Beauty and a Beat (A Bruno Mars Fanfiction)

5. We're family

The clock ticks around and just 15 minutes before the shop close, Bruno leaves saying "hey, I'mma taking my things back to my room, I'll be back, okay?" then he pays for the bread and leaves

"He's not gonna come back" Greg comments

"where is that from?" the girl talks back, upset.

"Who's not gonna come back?" asks the old lady when she marches down the stairs from her afternoon nap. "No one is coming back; the shop is about to closed"

"Ask the young lady" Greg says

"Why are you two arguing?" asks the old lady, where she starts to wonder why there is so many thing she doesn't understand. "What's happened, Marianne?"

"Nothing, ma'am. Just a friend." She answers. Well, now the old lady knows, just a friend happened. What kind of situation is that?

"A friend?" Greg says "The common customer you gave him cookies today ma'am. They just talked and she's going to go out with him." He rats "Alone!" he adds "At night!" then he adds again "In New York city!"

"No! we're not going out, ma'am," she tells the old lady then turn to Greg"We're just hanging out!"

"Then why do you have to shout, Marianne?" Asks the old lady

"He started it!"

"Greg" the old lady said "Marianne is 20, she goes wherever she wants to with whoever she wants" Marianne's giving the baker a victory smile then the old lady turns to her "And Marianne, you have to be extra careful if you insist that everybody is your friend. Because there must be differences between stranger and friend, that's why they're called different"

"That's the point!" Greg adds

"I'm concerned about your strange friendship with stranger, Marianne, but I believe you know what you're doing so enough for the lecture. How about the day?"

"Great! We have extra order." Greg announces, fakedly cheerful. "A dozen loaf of sweet bread and all pies we've left"

"Ho! Great! Who's that, buying a lot of thing, having a party or something?" asks the old lady delightful.

"Her friend." Greg answer with such a mocking voice and the girl is really upset.

"Oh! If he's not kidding, he's going serious on you, sweetheart." The old lady turn to her, quite satisfied.

"No, ma'am, we're nothing. We're just hanging out for tonight. We're giving it to our friends out there."

"She meant her homeless friends" Greg corrects

"She knows what I meant" Marianne turn to Greg, raising her voice. The old lady shakes her head with fatigue and gives them the fix-this-nonsense-problem-right-now-or-prepare-for-two-hour-lecture look then turn back to her room, giving the youngs some time to clear their problem. When the old lady is out of her sight, Marianne turns to Greg. "What's your problem? Huh? Dude?"

"What's my problem? No, not me. What's 'your' problem Marianne" he raise his voice too,

"What!?" her can't understand, what's her problem? HER problem? Why bother now? The baker is the one who encourage her every day to walk up and talk to you-know-who but now he's acting like a d-, a nonsense dude.

She sees him begins to shout something back then suddenly turns around to calms himself down. He's really pissed off. When he turn back to her he only says "I'm sorry, Marianne"

"No, Greg, I'm sorry."

"No, I really am sorry. I shouldn't have yelled" he says as he patting her head. He bites his lip, hesitating, the finally says "Don't sleep with him"

"No! I won't!" Marianne says in high tone of surprise and begins to laugh "I'm not that kind of girl who climbs up on random celebrity's bed she just met!"

"Just come back before mid-night, okay?" He says softly

"What!?" She raise her voice again. Begin to seriously think about her former question 'what's the heck is his problem'

"You heard me! Come home before midnight!"

"Are you giving me curfew? Am I grounded for talking to stranger? How old I am? 4?" she's already pissed with his weird-day-baker behavior again "For shitsake, Greg, what the hell is your problem? It's actually non of your business"

"Are we family or not?" He asks and she gives him silent answer and look down at her feet "I think we were family.."

"Yes! We are family! Bu-" she replies then he cuts up

"Family looks after each other Marianne." Marianne looks at the baker silently for a while then drops her eyes at her feet again, knowingly, he really does care. "I just want to protect you, sis. I don't wanna play this tough brother stuff, Marianne, so be a good girl."

She sighs and gives him a slight hug. "promise me, you'll be back before midnight." She says nothing but nod him a yes

"I shouldn't have said that to you, Marianne" the baker says a while later, as he finish his daily chore then gives her a too bright smile, showing his extra white teeth "He won't come back anyway"

He laughs, doesn't even bother to try to hide his pleasure. He just stops laughing when the door's knocked and a man walked in with heavy breath. The young lady gives the baker a triumphant smile when she saw Bruno at the door saying: "Sorry, I'm late"