Chapter Nine - Quiet Opening

It was the morning of the grand opening, and Abigail was very nervous.

Dreamer didn’t get it, not really, but she’d long decided that it was okay not to get everything that Abigail felt, as long as she got that Abigail felt like liking Dreamer. Emotions were complicated and a bit silly, and it was always tricky to catch them. Worse, when she did catch emotions, they were hard to wrangle into her mouth to eat, and they didn’t always taste good besides.

She’d had one mouthful of sad and had decided that feelings weren’t good eating.

“Why are you walking in circles this time?” Dreamer asked. “Is Daphne going to show up with flowers again?” Dreamer hoped not. The last time that happened she’d been left with Charlotte for ‘babysitting’ which was weird because while there was admittedly some sitting, Dreamer didn’t see any babies.

Abigail chuckled and slowed to a stop. “Sorry. I’m just... I don’t know, a bit anxious? It’s the big opening, you know?”

Dreamer nodded. It was. She had tentacles out front holding up a big sign--it was a long piece of cloth with the words GRAND OPENING! painted across it--and sometimes she had to twitch her tentacles to make it look as though the sign was waving in the wind.

Abigail had spent a long part of the night awake baking cookies and small cakes and other pastries, and she’d made something called coffee which smelled interesting and that Dreamer wasn’t allowed to drink because “no, just no,” according to Daphne.

“It’s going to be okay,” Dreamer said. “No one’s going to hurt you or the shop.”

Abigail laughed and she pulled Dreamer into a quick hug. “Thanks, but that’s not all I’m worried about.”

Dreamer hummed and enjoyed the hug while it lasted. “Then what are you worried about? I’ll take care of it.”

Abigail pat her head. “It’s okay, Dreamer. I think... maybe being nervous about something isn’t so bad, not if you’re not too worried about it. It’s an excited worry, I guess.”

The clock hanging on one of the walls--it looked like a cat’s head with little cat feet that pointed to the numbers around it--meowed, announcing that the hour had changed.

“Okay!” Abigail said. She clapped her hands, then grabbed an apron from a nearby chair back and tugged it on. It was a nice apron, made by Charlotte. It had the name for the shop embroidered over Abigail’s chest, and a bunch of cloth tentacles sewn up coming up from the bottom. Dreamer found it very nice. Abigail grabbed a second apron and Dreamer put her arms out to the sides so that Abigail could slip it on her.

She didn’t need help putting an apron on, of course, she was very capable of dressing herself, but when Abigail tied the knot behind her it was like getting an extra bonus hug, so she liked it.

“Okay!” Abigail said. “I’ll be behind the counter, at the till. Dreamer, take these, and give them to anyone that’s passing.” She climbed up to the higher part of the cafe, reached over the counter, and grabbed a bag, then she took out a stack of pamphlets and gave them to Dreamer. “I had these printed at school. It cost a pretty penny, but I think it’s worth it!”

The pamphlets had the name of the cafe on the top, and some cute drawings of cupcakes and cookies and coffee and tea. “I give these to people?” Dreamer asked.

“Anyone that’s passing by... if they want one, don’t force them on people.”

Dreamer nodded. “I can do that.”

“And if you’re near the door, open it for people who are coming in, alright?”

“Yeah,” Dreamer said.

“Good, good,” Abigail said. She took in a deep breath, then let it all out at once, but she was smiling. “I’m sure this’ll work out just fine. Anyway, Daphne should be showing up in the afternoon, and Charlotte too.”

Dreamer nodded again. More friends was nice.

Abigail went around to the back of the counter, and stood behind the till, a determined smile in place. “Let’s do it,” she said.

Dreamer grabbed her stack of pamphlets and walked out of the front of the cafe. There were other shops and stuff along the street. A shoe place, a small restaurant, a couple of places that sold more boring stuff, like tools and things. It meant that there was always a good amount of traffic, though it wasn’t the busiest place in the city.

She set herself next to the front of the cafe. It was still very early in the morning, the shops across the street were still setting themselves up for their first customers, and the Inquisition spies hiding on a roof across the street hadn’t been replaced by the next shift yet.

The sun was still low enough on the horizon that the road was still a bit shady, but that would change soon enough.

Dreamer waited until someone was close, a business-looking man in a suit and with a briefcase by his side. “Hey, you, take this,” Dreamer said.

“I don’t want it,” the man said without even looking.

Dreamer pouted, but there were other mortals going by. She saw another business guy walking by with a teacup in one hand and a newspaper tucked under his other arm. “Mister, come to this tea shop, it’s more better,” Dreamer said.

The man paused, looked at the shop, then scoffed. “I think not. Besides, I have my own tea.”

Dreamer huffed. Then, because she felt like it, she summoned a teeny tiny springtacle under his teacup and let it snap out. His tea cup broke at the handle and the cup portion took off into orbit.

“Our tea is all in this planet’s atmosphere,” Dreamer said. She put on one of those smiles that made mortals feel more comfortable.

The mister didn’t even look at her, he said some bad words then walked off in a confused huff.

This whole thing was harder than Dreamer thought it would be.

She’d need to find a solution to this, or they’d have no clients and then Abigail would be sad.

***