Food Courting

Chapter 13: Struggle Bus

Cora wasn't sure how she made it through the rest of her shift—literally, she couldn't remember. The last few hours had passed by in a blur, and Cora had turned off her mind as she went through the motions of taking orders, making drinks, and cleaning. After all, she was well aware that her emotions were her weakness, and the last thing she needed was for them to get in the way again.

Her awareness didn't return until someone snapped their fingers in front of her face.

"Huh?"

Only then did Cora realize she was standing in front of the condiment station, trying to squeeze sugar packets into an already overflowing container. If she had to admit, she was doing a fantastic job, though customers would likely struggle to take any sweeteners with how tightly everything was packed in.

Next to her, Darlene scoffed. "I have no idea where your head's at, but right now, it needs to be here, at work. We may be closed, but you're still on the clock."

Cora blinked at the box of sugar packets in her hand, then at the large food court clock. Sure enough, it was eight minutes past nine, and the only sounds around her were from clattering dishes and rushing water from neighboring restaurants.

"Start wiping things down," Darlene said, already walking towards the front of the baked goods display case with her clipboard. "You can't get overtime for working slowly."

"Sorry," Cora mumbled, scrambling to put away the box of sweeteners in the cupboard.

Her apology was either ignored or unheard.

As she rushed behind the counter, Cora couldn't help but wonder what had happened during her gap of memories. Did she make any mistakes? Did she not work efficiently enough? Was her customer service not up to standard?

Cora felt her eyes begin to burn as she wiped down the espresso machines, and she quickly blinked the tears away. She just had to endure it for a few more minutes. Then, she could let out the emotions that were fighting to break free, blurring her vision, restricting her breaths, pressing against her chest—

She looked towards Fruitastic. Cora didn't expect to see anything, but her gaze scanned the store anyway, searching for a destination that she wasn't aware of—until she found it.

Behind the smoothie shop counter, Farron's back was towards the rest of the food court as she mopped the floors. The short sleeves of her orange polo shirt were rolled up, showing the rest of her long dragon tattoo that was normally hidden, but she was too far away for Cora to make out the details. When Farron pushed against the mop, she seemed to do so with more force than before, so much so that her biceps flexed with exertion—or maybe Cora was so out of it that she was seeing things.

Before she could verify her hallucinations, Farron paused, stood up straight, then wiped her forehead with the back of her wrist. The dragon moved with her motions.

Cora didn't know what expression she was wearing exactly, but as soon as Farron turned to face her, Cora felt her eyes grow wide and her mouth clamp shut. If Farron noticed, she didn't show it. Instead, she gave Cora a small smile before flashing a thumbs-up and tilting her head in a questioning manner.

While Cora wasn't completely sure what the wordless gesture meant, she still nodded with vigor that matched the energy of Farron's mopping before jumping back into her own cleaning. She was a little embarrassed that her chest warmed with the simple encouragement, but she was more self-conscious over her cheeks flushing with the memory of Farron's...

Cora froze, both physically and mentally, then spun around to focus on...the sink! She should clean the sink. The Bean Team should clean the sink more often, so now would be the perfect time to start. And if the task happened to hide her face from Far—the rest of the food court, then so be it.