Chapter Text
“Trix’- there’s some guy over there saying you overcharged him”
At Dela’s words, the nineteen year old blonde felt her eyes roll back in her head. She had just about enough of being here tonight.
‘You should be grateful’ her mother had pointed out the last weekend she had called home from college, and mentioned the problems she’d been having at work- and she was grateful. Her boss Bianca had really given her an opportunity letting her take shifts in the small yet busy café, and Lord knows she needed the pay check she was getting in return for her work, but sometimes what she got from it didn’t seem worth all of this. Especially the abrasive drunks.
“Hi Sir, what seems to be the problem?” she asked as politely as she muster, gesturing to the bill he was scowling at and based off the alcohol reeking off of him Trixie wondered if he was scowling out of necessity to see the small typed print or out of anger
“My problem..” he spat harshly at her, drawing some concerned glances from other customers “..is that you charged me $13.50, and I know my food wasn’t worth that”
Trixie bit her lip, but immediately switched and offered him a bright, obviously fake, smile
“Okay Sir, could I just see that bill?” she asked gesturing for the piece of paper but he scoffed and angrily shoved her hand away – shocking her slightly
“You don’t need to see it girl, I’m telling you I’m not paying the damn bill and you seein’ it wont change that”
Trixie felt out of her depth, she didn’t want to provoke the man any more than she clearly already had but she couldn’t just leave this unresolved and face backlash from Bianca, or Pearl, the manager on duty for tonight.
She cursed the tears that began to pool in her eyes as she realised how caught she was in this situation, and just how much it was pushing her towards a flashback of her youth with her stepfather.
“I’m sorry you feel unsatisfied with your meal Sir, let me talk to the manager about offering you something in compensation” she made a move to go and discuss it with Pearl but was immediately frozen in place as she felt his hand slide over the back of her thighs and towards her ass
“Hey!” she cried out in shock, jumping away from him and as she did she heard another voice ring in her ears
“Did you just fucking grab her ass?!”
Trixie looked up and saw a familiar woman, now standing from her booth, looking incredibly angry but she somehow still had a softness in her eyes which she aimed at Trixie herself
“Are you okay?” she felt the older womans hand rest against her back and immediately tensed again, but mumbled an apology quickly knowing the touch was only out of concern
“I think I just need a minute, I’ll be fine- thank you”
Trixie rushed back behind the counter and informed Pearl that there was a problem she couldn’t deal with and she needed to take her break now.
The manager was confused at the girls behaviour but said she’d follow up with her later, and went to talk to the problem customer.
It had been difficult for Trixie to breathe properly since she felt his grabby hands against her, and her lungs felt as if they were being unmercifully clenched and cutting off her air. It was moments like this she wished she left the state for college, suddenly everything was all to familiar.
He snarled her name, with venom in his voice as he reached out for her across the kitchen
“Your mother wont know baby” he promised, but that didn’t settle her, she didn’t want this.
He’d never listened, nothing stopped his “innocent” touches all across her body as she had developed more during her teenage years.
“-Hey” the soft voice caught her attention and her eyes immediately switched over to the customer from inside who had helped her, the beautiful blonde “I needed to check you were okay”
Trixie, not trusting her voice, could only shrug in response, well aware that the gesture could be considered rude but clearly the other woman didn’t see it that way.
“You did nothing wrong, you know that don’t you?” she offered, and at her words Trixie couldn’t stop the tears that had been threatening to fall from coming. She sniffled and tried desperately to hold herself together but she knew it wouldn’t happen, everything felt like too much.
“Can I give you a hug?”
Trixie appreciated her asking permission, but immediately nodded, knowing she’d give anything for some innocent physical comfort right now. She sunk into the older womans grip and allowed herself to cry freely as all the bright blonde did was run a comforting hand through the younger girls messy hair
“You don’t deserve that treatment Trixie”
At the use of her name, she pulled back and her startled eyes met the ones opposite her
“Your name tag” with a soft chuckle she quickly explained, which made Trixie offer her a watery smile
“Sorry, yeah of-course!” the emotion caused her voice to break slightly, but nevertheless she kept speaking “what’s your name?”
“Yekaterina Zamolodchikova”
Trixie cocked her head slightly, trying to comprehend what the other woman had just said or how she’d even attempt pronouncing it without offending her, but she was flooded with relief when she let out a breathy laugh
“Don’t look so worried, you can call me Katya, that’s what most people do” Katya’s sincere smile brought a lot of comfort to Trixie and she couldn’t say she was sure why, especially since the woman was as good as a stranger to her
“It’s a beautiful name” she admitted and she felt the blush rush to her cheeks at the thought of Katya actually hearing her “God, sorry, that wasn’t very appropriate”
The Russian shook her head, and Trixie couldn’t help but feel her heart melt at the smile that spread across her face
“Don’t apologise, I appreciate the compliment- especially from someone as sweet as you”
Trixie was never good at reading social queues or picking up on tones, but it was very clear to her that this conversation had taken a turn towards flirting. She tried to let her fear go, but all she could think was that she didn’t know this woman, she was clearly a lot younger than her and it just didn’t feel like a good idea for her to do this, as much as she wanted to.
“I better go back to work” Trixie said and Katya nodded
“Of course, don’t let me keep you. Before you go, are you sure you’re alright?”
Trixie realised she was. Being around Katya had calmed her down and left a lightness in her heart.
“I’m a lot better Katya, thank you for coming out here and talking with me”
In a moment of bravery, she slipped her now chilly hand into the older womans and pressed her slightly glossed lips to her cheek.
“You’re my knight in shining armour”
Katya lifted a hand to run it over the blonde girls cheek “You’re plenty capable of being your own knight in shining armour doll, remember that”
At her words, Trixie smiled again and offered her a small goodbye before ducking in the back doors of the kitchen.
Once she had gotten back to the counter, relief flooded through her when she noticed the drunk man had either left of his own accord or had been thrown out by Pearl, and she could continue the nights last hour of service before going back to her college dorm to nap for a few hours, after all she did have class tomorrow morning.
“Hey, are you okay?” the question came from Adore this time and she turned around to find her holding a small slip of paper and some dirty dishes.
“Yeah, I’m good now- sorry about earlier”
Trixie was still relevantly new here so she felt the need to apologise about everything, not limited to things that weren’t her fault.
“Nah Trix’ don’t apologise, that guy was an ass- also, the woman at 3 left you this”
Adore held out the slip of paper and Trixie smiled as she read the phone number scrawled across it delicately accompanied by Katya’s looped signature.
“I think she likes you, I’d noticed her smile at you when I was taking her order”
“Thanks Adore”
The waitress slipped the receipt with the number on it into her pocket carefully and tried to decide if she’d call her later. As much as she would like to get to know Katya, her mind wasn’t hesitant in throwing out plenty of reasons why she shouldn’t – number one being her own insecurity and baggage. Maybe it was better just leaving everything as it was, having the “kind stranger” vision of Katya and leaving it there?
Either way, she reckoned this was something she could figure out some other time and she went back to watching the clock and waiting for it to signal her time to go back home.
Despite her best efforts all she could spend the rest of the night doing was thinking back over the brief time spent alone with Katya, and she felt herself smile softly at all the thoughts of the mysterious blonde.
A twinge hit her heart as she again considered calling her. She wanted to, she even took out the number and made a move to dial it into her phone, but she suddenly let out a deep sigh, balled up the paper and shoved it into her pocket to be thrown out later.
She told herself she was making the right decision, and she knew she’d keep telling herself that until she was sure she believed it.
Everything about tonight was getting left here, confined to the past eight hours, including her knight in shining armour with the beautiful name and equally striking blue eyes. That’s what was best for everyone.