Chapter Text
Sweet Dee is at a coffee shop. The smell of nutmeg is overpowering, Jesus Christ. Dee isn't even sure what nutmeg is. Its not actually a nut (or is it?), and what the hell is a 'meg'? The place is a good ways away from Paddy's, in a nice enough neighborhood. Dee scans the small establishment with her blue eyes while she waits for her drink to cool. The gangly teenage boy who took and made her order is restocking the white paper cups. A middle aged woman with red hair, but brown roots, is working on a laptop, a neglected poppy seed muffin adjacent. The sound of the woman's fingernails tap, tap, tapping on the computer keys is starting to really piss Dee off. As Dee glares in her direction, the lady packs up her laptop and heads for the door; she throws the barely nibbled muffin away on the way out. Pig, Dee thinks.
Finally, The Waitress comes out of the back room and relieves the pimply young man at the counter. God, this had to be the only coffee shop within a hundred mile radius that Charlie hasn't gotten her fired from. The front door swings open once again and a corpulent man enters. Dee watches The Waitress smoothly take his order, using the upbeat, customer service voixe shes mastered working all her dead-end gigs over the years. The Waitress doesn't notice Dee. Doesn't notice her gaze practically boring holes in her direction. Dee has never been subtle.
The man gets his coffee and leaves, and Dee realizes with a start that she's the only customer left. Shit, shit, shit. The Waitress notices too, her line of sight falling on Dee and her eyes going wide. "Here goes nothing" Dee thinks, takes a big gulp of her double shot (extra nutmeg, apparently) capicino, and gets up to walk towards the counter.
As Dee's long legs cardy her across the hardwood floor, the Waitress is silently, but vigorously shaking her head.
"No. No. No." She whispers.
"Calm down, Charlie doesn't know I'm here or that you work here" Dee hisses, The Waitress finds herself believing that, for some reason.
"Than what do YOU want?" Her voice has gone flat, no bubbly, "please-dont-ask-for-my-manager" treatment for Dee.
"Well I, um" Dee is suddenly nervous. Her palms are sweating (she hates sweat, reminds her of her back brace sticking to her back in the hot summers of high school). She pauses, the image of the girk before her fades and she flashes back to last night.
***
Dee is in Artemis's apartment. It's hazy with pot smoke that dulls the bright colors of the décor. The pot she's smoked dulls everything else. Like the sound of Artemis singing along to some obscure Broadway tune. Dee hears enough to be folded over, ugly laughing at her friend hamming it up. The tune ends and Artemis flops down on the coach next to her, taking a big gulp out of a store-brand, green-so-bright-it-hurts-your-eyes, 2 litter soda bottle. She passes it to Dee, who trades her the dwindling joint for it.
Dee takes a swig and closes her eyes. Artemis begins babbling about her latest sexual encounte (thankfully, one Frank wasn't involved in), but Dee is pretty much tuned out. The weed is really starting to hit her at this point and her head is finally clear, well fuzzy, but clear of any troubling thoughts. That is, until Artemis asks her about her love life.
"What about you, huh?"
"What?" Dee lazily replies.
"Getting laid these days?" Arty raises an eyebrow. "do you at least have a crush" Artimis smiles crookedly, detrimed to dig something up.
Dee groans. "Nah, I think I'm done with men" Dee chuckles and opens one eye to look at Artemis.
"So, you're into women now? I totally called it." Artemis says nonchalantly, taking a drag.
This pulls Dee out of her high quite a bit.
"Um, well, I don't even talk to girls so I don't know what you're talking about, haha.." Dee says, her voice shakes a bit when she's says "girls".
"Mmm, what about that waiter girl?" Artemis suggests, clearly still enjoying her high.
"What??! you think I'm into that bitch! Ha!" Dee retorts, too defensively.
"Whatever" Artemis hands Dee the joint, she obviously needs to chill.
***
Dee snaps back to the present. The Waitress is staring right at her, awaiting an answer to her question.
"I um, just came, I mean. I was in the neighborhood! And just happened to stop in here" Dee fumbles to explain herself.
"Oh?" The Waitresses replies unbelievingly.
"Yeah, yeah. Not like i even knew YOU were here. That little boner took my order. Sue me for wanting some coffee, god!" Dee yells and turns on her heels. She stalks to the exit and escapes into the street.
The Waitress intently follows the woman's exit with her blue eyes.
"Come by again!" She says to the empty coffee shop, in a tone somewhere between sarcastic and wistful.