Work Text:
Ever since Daphne could comprehend what it meant to work, she knew her life was already laid out for her.
the town's local bakery, a gift from her ancestors, entrusted to her and her brother. It was the family’s pride, so much so it's engraved into their last name. It was without question that culinary would be their life career, and the twins knew this well.
What other option did they have anyhow? Go against the very thing her relatives from so long ago left their home country for? Spit on the fruits of their labor by pursuing something else, when the assurance of a steady job is right there at your fingertips? Not to mention the immeasurable disappointment from her parents. To reject something laid out for you so entirely would be selfish and ridiculous.
Mikhael, or, “The Maverick”, has already shown what happens if you reject the future that was graciously offered to them. Constant disagreements and punishments, unrelenting friction between them, often resulting in petty arguments or storming away. Daphne couldn’t imagine why someone would choose such a lifestyle willingly. The mere thought of getting in trouble scared her, imagining her mothers disapproving glare shook away any thought of disobedience immediately, and gave her the urge to do chores to expel the thought further.
She enjoyed working at the bakery. It was repetitive enough to remain consistent, but had enough things to do so that she didn’t get bored. She was good at what she did and it offered structure and routine in her life.
Sometimes she liked to think of herself as a robot of sorts. Carrying out her tasks efficiently and flawlessly. She prided herself on how rarely she makes silly mistakes, and how quickly she can learn new dishes as if she’d known them her whole life. Nothing made her happier than knowing she and her brother were exactly the type of workers her mother and father wanted them to be.
When she wasn’t on the clock, Daphne was still on a strict routine. She still had church to attend, the amounts per week varied but it was always at the same time, and always on Sunday, and during the week she had school, 6 hours a day learning, every week day, not to mention at least an hour put aside for homework and studying if needed.
On the rare occasions she had free time, Daphne sought out the company of her brother. She was aware she and Bowen fell into a stereotype, between their very similar fashion taste, almost entirely symmetrical room, and the incredible amount of time they spend together, but she didn’t mind it. She couldn’t find anyone who she could relate to and enjoy the company of more in the world!
Most of her peers found her “hard to talk to” or something similar. She couldn’t imagine why, though, she always tried to be friendly, but she supposes it takes more than friendliness to make friends. She never let it bug her, though. She’s too busy to hangout after school anyways.
She enjoyed her busy, routined life. She preferred it stayed as it was with no changes. It's familiar and what she’s used to and enjoyable. So when her mother pulled her and Bowen aside one day, she couldn’t help but feel annoyance.
She had stopped them in the hall, sometime after dinner, a few days after summer break started. Her expression was difficult to read, but it wasn’t upset or angry like her brain jumped to when she had walked up to them. It was more neutral, professional. Like a business meeting.
“Starting on Monday we’ll have two new employees working with us during the summer. I’m expecting you two to show them how things work around the bakery” she had said. Daphne resisted the urge to wrinkle her nose, irritated. That would be rude.
The bakery didn’t need any new help. It was small, and the twins were very efficient. Four people working on the same thing was excessive and crowded, and it would completely disrupt her normal routine to train people she didn’t know. ‘Besides’ she thought bitterly ‘they don’t have the same passion as me and Bowen do…they’re probably just working at the bakery for money or something…’
Daphne tried to shake herself from the train of thought as she went to bed. She shifted a few times under the covers, replacing her miffed thinking with something more soothing to allow her to dream peacefully. The last thing she needed was to be tired and lacking energy for her new coworkers in the coming days.
—
Monday morning was as uneventful as ever. Daphne woke up to her alarm. She took a few minutes to properly wake up and rub the sleep from her eyes. Then she got out of bed, haphazardly making the bed soon after before grabbing her day clothes.
All these actions blended together. She did this every morning, and could do it on autopilot flawlessly, like a well oiled machine.
She grabbed some pieces of bread and stuck them in the toaster. Bland and simple, but still delicious. A reliable breakfast. She looked at the food bowl for the cat. Her parents must have come downstairs before her as the bowl was full. She turned back to face the toaster, waiting for her food to pop out.
…
Before long, her and her brother were ready to go, and they began walking with their parents to open shop. Today would've been a regular normal day if she hadn’t known about the 2 offending items on her routine.
Daphne began imagining who the new people could be…she imagined fully grown adults, who knew nothing about baking and were looking for easy money. She imagined (with a twinge of guilt) of showing off her exceptional baking skills and embarrassing them so bad they quit and left her alone forever. Such a reality was likely impossible, but it’s fun to imagine.
She imagined, with a little more reality, that it was teenagers looking for a summer job to get some pocket change and something to put on their resume. She would probably have to hold their hands the whole time and tell them how to do every little thing until they got bored and left. Daphne mentally groaned at the thought. It sounds exhausting and troublesome.
The family entered Othermart, and approached their familiar place of business. Daphne's latter scenario was proven correct upon seeing 2 kids she recognized from school. Well, ‘recognized’ was a bit generous. She had seen them in the halls a handful of times, maybe even had a class with one of them, but she didn’t know anything about them at all. She’d have forgotten about them entirely if they weren’t standing here at the counter, waiting for something.
Daphne shared a glance with Bowen as their mother greeted them. Judging by Bowen's deadpan face, he wasn’t entirely thrilled about this arrangement either. He was never one to complain, though.
“These are your new coworkers for the time being. Show them where everything is, and what our morning routine is” Mrs. Baker told them. She began checking the stock on the shelves, looking for anything that’s gone bad or been misplaced. Her subtle way of saying that they were on kitchen duty today.
Daphne straightened, staring at the 2 new employees head on. She took a mental deep breath before speaking in her monotone customer service voice she saved for the register “Hello! I’m Daphne, and this is my brother Bowen” Bowen nodded with a hum “It’s a pleasure to meet you..”
The new employees (a boy and a girl, one had long raven hair and a dress, and the other had short hair and slightly tan skin, he was a good head taller than the girl) stepped forward to introduce themselves.
“It’s nice to meet you! I’m Mari!” She waved lightly, bright and friendly. She turned to look at her friend as he began to talk “Hey! I’m Henry, but most people call me Hero, eheh..”
The twins shared another silent glance at the bizarre nickname. ‘Hero’ seemed to deflate a little at the exchange but stayed quiet. Daphne suddenly stepped forward towards the back room “Let’s go” she stated, glancing back to make sure they were following her.
A tour of the kitchen was fairly easy, all she had to do was point and name what was around her. But now comes the hard part. The routine. Technique. The part of the job that required skill. Baking. Hesitantly, Daphne turned to the pair as she tied on her apron “What…exact kind of experience do you have in this field?”
Mari and Henry looked at each other for a second before responding “We like to bake simple treats for fun now and again. Like cookies or cakes” Hero explained, making vague hand gestures, Mari nodding with him “I know you guys probably make much more complex things, but we’re up for the challenge!” she grabbed an apron as well and began tying it around her waist as she was talking.
Daphne didn’t say anything, walking over to a counter top “The bakery isn’t technically open yet. We need to make fresh bread every morning for the display cases.” she started. Bowen hummed “It’s a part of the routine…” Daphne thought to herself for a moment. ‘There’s 4 of us now…an awfully excessive amount to make a batch of 2 or 3 different baked goods…though this could be a good opportunity to see how much they actually know about baking..’
“Hmm….lets start the day with…some sourdough, and….cornbread…why not?” she said slowly, trying to think of things they haven’t put out in a while. The 3 other employees nodded. Bowen pulled out the recipes for both, knowing the other 2 wouldn’t have it memorized, and they all began to work.
…
Daphne’s initial irritation turned out to be a little inflated. While her observation about 4 bakers in the small kitchen being unneeded was correct, they were not as much of a nuisance as she expected. As the days passed, they didn’t impede her or Bowen's work, only stopping them for questions, or friendly small talk. And the latter was only when there was no work to be done.
They seemed to adapt to the bakery’s schedule and routine very nicely, and true to their words they learned any new recipes very quickly, with little struggle. It was a relief, truly, the extra hands were genuinely helpful. However, it did give rise to something else…
“Ah! Hey Daphne!” Mari’s voice rang out.
It’s been several weeks at this point, maybe about 3 or 4. Mari and Hero were well acquainted with the bakery and its motions at this point. Daphne turned to face her, mixing a bowl of batter for an ordered cake.
“Are you and your family going to Hero’s barbecue for the Fourth of July? Your family never struck me as the patriotic type, but we’re co-workers so I dunno, maybe you’ll join us this year?” Mari finished the sentence with slight jazz hands, as if she was trying to convince her right then and there instead of asking a question. Daphne took a second to process what Mari had said, and think of a response
“The party starts at noon, yes? Last I checked, it's supposed to be cloudy. Weather permitting, I'll do my best to go! Assuming I don’t have any scheduling conflicts. I’m sure the rest of my family wouldn’t mind going, either.”
Mari laughed a little, reaching out and nudging her shoulder lightly, teasing “You always talk to me like you're in a business meeting! We’re two friends talking about a third friend's family barbecue. It wouldn’t kill you to drop the professionalism!” she started continued laughing
Daphne couldn’t help but laugh along, feeling warm. Mari said they were friends!! And she had a very contagious laugh, too. Being around Mari proved to be very enjoyable. Almost made her wish she’d approached her in school earlier.
The amusing moment was cut short when the weight of the bowl she was carrying suddenly disappeared, and made itself known on the floor with a loud CLANG!! the batter inside spilling all over the floor and Daphne’s skirt.
Mari and Daphne gasped, scrambling for the paper towels, and scooping up the excess for easier clean up. She hadn’t even noticed the bowl slipping in her grip, and now there was a mess all over the floor! Not to mention how the order may have to be delayed because of her carelessness! Mother won’t be pleased at all…
After feverishly cleaning up any sign of the mess, Daphne didn’t feel much better. The shock of the loud noise combined with the shame of such a silly mistake had her reeling. Apologetic, she turned to Mari, mumbling something about cleaning herself up before hiding in the bathroom.
‘What on Earth was that?!?!’
Daphne tried to take deep breaths and calm down but her excess energy won’t leave her. She shakily wet some paper towels and tried to rub out the batter on her skirt.
‘I never make silly mistakes like that!! Never!! Aauughh that’s so embarassing!! Right in front of…Mari…’
Thinking about Mari had another emotion bloom, she couldn’t place it, but she was in no place to do an emotional scavenger hunt right now. All she knew was that she stained her uniform and she’d get in trouble if she took too long to clean up.
Taking one last deep breath, Daphne stepped out of the bathroom and started working again. A little faster this time, hoping to be able to finish the order by its expected time.
…
Incidents like this would occur often. And it was not helping Daphne's nerves. Bowen noticed, and has asked on multiple occasions if she was ok. Her parents noticed, making note with nothing more than an eyebrow raise. Even Mari and Hero noticed, despite never knowing her work ethic before working there. It was suffocating.
Daphne felt delusional and crazy, but she couldn’t help but feel like there was a cause outside of herself that was making her lose her edge, her perfection streak and reputation she’s worked so hard to achieve and maintain was shattering before her eyes. She felt evil for making conclusions, but the only possible cause in her mind would have to be the one in the very kitchen with her.
Every time Mari would come up to her to chat would be when she loses focus of what she’s doing. Whenever she has a moment to let her mind wander, it drifts back to her dear friend, Mari, and suddenly she overspends her time daydreaming. It kept her up at night. She felt like a train riding on increasingly decrepit tracks, threatening to be thrown off and crash at any moment.
And the worst part was that she couldn’t figure out WHY.
WHY was Mari occupying her thoughts so profoundly!?
WHY was she losing focus and making mistakes because of simple chatter!?
WHY was friendly teasing enough to completely break her focus and ruin her productivity?!?
Maybe she really was sick…this was truly humiliating and frustrating. Daphne felt herself grow more and more upset towards Mari. Irrational and selfish. If she was supposed to be the efficient robot she imagined herself to be, then Mari can’t be anything more than a malicious virus, infecting her code and knocking her off-task.
She knew the idea was ridiculous. Mari didn’t do anything! But Daphne couldn’t handle the reality that it was HER irrational thoughts and feelings that were ruining her routine. A flaw in her own code rather than an outside force ruining it. Instead she deflected it, taking the mere thought of it and pushing it far away. There was no way it could be true! She couldn’t allow it…
Daphne fiddled with her bedsheets at night, losing sleep for who knows how many times at this point. She recalled how Mari estimated she and Hero would only be working there as long as the summer most likely, as she’s worried she wouldn’t be able to handle the job and school at the same time.
There was still a month of summer left. For once Daphne prayed the days would go faster and have school arrive in a flash. But she doubted it would. This stain that was, directly or not, tarnishing her image was becoming less and less endearing with the days passing. She felt evil for letting her jealousy and insecurity grow so terrible towards someone who doesn’t deserve it. But it was difficult not to have rising emotions over something that was essentially your entire life. If she couldn’t recover and affirm she was a good baker with excellent work ethic, then what was she supposed to do?
If Mother or Father found out exactly how terrible she’s become, they’d fire her for sure. The thing she’s been trained to do her whole life becomes barred from her, and as a result, she becomes a disappointment to the family. Daphne thought about her younger brother…would she have to adopt a flashy persona as well? Would she be accepted by The Maverick or would he reject her as well?
An image of her in an oversized dress shirt and an ill-fitting wig that doesn’t cover her entire hair popped in her head. She wrinkled her nose. No, she could never succumb to such a display.
She swallowed something thick and tried her best to get some sleep. The idea of disappointing her parents was already a nightmare in itself.
‘One more month…one more month of this hell on Earth and things will go back to normal…’
…
Unresolved feelings left unsaid have a way of festering and getting worse. Daphne has begun avoiding Mari to the best of her ability at work. She would pray in the morning she wouldn’t be able to make her shift and hoped desperately she’d stay out of her way when she inevitably was there when she arrived.
Mari, in her unending compassion, notices the behaviour shift, even tries to ask her about it, but Daphne can barely look at her without undeserved feelings of anger washing over her. Daphne desperately wished Mari was a bad person, so her feelings were justified, but Mari had been nothing but an absolute angel to her and everybody in the bakery. Daphne was the crazy one.
She was cruel to Mari. Being so crude and cold to her in the name of “professionalism”, hiding the truth that she blamed her for her own inadequacies. She could feel the hurt from Mari, wondering what happened for her friend to suddenly grow so upset at her. All the while Daphne's work ethic barely improved.
Eventually, the next school year crawled into view, and the 2 employees Daphne had grown to detest finished their last shift, fading into the background of Daphne's world once more. She was glad. Her routine would finally go back to normal. Her thoughts would stop distracting her and she can get back to being the embodiment of what she’s supposed to be. That summer would become nothing more than an abhorred memory, and a small wrinkle in her otherwise perfect working life.
It wouldn’t be until a little over a year later when she received that horrible news about an untimely death did it sink in how truly selfish Daphne was. She remembered her conversations with Mari. She was only working to buy a gift for her brother, a selfless act. She only wanted to bake because it was fun and she enjoyed it, a harmless hobby turned profitable.
If she were a little nicer, talked about her feelings, or rationalized a little more, could she have prevented such a tragedy? Instead she decided to succumb to her negative feelings and unrightfully project them onto her colleague, someone who truly enjoyed her presence, called her a friend.
She was truly disgusting. All this time she’s grown to hate the feelings her friend gave her and never stopped to ask what exactly she was making her friend feel. If she had blown away the fog of her hatred, would she have seen the signs and been brought to her senses? Offering a shoulder to lean on instead of a snippy comeback laced with venom?
She would never be able to apologize. The most she could do would be to go to her grave and lay flowers, but she was far too cowardly to do such a thing. Feeling like Mari’s ghost would be glaring at her, cursing her for daring to show her face where she was supposed to rest peacefully.
And so, like a coward, she kept it to herself, only able to spit out a fraction of her guilt in the confession booth, too ashamed even then to tell the full story.
Over the years, the guilt waned and became a distant, sore memory. Daphne was able to return to her original goal. Be a well oiled machine for her family business, a robot dutifully carrying out tasks and completing orders without complaint or struggle.
A part of her is aware that pretending nothing happened wasn’t healthy. But talking about Mari would mean she’d have to admit her mistake of ugly twisting emotions and wrongfully placed guilt, something she couldn’t allow anyone to know. The fear of being seen differently over a mistake long in the past haunted her, even if it was deserved.
Maybe she’ll never fully resolve it. Maybe it’ll stay with her forever. One can only wonder. All she can do is continue working and working and working until it hopefully flees from her mind one day. Though if she was being honest with herself, it was nothing more than hopeful thinking. A bug in her code, never to be corrected.