The Painted Lady

Late

Rose hoped she wouldn't be too late for her shift. Who was she kidding? Of course she was late!
She was more than late and had no one to blame but herself after looking at another vacant lot as a potential site for her restaurant. She knew she had spent too much time there but she couldn't help it!
Home Sweet Home is what she would name it; Cowboys and businessmen from all across the west would come to enjoy her food fixed with love, care and all the trimmings. Marinated greens, freshly peeled potatoes, fresh house smoked sausage and her specialty, hogshead pie.

Don't worry! It tasted better than it sounded.

Rose sprinted past the wooden carriages that lined the dusty old town of Sleepy Hollow. It looked like the restaurant was packed with more people than usual. She continued running until she came to the front windows of the crowded diner. Rose needed to find a way to sneak past Mr Divine, her mean, old miserable boss, but the way he had been breathing down her neck these past few months, there was no use.

Distracted by the loud chatter of the crowds, she peeked through the shiny windows of the restaurant and smiled. She wanted to pretend the place was packed because of her famous cooking but she snapped awake from her daydream. "If you keep your head in the clouds, you'll miss what's right in front of ya" her ma always said.

After a while, her friend Sierra paced past the windows to take the order of another table. "Spttttt!" Rose whispered. "Sierra!" She called again. She looked over at the nose, following it until her attention turned to the window. "Rose!" she yelled.

"Shhhh!" Rose signaled her to come over.

"Rose! Mr Divine done near popped a vessel!"

"Distract him for me?" she begged, forming her lips into a loving smile. It wasn't Sierra's first time covering for her tardy companion.

"Go on. Git" Sierra frowned, rolling her green eyes in annoyance. She would always cover for her best friend, no matter how late she was. Sierra knew Rose would do the same for her.
"I owe you one" Rose clapped, hugging her friend before stepping down and sneaking through the back. Rose made sure she zoomed past the small group of customers that littered across the streets to smoke, running in the warm and smoky kitchen to take her place.

"There you are Rose!" Mr. Divine shouted. Looked like Sierra couldn't distract him...

"Sorry, Mr. Divine I was caught up?" she frowns, letting her southern accent take over. She knew Mr. Divine was a sucker for a good southern woman.

"Caught up exactly where this time?" She opened the cupboards to check for seasonings.

"Nowhere important" she smiles, grabbing an apron from the wall as he followed her.

"Rose, we need to talk. This is the 5th time in 2 weeks you've been late to work"

"Rose! We need two spicy rattlesnakes and a divine nine platter, extra crispy" Sierra calls from the front, taping a string of orders to the rack.

"Got it!" Rose yelled from behind the frame of the kitchen window. She tied her hair black curls into a messy ponytail and went to cook. That's all she knew how to do. Cook.

Now don't get any funny ideas. Although Rose loved cooking, it was by choice not by necessity. Her ma died young and in the orphanages, the caretakers never cooked for the children and whenever they did it tasted look sod. She bent down to take her mother's cast iron skillet from the cabinet and heated a fire to the stove.

"Rose, it seems as if you have been leaving your duties and prioritizing other things" Rose bent to take another pot from the cupboards. Maybe if she ignored him he would go away this time?