Work Text:
June 4, 2022
Sorano glanced at her watch impatiently, her perfectly manicured fingernails tapping on the counter as she waited. After another ten minutes of barely contained complaints, it was finally her turn.
“Can I help you, Miss?” the young man behind the counter asked cheerfully. “What would you like today?”
Sorano bit back a sarcastic retort before it could escape, reasoning that the delay wasn’t this person’s fault.
“I’d like to pick up my order from City Eats, it should be under Agria,” she even gave the perfectly mousy employee one of her winning smiles.
“City what?” He gaped at her, obviously confused, and that was not endearing him to her in the slightest.
“You do know what an order is, correct?” Sorano raised an eyebrow in mock inquiry.
“Yeah.”
“Excellent, then go get mine,” Sorano gave the employee a deadpan look and waved him off.
“But you haven’t ordered anything,” the employee insisted, getting flustered.
There was growing unrest as the people in line behind her began to voice their disapproval at how long she was taking. She noticed an attractive woman with black hair that was neatly secured with a hair clip watching the exchange with interest.
“Yes, I did, on the app doohickey. It’s the only reason I came to this dump, I have an afternoon’s worth of clients and no time to waste in here. So get me my order, and I’ll be on my way.”
“Listen, lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about, there is no order under that name anywhere on here.”
“Allow me, Dobengal,” the black-haired woman approached them, signaling the employee to continue serving the next customer, “Why don’t you come over here with me, Miss?”
Sorano was fuming by now. She had taken a chance on this little restaurant in a spirit of solidarity. And yes, the proximity to her salon, but that was beside the point. If she didn’t hurry up and get her food, she was either going to have to skip lunch altogether or run late, which would inconvenience her clients. It could also put her business, which she was only starting to get off the ground, in danger of getting a bad reputation.
“I don’t have time for this!” Sorano snapped, “I want to speak to your manager.”
“You’re looking at her. Owner, manager, cook, you name it, I’m it. Now, what seems to be the trouble?”
“The trouble is your service is terrible. I ordered my meal over an hour ago from the City Eats app, is it too much to ask to expect it to be ready when I arrive for pickup?!”
“I highly doubt that, are you sure you read the message properly?”
“Of course I read it properly, what do you take me for?!”
The woman smirked but gave no other answer.
“Look, I’ll show you!” Sorano searched through her bag, looking for her phone so she could show the horrid, yet attractive woman the email she had received confirming her order. Except now that she looked at it, that’s not what it said at all.
We regret to inform you that this restaurant has not yet been configured in our system. Keep an eye out for an announcement coming soon!
Well, shit! Now she looked like a total moron. The woman looked at her expectantly, arms crossed in front of her chest, her smirk only increasing by the second.
“That’s not what it said earlier!” Sorano argued, not willing to admit that she was at fault.
“I’ll tell you what, why don’t you tell me what you wanted, and I’ll go make it for you quickly, but don’t get used to it,” the woman warned.
Sorano recited her order and fumed the whole time the woman was gone. She quickly returned, handing her a bag.
“I added a treat, maybe it will help with your attitude. On the house.”
The woman gave her a small mocking wave before returning to the kitchen, and Sorano had half a mind to throw the bag on the floor and stomp on it with her heels. Still, the one thing she could say about this restaurant was that the food smelled heavenly, and her curiosity got the best of her. So instead, she stormed off to her salon to wolf down her lunch before her next client arrived, getting only more worked up when the food ended up being delicious.
0-0
Minerva finally locked the doors of the restaurant behind her, signaling the end of another busy day. Her business had grown quickly, even though she’d only had it for a few months now. With the soon to be added online service, she was probably going to need extra employees. Maybe if things continued to go well, she could switch to the more lucrative dinner crowd and drop breakfast. It would be nice to not have to get up so early every day. But that was a worry for another day.
Right now, she had something else on her mind. In just a few hours, she would be attending a very special event. Sting Eucliffe and Rogue’s family had planned a surprise second wedding ceremony for him. For the last few months, she, along with several other of their friends, had been meeting in secret at her restaurant, creating menus, designing cakes, picking flowers, and doing everything they could to make this an occasion to remember for their friend. She couldn’t wait to see Rogue’s reaction to their efforts, knowing that his family’s absence had been the only thing to put a damper on his wedding day years ago, which had been an otherwise perfect day.
She still had a lot of things to do in preparation and not that much time left, so she sped up her pace, making a to-do list in her head while still keeping an eye out for the sign of the beauty salon she was heading to. Although it was reasonably new, it had come highly recommended.
She’d booked an appointment especially for the occasion. To get her eyebrows done and her hair pinned up in a more elegant way than the messy buns she was used to wearing. And all that cooking and cleaning and wearing latex gloves had taken its toll on her hands, so they could definitely use some special care as well. Unfortunately, she couldn’t have long nails anymore, but a manicure and a layer of cute nail polish would make a world of difference.
It didn’t take long before she found the salon, only a couple of blocks away from her restaurant. She entered and was greeted by a somewhat jaded looking employee with black and white hair, and admittedly flawless looking makeup.
“Good afternoon, how can I help you?”
“Good afternoon. I have an appointment at three, under the name Orland.” Minerva waited for the employee to check their planner, wondering if she could pull off that dark shade of purple lipgloss they were wearing. It matched the color of the dress she had bought for tonight perfectly.
“Please take a seat, Sorano will be with you shortly.”
She sat down in the elegantly designed waiting area, taking a quick look at the clock. She’d gotten there a little early, so she went through the stack of beauty and health magazines, looking for something to keep her busy while she waited. Eventually, she found a women’s hairstyles catalog and began flipping through its pages. Perhaps she could find an example of what she wanted to show the hairdresser.
A yawn escaped her, unsurprisingly, since she had gotten up earlier than usual. On top of all the prep she usually did at her restaurant, Minerva had been responsible for the catering for tonight’s reception. It had been a busy morning, but thank God she didn’t have to worry about serving tonight. The venue had staff for that, so she could relax and enjoy the party, and take off those ridiculous heels whenever she wanted.
Her eyelids were getting heavy, so she put away the book. Leaning her head back against the wall, she closed her eyes, just for a minute. Couldn’t hurt, right?
0-0
Sorano walked out of the waxing room with her client and hurried to the planner. She was running late, and this was her last appointment for the day as she had Sting’s wedding to attend that evening. She traveled the page with her index finger until she arrived at the name. Orland. It didn’t sound familiar.
“Hey Midnight,” she called out, “Did my last appointment get here yet?”
“She was in the waiting room last time I checked, “ Midnight responded without lifting their head from the magazine they were reading.
“Do you think you could check Gladys out for me? I’m running late,” she gave him her best puppy eyes, but they only snorted as they got up, earning a smile from her. “You’re an angel, thanks!”
She walked into the waiting room, her heels clicking on the floor when to her astonishment, she found the woman from the restaurant fast asleep in one of her chairs. She looked so peaceful that Sorano spent a whole minute admiring her with a smile.
She really was a breathtaking woman. Sorano tried shaking her gently, “Hey, wake up.”
When that didn’t work, she shook a bit harder, although she felt a little guilty. If the poor woman was sleeping that deeply she must be exhausted. Sorano could commiserate, running your own business could be draining. Any other day she might have let her sleep a bit longer, but she didn’t have any time to waste.
The woman blinked her eyes slowly looking slightly disoriented as she woke. Sorano couldn’t help but tease, “You really have no regard for my time, do you?”
“You?!”
“Me,” Sorano agreed, smirking at her reaction. We didn’t get off to a good start this morning, and that was entirely my fault, I get hangry if I don’t eat by a certain time.”
“It’s true, she does,” Midnight was kind enough to back her up, although they really didn’t need to look so amused.
“Anyhow, my name is Sorano, it’s nice to meet you.” She extended her hand in greeting. “Welcome to my salon, Nirvana.”
“Minerva,” the woman answered politely as she shook her hand.
“What can I do for you today, Minerva?”
“I’d like an updo, and my eyebrows probably need to get done, and my nails too,” Minerva requested, “Truth be told, I haven’t really gone out in ages, been too busy working on the restaurant, I probably need the works.”
Sorano laughed, “Hardly, about the only thing I would say is you look a little tired. Tell you what, why don’t you pick a nail color from the wall while I get my stuff ready, then Midnight can do your nails while I work on your hair. Did you know what you wanted?”
Minerva described the dress she would be wearing and showed her a few pictures from one of the magazines. Once they agreed on a style, she left to look at the nail polish while Sorano went around looking for hairpins.
On a whim, she went into the breakroom and got a couple of tea bags out, wanting to make up for her bitchiness earlier in the day. She poured some warm water from the sink into a cup and dropped the teabags in. A few minutes later, she put the teabags in the fridge. By the time she was done with her preparations, Midnight had already begun working on Minerva’s nails.
“Alright, close your eyes,” Sorano chirped, placing the teabags over Minerva’s eyes.
“Is that — tea?” Minerva frowned.
“Yep, the caffeine will help with those puffy eyes, I do it all the time,” Sorano removed Minerva’s hair clip and placed it on the nail table next to her. She began to brush out the long hair removing any tangles and getting ready to start putting it up.
All in all, it took about an hour of twisting, pinning, teasing, and curling, but it was well worth it. Minerva looked gorgeous, and Sorano debated asking her if she could take a picture of her hair for the salon. She had removed the tea bags earlier, and it had definitely helped with the puffiness.
They had chatted while she worked, and she had really enjoyed talking with her. Minerva was witty and smart, a combination Sorano had always enjoyed. Now with only the eyebrows left, she found herself trying to find excuses to keep her longer, although a peek at her watch told her it was wishful thinking. She needed to hurry home and get ready.
Oh well, she could always go be a pain at the restaurant again. She handed Minerva one of the oversized mirrors so she could scrutinize her hairdo and eyebrows. Sorano remembered she’d noticed Minerva looking at Midnight’s lips various times, so she grabbed one of the lip glosses from her makeup area and put it in a small bag with a grin.
She couldn’t afford to give her the full service on the house, but she could gift her a small token.
“You’re a genius, everything looks amazing, thank you!” Minerva gushed.
Sorano preened at the compliment, although in truth, it had more to do with Minerva’s beauty than anything else. She checked her out, handing her change along with the bag with the lip gloss. “Here you go, I added a treat on the house. Perhaps it will help with your attitude”, she teased with a wink and a friendly grin.
“Oh, God, I said that didn’t I?” Minerva’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment, “I’m so sorry.”
Sorano laughed heartily, “I totally deserved it! Have fun at your event and come back sometime!”
“I just might have to.”
0-0
As soon as the ceremony was over, Minerva went straight to the nearest Ladies room. She knew beforehand that the event was likely to get emotional, but she hadn’t expected to be moved to tears. Looking in the mirror, her suspicions that the eye-makeup she had applied earlier had suffered were confirmed, and although it wasn’t running down her cheeks, there were definitely blotches under her eyes. But that lip gloss was still looking as good as it did when she’d just applied it.
She took a napkin from her purse and leaned over the counter to move closer to the mirror. With light pats, she tried to fix her makeup, getting frustrated when all she did was create a mess of smudges.
The door opened, and more women came in, chattering happily. Some of them disappeared into one of the stalls, while others stood next to her, examining their features in the mirror. Among them, there was a familiar face. The gorgeous looking girl she had seen twice today already.
“You again?” she smirked at Sorano, shaking her head in mock disapproval, “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” She almost confessed that she didn’t mind in the slightest, but stopped herself at the last moment. “So are you one of Sting’s friends then?”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Sorano answered while she fixed the dark blue ribbon decorating her hair, “he’s been my sister’s best friend since kindergarten, so I’ve known him since forever. He’s like the little brother I never asked for,” she joked.
“Yeah, he’s like that,” Minerva laughed along, “I’m thrilled Rogue met him, he’s exactly what was needed to bring him out of his shell.”
She thought about the role she had played in their family and couldn’t help but smile a little. Her sons, their sons, couldn’t have asked for a better set of parents, and she was glad that she had been able to do that for them. She could feel tears filling her eyes once again as she remembered the expressions on Sting and Rogue’s faces at the birth of their sons.
Minerva sighed and gave up on trying to fix her makeup. It looked slightly better than before, but not nearly as good as it did when she went out the door.
“Hold on,” Sorano called out. She plopped her purse on the counter and started searching through it, “Allow me.”
She took a variety of makeup products out of the purse and laid them out on the marble surface. They were from the same brand as the lipgloss she had gifted Minerva at the salon, looking professional and a lot more expensive than the drugstore makeup Minerva had lying around at home.
“Okay, hold still.”
Sorano started to wipe away the remaining smudges and carefully applied new makeup, where the previous layer had been removed. She was squinting in her focus, the tip of her tongue peeping out between her lips, and Minerva couldn’t help but think she looked adorable like that.
“There, all done!” Sorano declared with a beaming smile, “Let’s get back to the party, shall we?”
They walked out of the bathroom, following the sounds of music and applause to the reception hall. Right as they entered, the first dance began, so they joined the rest of the guests and watched.
Sting led Rogue to the center of the dance floor, smiling at him the way he always did. Like the sun shines out his ass. Rogue, still overwhelmed by the surprise ceremony that his family and Sting had sprung on him, hid his face on Sting’s shoulder. Minerva snorted, thinking it was everything she’d expected.
“Ugh, these two are so mushy, it’s disgusting,” she said to Sorano, who spoke at the same time, rolling her eyes.
“Gross. Get a room or something.”
They looked at each other and burst into laughter, and despite their crass comments, they continued to watch the dance with fond smiles. There were cheers and clapping as the song ended. Sting took that moment to bow gracefully at the assembled guests earning a round of laughter. He whispered something in Rogue’s ear, and then both men walked off towards their parents’ table, returning to the dance floor with their mothers.
The DJ opened up the dance floor, and it soon began to fill up with all sorts of couples. Both women continued to watch, and although dancing was not something she often did, Minerva decided to take a chance.
She turned towards Sorano, “I don’t suppose you’d like to dance?”
Sorano raised a perfectly styled eyebrow at the request, but her lips soon curled into a smirk, “In these heels? Hell, no.” Minerva tried to hide her disappointment when to her surprise Sorano removed her shoes and put them underneath one of the tables. “Now I do.”
Minerva followed her example, leaving her shoes next to Sorano’s before grabbing her hand and guiding her to the dance floor.
She thought back to that morning, when they’d first met, and how they’d immediately butted heads. It seemed so long ago, especially after they had gotten to know each other a little better at the salon. And now, here they were, dancing with their arms around each other as they swayed to the music.
Sorano gave her a provocative smile and Minerva couldn’t help the way her heart skipped a beat in response. She twirled Sorano, in time to the music, already thinking of ways to make sure there were plenty more evenings like this in their future.