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You stretched your arms above your head and took a deep breath, slowly releasing it as you lower your arms. People passed by you, emerised in their own chatter, arm ladened with bags from various stores that the mall boasted. You were sitting peacefully in front of a small coffee shop, a (hopefully) delicious drink and pastry sitting in front of you, tempting you to take a bite. But you resisted, knowing Thalia would be upset if you ate her food.
For the past year, you and Thalia have gone to different coffee shops across New York City and chose the weirdest things on the menus. Sometimes they were good, sometimes not. Today's choice was Épicerie Boulud in Manhattan. You were waiting on Thalia who was choosing what odd thing you were going to call lunch (if you choose your own things it wouldn't be as much fun.
She walked out and set down your food: a steaming cup and a brown paper bag. She looked smug as she plopped herself across from you.
"Do I want to know?" you asked as you grabbed your things, taking a sniff at the drink, smelling an interesting concoction of herbs you would never be able to name. She shrugged and grabbed her drink. Her eye narrowed at the bright and appalling color of it and you chuckled at her. The comedic value was too much. Her was a punk girl with her Death to Barbie shirt, ripped jeans, and sliver coat tied around her wait and she was holding an obnoxiously pink drink. She glared at you.
"On three," she said, preparing herself for the bombardment of sugar she was undoubtedly going to receive.
"One."
"Two."
"Thre-"
Your count down was cut off by a loud passerby. Now typically you and Thalia would ignore them (some people at Camp had little sense of what an 'inside voice' is). But the volume wasn't the problem, it was what he was saying.
"Hey sweetheart, why don't you give us a show now, no need to wait till tonight!"
The disgusting phrase was uttered by a man (surround by two, equal gross men) standing by the nearby Victoria's Secret. We'll call them Asshole #1 (middle guy), Asshole #2 (Right guy), and Asshole #3 (left guy). A young lady was standing near the shop's entrance looking at a piece of lingerie. The poor girl was very uncomfortable as she set down the fabric and made to scurry away. But Asshole #2 spoke before she could leave.
"Leaving already? Come on, shopping at a place like this? You gotta be a whore. You probably love the attention.
You couldn't see the girl's face, but you could see Thalia's, and it was red. Before another scumbag could speak she jumped from her seat and marched over to the men. You followed, knowing she could handle herself. You instead walked over to the poor girl who looked to be holding in tears.
"Hey," you said as you approached her. She looked up at you, eyes red and wiping her nose. "You okay?"
She nodded and sniffed. "Yeah."
"You know what those assholes said isn't true, right?"
She nodded again, giving a shaky smile. "Yeah, but it hurts. I was so nervous about coming in here, but I wanted to surprise my boyfriend..."'
"Ah, screw those guys," you said waving a hand in their direction. You spared them a glance and saw Thalia yelling at them, but they seemed cocky. "You should get what you want, and they should learn to shut up."
At that point, an attendant walked over and offered to walk with the girl and help her pick something. The girl agreed and smiled at you, still red-eyed but looking better.
"Thank you," she said. You brushed her off, it was no problem. "But still, not many people would step in. And speaking of that, you might want to get your friend soon."
With that parting wisdom, she walked with the attendant to a different part of the store. You looked over at Thalia and your eyes widened. Thalia looked two seconds away from murdering the men in front of her and Asshole #1 looked ready to piss himself. Asshole #2 was clutching his hand while Asshole #3 was about to bolt. Seeing security approach you quickly intervened.
"Okay Thals," you said, walking up next to her, grabbing her elbow so she wouldn't grab her knife. "I think they'd have enough. Let's go, yeah?"
She was about to argue with you, but also saw security and mumbled her agreement. The two of you turned away and were about to walk away when Asshole #1 muttered under his breath, "Yeah that's right, run away bitch."
Thalia heard this and, before you could stop her, turned on her heel and punched him in the nose. The crowd that had appeared cheered for her but quieted as security came. Before they could do anything Asshole #2 cried, "She broke my fucking hand! Arrest her!"
The guards seemed hesitant (knowing about the whole harassment situation). But rules were rules, so they calmly asked Thalia to put her hands behind her back. She went with them peacefully, a smirk on her face as the crowd cheered as she was lead away. Asshole #1 was still on the ground, moaning and cradling his, probably broken, nose.
You chuckled at him. "Should've kept your mouth shut. Idiot."
WIth that you quickly follow the security guards, knowing you would probably have to bail her out.
Oh well. At least some assholes were put in their places.