapper is black, but has little white designs like whisps of curling steam rising up from the bottom, the top of the cupcake is a nearly perfectly round, and coated in a dark chocolate shell, and balanced on top is a miniature coffee cup, filled with a creamy milk chocolate caramel. "It's our special for the day. Give it a try, if you don't like it, let me know, and we'll see what else will suit your sweet tooth," Hanna says with a likely slightly obnoxiously cheery grin, setting the plate beside the cash register. "If you'd like to enjoy it here, I can bring it over to your table for you, that way you're not balancing too much stuff." "Oh, Right. A table. That would be nice." Melinda nods slowly but agreeably and moves away from the display for a second, then hovers back. "Do I pay now, or at the table or do I come back to the register after I've eaten?" All very important questions, unfortunately needed when one is slightly inattentive. She smiles quickly then buries her face in more latte, taking a little bit longer sip, despite the heat turning her cheeks a little red. "Oh! Sorry about that. You can pay whenever it is convenient. If you want to pay at the table, I can bring your check over for you when you're done. That work ok?" Hanna says with a smile, stelling out from behind the counter, excessively chocolatey cupcake balanced on the China plate in hand. "Right over this way, we've got several tables open," the baker leads the way, her steps still swinging in time to the music as though she were in a constant state of dancing. There's an open seating area, with mismatched tables and chairs in a sort of ecclectically quaint manner, and Hanna sets the cupcake down on one of the tables closer to the counter, bowing with a little flourish and pulling the chair out for Melinda. "Oh, don't apologize for my slowness." Melinda finds her seat and settles into it, leaving the coffee cup and saucer in front of her, delegating the cupcake to second fiddle. She has /needs/ apparently. She is slowly waking up though, as noted by the way her sunglasses come off, folded on the table by her right hand. Underneath are dark circles. Whatever she drank was exceptionally draining, or was that the sick whatever she drank made her? Hard to say. She's definitely noticing the little chocolates again, and peels one off the plate to nibble on it. She looks up when Hanna comes over. "Worked here long?" Smiling, Hanna shakes her head, "Nah, I just opened this place a few months ago. We're relatively new on the scene in New York." She sets the cupcake down, resting against an adjacent table with a smile as she looks around her bakery, musing quietly, "Prior to that, I was on a bit of a walkabout, so to say, after I closed up my shop in Hawaii." "Hawaii? What brings you to the mainland? And New York City? This has got to be the most opposite you can get from ... what I imagine is a very restful, relaxing, and warm place." Melinda eyes her cupcake for a moment and then plucks the little coffee cup off the top, turning it over quietly for a moment and then sniffing it to make sure it is edible instead of just decorative. The tiny coffee cup on top of the cupcake certainly does prove edible - it is a molded milk chocolate cup, filled with a milk chocolate caramel swirled on top to look like a tiny late. Hanna chuckles and shakes her head, "I don't deny, I do miss the warmth of the Islands. The weather here is, ah, decidedly less than ideal, in my mind, but," she offers a sad smile, "I spent two years travelling around the US after my mom died, and, well, Hawaii didn't feel like home anymore." The plump woman hugs herself with a bit of a grin, looking around the excessively cheery bakery, "And I figured, of all the places I visited in my travel, New York seemed like it needed a bit of Island cheer most of all. And given current events, ah, I can't say I feel like I was wrong in that assumption." "Well, you've got your work cut out for you if you think you can cheer New York. A lot of people here not only enjoy their misery, but identify with it. You would not believe the number of assholes I see on a daily basis." And with that, Melinda tosses the small chocolate cup in her mouth and chews slowly, letting the bits melt and spread across her tongue before swallowing. "You do have... a good arsenal though." Hanna chuckles and shakes her head, "Oh, you are telling me. I had a man in here the other day, ah, smelled a bit like he'd been tramping through sewers, to be honest, who had a donut. I don't know his story, but, I would swear he'd forgotten how to smile, from his reaction to the baked good." She smiles and looks at Melinda, "I won't say I want to cheer the whole city, that is damn near impossible. But, I would like to think I provide an occasional bright spot, via baked good." Grinning cheerily at the compliment, Hanna nods, "Thank you. Jayna's an excellent barista, in my mind - I don't think I could have gotten this place running without her passion for coffee." "Oh, She's good," Melinda agrees, smiling at the cup of liquid happiness. She reaches over and takes a long drink. "Mmm. Always a pleasure finding someone who knows their way around a espresso machine, even if hers is a bit, well, noisy. I was almost afraid it was broken down as she was using it, but in the end, the coffee was good." She sticks a finger in the icing on the cupcake and moves that to her mouth, as if warming up to eating the actual pastry. "It's amazing the kinds of customers coffee brings in too. Mmmm. Baked goods are an excellent lure as well." From across the way, Jayna smiles at the compliment, continuing to clean the espresso machine and neaten things up a bit, "Ah, yeah, I need to take some time to tune it up - it shouldn't be that loud. She's gotten a bit of a workout this week." The green haired woman goes about cleaning still, humming merrily as she does - although, no matter what she does, she is never seen actually drinking anything but water. "Ah, I find my sign," she gestures at the "All are welcome" sign, "Brings in some really lovely people, almost as many as the cupcakes and coffee. Thus far haven't had any trouble." She smiles cheerily, her eyes flashing golden for a moment as she does, "So, you seem to know a bit about coffee, are you a barista yourself, or just a conosoir?" You may find that the cupcake, once you start enjoying it, provides a pleasant feeling of wakefulness and comfort - Hanna did say it was made with fresh espresso. "I know a guy, if you want a recommendation for service. He keeps my machines up and running, purring like steamy kittens." Melinda finally starts unwrapping the cupcake, moving some of the paper out of the way so that she can take a bite. The bite is savored. "Mmmm. That's good... Oh, I, uh, was one for a number of years before promotion, but I like to keep my skills honed. I run a cafe over in SoHo. Montague's. It's pretty much my second home now." Jayna chuckles, petting the side of the machine as though it were a beloved car, "Nah - she's my responsibility. I'll get her up and running better than new in a few." She pulls out a set of shining silver tools, and settles in to re-tune the espresso machine at a pleasantly relaxed pace. Hanna grins and shakes her head, "Jayna's a bit posessive of her espresso machine. It's pretty much her only link directly to caffeine anymore." She smiles and shrugs, "I don't begrudge her taking care of it. It's why she followed me to New York, anyway." The mention of the other cafe, "Oh! I have been meaning to get over there. A young man named Corey works there, yes? Or so he has said." She pauses, smiling, "He's been a bit of a regular, I suppose. Sweet kid." "Hey, if she has the technical know how, they by all means. Most of the people in my shop would destroy a machine if they touched it with a screwdriver." Mel takes another bite, relaxing further as she noms the tasty mocha delight. "Yeah, Corey works for me. Nice kid, but very nosy for a citizen for New York. Maybe has personal space boundaries. Well, by New York standards. Poor guy, keeps trying to make friends in ways that make New Yorkers grouse at him. He'll figure it out after a while." Hanna laughs at the description of Corey, "I can certainly see that. But, well, I suppose the same could be said of me. I'm just a little bit on the, ah, boisterous side." Hanna holds up her fingers making a 'just a little' sign with two of them, sticking her tongue out. "I'm an optimist. And, if someone grumps at me, I give them a cupcake and send them on their way out into the gray, grumpy world of New York." "Ah, if you can, see if you can teach Corey that 'letting go of the grumpies.' I think he rather likes to hang on and lecture on why the grumpies should not be grumpy." Melinda is definitely relaxing and feeling more awake, about half way through the cupcake and three quarters of the way through the coffee. "Optimism is fine and all, but you can't just go about forcing people to be optimistic. They tend to take that poorly." "Oh, trust me, I know well how badly grumpy people can respond to a cheery person. I've had people grump right through a donut and coffee on their way out. I'll see if I can talk to him next time he's in," Hanna says with a smile, shaking her head. "I hope the cupcake and coffee are helping you a bit? You seemed a little, ah, down, on your way in," Hanna offers with a shrug. "Eh, you don't have to talk to him. He probably gets 'encouraged' to be less friendly a lot." Melinda leans back in her chair, shrugging. "Yeah, I've had a rough... period. Turned to drinking in a weird celebration of its completion, but wow, is that ever a silly notion. I think I'll stick to coffee in the foreseeable future." She finishes off the cupcake, leaving a little coffee for washing the last of the sweet down. Hanna winces at the mention of drinking, "Ouch. Yeah - I did a stint as a barkeep right after I lost my mom, and, ah, taste tested a few too many of my concoctions along the way. I know the feeling." She rubs her head, as though just the memory were bringing on familiar headaches, "Yeeesh. Well, I'm glad your rough-spot is through, and I hope everything is looking up from here on out." She offers a genuine smile, "I should likely be getting back to helping the new kid restock the shelves, just in case another holiday crush overruns us. Didja want anything else while I was heading over there, or you good?" "Nah. I'm good. Here, let me just..." Melinda reaches into her back pocket and pulls out money to cover her cupcake. "Thank you so much. I really appreciate it." She stands up and finishes her coffee, getting ready to head out. Hanna smiles and accepts the money, bustling back over to the counter to make change before returning to Melinda, "Here you go. Hope you have a lovely day, and I hope to see you again some time. Perhaps I'll take a break some weekday to check out Montague's. I've heard good things about it." She offers a bit of a wave, before ducking back behind the counter to help the mousy young teen who has been stumbling over how to stock the cupcakes the entire time.