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"Roses are red,
Violets are blue. (They're not actually blue but for the sake of the poem I have to describe them as such. I apologize.)
I think you're cute and would like to go on a date with you.
But now I wonder, do you like me too?"
Cassandra stared at the note in surprise as she sat at one of the tables of "The Midnight Snack," her favorite place to go in Downtown Strangetown whenever she needed some coffee. She looked down at her drink, a dark chocolate mocha with heart-shaped latte art, before eyeing the box of chocolates that she was gifted with the claim that it was "on the house."
One of the baristas has a crush on me.
Cassandra glanced over at Mary-Sue, who was sitting across from her and glaring at her phone with her usual amount of intensity, before she looked over at the two baristas working from the other side of the counter. One of them was a fat, cheerful man with green-tinted glasses and long hair tied into a ponytail, while the other was a blonde man, just a little taller and slimmer than his co-worker, with a bowlcut mullet and a sharp jawline.
Both of them are very handsome. I wouldn't mind going out with either of the two.
But I should probably figure out which one of them was the one who asked, so I don't risk humiliating myself in front of them.
Cassandra turned back towards her note, noticing some extra details underneath.
"Check the Yes or No boxes and return this note to your barista in order to get 50% off your next treat. Happy Valentine's Day!"
Cassandra took out her pen to check the "Yes" box, before hearing Mary-Sue throw her phone down in exasperation.
"This system is corrupt!"
"Woah," Cassandra said, "What happened?"
"Buzz just made a campaign claiming that I neglect my kids!" Mary-Sue said, annoyed, "As if he isn't also a child neglector. And besides, it was only one kid that got neglected! Angela came out perfectly fine!"
"Right…"
"I just can't stand it when people spread misinformation about me online. It's been going on ever since I started my campaign for district representative. How do you deal with it, Cassandra?"
"I…don't, really," Cassandra said, shaking her head, "I spend my energy doing other things. Let actions speak louder than words."
"I truly wish I could do that…I don't think the campaign will allow me too. I'd just get labelled as a coward."
Cassandra shrugged, unsure of what to say, before she glanced back over at the baristas. The chubby one made eye contact with her, before he cheerfully waved at her and began walking over to them.
"Hey!" he said, "Is everything alright?"
"Oh, yes!" Cassandra said, catching a glimpse of the man's nametag before looking up at his face, "I was just wondering about the chocolates…and why I got them for free."
His name is Lazlo. I should keep that in mind for later.
"It's just a…Valentine's Day special." Lazlo explained, "Comes with the coupon note. If you have allergies, we can switch them out for a nut-free or lactose-free box instead?"
"No need," Cassandra said, "I quite enjoy the taste of nuts. Thank you."
"Yeah," Lazlo said, snorting, "No problem. But, uh…if you need something, you're free to let Vidcund or I know, alright? We're both happy to help."
So the other one's name is Vidcund. Good to know.
Cassandra nodded as Lazlo walked off, before turning towards Mary-Sue to notice a disapproving look on her face.
"How immature," she said, "They just let anyone work at these places, don't they?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure they're both college kids," Cassandra said, "They look around the same age as me."
"Even still. That's the humor I'd expect from a teenager, like that boy that Angela keeps trying to court. Not a grown man working a minimum wage job."
"We don't know how much they pay them here."
"We can assume it's not much based on what we know about these jobs in general."
Mary-Sue has a point.
Cassandra glanced back down at her box of chocolates, eyeing the black heart-shaped box whose lid was decorated with a white ribbon. She opened the box, noting the various pieces of dark chocolates inside, before quickly closing it as she noticed Mary-Sue trying to reach for one.
"It's my box of chocolates," she said cheekily, "Get your own note coupon if you want them."
"You seem awfully relaxed about one of them having a crush on you."
Cassandra nodded, watching as a flash of realization struck Mary-Sue's face.
"Oh, you like them, don't you?"
Mary-Sue glanced at Lazlo and Vidcund, who were now in the middle of a conversation, before narrowing her eyes.
"Well, you've never been known for having good taste," she said, "What with you choosing to date Don of all people."
"Hey!"
"But I'm sure neither of the two could be worse than him," Mary-Sue added, "…Also, I think they're speaking in Mandarin. I can vaguely understand what they're saying?"
"You can?"
"Yeah…let me translate it for you…"
—
Lazlo and Vidcund stared at each other as they talked, both making sure to keep an eye on the door on the off-chance that a customer walked in.
"She already checked off the note," Lazlo said, "She said yes, but considering she didn't hand it back yet I'm assuming she's going to wait until next time to turn it in."
"That's a relief," Vidcund said, "…I hope she doesn't think I wrote that premade poem."
"I'm sure she can tell, considering you added that completely unnecessary line that ruined the poem entirely."
"It was bad from the start! Everyone knows that violets aren't blue! Violets are purple! It's quite literally in their name!"
"It's a damn poem, Vidcund. If the date goes well, you can write her your own poem instead of relying on those premade ones."
"Yes, yes…I suppose that's true."
Lazlo placed his hands on Vidcund's shoulders, shaking Vidcund for a bit before letting him go.
"And I'm sure she'll be much better than Circe," Lazlo said, "Though, she is hanging out with a child neglecter, so I'm not sure how well that looks for her."
—
Lazlo and Vidcund both flinched as Mary-Sue slammed her cup on the table, resulting in Cassandra's cup falling over and spilling onto her black dress.
"I am not a child neglecter!" Mary-Sue shouted, "Those were all lies planted by Buzz in order to divert you from his horrible policies! He wants to segregate the paranormal sims from the non-paranormal sims!"
Vidcund stared at Mary-Sue in horror as Cassandra quickly picked her cup up, before dabbing at her clothes with a napkin.
"You understod what we were saying this whole time?" Vidcund asked
"Of course I understand! My parents made sure I went to Chinese school to stay connected to my roots. It's an integral part of my story, which you'd know if you weren't only paying attention to the slander being thrown onto my name!"
"Well, shoot," Vidcund said quietly, loud enough for only Lazlo to hear, "If she knows what we were saying, there's a chance that Cassandra might too."
"If that's even her real name," Lazlo added, "People give fake names to their drinks all of the time. Like you."
"It's not technically a fake name if it's my middle name."
"Same thing. You're hiding the truth.
"Easy words for someone who doesn't share the same name as a Norwegian nazi who's known for being a backstabber to the point where his last name became a synonym for it. You get one half of the iconic vampire duo from that one show that everyone likes instead."
"…Fair enough."
Vidcund and Lazlo remained quiet, before Vidcund crossed his arms over his chest.
"Our parents really hated me from the start, did they?"
"They sure did," Lazlo said non-chalantly, looking at Mary-Sue, "But to get back on topic, we should probably figure out a way to deal with her before she tries to get us both fired."
"Right."
Lazlo walked to the other side of the counter, making his way towards Mary-Sue and Cassandra.
"We're sorry about the assumption, ma'am," he said, switching to his customer-service voice, "How about you explain all of your policies to me in excrutiating detail?"
Lazlo turned back, briefly winking at Vidcund before nodding towards Cassandra. Vidcund bent down to grab a roll of paper towels from a drawer hidden away from the view of the customers, before walking over to Cassandra and holding it out towards her.
"Here."
Cassandra smiled as she took the roll of paper towels from him, before proceeding to tear off a fairly large chunk to wipe at her dress with.
"Thank you."
"…Of course."
Vidcund waited patiently, vaguely hearing Mary-Sue talking passionately about random policies while Lazlo nodded along out of politeness. He noticed Cassandra place the roll of paper towels on the table, before picking up the note and holding it out towards him.
"Can I redeem this now?"
"If you're asking because you spilled your coffee, we can actually just remake you that one for free," Vidcund said, "You can save that coupon for next time."
"I look forward to it."
Cassandra got up from the table, holding the fabric of her dress out as she followed Vidcund to where the cash register was.
"It's not too obvious, is it?"
Vidcund stared at the dress, only able to see the black fabric of the dress.
"…Not at all." he said, "I'm sure you'll be able to wash it out when you get home.'
"I hope so," Cassandra said, sighing, "This was my favorite dress. I forget how passionate Mary-Sue can be when it comes to her career."
And the rumors that follow her.
"How did you two meet, if I may ask?"
Vidcund began to prepare the double shots of espresso and the dark chocolate syrup, mixing them into one of the dine-in black mugs with the Midnight Snack's logo.
"Oh, we actually go very far back! My elementary school had a buddy program and they paired us together. We've been good friends since…mainly because I have a hard time connecting with other people my age."
"Maybe that'll change."
Lazlo would probably wink at this point, right?
Vidcund closed one of his eyes at Cassandra as he poured some milk into the cup, feeling warm as he heard her giggle.
"I hope so too," she said, "…She's a lovely person once you get to know her outside of her career. And I do think her policies are better than Buzz's."
"Anyone's policies are better than Buzz's. He's quite literally threatening to tear mixed paranormal families apart with his segregation policy. I could run for district representative and do a much better job than he ever could."
"Do you?"
"Absolutely not. I don't like the attention."
"That makes two of us, then."
Vidcund smiled as he handed Cassandra the new cup of dark chocolate mocha.
"One dark chocolate mocha, on the house," he said, "Let me know if you want any adjustments to it."
"Where's the heart that you made with latte art?"
"…Ah. Give me a sec."
Vidcund grabbed a pitcher of milk, hovering it over the cup as his hands shook.
"It took me a long time to figure out how to do this," he said, "And I'm still fairly new. Have you encountered Ophelia, by any chance? She works here during weekends."
"That's the teenage girl with the blonde cornrows, right?"
"Correct. She's been teaching me how do to latte art during slower days. A bit embarassing having to learn from a kid, but she's amazingly good at it. A decent teacher, too."
"I don't think that's embarrassing at all. Some children are surprisingly knowledgable when it comes to certain topics."
Cassandra examined the cup as Vidcund steadied his hands, letting the milk pour as he shaped it into a heart.
"There we go," he said, "Anything else?"
"Yes, one last thing," Cassandra said, picking up the mug, "We haven't decided on a time or a location for our date yet. And I'd need your number as well."
"Ah, of course."
Cassandra handed Vidcund the note coupon, watching as he flipped it over and wrote down two separate numbers.
"The first is my mobile, and the second is my landline," Vidcund said, "Usually I'm outside, so call me through my mobile first."
"Got it. And for the time and location for our date?"
"…How about you decide?" Vidcund said, "Though, nothing too expensive. I'm just a college student, after all, so I can't afford to pay for us both."
"Wasn't expecting you to."
Vidcund raised his eyebrows in surprise as Cassandra picked up the note coupon and placed it back in one of her dress's pockets.
"…How about 7 pm at Bernard's Botanical Dining? I heard the pasta there was good."
"Oh, Lazlo and I have been meaning to check that place out for a while! Not sure how he'd feel about me going there without him…"
"You can bring him along, then. He can sit at his own table."
Vidcund and Cassandra shared a laugh as the two of them began to make their way back to Cassandra's table, where Mary-Sue was still talking to Lazlo.
"Alright," Vidcund said, grabbing Lazlo's shoulder, "That's enough. We should get back to work."
"A shame," Mary-Sue said, disappointed, "I was just about to get to the good part."
"And I was…very much looking forward to hearing it," Lazlo said, clearly lying, "But um…thank you for the explanations, and all that."
"And we'll consider voting for you," Vidcund said, pulling Lazlo away, "If there are no other candidates besides Buzz."
Mary-Sue raised an eyebrow as Vidcund and Lazlo returned back to the other side of the counter.
"Do you think I convinced them?"
Cassandra shrugged, taking a sip of her mocha as she glanced over at Vidcund and Lazlo.
"I'm sure you'll be fine," she said, "From what I've been able to piece, it doesn't seem like Buzz has a good reputation in Strangetown during the time that he lived here. I'm sure the bad word will travel over to Pleasantview too."
"I hope so," Mary-Sue said, wincing, "Though, Daniel made an endorsement for Buzz."
"All the more reason to vote against him."
Mary-Sue and Cassandra laughed as Cassandra drank more of her mocha, before placing her half-drunken cup back on the table as she wiped at her mouth with a paper towel.
"And sorry about spilling your drink on you," Mary-Sue said, looking at Cassandra with concern, "It seems like you were able to get it out, but I can pay for a new dress if you need it."
"No need. I think I'll be okay."
"That's a relief…I do feel like I get too carried away when it comes to politics. But I just can't help it, you know? I'm the one thing stopping this district from shriveling up and burning…"
—
7 pm tomorrow. Bernard's Botanical Dining.
Vidcund stared at Lazlo, noticing that his brother now had a dopey grin on his face.
"So?" he said, speaking in Mandarin, "What did she say?"
"We scheduled our date."
"Oh! That's dope as hell, man!"
"She wants to meet at Bernard's Botanical Dining."
"Yo, what? But we were supposed to go there together!"
Vidcund pressed his lips together, clasping his hands in exasperation as Lazlo looked out at the door.
"Cassandra did say you could come," he said, "But that you'd have your own table…"
Silence swept between them, before getting interrupted by the faint sound of Mary-Sue droning about more policy stuff.
"Well, that's fine," Lazlo said, shrugging, "I've been meaning to find an opportunity to meet up with this Polish girl that I've been talking to online. She said that she lived somewhere in Downtown Strangetown."
"You have an online girlfriend, Lazlo? Why didn't you tell me this?"
"We're only in the talking stage right now, man. I wanted to wait until things got more serious before I said anything."
"Ah, fair enough. Though, I don't think the talking stage is a real thing. That's just called having a friend that you happen to have a crush on."
"We just have different approaches to dating, and that's okay."
Vidcund rolled his eyes playfully as Lazlo laughed and lightly punched Vidcund in the arm. The two of them then heard the chimes of the door ring, watching someone walk through the door, before the two quickly straightened themselves up as Lazlo quickly jumped over to the cash register.
"Alright," he said quickly, "Time for us to get back to work."