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Grundo's Cafe
"Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful you look with
hot sauce on her cheek?" Flaurin said, goggling at the Faerie Nimmo who sat
across from him.
The Nimmo--her name was Aylie--blushed and quickly
wiped away a spot of hot sauce clinging to her cheek.
Seated several tables away was a dainty-looking
white Aisha. She patted her mouth with her napkin and stared around the cafe.
It was Bitsy. When she'd heard that Flaurin was going to be at the Grundo's
Cafe, she painted herself white and set out to spy on him, hoping to hear something
about Brak's whereabouts so she could encounter him and feed him the love potion.
So far, she hadn't seen Flaurin--or so she thought. She didn't know that he
had been painted. Unluckily for Flaurin, Bitsy's sharp ears just happened to
tune in to his next conversation, making her realize that Flaurin was indeed
there.
"My friend Brak should be coming by any minute
now," Flaurin said, oblivious to the pair of sharp Aisha ears two tables away.
"He's bringing a friend of his, her name's Leye. She's a surfing champ. Ever
heard of her?"
Aylie shook her head. "Can't say that I have.
But Brak sounds familiar. He's the one who set up this date, isn't he?"
"Yeah, that's him. He said he met you at Battledome
tournament. He's a shadowed Kougra," Flaurin explained, still unaware that that
piece of information had just given Brak away completely.
Flaurin and Aylie continued to chat, but Bitsy
heard none of that. She slowly stood up and made her way to the kitchen. She
had to think fast. How could she get Brak to drink the potion without him discovering
she was there? The answer came to her when a Tonu waitress narrowly missed running
into her. She quickly drew her pair of Asparachucs and whacked the waitress
soundly on the back of the head. In seconds she was dressed perfectly for the
part as an innocent Aisha waitress. She stuffed the vial containing the love
potion into her apron pocket, and slowly made her way toward Flaurin's table.
"Hello, and welcome to the Grundo's Cafe," she
said, trying her best to sound like a perky teenager. "May I take your order?"
Flaurin turned to face Bitsy. "Uh, we're waiting
for the rest of our party to arrive. They should be around any minute now."
Bitsy put on her best perky smile. "Alright then,
I'll just wait here for them to come!"
Flaurin blinked. "Uhh... alright." Bitsy leaned
against the table and started to whistle. Bitsy never whistled out of disguise.
She thought it was an annoying habit.
It wasn't long before Brak showed up, leading
a sullen Leye behind him. It was obvious to Flaurin that she hadn't forgotten
what he'd said about Brak. Bitsy had to try hard to keep from smiling. This
was too easy. She had to wonder if he had set her up, but she was sure he hadn't.
"May I take your orders?" she said brightly.
Leye, being nearest to her went first.
"I just want a water, okay?" she snarled. Bitsy
blinked, then, remembering herself, whipped out a notepad and quickly jotted
down, One water.
Brak ordered next. "I'll take a Diet Neocola,
and some Grape Paste." One Grape Paste, one Diet Neocola, Bitsy wrote, biting
her lower lip.
Aylie was next. "Oh, I'll just have a water,
I'm not that hungry yet." Bitsy scratched out the one next the word water and
scrawled above it 'two'.
Finally, Bitsy came to Flaurin. "I think I'll
have a Specialty of the Week, please," he said. Bitsy took up her pen and scratched
in, One Spec. of Week, then smiled perkily and trotted off to the kitchens.
The kitchens at Grundo's Cafe were swarming with
pets, mostly Grundos and robots. Bitsy picked her way through the crowd till
she found the Chief Chef.
"What's the Special today?" she asked.
The mutant Grundo looked slightly suspicious
at first, but his expression soon dulled to that of peaceful stupidity.
"Over there," he grunted, pointing in the vague
direction of a large walk-in freezer. "It's frozen soup." He swatted a fly with
his spatula, then continued cooking, oblivious of Bitsy's presence.
Bitsy walked off in the direction of the freezer,
stopping for a second to fill two cups with purified water. Then, she set them
aside and walked into the freezer. After grabbing a bowl of what had to the
frozen soup, she shut the freezer door behind her and wound her way over to
the soda fountain.
Silently, she took the vial from her apron pocket
and screwed off the top. She glanced around to make sure no one was looking,
then dumped the bottle's contents into an empty glass. Quickly, she filled up
the rest of the way with Diet Neocola. She took a straw from the container beside
the fountain and stirred the drink a bit to get the potion mixed in. Then, she
stacked the drinks on top of the frozen soup and strolled out the door, whistling
once again.
When she reached the table, the four friends
were chatting cheerfully, except for Leye, who sat and stared at the table.
Brak was first to notice the waitress was standing there.
"Ah, the food is here," he said, tilting a paw
at Bitsy. She smiled and set down the food, making sure to put Brak's drink
right in front of him.
Flaurin licked his lips and dug in to his bowl
of frozen soup immediately. Leye crossed her arms and glared at her glass of
water. Aylie sipped daintily from her cup, and Brak chugged most of his drink
then let out a long belch. This almost made Leye smile. Almost.
Suddenly, Brak's eyes seemed to fog over. He
glanced around dully, a giddy smile playing at the corners of his mouth. His
gaze locked on Bitsy. He gave a low whistle. Leye stared at him oddly and Flaurin
looked up from his bowl.
"What are you all looking at?" Aylie wondered,
trailing off as she noticed Brak. "What the. . ."
Bitsy gave Brak her best dreamy look. He grinned
stupidly. "Hey. Wanna sit down with me?"
"Of course!" Bitsy said with a very fake giggle.
Brak, of course, didn't notice. He just kept on staring goggle-eyed at Bitsy.
Leye felt suddenly uncomfortable. What was this
Aisha doing? Even though she thought she didn't that way about Brak, deep down,
she was hopping mad at this know-nothing little flirt of an Aisha. She gave
a low growl which brought Brak back to the real world.
"What's going on?" he said dazedly.
Bitsy batted her eyebrows. "Oh nothing, sweet.
We were just talking about this week's show at the Concert Hall. I hear Wok
'Til You Drop is performing there."
"We-we were?" Brak gave his head a shake. "Oh,
of... course we were. Would you like to go see it?"
Bitsy pretended to blush and giggle. "Oh of course!
How about right now?"
"Sounds good," Brak said, a strange robotic tone
to his voice. "Here, let me walk you to the door."
Leye was first to act. "I don't think so, bub!"
she growled, stepping in front of Bitsy and Brak. "Brak is in the middle of
a meal, ma'm. I suggest you get your pretty little butt back in the kitchen
and let this dude be."
"What are you talking about, stranger? I do not
believe I was eating with you. I do not even know you. Please move."
Leye was too stunned to do anything but step
aside and gape. But after a moment, her brain kicked in and she hurled herself
at Brak, attaching to his back. He continued to walk with Bitsy as if nothing
had happened. When they reached the shuttle bay, Leye was forced to drop off
and could only curse angrily at the retreating shuttle. Bitsy smiled evilly
at Leye through the window and silently mouthed, "Sucker!"
Leye's fists curled, but she knew there was nothing
she could do.
To be continued...
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