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THE SUN WAS up and shining down on New Orleans as everyone in the town was awake, happily walking along the streets for their morning. The clouds laid in the blue sky like it usually did. In a large house, a now nineteen year old Y/n was speeding around her bedroom, hopping up and down as she tried to get shoes on her feet. Her long h/c hair was in a messy ponytail, a yellow dressing hugging her body since it was her uniform for her job at Duke's Café where she worked with her best friend, Tian.
Quickly grabbing her jacket and her hat, the e/c eyed girl was rushing out of the house and down the street where the bus was slowly beginning to go by. She made it just in time and hopped onto the vehicle before it could fully drive off.
Ever since they were eighteen, Y/n and Tian had been working at Duke's Café. Y/n knew her best friend's dream was to have his own restaurant like his father always wanted, and he never gave up. When she would get change or tips from the customers, she'd always give it to Tian, knowing she didn't need it and even most of her money that they'd receive and he was always grateful.
She felt bad for her best friend. He would work days and nights and wouldn't get a lot of time to sleep. Soon enough, the girl was hopping off the train and onto the streets, starting to head towards Duke's Cafe. However, a marching band began to play in front of her, making her stop in her tracks as she was soon caught up in it before rushing to her work. Heading inside the door, Tian's gaze snapped when the bell rang when the door opened, smiling brightly like he always did upon seeing her.
When she placed her coat and hat up, the girl started work alongside Tian, the two serving the customers. After putting flour on the bread after putting honey, the girl was venturing to a man, placing his plate down before beginning to walk off. When the man took a bite of the bread, a smile instantly coming to his face, he gave the girl a salute, to which she had turned around and reciprocated his actions. Tian chuckles, nudging her with his arm a bit as he stared at her.
Just then, a tap on each of their shoulders made them turn around, seeing the chef of the café, Buford, staring at them with his usual hard look before he was tossing the plates of food and glasses of liquids to them, the best friends catching them with ease. After a little while, the two were going outside, Tian serving a customer while Y/n cleaned up a table just as a figure stopped right beside her.
The girl looks over, seeing the one and only, Prince Naveen, standing there, a ukulele in his arms as he gave her his signature smirk. Neither of the two noticed Tian glaring at the prince until his glare turned into a smirk when Y/n only scoffed and rolled her eyes, walking back into the café.
For about a minute, Y/n served people, along with Tian as she listened to Tian's friends try and convince him to go dancing with them, even inviting Y/n along as well. Tian, however, declined, claiming he had two shifts tonight and also mentioning the restaurant he wanted as he walked back near the counter.
"I told y'all he wouldn't come." One of Tian's friends state.
"Are you talking about that dang restaurant again?" Buford asks.
"Buford, your eggs are burning." Y/n announces, walking over.
"You ain't never going to get enough for the down payment." Buford tells the boy as he focuses back on the eggs he was cooking.
"I'm getting close." Tian argues.
Buford raises a brow. "Yeah, how close?"
"Where are my flapjacks?" Tian questions, ignoring his question.
"You got about as much chance of getting that restaurant as I do of winning the Kentucky Derby!" Buford exclaims, throwing the plates on the boy's trays and one even on his head.
With a sheepish smile, Y/n reaches forward and takes the plate off his head, almost grabbing a few more so he wasn't carrying a lot. The boy smiles at her just as she leans forward, pecking his cheek before they were serving again. As they did, the door opened again, revealing Y/n and Charlotte's father heading in.
"Morning, Dad." Y/n greets.
"Morning, Mr. La Bouff." Tian adds in greeting.
"Good morning, sweetheart. Good morning, Tian." Eli greets back, taking a seat at the table.
"Oh, congratulations on being voted King of the Mardi Gras parade. Y/n told me." Tian tells him.
"Caught me completely by surprise, for the fifth year in a row!" Eli replies, chuckling. "Now, how about I celebrate with--"
"Beignets?" Y/n interrupts, placing his plate down. "Got a fresh batch just waiting for you."
Eli chuckles. "Well, keep them coming till I pass out."
All of a sudden, the door to the cafe was slammed out, surprising some of the customers inside, including Eli as Charlotte was rushing in, blue eyes immediately spotting her sister and Tian.
"Oh, Y/n/n! Tian!" Charlotte exclaims, rushing over to them. "Did you two hear the news? Tell them. Oh, tell them, Big Daddy!"
"Oh, yeah, Prince Naveen--" Eli begins as he holds up the newspaper.
Charlotte snatches the paper from him. "Prince Naveen of Maldonia is coming to New Orleans! Oh! Isn't he the bee's knees? Tell them what you did, Big Daddy. Tell them!"
"Well, I invited--" Eli starts.
"Big Daddy invited the prince to our masquerade ball tonight!" Charlotte blurts out. "Tell them what else you did, Big Daddy. Go on."
"And he's staying--"
"And he's staying--"
The two began at the same time. However, Eli shoved one of the Beignets into the blonde's mouth, cutting her off as he suspected she was gonna interrupt him once again like she usually did.
"And he's staying in our house as my personal guest." Eli finishes, Charlotte nodding in agreement.
Y/n smiles at her sister. "Oh, Lottie, that's swell."
"Just so you know, a little word of advice. My mama once told me, 'the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach'." Tian recalls, placing another plate of beignets down for Eli.
The older man chuckles at his words as the two workers head back to the counter. Staring at her father's food, Charlotte suddenly gasps, snatching the beignet that Eli was just about to eat, exclaiming the words 'that's it' as she rushes over to her sister and best friend, ignoring the confused look on her father's face.
"Oh, Tian! You're a bona fide genius. I'm gonna need about five hundred of your man-catching beignets for my ball tonight." Charlotte informs, snatching some money from Eli's bag and shoving it into Tian's chest. "Will this about cover it?"
Tian's eyes widen at the sight. "This should cover it just fine, Lottie. This is it! I'm getting my restaurant!"
Charlotte lets out a squeal while Y/n smiles at her sister and best friend's excitement. Quickly, Charlotte was ushering out words of how she was gonna get her prince while bringing her and Y/n's father out of the chair, shoving him out the door, all while Buford had his eyes wide at the sudden news of Tian getting his restaurant. Impatiently, Charlotte was bouncing up and down on her feet as she waited for Y/n.
The e/c eyed girl walked to the rack where her coat was, considering her time of the day was up, putting her coat and hat on before signing herself out. Venturing to Tian, she places a kiss on his cheek, not noticing the blush spreading onto his cheeks as she walks over to her sister who quickly grabs her hand, pulling her out the door and café with her so they could get ready for their ball tonight.
