Ares

Chapter 34 || I'm young and I'm foolish, I've made bad decisions.

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"And I'm gonna pray. Maybe I'll pray, pray for a glimmer of hope. I've never believed in you, no, but I'm gonna."

- Pray, Sam Smith.

The next morning, Grace set a chocolate gateaux hot chocolate next to a cranberry muffin on the counter.

Mrs. Johansen handed her a ten pound note, arching a pencil thin eyebrow. "So how's that fine lookin man of yours?" She craned her neck to see into the kitchen. "You got him tied up somewhere? Because I wouldn't blame ya if ya did!" She cackled with laughter.

Sydney stopped a push broom in front of the booth and looked up, her face slumping in the early light.

Grace tried to smile, handing back the change and slamming the drawer shut. "He's fine," she replied, rubbing the bare spot where her necklace usually dangled without even realising she was doing it.

Mrs. Johansen exhaled a reflective breath, slipping the money into her purse. "There is nothing like young love." She leaned in closer to Grace, like she was about to spill some big secret. "When I first laid eyes on my Wilber, it was love at first sight." She chuckled softly to herself. "Some people don't believe in that stuff and neither did I until I nearly lost him to another woman."

Grace traded a quick look with Sydney, her cheeks turning bright red.

"Men are like muffins, sweetie," Mrs. Johansen smiled, gesturing with the mammoth baked good. "If you don't act fast, you'll get stuck with one that's as stale as yesterday's bread."

Grace blinked blankly and Mrs. Johansen burst into a bellowing fit of laughter that bounced off the walls.

The rotund lady inhaled a long, wheezing breath and pinched her eyes together. "Pretty girl like you should never settle for a stale muffin."

A sheepish grin stretched across Grace's face but didn't make it far.

She winked at Grace and turned for the door. "Thank you, ladies!" she sang out, her hips sashaying back and forth as she traversed the checkered flooring."Have a great day, Mrs. Johansen," Sydney said, pausing with the broom.

"And you," Mrs. Johansen said, stopping at the front door to look her up and down. "You are just as cute as a bug's ear! Your eyes are so beautiful."

Sydney leaned on the push broom, an awe shucks grin stretching from ear to ear. "These old things?"

Another thunderous laugh burst from Mrs. Johansen, followed by another wheezing breath. "And so is that fine man you got eating up all your profits in the back." She glanced at Grace. "Hang on to em, ladies, but hold on loosely!"

The bell rang and they watched her disappear around the corner.

Sydney turned to Grace, her polite smile quickly faltering. "You didn't have to come in today, you know."

Grace pulled a half empty rack of peanut butter cup cupcakes from a glass case and began combining them with another tray of the same flavor. "I'm fine."

"Okay, but when some bubbly blonde takes ten minutes to figure out what she wants, don't bite her head off." She paused to reflect on it. "Unless it's Aphrodite, then bite her damn head off. Literally."