burnthemall | Been a Long Time Coming for the Working Man

Hansel liked the times where he was alone in the coffee shop best. Early in the morning when he was baking or late at night when he was cleaning up, or making doughs to rise overnight. It was quiet, except for the radio he left playing in the kitchen. He was alone and allowed a moment of peace and quiet.

If Gretel stayed some nights that was okay. He never minded his sister's presence.

Tonight, he was alone though, moping the floor and singing along to the radio.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

burnthemall

"No, go home if you're hurting. You've had a bad enough day."

He's not going to make her feet suffer on top of it. He's not cruel.

From:

chromatist

"Nope, I'm doing it now, come on."

She sits up and wiggles her feet back into her shoes, clapping her hands on her thighs.

From:

burnthemall

"I might be here for another two hours, Lydia."

He has his nighttime ritual and he's got to make sure everything is still going well with his dough. He's not going to keep her here.

"Look, go home. I'll see you tomorrow."

From:

chromatist

"Then that's another two hours I don't have to be alone with my crushing failures. I'm helping you, get used to it."

She just doesn't want to be alone right now. Even sore toes is going to be worth it.

From:

burnthemall

"Gretel will still be up. I can call her. You two can have a girl's night or some shit."

Because he really doesn't want her on her feet working when she's had a crappy day. That just doesn't seem fair to him.

From:

chromatist

"Do you want the help or not, Hansel, come on." She steals a pen from in front of the register, one of those slim Bic ones, and twists her hair off her neck, stabbing the pen through it to keep it in place. "Leave your sister alone, I don't need to bug her."

From:

burnthemall

"I don't. Not really. You've worked enough today. Go have fun." That's really all he wants for her. It's not that he's bothered by her offering, but she's got impractical shoes and she's all dressed up.

"Or, you know, go home and take a hot bath or something. Relaxing shit, not this crap."

From:

chromatist

"I really don't want to be alone in my apartment right now, that's all," she confesses, halfway back into the back, pausing with her hand on her hip.

From:

burnthemall

"Call a friend. You've got to have plenty." She doesn't seem like the loner type, not like him.

From:

chromatist

"Stiles is in California, and Dean is at work," she says, counting them off on her fingers. They're the only real friends she has who know anything about her life before New York, well, except for Hansel right now. "I work with the others, they're kind of the last people I want to see right now."

From:

burnthemall

"Who the fuck names their kid Stiles?" Because that's the dumbest shit Hansel has ever heard. At least his name made sense and was an actual name.

From:

chromatist

Finally, she cracks a smile. "He's Polish. Named after his grandfather. You know, I never found out what his real name was until after college? It's Gościsław, for the record, which makes him going by Stiles, a bastardization of his last name, make total sense."

From:

burnthemall

"There's nothing wrong with an ethnic name." He's Hansel Jager, the most German name to ever exist. He thinks Goscilaw is pretty damn cool in comparison.

"Look, if you're going to stick around just sit and get out of my way. You'll cause me more problems then you'll solve." She might listen if he's rude. That tends to work.

From:

chromatist

"Hansel is a lot easier to pronounce than Gościsław, honey." Of course Lydia can do it perfectly, though. "And apparently it's a weird-ass name, even to the Polish, I checked."

She huffs a little and gives him a sour look. "Rude."

From:

burnthemall

"Yet everyone says it with the wrong accent." He goes back to his mop to keep his hands busy.

"Why the hell does it still surprise you? I'm a rude guy." He is. He's an asshole and he knows it. Occasionally, he can be a decent guy but in the end, he's an ass.

From:

chromatist

"I don't," she points out, quite reasonably in her mind.

Rolling her eyes at him, she moves over to the sink and starts in on the dishes. "No you're not. If you were, you'd never have let me cry on your shoulder. Hell, you wouldn't have even let me inside in the first place."

From:

burnthemall

"I'm rude, not heartless. There's a difference." He's really not sure she's allowed to do that without being on the payroll. He'll have to ask Gretel tomorrow.

From:

chromatist

"Mhmm." She seems content to let the subject drop for now, focusing on scrubbing cake crumbs out of pans before filling the huge plastic trays with dishes and pots and utensils and sliding it into the sanitizer. Slamming down the contraption over the tray is always so satisfying.

From:

burnthemall

He doesn't like her helping. It's not what she should be doing after a bad day. He grabs her wrist and looks at her. "Lydia, will you listen to me for just this once and sit the fuck down? It can be on a counter if you insist on hovering but stop working. Stop doing my work. This is my routine and I don't appreciate you messing it up."

From:

chromatist

"You shouldn't have to do all this by yourself, Hansel," she says, looking down at his hand on her wrist. "I know this is a small business, but still, this must take you forever..."

A beat, and then she shrugs and throws up her hands, dislodging his grip on her. "But fine, if that's what you want, I'm just going to sit over there."

From:

burnthemall

"I like to do it all by myself. Gretel does a lot of the offsite stuff, the marketing and the payroll, all that. I get to do this, which I like." He's an introvert. Only his sister really knows him. Peace and quiet are what he likes best after a hard day of dealing with customers.

At least she was off her feet and no longer in his way. He would be done at his own pace and he would be certain everything was right for tomorrow morning, when cutting down on wasted time was more important. "Attagirl."

From:

chromatist

"Okay. If you're sure." She still gives him an uncertain look as she goes off to sit down, but she does go sit down, over on the counter by the wall where her coffee sits, cooling.

She hoists herself up and settles back against the wall, picking up the cup and wrapping her hands around it. "So, you seen any good movies lately?"

From:

burnthemall

"I have a feeling you don't watch many movies." At least not the ones out in theaters. She's more of a book and theater kind of girl, he'd guess.

He goes back to his moping. The floor always needs moping.