Fairy Eyes

Chapter 26: Belle, Aqua,Ember

Leo put his arm around Aya's shoulder. They had begun to work out their differences, and were celebrating their efforts to work together as a couple by going out to dinner.

They walked into the front doors and waited at the front. A woman walked up to them with a big plastered smile on her face.

"Welcome to Mundo Fusion. Will it just be the two of you dining with us today? Follow me."

"Mundo Fushion was created by Aqua and Ember Filiogeno" she said as they walked through their table past the elaborate pictures elaborate pictures of Italy and Turkey. "They bonded over their discovery that they were half-sisters. They wanted to share both their Chinese and Mexican cuisine in order to create a unique dining experience."

"That's amazing. How did they accomplish that?" asked Aya.

"They do it by not directing overdoing it. The salsa is Korean-inspired. There is no cheese or heavy grease but a combination of chorizo and raw fish for tacos. Every meal comes with protein, as it is a stable of Mexican dishes."

The couple sat down. Leo moved a piece of Aya's hair off her face and she smiled at him. It was clear from anyone looking from the outside that this man adored this woman.

Belle was exhausted. She had just been promoted as manager and had to be going over everything she needed to understand the managing of the restaurant workers and resources. It had been very stressful up to that point. Needles to say, life had not turned out as she planned. This was not the career that she had in mind.

She had got accepted into graduate school, but the idea of taking classes later in the day and living downtown seemed like a step backwards from her undergraduate experience living in the dorms and later commuting downtown. Nor could she get over Leo.

Every time she tried to get into a relationship, things blew up. So she stopped trying.

She felt like a failure. She couldn't keep female friends or an active social account. She wasn't on track to do the things she was supposed to do in her life at 26.

Entering the restaurant had been nothing short of a nightmare. She had to deal with ogling and perverted older men that told her to smile more and got angry when she didn't look them directly in the eye. Could not use the intelligence and desire to think of things to create/study but instead focused on the task at hand - doing her job the best as possible. She felt under appreciated. Like the only value she aded to a person's life was her ability to serve others and that her desires had been shoved out the window. That feelings were not an acceptable thing and that she had to put on a smile all the time. It got even worse when she found out many of her coworkers were Jehovah Witnesses and using their relationships with customers to promote their ideas. Her boss had hid it from her, and she started to feel uncomfortable with how much she suppressed her judgement of a religion that had such a cult-like following but simultaneous nice and much liked people. It was not like the customers knew the truth.

Needless to say, she was miserable. She left her job, broke and had begun drinking again, with no hope of a happily ever after and completely without direction.

She was sitting alone drinking a Dos Equis in a taqueria the day that she had got fired when she heard two women talking.

"So what do you think we should experiment on for the menu?" said the asian woman.

"Well, anything combined that is basic enough not too have too many tastes. Names of combinations that aren't crazy enough to drive customers from the restaurant" replied the Cuban/Mexican woman.

Belle introduced herself to Aqua and Ember, who revealed they were opening a restaurant that they wanted to include win food that came from all over the world. Belle revealed her frustrations with her job and desire to travel the world, how she was obsessed with style from other places and had knowledge of many different foods that she liked. Both of the women were surprised by Belle's food-service position, and saw her as an excellent candidate for teaching the other servers that would eventually be joining the company. They decided to give her a management and interior design position - the later of which she based of Moroccan style to give the restaurant a global feel.

Belle watched the couple with morbid fascination from a hidden corner.

The girl had doe eyes and round cheeks. Her dark hair gave her face an exotic hue. She radiated wisdom and grace.

The man with his intense eyes and chiseled body treated her like a queen. There was an intense familiarity that Belle had when she looked at Leo, but she couldn't remember where she possibly had met him. Her heart beat with sadness, there was something there - something unspoken, that she didn't have the words for.

Where did she fall into the spectrum?

Belle was insecure, jaded, and definitely losing her looks no matter how hard she tried. Everything from her uterus, jaw, eyes, and limbs seemed to be falling apart. She may never have the time to have children, travel the world, or do all the things that she is supposed to do. Then Belle smiled.

It did not matter if no one ever loved her. If there truly was no guy that would come into her life without neediness and the excessive need to have sex all the time. If every therapist thought she was crazy, and every doctor gave her little options other than a pill when it came down to her health. Even if never got anywhere near career stability. She had fairy eyes - the gift of seeing what could be, and all the possibilities to come.