Work Text:
"Do we have an understanding?"
Mr. Lopart swallowed convulsively as he narrowed his eyes at the old woman standing with her hands on her hips. He'd always thought she was just a nice old lady who came in every couple of weeks for a small box of the milk chocolate covered cashews that she kept hidden in her oversized bag. Everyone had a secret sweet tooth, even in this overly PC town. His brother had told him it would be a mistake to open a candy shop here but he'd decided it looked like a nice town, one he could live quietly and comfortably.
"I can fix my own shelves. Besides, none of them are broken."
"For once," Mrs. Portillo said slowly as if he was a stupid child, "allow Manny to help you. All you have to do is take out a nail. One nail. It's very simple."
He shook his head irritatingly. "No. I don't want-" but he was interrupted by the sound of smashing glass. Mrs. Portillo's large handbag was proving to be quite an invaluable weapon of sorts... the muscle behind her words. "You can't do that!"
"Can't I?" she asked sweetly, scooping up the small bag that held her candy and putting it carefully within the volumnous insides of her trusty handbag. "If you'd like, I can go next door and ask Manny to come over and look at the damage."
There was no time to react before she was out the door but Mr. Lopart didn't want to make trouble. Not if this was how Mrs. Portillo handled problems. With a sigh, Mr. Lopart went into the back room to look for the broom and dustpan to clean up the mess. Times like these, he wished he had talking tools to do his job for him. Some people got all the breaks.
***
"Hello, Kelly."
The blonde haired lady lifted her head out of the box she'd been going through at the front counter. Some small, pocket-sized flashlights came in yesterday and this was her first chance to put them out in a special display. She'd already set aside a blue one that she decided she wanted to keep for herself.
"Why, hello, Manny. You've been in quite a bit this week. Is the whole town falling down around our ears?"
"Mr. Lopart needs a couple of new glass shelves. It seems that Mrs. Portillo accidently ran into them when she was looking for something to send to her nietos."
Kelly stiffled a giggle at the thought of Mrs. Portillo acting the part of a bull in a china shop. "Do you have the dimensions?" she asked, trying to once again sound businesslike. While she enjoyed seeing Manny so much, it was hard to remember that he was just here because he had work to do. He'd never come in for any other reason.
Manny pulled out his notebook and took quite a long time to find the information he was looking for. After checking her database, Kelly led him to the back corner where some of her specially cut glass was stored. She showed him a couple of different pieces she had but none of them seemed to be the right texture or size. The one who came the closest wasn't meant to be a shelf and would break if anything heavy was put on it for very long.
"Would you like me to put in an order for you?" It was all Kelly could do to keep from murmuring yesyesyesyes under her breath. She would never get in the way of Manny's ability to do his job even if it meant going over to the next town to get the equipment he needed.
"Yes, that would be nice. Thank you."
She waited for him to move away so they could complete the transactions at the front counter. When Manny looked at her and quickly looked back at the row of cut glass, she took a step away from him. Something was up and she was pretty sure he wasn't waiting to ask about her latest sale on paint brushes. If there was one thing she'd learned about Manny over these past months of doing business with him, it was to be patient. He would eventually say what he needed to say.
"I wish I'd brought the tools with me today," he finally said quietly.
She hadn't noticed their absence until he said something. "Where are they? Usually they love coming to my store."
"I left them at home. There are a couple of projects for Mrs. Portillo they can work on themselves."
This is odd indeed considering they could be trusted to get into mischief if left alone. "Mrs. Portillo has certainly had you busy lately. These new projects... her new sink... that faucet that mysteriously fell off and got stuck in the drain."
"Yes, but everything seems to be fixed for now. Everyone else seems to be having trouble."
Kelly couldn't help but have her suspicions about this newest set of circumstances. Mrs. Portillo had been in quite a bit a couple of weeks ago, asking strange questions about Kelly's likes and dislikes. Thinking that it might have been in regards to her birthday but the day had come and gone without a single present from the older woman. For that matter, the day passed without a single present from anyone else but her parents. It had been rather disturbing to be so soundly ignored like that but she'd chalked it up to yet another "perk" of being a store owner in Sheet Rock Hills.
"It's nice to be busy," Kelly replies lamely, wishing she knew exactly what Manny wanted.
"You've certainly been busy lately yourself. Have you been able to get away to check out the new restaurant over on Fourth Street?"
"The one opened up by Mr. Rajah and his family? No, I haven't but I've heard they have wonderful Indian food."
Manny mumbled something that sounded a lot like "Would you like to come with me tonight" but she couldn't be sure. It was easy to see that his ears were brilliantly red and this gave her hope that she really had heard correctly. She wasn't going to let him off this easily, though. He was going to have to ask her properly and that included enunciation and some eye contact.
"What was that? I couldn't understand what you said just then."
With a quick clearing of his throat, Manny lifted his head and looked directly at Kelly. If he wasn't exactly looking into her eyes, she could comfort herself with the fact that he was staring at her mouth and that was perfectly acceptable with her.
"I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me there tonight?"
She paused just long enough to make his eye narrow with worry before answering, "Yes, that would be lovely. Will the tools be coming?"
"No. Mrs. Portillo has offered to tool-sit."
Very interesting. Very interesting indeed.