realwxnderdog:
Well, it was a good thing that Theo wasn’t truly ill, for the brunette’s uncaring attitude wouldn’t have aided him whatsoever. Even after he had so graciously deigned to roll around the floor in order to help her. The way she dropped to her knees and grabbed his shirt, nearly pinching his skin in the process, had him wide-eyed and shocked. Was this how the Cherry Grove inhabitants showed gratitude? It really was the birthplace of true Neanderthals.
He was hauled ungraciously to his feet by a surprising amount of strength, still reeling from the angry French words thrown his way. In his daze, he hadn’t managed to translate them all that well but from her tone, he doubted the brunette had been commending his outstanding acting skills like she should have been. If this had been a restaurant on Melrose Avenue then all the waitresses would have collectively swooned by this point and the rest of the patrons would be on their feet applauding him in a standing ovation. Yet the gormless halfwits in this town only seemed able to gawp at him and do absolutely nothing except stare as they held their salt shaker for too long over their fries.
Theo wrinkled his nose at one particularly large salt mountain while the waitress reassured everyone that he was alright. Manfully, he straightened up and decided, against his better judgment, that he would graciously bestow a wave towards the rest of the diners. Just to let everyone know he was perfectly alright, no thanks to them. However, the diner remained silent and his wave wasn’t met with a single cheer. Eventually chatter started back up again as everyone went back to their meals and Theo was ushered into the kitchen.
God, what kind of hell hole had he moved to?
“What are you – get off!” he pouted when the woman dragged him through a set of double doors that threatened to hit him on their way back. He stumbled into the cooking area and was met with the smell of freshly baked pies and other assorted meals, something that would have possibly been a treat to him had it not been for the deep fat fryer in the corner, spilling over with grease and fat. Clapping a hand over his mouth, Theo hunched over and began dramatically gagging into his palm.
His nausea was only dispelled by the woman’s sharp question and he straightened up to look at her, expression aghast.
“Excuse me?” he gaped. “That was me helping you get away from your undesirable admirer, thank you very much!”
Was it really so hard for her to be a little grateful? If it hadn’t been for him and his act of chivalry then she would still be out there listening to wannabe Hugh Grant waffling on about love and the echoing beat of his heart brought on only by the sight of her eyes. Admittedly something he knew Minnie would trip over her own feet for, but then again, he’d always been a little dubious about his friend’s choice in men – aside from himself, of course!
“It was either that or start stripping and run through the diner as nature intended!” he claimed. He strode over to the door, haughtily glancing over his shoulder with a frown. “But I guess I shouldn’t have bothered.”
He turned and was about to continue his march out only to discover someone had opened the door and it was now swinging back to meet him. At once it bashed off his head and he gasped, clutching his face at once as pain seared through his brow bone.
“Are you kidding me?” he swore, face scrunched up in pain due to the results of his very real injury this time.
Aggie’s annoyance was not tempered by the strange man’s sudden desire to mimic vomiting. She didn’t have the beginnings of a clue what exactly his problem was, other than he seemed intent on embarrassing her entirely before the hour was up. Wrinkling her nose, she took a step back from him, disgusted by his behaviour and the gross noises he was making as he over-dramatically heaved. She spotted Joy looking half concerned, half terrified, with a tray of pies balanced on one arm and waved her past; the drama queen opposite didn’t even notice the tiny blonde scurry out of his way and through the swinging door of the diner.
“Have you quite finished?” She asked, exasperated by his behaviour.
She should’ve thrown him out of the front door of the diner rather than drag him back to the kitchen, but she’d never been a huge fan of public humiliation. The only thing an audience loved more than a good show was one that went wrong, and she had seen first hand how dejected her friends in the troupe would get over their failures and jeers from the crowd. They were professional, so if it affected them then who knows what the reaction from this clearly deranged soul would be.
At his explanation, she couldn’t help but let out an unexpected laugh. “Helping?” She repeated, incredulous. How on earth could causing such a scene be considered helpful? A quiet word to her admittedly undesirable gentleman would have been helpful. Subtly giving her an excuse to leave the table such as asking for something from the counter equally would have been an option.
Rolling around on the floor faking a heart attack didn’t make the list.
Her eyes widened at is suggestion of running naked, glad that he managed to tone himself down slightly. And now he seemed angry - what right did he have to be angry? Assuming he was having some sort of breakdown, she’d given him the privacy of the kitchen to do it rather than subject him to the embarrassment he’d so kindly bestowed on her. Well, fine. If he wanted to be a diva and walk back into an audience of unimpressed diner patrons, so be it. Aggie may not have been Cherry Grove for long, and she certainly wasn’t intending to stick around, but she knew the diner’s regulars would much rather stand by their short term waitress than an increasingly erratic stranger causing a fuss.
Spotting Joy coming back through into the kitchen, Aggie reached out a hand to stop the weird man from walking directly into the door. “Wait-” She cried, but whatever she wasn’t going to end her sentence with was cut off by the sound of his forehead thunking against the door. Uncharitably, she thought that the heavy noise indicated he must have a brain in there somewhere.
Sighing, Aggie grabbed the man’s arm as he flailed and cursed, pulling him away from the door before he caused himself any more accidents. Poor Joy had her hands clapped over her mouth, eyes wide and on the verge of panic at the realisation she’d hurt someone. Aggie rolled her eyes at the man’s dramatics and shot her a reassuring smile as she pulled him to lean against one of the counters. He was quite a bit taller than her, so she pushed his shoulders down to make him slouch and allow her to be face to face with him.
“Okay.” She said with a long suffering tone. “Let me see.” Knowing what this man was capable of, having seen a great example of it in the last ten minutes, she wouldn’t be surprised if he was making a bigger deal than necessary. Still, she’d patched up a lot of banged heads and broken noses from lifts and stunts gone wrong, so it wouldn’t hurt to check.
Joy hovered by her side, wringing her hands. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh I can’t believe I nearly killed Theo Hund oh my gosh oh my gosh...”
Glancing between her tiny blonde co-worker and the man she apparently recognised, although Aggie had no idea where from, she sighed. “Who?”
