N let go of the Once-ler's hand and hid her face behind him as the flash went off. After a few moments, she peeked out and saw that the person was gone.
"Do you think they saw me?" she asked, looking around.
"I don't think so," the Once-ler said carefully, "but we can't be sure. Here."
He dumped his hat on her head and pulled her into the nearest building. It was a quaint little coffee shop that was filled with the delightful aroma of roasting coffee beans.
"Well, this is cute," she said, straightening the fedora on her head. "Is this where you wanted to go?"
"No... But let's make the most of it," he replied. "After this, I'll call a taxi to pick us up."
"Okay," she said as she walked to the counter. Hardly anyone was in the coffee shop at the time, making it slightly safer than outside.
"Hi, what can I get for you?" asked the woman at the counter.
"Um, what would you recommend?" N replied. She looked at one of the workers, who was using a thneed to clean up a spill. Oddly enough, she hadn't seen a lot of thneeds in town.
"We have a new flavor, the Thneed Special," the woman said. She leaned in closer and said, "A thneed is used to give the drink a special flavor."
"Excuse me, did you say that a thneed flavors it?" asked the Once-ler, appearing behind N and startling her.
"Yeah! My boss found out when he accidentally boiled it in his soup... Apparently it added a delicious flavor."
N examined the worker's apron, realizing that it was a thneed. In fact, many things in the shop were thneeds; from curtains to tablecloths, from aprons to napkins, they were all the Once-ler's products. She felt slightly uncomfortable being in this shop full of thneed fanatics, especially since the creator of the thneed was standing right behind her.
"Huh. I never thought about eating one before," the Once-ler said.
"I'll try one!"
He looked at N and she just shrugged.
"What? It's a unique idea," she said with a laugh.
A few minutes later, they were both sitting at a table far from the windows. N took a sip of her drink and froze.
"Is it good?" Once-ler asked, giving a cheeky half-smile.
In reply, N lifted the lid of her cup and spit out the odd beverage.
"What do you think?" she said, gagging. "Who wants to eat truffula tufts? That's disgusting."
"You ordered it," he said.
N glanced behind and around her.
"Are you still worried about the photographer?"
She nodded, saying, "You saw how the paparazzi acted at the hotel. If they find out that I'm involved with you, then they might harass me for information."
"You have a point," Once-ler said, leaning back in his chair. "Then I guess this is our secret now."
"I guess so..."
They were both quiet for a few moments before the Once-ler got up and stood beside her chair.
"The cashier has a camera," he whispered.
YOU ARE READING
The Secretary {Once-ler x Reader}
FanfictionYou have been working for the Once-ler as his trusted secretary for one year. However, you have grown tired of his ruthless deforestation and decide to try and sabotage him. When your plan fails, you expect to get fired, but you remain his secretar...
