Curiosity killed the Cat (1x1 w/ animeloulou)

[Periidot]

Here's Our Story

​

 

[Periidot]

Rain. Again. The sun showed no effort in peeking through the clouds to bring any warm weather. Kris looked up at the gray clouds, darkening as each second passed by. Though he disliked the sight of them, the rain clouds had a odd sense of grace to them; their shape, their movement was so fluid as they sprinkled rain onto the ground. He sighed and continued to walk.


In the blink of an eye, heavy rain poured down onto Kris. "No! My sketchbook!" he thought as he quickly changed his pace. Others were also scurrying to find shelter, bumping Kris with their bright umbrellas.


Kris frantically looked around for a building, a tree, anything really. A coffee shop in the distance caught his attention. "Perfect!" he hurriedly made his way over and opened the door. A small bell rang, and Kris panted as he made his way inside the coffee shop. He checked if any of his belongings got wet.

 

[animeloulou]

Glancing out of her apartment window as she popped the last nondescript hair-clip into her hair, So Ra let a small smile pass by her lips. Rain, again... It was strange, the sound of the raindrops softly making contact with the glass had once seemed to be painfully obvious in her mind, but as she had gotten used to her new life in America, it had slowly become comforting. She quickly made her way down the stairs to the ground floor as she let herself into the coffee shop, setting up the background music, a handmade selection of both Asian and American music, since her landlord was Korean-American.





Living in the apartment above the coffee shop enabled her to help out her landlord a great amount. He had loaned her his apartment and given her a job after all, it was the least she could do. So, some days, she would open up the coffee shop for him and help out with the general running of the café. However, she had only recently been promoted to serving customers, this being her first week of doing so. She deeply wished to take full advantage of the opportunity, so she listened very carefully to a fellow employee, Lizzy's, instructions.


With the knowledge fresh in her mind, she approached the next customer who entered, a man armed with a sketchbook of some sorts, with a smile on her face. Taking a deep breath, she began to speak in broken English, bowing slightly out of habit.


"Can I help you, Sir?"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


[media]





[/media]
@Periidot

 

[Periidot]

<p><a contenteditable="false" rel="external nofollow" href="https://www.rpnation.com/profile/10669-animeloulou/" data-mentionid="10669">@animeloulou</a></p>


<p>


<span style="font-size:12px;">Kris glanced over to see a woman standing before him. She was petite, a small clip bringing back her hair, and a uniform for the coffee shop. He took note of her simple, yet fresh appearance as she bowed slightly.</span></p>


<p><span style="font-size:12px;">


...Has he ever met her before?</span></p>


<p><span style="font-size:12px;">


"Can I help you, Sir?" she politely asked.</span></p>


<p><span style="font-size:12px;">


That voice sounded...familiar. He stopped checking on his belongings, sketchbook held in mid air. Memories rapidly flashed before his very eyes. Good memories. Bad memories. Memories that transcended the ordinary.</span></p>


<p><span style="font-size:12px;">


And her smile. His eyes widened, as he realized that this girl might be the person he was looking for. He had long forgotten about that objective; after a year of constant searching, he gave up. Never would he have thought that he would find her by chance.</span></p>


<p><span style="font-size:12px;">


Kris realized he'd been staring at her for quite some time. His cheeks turned red as he sat down at a table. </span></p>


<p><span style="font-size:12px;">


"I...I, um, could I have a menu?"</span></p>

 

[animeloulou]

She had approached the man, like Lizzy had instructed, asking politely if he needed any help, yet once she had done so, the young man had completely froze, staring at her such in a way that So Ra felt as if he was taking in every part of her. It was a little strange, actually, if she could say so. However, after a few moments, the man seemed to snap out of whatever reverie he was in and took a seat at one of the last remaining free tables in the corner of the coffee shop.


Following him quickly, she reached the table just in time to hear the man's request. Although he spoke quite quickly, So Ra didn't outwardly appear flustered. Instead, she thought back to the many nights that she had spent listening to language CDs, repeating each and every word until it was deep in her mind.


"Menu..? Menu..!"


With a small grin painting her features, she grabbed a menu from the counter, placing it in front of the man. Taking another deep breath, she began to speak again before heading back behind the counter, hoping that that what she had said had made so sort of sense.


"Please... call me if you need help."





@Periidot

 

[Periidot]

@animeloulou


"Ok...thank you." Kris sighed to himself. He hoped that the waitress didn't find that moment weird. Then again, his life was basically made of awkward moments.


He really liked her smile. He knew she was probably doing it to be polite cause, you know, customer service. Keeping their encounter in mind, Kris opened up the menu she gave him.


Simultaneously, he opened up his sketchbook underneath the table. "Thank goodness, it didn't get wet.." He delicately turned the pages, making sure his fingers barely touched them. Finally, Kris stopped at a picture of a girl.


He drew her from the neck up. The eye shape, face shape...even the color of her hair. There were only slight differences, but besides that, his drawing and the waitress looked almost identical.


Quickly closing his sketchbook, Kris skimmed the menu. There were a lot of delicious items on it. Plus, the prices weren't so bad either. His stomach gave a small growl as he looked at the pictures of various coffee and pastries.


After a few minutes, he carefully closed the menu. Raising his hand a little, he said, "E-excuse me.."

 

[animeloulou]

So Ra had just finished dealing with another customer who had entered, returning to the counter for a just a moment until she spotted a movement in the corner of her vision. The young man seemed to be ready to order. She was about to visit his table when Lizzy shouted from the office, just loud enough for So Ra to hear.


"So Ra, your mother's on the phone..!"


With a sigh, she made her way into the fairly cramped office, taking the phone from Lizzy. Placing her hand over the receiver, she gestured to the man's table. Nodding slightly in understanding, Lizzy pulled a small black notebook out of her uniform pocket and grabbed a pen from the counter as she made her way back to his table, a polite smile on her face as she spoke, pen at the ready.


"What do you wish to order?"


Taking a deep breath, she removed her hand from the receiver, speaking into the phone in her native tongue.





"Mother... Yes, I know... I'm taking them every morning. You know, I'm working right now, so I can't talk much... I know... Just ring me on my mobile, not on the work phone... It's just for emergencies... We made a promise, didn't we? I wouldn't return until things got bad... Mother, I have to go... Goodbye."


She hung up the phone with a sigh, leaning against the wooden office desk. She knew that she loved her but this was one of the many reasons for her decision to leave.





@Periidot

 

[Periidot]

@animeloulou


Kris looked up to see a different waitress at his table. He tilted his head slightly, wondering where the other waitress was. Kris spotted So Ra walking to a place that read "Employees only" near the back of the coffee shop.





"She must be taking another customer's order.." he deducted in his head. Turning to Lizzy, he asked, "Could I get a small iced coffee and a muffin?" He made she couldn't see his sketchbook. It would be...interesting, to say the least, to see her reaction to seeing a girl that looked like her co-worker in his sketchbook...

 

[animeloulou]

Lizzy nodded happily as she scribbled down the request, making her way behind the counter as she began to make the young man's drink. She nearly jumped a mile when a silent So Ra appeared behind her with an apologetic pat on the shoulder. "Thanks for helping me out... My Mother..." Lizzy let out a bright laugh before So Ra could finish. "You don't have to tell me! My aunt Cassie is a total worrywart, so I know how it is. Now you -", she paused for a moment to place the tray with the contents of the intriguing man's order on it in So Ra's grip, "go talk to the guy!"


Biting her lip in concentration as she carefully made her way over to the man's table, resting the tray and its contents in front of him. Bowing in apology, she spoke with her smile that was well on its way to becoming trademarked.


"One small iced coffee and muffin. Anything else?"





@Periidot

 

[Periidot]

Kris looked down his lap the waitress went to create his drink. The drawing really did look like his original waitress, it was almost a bit scary. However, he did not want to jump to any conclusions just yet. The waitress may simply be a really good doppelganger to the girl he drew in his sketchbook. Kris decided that he was going to test a few things out.


Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his original waitress bring over his order. "Be natural..." he thought to himself as he looked up to her. There was that smile again. Though he wasn't feeling anything negative at the moment, he felt that the smile she had could truly calm a person down. Kris couldn't help but give her a smile in return.


"That's all, thank you." he said that swiftly, but also waved his hands back and forth, signaling that he did not want anything else.





@animeloulou

 

[animeloulou]

Maybe it was her Asian features or maybe it was her painfully obvious lack of grasp on the English language. Maybe it was both, So Ra wasn't sure. Whatever the case, the man had come to the realisation that he couldn't go wrong with adding a few hand gestures to his words, to which she was silently grateful.


Bowing politely once again, So Ra retreated meekly back behind the counter, where she came face-to-face with the wrath of one of Lizzy's outbursts. It was quickly becoming a habit of hers to give So Ra a friendly pep-talk every once in a while. It was quite refreshing to hear, since back at home in Korea, it was not customary to be so direct about things.


"Well? What happened?"


So Ra busied herself with some of the more tedious chores as she avoided crashing into the other waitresses occupying the relatively small space behind the counter, somewhat delaying the inevitable. After a few moments, she responded with a meek smile, telling Lizzy of the events - or lack thereof - that had transpired between her and the customer.


And then it came.


"Girl, I don't know what your looking for in a guy, but you said to me on the first day we met that your goal for coming to the US, other than the language reason, was to experience new things. And there-", she nudged her head subtly in the direction of the man's table, "is your new experience! Go on, clock off early. I'll cover you for today." So Ra hugged her gleefully as she mumbled in her ear, "I'll pay you back! Thank you!"


With a spring in her step, she ran up the stairs to her apartment in double time. She changed out of her uniform and into her daytime clothes, letting her hair fall loose and rest on her shoulders. After one last look in the mirror, she strolled back down to the café floor, making her way over to the man's table.


Maybe he has someone he's waiting for? I'd be in the way! Plus, he's eating, it would be rude to interrupt! He might just want to be alone, it wo-


"You like to draw?"


Somehow with all of her thinking, her brain had panicked, causing her to point at the first thing her eyes laid eyes on - the young man's sketchbook - and use it as a very thin and weak ice-breaker.


Well, this was mortifying.


@Periidot

 

[Periidot]

Kris looked down at his iced coffee and muffin. The muffin had chocolate chips sprinkled throughout, and there was a good amount of iced coffee despite its size. He sipped some of the delicious liquid from its cup and ate a small piece of the muffin. After a few bites from the coffee and muffin, Kris decided that this coffee shop had pretty good food.


He almost lost himself into the food when he heard a familiar voice near him. He looked up to see the waitress at his table once more. Kris thought that she would ask him about his food, but no--instead, she inquired about his favorite pastime.


At first, Kris was stunned. The cafe was as busy as when he entered. People chattered and laughed from all directions, enjoying the company and the food. A warm atmosphere surrounded the place. Yet, he saw the hustle and bustle of other servers around him. Maybe she was on a break? Who knew. It also astounded him that she came over to talk to him personally. Kris was always the quiet kid in school. He had a couple of friends, sure, but he never drew much attention to himself. It was how he liked it anyway. He wouldn't have to tell anyone about his family's secret.


Well...he did become close to someone besides his family. But that was an exception.


At present, he didn't feel nervous around the waitress. He felt quite the opposite--his heart beat a bit faster as she made the effort to come to his table. "Maybe...she's the one I'm looking for after all." Kris thought to himself.


Kris had to collect his thoughts before finally answering her back. He nodded at her question. "Yes, I love to draw." he smiled at her. He hoped that she didn't feel uncomfortable. "Would you like to take a seat?" he stood up from his chair a bit, gesturing towards the open chair at his table. Might as well talk to her while she was here, right?


@animeloulou