章 8: Midday Rush
The midday rush had truly begun, people were coming in and out constantly. A lot of drunk sailors were ordering food because they either just arrived to port or about to leave on a long voyage.
There were so many people Veronica struggled to move around them. At this point she said 'Sorry' or 'Excuse me' or 'Coming through' hundreds if not thousands of times. The people moved out of her way most of the time, but sometimes she had to basically shout at them. A lot of times people bumped into her either by accident or just to feel around her body.
She never in her life had to slap so many drunk people's hands trying to touch her backside. Even then many succeeded and to Veronica's utter dismay, even a couple of woman tried to do it.
While shaking her head she went into the kitchen, here the work wasn't any less smaller, than outside. Suze cooked half a dozen dishes at the same time, while Sofie was scrubbing away the plates and cutlery. They were starting to make a small tower next to her.
With a sigh she went to the desk and grabbed two other dishes. Then she turned around and went back into the main room.
Looking at the state of the people and the place where she needed to bring the food she sighed in resignation.
'They are at the opposite side of this room... Of course they are... And to get there I have to pass the bar and those very touchy drunkards... Haaaa...'
After her silent mental breakdown, she steeled herself and took the first step, then the second and third. She just reached the first of the patrons, one moved into her way, but she successfully dodged to the left evading it.
On the sixth step she reached the bar, a hand was about to grab her breast, but Veronica was prepared, she took half a step back and turned from her waist, the hand touched only empty air.
The eighth step she had to evade a hand aiming for her backside and a drunk customer about to bump into her. She visualized the situation, then thought out the best way to dodge both.
She only needed a fraction of a second to come up with the plan, then she executed it perfectly. While bending her back and turning her body the hand couldn't touch her backside only her thigh, and with the same move she evaded the drunk patrons wild steps.
After the tenth step she sighed in relief, there was only five more and then she can do this all over again, then again, then again...
'Calm yourself! You are not out of the woods yet and this talk only makes you lose focus!'
She took a couple of deep breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth. The people sitting or standing around her made weird facial expressions, like she was an idiot or something. When the breathing exercise was finished she opened her eyes, those magical pink irises were like burning coals on a late summer night.
Her next step was firm and powerful, someone pushed her from the back by bumping into her, he said sorry but Veronica didn't hear it... Her eyes were on the prize.
She took the next step without any hiccup, and then another. The next one she saw out of the corner of her eye a hand approaching, she turned her waist and bent her knee, the hand grabbed onto nothing. The last two steps were fairly simple as well and soon she was placing the food in front of the couple who ordered it.
They payed for it right away, the cost of two gulasch –– which they ordered –– was 26 coppen. After working here a couple of hours her memory about costs had became less blurry, she knew that this inn's prices weren't outrageous at all. Considering how good Suze's cooking was they were actually quite cheap. This was all thanks to the proximity of the Dracon Empire... The breadbasket of the world.
Because in their country the largest percentage of their population, including their royal family, was part of the Church of Life. It encouraged making new things, they had a lot of farmers, shepherds, engineers, etc. If they could create things or nurture things, they love to do it.
This includes human babies, the most horrific crime you could commit in the Dracon Empire is murder a pregnant woman. If they even suspect you for such a crime, that is execution, no trial, nothing... They just hang you.
Soon Veronica gave the money to James who was having also having a hard time. The drunk people were constantly ordering drinks, when he got a breather he talked with one of the regulars sitting near him.
He nodded his thanks and she moved back into the kitchen, there was only one meal this time and thankfully she had to deliver it only to a table next to the bar.
She moved out of the kitchen, then looked through the crowd again and made her way to the designated table. The process was pretty much the same, evading a hand or two, dodging a couple of drunkards. It was going really well and she was just two steps from the table, when suddenly she had to move out of the way of a very heavy sailor.
Sadly the dodge was pure reflex and the sailor's erratic movement made Veronica turn and bump into someone else... Or at least she thought it would.
Turns out the man she was about to pour hot porridge all over had great movement skills. With a twist of hips, turn of heels and bending of knees, he moved just enough out of the way that Veronica wasn't going to hit him.
This raised another problem now, she was already prepared to hit the man, but with his impossible movement she was now on a direct course towards the floor.
Before she could fall or drop the porridge, a firm hand held her by the waist. In the next second she was hoisted back onto her feet, then the hand twisted her.
It was the hand of the man she nearly bumped into. He had dark brown hair and light blue eyes, his face was really handsome. He stood a head above Veronica and was still holding onto her waist. The whole scene felt like a dance weirdly enough.
She quickly regained her composure and with a slightly red face apologized. "I'm sorry about that, it won't happen again... Probably... Maybe... Actually it is very likely to happen many more times during the evening."
The man just chuckled and said, "I don't think so. I have seen you move, you are like a dancer evading all the drunkards. You are new here aren't you, I come here quite often. My name is Floyd Hawkins."
'Floyd Hawkins is it? I will remember you Handsome Floyd!'
"Yes, I have been hired yesterday, this is my first day actually! My name is Veronica Navarro." Floyd smiled at her, then moved towards the bar counter. Before leaving he said something that sent chills down her spine.
"See you around, Veronica Navarro." What he said wasn't ominous at all, but she felt some hidden undertone within. Somehow it gave her the feeling of being threatened. She was still staring at Floyd, who was currently happily chatting with James.
'So they know each other. I have to ask James about him.'
She took a deep breath and with a lingering small amount of fear in her heart, she moved to deliver the porridge.
The minutes turned into hours and the rush came and went. She delivered lots of food and drinks during this time. What truly surprised her is that she never dropped anything and she haven't fell once.
'Huh... Maybe that creepy guy was right about my evading capabilities. Speak of the devil, where did he go? He was just talking with James.'
She looked around the main room just in time to see Floyd come out of the restroom, but unlike what she expected he didn't go back to the counter. Instead he went towards the basement door. Then he opened it and went down the steps, closing it behind him.
'Why can he see the monster or whatever they are hiding downstairs, but I can't?'
In reality she still didn't really care what was downstairs, but she was a curious cat. She wanted to know just because they didn't let her.
After thinking a bit she turned towards James and approached the counter, there was no patron to be served currently, so it was the perfect opportunity to inquiry about this Floyd Hawkins.
She went and sat down in one of the long legged chairs at the counter. James turned his head in the direction of Veronica, then raised his eyebrows waiting for her to talk.
"James, who is this Floyd Hawkins? I nearly bumped into him when delivering food and he gave me the creeps."
He just looked at her and answered with a loud sigh and exhausted face. Seems like she wasn't the first person to ask such a question.
"He is a good guy. I know him since I opened this inn, back then Suze and I weren't even married and I was just a young innkeeper with a dream. He became a regular pretty fast for some reason, probably Suze's cooking. Anyway, a couple maybe one or two years ago he changed, became as you yourself said creepy. Whenever I ask about it he just changes subject, but you shouldn't worry about him. He is a good man just a bit weird."
Veronica nodded, but inside she felt really suspicious. In the end she just went on to clean up the leftover mess of the midday rush.
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