Facing Reality

5)"Is it a mafia ball?"

Thalia POV:

We've been looking for assistance for two hours. But it was pointless. We were about to give up when this old lady ushered us into her bakery, stating that girls this beautiful should not be out alone like this.

she said "Oh no, don't just stand there, go in here. You appear to have been in a battle." 

I wanted to tell her we were, but I restrained myself and walked inside with Mimi, suspicious of the lady. 

"Mimi, please stop staring at the lady," I say, and she looks at me and says, "Sorry, we can never be too careful." 

And I can see where she's coming from. 

She’s right, we don’t know anything about this lady. We have to be cautious. 

"Please, please, take a seat and I'll prepare you some hot chocolate. Would you like some food?" She states. 

I look at Mimi and she nods, "Yes, if you don't mind, may we grab something to eat?" I can easily pay for the meal with the money we stole from El. Which I just realized. 

I grunt, and Mimi asks, "What?" 

"We've been asking for help for hours, and I've completely forgotten about the money we stole from El. He had more than 600 bucks in his wallet." Her eyes widen as I say this. 

"You’re lying," I shake my head, "you bitch," she jokes. "At least we know society hasn't changed," I say lightly.

"Yeah," she said with a pout. 

The lady returns with two mugs of hot chocolate. It was extremely lovely since it had whipped cream on top with Oreo crumbs and a caramel and chocolate drizzle. She then adds two chocolate croissants and four snickerdoodle muffins. 

Mimi's eyes expand as she stares at the lady with heart eyes, exclaiming, "Grazie, Grazie!" and looking at me with begging eyes. (Thank you, thank you)

"You don't have to ask, go ahead," I chuckled. And when I say this, she immediately starts filling her lips, and I smile as I watch her. 

I peek at the lady "Thank you very much. I have the funds to pay for all of this." 

"No need, I'd do it for anyone who needed it. My name is Tallula," she says, smiling and grabbing my hand. 

That can’t be a coincidence 

"Funny since I knew a Tallula and she was exactly as sweet as you," I say, my eyes widening. 

She chuckles "Oh, I'm not sweet; I just want to do the right thing. If you need anything, don't hesitate to contact me." She says this as she passes us her business card. I gratefully accept it from her. 

"And it makes you nice," Mimi adds, her mouth full of snick doodle muffins. 

Talulla giggles and grabs a tissue, saying, "Wipe your mouth, young lady." 

"Yes, ma'am," she responds as she gets a napkin to wipe her mouth. Talulla goes to assist a newly arrived couple, and I gaze at Mimi. "Is everything all right?" 

"Is it? It's insanely good "She screams nearly too loudly. Is she on a sugar high?

"Alright, calm down," I joke, covering her mouth. Making her lick my palm. 

Disgusting, shit 

"I haven't had sweets in a long time, okay," she says, pouting. I nod and bite on a warm chocolate croissant. Oh, she wasn't lying when she said these were better than the ones at Starbucks. I need to get these to-go