This choice: Better make it an early night, Chea has work tomorrow • Go Back...Chapter #5Another Day, Another Dollar! by: Unknown For the first time in quite a while, Chea was feeling well rested and invigorated. Usually she'd be fighting off hunger pangs well into the night, but going on that date had provided her with the sustenance she needed to function like a normal person for once.
Sliding into her stained and unwashed uniform bright and early, the little lady headed out into the city slums towards her home away from home: The Parched Archer.
Chea had been working there for a number of years now, having been somewhat of a familiar face around the rinky-dink alehouse even before that. She had been offered a position there by her bartender-turned-coworker-turned-friend Tala since they were severely understaffed at the time (and still were even now).
Wading through the slums with practiced proficiency, Chea swiftly arrived at her destination. She gave a shake of her head in disapproval at the dingy sign adorning the window. The entire staff had been doing their best to improve the place - keeping it as clean as they could, always doing service with a smile, advertising when possible - but the lack of funds was really showing. No matter how hard the three of them tried, it seemed like the tavern would always remain something of a "little known treasure," to put it nicely.
But thinking like that wasn't gonna help anyone. Chea tapped both palms to her cheeks, focusing her sights on the day ahead.
Maybe I'll actually get some good tips today... she thought to herself, reflecting on her surprisingly low paycheck this past week. Her hourly wage was obviously low on account of the bar's paltry earnings, but she was usually able to stow away at least something at the end of every work week - but not last week; literally all of her money had gone to basic food and supplies. Money was tight around this time of year anyway, so she really shouldn't let it get her down. Plus, if she could scrounge up a few more dates with unsuspecting (and hopefully rich) men soon, maybe it wouldn't be so bad... but to Chea's slight disappointment (but not surprise), as she opened the large, wooden door she found the usual morning sight: a mostly empty bar with only the three or four usual customers.
"Yo! Right on time. Head on back to the kitchen, will ya? Aubrey's got something for you."
That low, raspy voice came from Tala, the sole bartender of this quaint little establishment. A human woman and somewhat of a tomboy, Tala was always dependable and cool-headed. Honestly, if Tala didn't put in all the work she did, Chea was certain that this place would've shut down ages ago. She had fairly dark skin and dark hair to go with it, and she tended to keep it cut pretty short; otherwise it would just interfere with her duties. She also had a good deal of muscle to her. Chea figured it was a combination of constantly moving around while at work and doing some basic exercises at home, but she never felt compelled enough to ask.
"Yeah, sure. I'll be out to help in a few," replied Chea smoothly, already on her way to the back of the tavern.
Quickly entering the small and cramped (not to mention hot and humid) kitchen, the gregarious goblin came face to face with her only other coworker: the owner of the bar, Aubrey.
Aubrey was a half-elven woman in her mid-thirties. She had put on a bit more than the standard weight characteristic of a pregnancy, giving her an overly supple hourglass shape. But the immense number of stressors coming from both her work at the bar and her home life had also given her a few undue wrinkles and even some grey hairs. She was lucky that her purplish-white locks already tended to look a little grey, or else she'd really be in trouble.
Chea had always thought Aubrey would be very pretty if she put in the work. Unfortunately for the obese mother, though, she had neither the time nor the money. Her long hair was always tied up in a messy ponytail on account of being the bar's only chef, and her apron had gone from white to a gross amber color because of how thoroughly stained it was. Her naturally quite beautiful and soft face was too marred by an ill-fated combination of anxiety and overworking to be considered approachable or wantable by most members of society. That is, if she wasn't spoken for anyway. Chea never felt like asking, since if Aubrey was married or seeing someone, she'd never mentioned them, and bringing that up seemed like a surefire way to get kicked out of the only consistent job she'd had since becoming a full-fledged adult.
And that wasn't to say that Aubrey was mean! Far from it, actually. She was one of the kindest people Chea had ever known. Buuuuuut, that didn't mean she should go around dredging up potentially painful memories just for the fun of it. Aubrey definitely didn't deserve that; sure, she could be stern at times (one incident involving a particularly intoxicated and rude dwarf had set her off something fierce...), but most of the time she was sweet as honey. Speaking of honey, though, Chea was a little jealous of just how much Aubrey ate. It came off as a bit insensitive for her boss to be so clearly well-fed while she herself was borderline starving from malnutrition every other week...
But that was neither here nor there.
"Hey Audrey, how're you doing?" Chea asked, knowing the answer she'd likely be receiving.
"Oh, I'm just fine, hon," came the characteristically soft and airy tones of her boss.
And yeah, that's about exactly what Chea was thinking she'd hear. Aubrey was never one to burden others with her own problems, and as a result Chea couldn't even begin to count the number of times Aubrey had said some variation of "Oh it's nothing!" or "It's no big deal!" or even the dreaded "Don't worry about me!"
"That's good. What'd you need me for?" the shorter woman asked, more than a little curious as to what Aubrey wanted.
"Weeeell..." the taller woman started, a big smile on her face. "Ta-daaa!"
From behind her bulbous backside, Aubrey took out a small, cute little uniform. It was fairly frilly and had a patch on the breast pocket featuring an arrow flying through a glass of mead.
Chea grinned both from the kind gesture and her superior's smile. But that happiness soon turned to worry.
"Aubrey! How much did this cost you!? Are you sure?" she asked, now nervous as to how Aubrey managed to make this expenditure work. The woman could routinely be seen using her lunch break to balance her finances, and this uniform looked like it cost nearly what the tavern made in a week!
"Of course, sweetie. See? I got one for Tala as well," the mother continued, shockingly nonchalant about the whole thing as she whipped out a much larger uniform adorned with the same insignia, only this time it bore a savvy dark red and black color scheme as opposed to Chea's green and black one.
"These look great. I'll go and bring Tala hers and then get started. Can't have all the money you spent go to waste, can I?" Chea added with a wink. Her inherent charms were enough to work on anyone, as Aubrey blushed from her employee's flattery.
***
"She didn't tell me anything about this," Tala said with a huff.
"She didn't really tell me much either. I asked why she got it and didn't get a real answer," Chea assured her friend as they observed their reflections in the tavern window.
They had to admit: they both looked pretty great. The new uniforms hugged their differing frames tightly but not distastefully, accentuating their subtle curves and leaving little to the imagination. Chea in particular liked the feeling of freshly washed material on her skin; her old uniform was starting to make her itchy from all the deep-seeded dirt in its fibers.
"Did she say how she paid for it? I can't imagine this place giving her the funds..." Tala asked, just as curious as Chea.
"No, but it's honestly probably an advertising thing. The signs we put up last week didn't help - people tore them down too quick - so maybe she thinks wearing these outside of work will help put the place's name on the map? This little design is obviously what Aubrey thinks a 'Parched Archer' logo would look like," Chea posited.
"Yeah, you're probably right. It's so cute, it just screams 'Aubrey,'" the taller human noted with a wry smirk. "Either way, I'm happy. These are cute as hell!"
"Agreed."   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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