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 Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 8:05 pm
After a day of shopping for nicknacks for the house and lingerie for girls to use when dressing up for their shoots, Carolynn and Mystery needed nourishment! Some of the girls from last Thursday's shoot had mentioned a particular restaurant that had pretty amazing burgers and pies. If there was something that the photographer liked, it was a messy chili burger and a slice of apple pie.
So now it was a planned destination for the pair, who slipped into the building with several shopping bags at hand. Both wore sunglasses, but that was about where the similarities of the outfits ended. The elder of the pair wore a form-fitting pastel blue dress with plenty of black lace accented her chest, straps, and the bottom edge of the dress. The younger wore a red, white, and blue sundress that seemed to look similar to a Sailor's outfit, complete with a bow over her chest.
As they entered, both seemed to dawn the classic "first timer's" expression as they took a look around. The silvery haired girl pushed her sunglasses up to her forehead so she could get a better look around.
"Niftricular*!" she uttered before going up to what she assumed was a front desk and asking rather loudly "Do you guys have any place we can put our things?! Or do we have to keep it all at our table?!"
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Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:57 am
Noah had a pie in hand since he was adjusting the small display case at the end of the counter when the bell on the door announced the entrance of the pair. They were kind of hard to miss even before the kid ran up to the counter.
"I-- uh..." Did she just speak another language? "We don't usually uhm. Keep things for people?" It wasn't like the problem had come up much before, he wasn't sure how to answer. He was also just a little a bit startled, but that was probably the girl being loud.
"Can I help you?" He asked, shaking it off and trying his best to sound like he did want t be helpful. A lack of host or hostess had a tendency to throw customers off.
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Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 9:46 am
Since this lilac haired man had addressed her, he soon enough had a pair of bright eyes upon him. And he soon enough had the eleven year old rambling off to him.
"Yes, you probably could help us! My mom and I went shopping today and we bought a lot of stuff. However, we walked to the mall, so now we have no place to store all of our purchases. It would be very crowded under our table if we kept it all with us while we ate. Plus there's a chance that if we accidentally kicked our bags into the open that one of you could accidentally trip on them!"
There was a pause before she added "It'd be fabracular* if you had some place we could store our things until we are done eating!"
The woman kept her sunglasses on, but finally stepped up behind her daughter. "Perhaps some place behind the counter... unless you have been having employee theft problems... then it might be safer for us to keep it with us." Idly she patted the child on the head, which caused the younger of the pair to giggle.
"We've heard some good things about this place from one of my customers!" the woman mentioned before winking to the man.
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Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 6:22 pm
Noah was still staring, fairly dumbfounded and not very quick to the chase before he snapped out of it and shook it off. Pie in the display, rag off the counter, don't stare at the nice lady. Good Noah.
"Right! Sorry, we just don't usually get requests to keep stuff for people unless it's lost," He said, trying to think of as many lame excuses as possible. "It'll be plenty safe behind the counter, ma'am, hand to god."
He did have to stop moving things he was handed to perk up at the mere notion of good word of mouth. He would much rather be known for for pies than being a place terrorists liked to hang around in. He was so buzzed about that he almost didn't realize she winked at him!
"Things are a little slow today," He said, clearing his throat and grabbing tow menus for wherever they decided to park it. "But I can take your order."
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Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 8:34 pm
With a light laugh, the woman egged him on slightly. "I certainly hope it doesn't come down to such brutal tactics. It would make writing down our orders somewhat tricky...."
Mystery, being somewhat new to that particular phrase, had to ask "What does that mean? 'Hand to God?'"
As things were getting moved to the server to be put behind the counter, the pale haired woman easily was willing to explain. "In some countries, if you were caught stealing, they would cut off your hand as punishment. So in a sense, your hand would be going to 'God' if you were caught stealing."
"Oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." With that, she seemed to bounce off to locate a table to sit at. When she had located one, she took the sunglasses off of her head and put them on the table as if to claim it. She then looped back to her mom, before looking back at the waiter.
In a nearly child-like-ruthless manner, she then began with the onslaught of questions for their dear server. "What's your name? I go by Mystery! What's your favorite thing on the menu? Are you sick of eating here every day, or do you still enjoy the food here? I heard you guys have really good apple pie here... are there any rules against having pie before burgers? I want to eat pie first..." There was a pause. "Don't know if Mom will let me though unless it is allowed!"
At that very moment she flashed her mom a professional sort of "innocent smile."
Carolynn just let out a permissive laugh before adding to the questions (though her question was a bit less invasive than her child's). "Is it just you working the front right now? I couldn't imagine being one of the only ones working in a place so big!" In a casual, but classy pace, she eventually made her way to the table her daughter had claimed, taking a seat and reaching out for a menu once it was offered.
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Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 11:49 pm
Noah's shoulders sank a little as he watched Carolynn explain the expression and puffed a blast of air to remove some stray hair from his face.
"Well," He shrugged and a chuckle escaped an easy smirk. "I thought it just meant 'I swear' but I'll make a note to keep the hand chopping analogies out of the kitchen."
Mystery's questions didn't phase him at all. On a better day, he might've compared her to one of his nieces.
"My name is Noah, I go by Noah," He mimicked. Not the whole truth, but damned if he was going to share the fact he went by 'Bobby' for most of his childhood for the sake of a minor joke.
"I am very sick of being here every day but sometimes they let me go home. But the food is still good! We here at Seventeen don't believe pie should be restricted by anything as petty as rules and time restrictions."
His hands free of the place settings had him letting them drift to his hips, and then crossed across his chest. "Huh? Oh," He looked around his own dining area. "I guess it is pretty big! We had this whole section blocked off for renovations, I guess we're still used to being small."
'Renovations' were always fun.
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Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 7:48 pm
"Mom! Did you hear that Mom?! I can have my pie first if I want! Can I Mom? Can I please please please PLEAAAASE have pie first?!"
The logical reason to not say that pie was available soon enough became clear as the child soon enough was pleading at her mother as if it was a life-or-death situation. The woman, fortunately, knew how to handle her daughter. Since they were finally seated, the mother removed her sunglasses, tucking them towards the bottom of the V at her dipping neckline. A pair of blue eyes adorned elegantly with heavy makeup soon enough were looking to her daughter.
"Mystery, I won't even consider it unless you settle down and act like a reasonable young lady."
With a slight squeak, the child apologized "Ooop... right!" The girl instantly put her menu out in front of her and started to look through it in an enthusiastic manner, complete with legs kicking back and forth to the beat of music (in her head).
With a subtle sigh, the pale haired woman returned her gaze to the waiter. "Seeing as the two of you both shared your names, now I feel obligated to do such! My name is Carolynn." Her painted lips curved to form a smile. "It is good to know that they are willing to occasionally let you go home. I can't say I have the same option when it comes to work. Hard to do when you work from home and all..."
"Do you have any fried fish sandwiches?" was suddenly blurted out. So much for minding her manners.
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Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 12:34 pm
Noah didn't put much thought into keeping the fact that pie was not confined to temporal limits a secret, but when the kid exploded into her begging whine, he did suddenly feel like he owed Carolynn an apology. And not just an apology for the fact his eyes kept flicking over to where the lace accents on her bust were practically begging him to turn his attention.
He cracked a half smile when she shared her name, but what probably would've been a smooth comment about how a pretty name suited her was dragged out back and shot in the head thanks to the similarities it shared with his ex-stepmother's name.
And he hated that b***h.
Maybe he could just think of something else to mentally refer to Carolynn as something else to avoid that terrible mood killer of a name.
"Oh, what do you do?"
He looked to Mystery and her question about the fried fish sandwiches and seemed almost ponderous. "I think we can pull that off," He jokingly speculated with a wink down at the kid.
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Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 7:33 pm
With the confirmation that she could indeed have a fried fish sandwich, the child announced for all to hear "I will have the fried fish sandwich!!" She had such a large grin on her face, which apparently seemed to win over the heart of a certain mother.
"Mystery, why don't you go ahead and tell him which pie you want too."
A rather high pitched squeal escaped the girl before she started to chant out "Apple pie! Apple pie! Apple pie! Apple pie! Apple pie!"
The pale-haired woman gestured to her daughter with the back of her hand loosely, and the chanting evaporated into the air. She continued on with the conversation, seeming keen upon getting out a certain amount of information.
"I run a photography studio from my home. It is actually a specialty-sort of studio. I have a card or two with my things... I'll give you one once we finish up with lunch."
Since Mystery was also just as involved in the business, she couldn't help but try to get a few words in as well. "I help out too! Mom said I am her personal assistant! We have a snazzabam* retro set up!" The child didn't seem content with waiting til lunch was over and soon enough zipped away from the table (no doubt to grab one of the mentioned business cards).
Carolynn chuckled. "Forgive her enthusiasm... she really loves the work I do..." Without even looking at the menu, she then made her order.
"I think I will join my daughter in the dessert-first side of things and I would like a slice of apple pie as well. Then, I will have your messiest chili burger with whatever you have to spice it up." She smiled in an enticing manner, as if she was challenging the server to bring her something that would make her sweat from the heat.
It was about this time that the child came tromping back with a postcard sized business card at hand. It was double sided and she practically shoved one side which had a dolled-up girl in a swimsuit and fishnets in a rather seductive pose into Noah's face. "We do pinups!!!" she announced rather loudly, not seeming to care about the potential misinterpretations that could be made.
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Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 2:13 pm
"Oh, sorry, I didn't get that. What pie did you want again?" Noah teased, tapping his ear with his pen and a mocking cringe on his face. He chucked and watched Mystery scurry off before looking back to Carolynn.
Kids were sort of a weird spot with Noah and there was no telling the mysterious combination that would make him label them as brats and act inconvenienced or genuinely enjoy their presence. But he adored his nieces and Mystery's creative enthusiasm strongly reminded him of his brother's oldest daughter, so it was hard not to brighten up when she spoke up.
"Oh lady, don't underestimate my ability to spice up your life," He said with a click of his tongue as he scribbled down a note. "My chili is pretty ******** amazing too."
And suddenly he was getting a pinup shoved in his face.
Noah was not really a connoisseur of racy images. He enjoyed pretty girls in various states of undress as much as the next heterosexual guy but he had never really been educated on the many different types of pinups and photography culture surrounding the whole thing. All he saw was an ad for some amateur wannabe Playboy bunnies... which reminded him of a particular model.
"I... uh..." She let her kid assist with this business? And further, he couldn't suddenly get the connection with Caroline out of his head.
"I'll be right back with your pie," He mumbled, feeling the back of his ears get hot as he scurried to the back of the kitchen.
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Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 3:48 pm
It wasn't hard to miss the surprise (and perhaps horror) in their server's eyes. Carolynn had seen it all too many times, but Mystery was not quite as well versed about it.
Once Noah had gone off to get the pie, the child naively asked "...did I do something wrong?"
The elder woman sighed and smiled a bit, banishing away any lingering concern from her own face. "Sweetie... you need to be careful with how you go about advertising my studio. For one..."
She paused and picked up the post card, flipping it over to the other side with the more tasteful pinup girl in a classic vintage dress.
"...you start off with this side when you show a customer. That way it gives more opportunity to explain what the studio is actually about. The other side is for once you have explained, then you can mention that the models can get bold with their photo sessions if they would like."
The child's gold flecked purple eyes were wide and attentive. Mystery was like a sponge when it came to her mother's words of wisdom, and right now she was absorbing the messages eager to not make the same mistakes. "So... I should talk about the Vintage and the makeup and the hair... right?"
An easy nod. "Yes, you don't start off calling it a pinup because for some people it has a negative meaning."
"Oooooohhhhhhhhhhhh..." She blinked, then asked "...could I try again?"
Carolynn smiled, a few creases forming around her nose from the more exaggerated "cutesy" smile. With her hand, she slid the card back to the child. "Okay, but if you slip up, I will intervene, okay?"
"DEAL!!!!"
Now they just needed to wait for the pie.
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