Across The Years (CITRUS)

Fourteen - One Day Down

Yuzu's POV

Fortunately, I had gotten away with my little transgression. I just need to remember that servants need to serve and not be jealous smart asses.

After lunch was finished, Mei, Amamiya, and her father retired to the parlor to talk. I and the other kitchen staff, cleaned up and ate our lunch, which consisted of beef sandwiches.

After lunch, I was allowed to go to the dry goods store that Mr. Aihara operated. It was down the street a small way from the inn. I had told Mrs. Bailey that since I was new in town I needed to get some things, such as some candles, coffee, soap, etc.

I found the store and purchased some items I thought I would need. Some basic foodstuffs for the few days I'll have off. Normally I eat with the staff, on days off I am on my own for food. I bought some candles, some oil for one of the lamps, coffee beans, some canned food, rice, beans, and some other things. I found a blank journal similar to the one that Mei writes in, so I purchased that, along with some ink and a pen. I found myself wanting to document my time here and keep my thoughts straight. Also as I've already had an idea for a horror story that I want to get on paper.

After dropping those items off at my home, I returned to the Aihara home and arrived back by 2 in the afternoon. By this time Amamiya had left and Mei had gone to pay a social call on some neighbor. Mrs. Bailey told me that I would be spending the rest of the afternoon at the inn/tavern and would work there until supper.

Arriving at the inn, I reported to Mr. Aihara who was in his office. He would spend most afternoons in his office going over his accounts and other business. Though he made no mention of the incident at lunch, he looked mildly annoyed.

He told me to clean the 2 vacant rooms and then report back to Colin, who runs the place day-to-day.

I found the cleaning materials and cleaned the rooms as instructed. For the next couple of hours, I got to play waitress as a number of people had come in to have a good time. There are some army barracks a little way out of town and usually, there are a few soldiers lingering about at any given time.

I quickly found out that the men of this period are quite bothersome, as my ass was pinched more than once. Many of them were also very fascinated by the pretty, blonde American who was the new barmaid. But much to my credit, I stayed in character and laughed it off each time. A few of the men and the other townspeople were nice.

Colin, the man who ran the inn from day to day, was a friendly but rather simple guy. I learned from him, that Mei came in several days a week, to act as sort of a hostess. Her mother did that when they first opened the inn. She would chat with people and made them feel welcome. After a while, Mei would do it along with her mother when she was a little girl. When Mei's mother died, Mei kept up the tradition. While it may seem something unworthy of a person from the upper class, I learned that Mei's mother was considered very beautiful, charming, and was very well-liked by everyone she met. So out of respect for Mei's mother, no one ever daresay a word about Mei working in a bar. The most she ever does is bring a glass of beer to someone on occasion, anyway. Colin told me that Eri, her sister didn't like work of any kind and hated the bar/inn as she thought it was beneath her.

Around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I felt my spirits lift as I could hear Mei coming in from the back.

"Hello Colin, how are you today?" She said in a cheerful tone.

"I'm fine Miss Mei, thank you. How are you on this fine day?" I could hear Colin reply as I returned to the bar with some empty glasses.

"I'm good, thanks."

Mei then looked at me with a smile, that warmed my heart.

"And how are you doing so far?"

"I'm doing fine, thank you, Miss Mei."