Vincent and Jamie and Catarina: When Freshiedency Reaches Its End

Six Days of Separation: Day 3

Vincent was in a high stress mode. He was finalizing his speech for his final State of Mandala Address. Catarina was not helping much either. Instead, she spent her time writing down a lot of stuff OR constantly going in and out of the room due to boredom.

It was eleven o'clock in the morning when Catarina decided to interfere with Vincent's work. By this time, he was about to have another nervous breakdown. She got up from her seat, and skittered towards him. "You should take a break," she told him, "How about some lunch out of this place first?"

"But I seriously can't, Catarina," Vincent protested, "I have a whole speech to finish and prepare by tomorrow!"

Catarina suddenly seemed a tad irritated, but she hid it behind her now sultry actions. She crawled beside him, and said, "Come on, it's just a short lunch break. Maybe, just maybe, it will get your energy back." She placed a hand on his arm, and ran it over his body, passing over his chest. Vincent gave her a straight face, but inside, he was cringing.

"Fine!" Vincent said after a few seductive attempts by the red widow. He got up, and left the office, keeping his dignity intact.

When Catarina heard the door click shut, she smiled evilly. She then reclined on his chair, examined her very sharp legs, and then asked herself, "How do I kill this guy..."

...

The local marketplace was where Vincent went. He did not want to ride the limo, but instead, took the underground towards the said marketplace, which was two stations away. He believed Mandala was generally a safe place --- which it generally is --- so he didn't have any bodyguards with him most of the time.

When he alighted from the underground, exited its station, and passed through the entrance of the noisy marketplace, he saw Philomella once again reciting her spiel as a Greenpeace member. Sometimes, her spiels would change from "greening the earth" to "reduce hunting" and so on, but her message was still the same: Everyone is in harmony with nature and as such each must respect it, not abuse it. Before, people would just pass by her, but her newfound popularity as the Greenpeace Girl got more people to support her advocacy --- in fact, she was the face of environmentalism in nearly 25 different countries, Mandala, Entomon, and Hympa included.

"Hey Vincent!" the tree nymph breeder exclaimed when she saw Vincent. People parted a way for him to pass while he approached the breeder.

"You know any good food stops at this market, Phil?" Vincent asked her.

"There's this place nearby which sells good food," Philomella replied, "It makes the best fresh vegan spring rolls!"

"Well, I'll consider it," Vincent replied, "You're vegan, anyway. Take me there!"

At once, Philomella left her spot and led the way while Vincent followed and the passers-by around made room for the president to pass.

...

The Green Stall was a little stall located at the food stall section of the market closest to the vegetable section. It was painted green from roof to wheels, and on its long table area were transparent glass shelves which showed some vegetable and vegemeat dishes.

Behind it stood an old centaur couple --- they may be in their diamond year but they're still active --- and a few assistants of different races working on the tables around them. These tables, which surrounded the people and were behind the green stall formed an outdoor kitchen, and various mouthwatering smells from spices emanated from that area. Finally, behind the outdoor kitchen were rows of tables with aisles wide enough for a breeder to pass through (although breeders preferred to sit near the walkway aisles).