Unexpected

Dinner Time

By the time my first round of chicken pot pies was out of the oven, the first few people were starting a line at the cafeteria counter, and I was ready for them. As people started scooping slice after slice from the nine by thirteen pans I was slipping another round of pies into the oven, having put them together while the last ones were baking. My apron was a mess from the preparations and the kitchen was hot again. I wished beyond wishing that I was above ground so I could open a window for some fresh summer air. I missed the sunlight as well, the blue of the sky, even the usual hustle and bustle sounds of New York City.

It was noisy enough here though. People were chatting amongst themselves as they ate at the long tables. Since the pies were baking and I had nothing else to do to occupy my time while I waited for them, I started putting together breakfast for the next morning. I'd decided to take advantage of the seemingly countless containers of oatmeal in the pantries and was going to make baked oatmeal for the next morning. As I started the oatmeal on the stove, I listened in to the conversations of the people passing by my windows. Most of it was science jabber that I could hardly make heads or tails of, but there was also something about new recruits which made me groan inwardly and wonder how many more mouths I was going to have to feed.

I thought I had heard someone say something about a strange test result when a sickeningly familiar voice called out, "What's cookin' good-lookin'?"

It was the flirtatious friend of that horrible scum, Ben, from this morning. I ignored him and continued chopping apples, tempted to threaten him with my knife this time instead of his crony, Ben. Though I didn't want it getting around to anyone, especially Barton or Loki, that I was going around trying to knife people. Keeping a low profile seemed to be a lot tougher than I had first thought and news of me threatening people with cutlery wasn't going to help.

He however persisted, "The silent treatment? Where's that sassy lip from this morning? I like a girl with some sass to her."

"I prefer her this way actually." Ben's voice replied to his friend, "She's learned to watch her tongue like a good little girl."

I rolled my eyes. His friend was bad enough but why did this punk have to be here too? "Pig." I growled under my breath.

"What was that?" Ben must have heard me.

I refused to answer.

I saw him grin in triumph from the corner of my eye, "Too busy playing in the kitchen to reply?"

I put my spoon I was using to stir a pot of oatmeal down and walked over to him, glaring all the while. Holding his gaze in my unamused, angry stare I didn't even blink for a good minute until his self-congratulatory grin faded, then, to make my point, "Bite me." I hissed at him, before spinning around.

"With pleasure." His friend said leaning in and moving his eyebrows in a way that he probably thought was seductive.

I gave him a disgusted look and ignored him and Ben even when they cat called me. This was my first day on the job and I was already done with the both of them. They left after a while and I set myself resolutely to preparing breakfast and watching the baking pies, pulling them out of the oven and setting them out for the workers when they were ready. I huffed and puffed to myself about the two idiots all the while and ignored the rest of the crowd of people until they started to dwindle. Covering the numerous oatmeal bakes I had put together, I slipped them on the shelves in the fridge so I could bake them in the morning and have an easy breakfast already made.

I then left my post in the kitchen and went into my closet of a room. There, just as Mrs. Burgenstein had told me, was a pile of things on my bed. Shifting through the neat pile I found a dark pair of jeans, a pair of simple black flats, a red tank top, a lacey black blouse, a plain gray t-shirt, a bright green skirt that would fall halfway down my calves, a bottle of mascara, a bottle of lotion, and a small bundle of hair ties. Where Mrs. Burgenstein had gotten all of this, I didn't know, but I was exceedingly grateful for a wider wardrobe than the sweatpants and baggy t-shirt for pajamas and the light pair of jeans, black t-shirt, and creamy colored cardigan that I was wearing now.