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((Cerise Clayborne and Dominic Styles))

Cherry was wiping up the front counter where a lot of people sat and ate at. The lunch crowd were dying away, and the atmosphere had calmed down a lot. The only other help with her this shift had left to make it to a class on time. She double checked all the coffee pots, and she went in the back to make sure everything was just as it should be.

When she returned, she found a young man waiting at the "order here" spot. "What can I get you today? I can guarantee you anything I serve you will be totally delish."

"Sure thing, kid. Just you wait. Once you get a spoonful of my decadent and delicious pie in your mouth, you'll swear you died and went to heaven. Well.. or... went swimming in a pool of..." She looked at him. Oh wait. She probably shouldn't say that to him. He was probably too young for that kind of talk. Also, she might get in trouble if the owner heard her talking like that to customers too.

She disappeared a moment and came back with a small plate with a slice of cherry pie. It was perfectly baked, and the filling inside was thick and soft and warm. She then went off to get his milk and water. Then, after that, she also went to get an application.

It wasn't often she saw a lot of students in here at this time. This was a popular hour for classes or lectures. Should she even consider hiring someone who wasn't attending his classes? Well, she really did want to have more people on hand. More staff meant more time to herself outside of work.

Finally, she returned and leaned against the counter. Her long chestnut curls cascading around her shoulders. "I .. might have a job. Are you qualified to serve people? This is a very service oriented field. If you can't tolerate people, you probably won't last too long."

She smiled diplomatically and then looked up to see if anyone else needed anything.

For the briefest of moments, her eyes flickered with a moment of utter embarrassment. DUH! Of course she knew he wasn't being serious! Only she hadn't really. However, she was far too conceited to even think of admitting she didn't know. What would have been a flooding look of mortification was quickly absorbed by a cocky smirk.

"Whatever.. .I knew that, so in that case, I'll just take that back." She pulled the paper back and slipped it under the counter. Then, she went into just playing it off through her infinite self love. "I get it. It's totally fine. You were probably led in by rumors of the hot babe who works here and makes the most mouthwatering spoonful of anything you'll ever taste. It happens."

Then again, she was often convinced half the people who came in there in the morning; they came just to admire her. Whether that had any truth or not was irrelevant. She believed it was the case. How would it not be?

She waited as she partially felt like she should check on some things, but she also wasn't going to miss out on watching someone try her goods for the first time.

She grinned wide. Her cocky expression softening into a friendly satisfied one at his agreement that was why he had come in there. Of course! Who didn't want to go with that story. Noone, that's who; to her anyways.

Her brows rose in surprise to see him be more serious about it. She smiled ever so diplomatically at him. She leaned up against the counter and leaned her head forward a little. She was careful to keep her tresses behind her shoulders.

"I have to tell you a secret though." She peered around and then looked back at the young man in front of her. "I'm not actually given authority to hire anyone directly, but I could maybe put in a good word for you. You seem a nice enough guy to me."

Not that she was any good judge of character. She never felt a need for other people to actually have good character. She just wanted their admiration. Or rather, she just liked their attention.

She blinked at him a few times. Seeing the pen brought out, she then looked him over again with a more serious intake. "Oh, I guess I wasn't sure whether you wanted it or not. Here, you can just fill out the application. I'll turn it in and put in a good word for ya."

She gave him the paper back, and she gave him a playful wink. "Nice to meet ya, Dominic. People call me Cherry. You can call me that too." Not that her real name was a secret, but she didn't always tell everyone her real name. That was for people who took time to actually get to know her. "Sometimes... guys who go out with me call me Cherry Pie, but those stories would probably be boring."

She pursed her lips together when she saw he wasn't seeming to feel much better for having eaten some of her pie. Something had to be wrong. Maybe ... "Would you like me to put whip cream on there? Or... you want me to get you something else? Or... maybe you just need someone to talk to? I'm no bartender, but I can listen just the same."

"We already had it." She shrugged with a happy smile on her face. "We are actually due for a shift change in an hour. And, actually, soon as you leave, I'll probably have to go help wash some dishes or something. Since I'm not a student, I'm the only person usually around who doesn't have to be in and out at certain times."

Boy, maybe she was just in a sharing kind of mood today. She went over to the register to ring him up.

Cherry just shrugged with a half smile. It was full of surrender to the fact that sometimes; things fell to her to be the grownup. This had been the story of her life for years now. It by far part of the driving force behind her growing need to be more outlandish in her personal time.

The thought of how that truly does suck at times threatened her eyes momentarily. However, his request for more pie sailed right in as a timely rescue. She lit up brightly. "Sure thing, kid." She glanced at him as she went to get a fresh plate for his next slice. "Sorry, Dom, was it?"

The side of her profile that faced him smirked a little in an obviously playful way. When she brought it over to slide in front of him and take away his empty, "You can have anything you want."

Then she grinned a little more. "Just tell me what I can get you." It was one of those sorts of things she loved to say that sounded as though it contained a myriad of meanings.

She smiled with a face full of the cat who ate the canary even though this little service with a student was pretty tame and not containing any of the sort of innuendo talk she had with certain persons she knew. Even though the pie in question that day wasn't one out of her own recipes, she still took the compliments in and puffed up over them all the same. Of course it was good; she fed him. She baked it still. If she put her hands to anything involving baking, she was indisputably convinced it would be the best.

"Glad you liked it!" She purred at first. Then, hearing him ask for a whole pie. Well, any more strokes to her ego wasn't really going to hurt much or push her much past where she was already. "Oh, certainly. I need you to do me a little favor though."

She leaned in a conspiratorial sort of way. It was an almost devious glint in her eye. "If they ask you where you got it, just tell em that Cherry made it just for you. That if they like it so much, they should come find Cherry for themselves."

Would he actually do that? Well, who would even know. You never knew what anyone said or did once they were out the door. Still, she was feeling rather satisfied with this outcome. She sauntered off to get that whole pie with a step that was full of triumph.