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You loved to see how much Ted dedicated himself to doing his obligations as a mayor and at the bar, even though sometimes you had to “rescue” him from work.
That was one of those nights when Ted pulled up to the bar after being done with the town business, you knew superficially the schedule of Garcia’s, so you always had a notion of how long it would take for Ted to be home, so when it was definitely too late, and he didn’t answer his phone, you decided to walk down to the bar to see what was going on.
At the moment you stopped in front of Garcia’s, the first thing you saw was Ted at the back of the salon, refilling a fridge with soda cans. You walked closer to the building, testing the door handle and not surprisingly finding it unlocked, even knowing that Eddington was the size of a matchbox, and people usually wouldn’t be audacious enough to enter a place that was not empty, you would never get comfortable with the idea of unlocked doors. Not being noticed by the man, you entered the place. After a quick scan around, you knew he surely still had a lot to do, judging by the situation of the tables.
“Can I get a drink, handsome?” You smiled wider with the little jump of Ted’s shoulders when your voice came out of nowhere before he turned around to look at you.
“Palomita.” His voice came out almost as a sigh of relief as he saw you, not thinking twice to dry his hands on the nearest dishcloth. “What you're doing here?” he approached, hands rubbing your arms over the coat, an unconscious move to assure you were warm enough.
“It’s getting late, and I couldn’t reach you on the phone.” You could see the gears working in his mind as his eyes slightly widened and his hand reached the pocket where his phone was supposed to be.
“Damn…” he mumbled, remembering he had put it to charge when the bar was still open and never took a look at it again. “I’m so sorry, love. We had a lot of movement earlier, and Rose got sick, so I had to take the closing shift by myself.” He explained as one hand passed through his brown waves, the picture leaving no doubts that he was drained.
“You’re accepting company?” you asked jokingly, aligning his disheveled shirt.
“I’m begging for it.” His tone was nothing but sincere as he leaned to press a kiss on your forehead. You moved to sit at one of the stools by the counter, smiling as Ted circled it and threw a dishcloth on his shoulder. “What can I get for you, ma’am?”
“I’m a regular, you already know the answer.” You teased as you grabbed a straw from the dispenser, fiddling with it. Ted smirked and nodded, turning to open the refrigerator behind him and picking up a sugar-free lemon soda, opening it and placing the glass bottle right in front of you on the counter. “I still feel bad for drinking and eating for free.” You confessed while inserting the straw into the bottle.
“Palomita, please…” Ted tilted his head and walked around, standing close to you. “You ain’t gonna take me to bankruptcy drinking a couple sodas and eating a chip.” He playfully pinched your cheek, taking a chuckle from you.
“Fine, fine, I’ll try to convince myself.” You relaxed in your seat, taking the first sip of your drink. “You still have too much to do?” you asked more for confirmation than by actual doubt; the tables still were full of plates and glasses, the bar was a mess, and the soda and beer refrigerators were halfway empty. You knew Ted still had a lot going on.
“I do.” He stated that while rubbing your knee, any crumb of energy he could have had left his body long ago. You pondered for a moment, wondering if you should let out what was crossing your mind.
“Can I pretty, pretty please get the fridges restock?” you looked at him with pleading eyes; in an outsider look, that was a generous offer to make Ted less busy, but in reality, you just couldn’t miss the chance of having a real-life version of those restocking relaxing games you played every here and there.
“You really like to do this, don’t you?” Ted chuckled, shaking his head.
“I do, furthermore, it makes me crazy how no one here cares to align all the labels to the front.” You answered nonchalantly, taking another sip of your soda.
“Go crazy with it, dear.” He watched, pleased as you got up and walked towards the fridge, the scenario of having you around and getting rid of another boring ass task making him a little less miserable.
With his eyes never completely leaving you, Ted moved himself around the restaurant, collecting the piles of plates and disappearing into the kitchen to load the dishwasher. As he came back, he found you done with the first fridge and halfway into the second, amazed by how you could do it so quickly while assuring all the cans and bottles had their labels facing the same direction.
It took around another hour between aligning the bar bottles and mopping the floor, but finally the place was spotless, unlike Ted, who looked like he had just fought two wild lions with his bare hands: messed hair, sleeves rolled up, shirt with some buttons open, belt loosened.
“You’re ready to go, Palomita?” Ted asked by the front door, observing you taking a final look at your fridge organization, as if looking for anything out of place.
“Almost.” You replied, then moved behind the counter to grab a Reese’s, not making flourishes to open the package and bite one of the chocolates.
“Have you as my assistant and see you finally serving yourself at our snacks. Did I just win the jackpot or what?” Despite the playful manner, you could still catch the satisfaction in his tone.
“Well, don’t know if it'll add to your day, but I might’ve made that carrot cake while I was bored waiting for you.” You dropped the information casually as he locked the bar door, immediately attracting his attention to you.
“I swear you’re the best thing that ever happened to me.” He took a step closer, gently holding your face between his hands and pressing a soft kiss on your lips
“You melt so easily.” You smiled, lips less than an inch apart from his.
“I swear I wasn’t like this before you.” Ted tried to sound convincing, but you weren’t buying it, aware that such a soft nature wouldn’t come out of nowhere.
“I’ll pretend to believe this.”
“I’d be offended if I didn’t love you so much.” He chuckled and leaned to press another soft kiss on your lips, completely forgetting about any trouble he had had in the last hours.