almost there.

xxi. busgirl @tianasplace: it's gumbo night over at the Landry's, anyone want some? ;)

[workingtiana-blog]

theoddliddel:

Alice couldn’t help but notice the frown reaction from the woman. It made her much more interested instead of wanting to drop the conversation. “Now hang on, sweetie.” Alice followed the girl. “I was just messing with ya. Do you always have to take everything so seriously? No wonder you seem so upset. You should loosen up especially since you won’t tell people what’s bothering you. Especially people who wish to help you.”

Tiana resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the not-so-surprising reluctance to cease interfering from the other girl. She kept walking, not slowing down. “Excuse me if I pass on listening to a complete stranger trying to analyze me.” She scoffed. “I don’t need your help. And why would you even offer? You don’t know me. Now if you don’t mind, I gotta get to work.”

[workingtiana-blog]

dcrcthygale:

“That’s horrible,” Dorothy frowned. “We only have one life and one earth, we should love one another. I mean come on, nobody likes an asshole.”

Tiana scoffed. “Tell that to the dicks of the world.”

[workingtiana-blog]

dcrcthygale:

“I guess that does make sense,” she agreed. “Although I doubt it, I sure hope I won’t have to deal with people like that when I work at a veterinary clinic someday.”

Tiana tilted her head at the girl’s innocent. “Darlin’, you’ll have to deal with assholes everywhere. That’s just the way of the world.”

[workingtiana-blog]

capsize. // tiana & nathan.

[workingtiana-blog]

nathan-de-maldonia:

Nathan simply shrugged, too tired to deal with it. “Do whatever. I’m going to back to bed now that I have a full stomach,” he nodded in her direction, “Thanks for breakfast. It was delicious. Ten times better than the stuff you serve at the diner. Just make sure you lock the front door on your way out.” And with a wave over his shoulder and a small smile, he was out of the kitchen and heading to the hallway so he could return back to his bed that was practically calling to him now. 

Tiana nodded tersely, glad he let the matter drop, for both their sakes. She didn’t want a fight, even if it was with Nathan. He’d done a good thing for her the night before. She couldn’t brush that off, as much as she wished to. Not that she wished it’d never happened. It just made things... weirder between them. It was insanely complicated, and Tiana didn’t have the time or the patience to figure it out that morning. “Okay, I will. And you’re welcome. And thank you, again,” she added, in a lower tone. It was like she was almost... embarrassed to thank him. She wasn’t, but it felt... odd. She couldn’t help but stare after him as he went back to his room, registering yet again how very shirtless and exposed he was. She’d never known his clothes had been hiding that. That was the second strange thought she’d had about Nathan that morning. She could only imagine how their future interactions would play out.

[workingtiana-blog]

dcrcthygale:

“I wouldn’t have the guts to do that,” Dot admitted, “I’d probably call them right back and apologize. Damn, you’re badass.”

Tiana shrugged. “When you’ve been at it as long as I have, you learn to grow a thick skin.”

[workingtiana-blog]

dcrcthygale:

“That’s hilarious actually,” Dorothy said through bright laughter. “What did you do next?”

“I just hung up on them. They tried calling me four times after that, but I didn’t pick up.” Tiana shrugged. “It takes two to tango, and I’m an excellent dancer, so.”

[workingtiana-blog]

theoddliddel:

“Oh…. now we are getting somewhere.” Alice smiled as the lady started to open up, even with the slightest response. “Why don’t they like you? I mean, you seem to have such a remarkable personality.” It wasn’t that Alice meant to sound so obnoxious, perhaps that was just the way she normally was towards people. She didn’t care though how people thought of her. “If you ask me, I say if you want them to do what you want, I say you hit it where it hurts.”

Tiana frowned at the girl. She talked like she knew exactly what her problems were, which she didn’t. It made Tia uneasy. She didn’t like people meddling in her business, especially when it came to her restaurant. “Great advice, but hardly helpful. Thank you, though. I gotta go.” She started walking away, glancing at her wrist watch to see that her break was almost over. She didn’t want to hear from her boss again.

[workingtiana-blog]

capsize. // tiana & nathan.

[workingtiana-blog]

nathan-de-maldonia:

Nathan just gave her a look, “You’re not at work, Tiana. You are a guest in this house and so you don’t have to clean it up. You didn’t even have to fix breakfast.” He should’ve known she would grow stubborn at this point and it was no surprise that she was so tired last night seeing as how the girl could barely sleep past six am and then had a knack to be working when it was totally unnecessary. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Tiana retorted like he was an idiot. He just didn’t get it. “I don’t leave my mess around for other people to clean. It’s a matter of principle.” Not that you’d know anything of it, she thought, but bit her tongue. She didn’t want to ruin whatever semblance of a truce they had going on since last night. At least, not until she was out of his house for good. Tiana might be stubborn, but she wasn’t ungrateful. It made talking to Nathan this morning very difficult.

[workingtiana-blog]

tinkcrbella:

                       “You’ll make it.” Tiana was one of the hardest working people that Tina knew. If anyone could make their dream come true, it would be her. “Then you’ll work up a tasty vegetarian menu just for me.”

Tiana managed the faintest of smiles. She didn’t know why she still clung to this dream. Except, actually, she did. Every time she thought about her dad, she got a renewed motivation to keep at it, to open this restaurant. For him. “Of course. I’ll make you some vegan gumbo. Or try to, I don’t really know how that would work...”

[workingtiana-blog]

theoddliddel:

“Well, honey, I am afraid it’s rather hard not to hear your conversation.” Alice chuckled as the lady reminded her of her mother speaking of Alice’s ill manners that she had. “I would have hated to be on the end of that ugly conversation.” She paused for a minute. “Must have been someone you didn’t like much, am I right?”

Tiana looked at the woman with a sort of latent suspicion. She wasn’t one to talk to strangers, outside of work that is. She didn’t like the idea of someone she didn’t know meddling in her business. “They don’t like me, is more like it,” she said curtly.

[workingtiana-blog]

capsize. // tiana & nathan.

[workingtiana-blog]

nathan-de-maldonia:

Nathan pointed at her with his fork, “I beg to differ. Good food probably can’t, but bad food?” He mimed slicing his fork across his neck and stuck out his tongue as his head lolled to the side and his eyes rolled back in his head. Then he quickly went back to his pancakes, only one out of his pile left and not much of it. He was relieved beyond belief whenever she said she didn’t need a ride and he down the rest of his juice before moving his plates to the sink. “Don’t worry about cleaning all this up,” he gestured vaguely to the utensils she’d used to cook breakfast. “Elizabeth will be here at ten.”

Tiana couldn’t argue with his reply. She just shrugged and nodded, eating the remainder of her breakfast. She looked at him for a while after he told her not to clean up. “I’m not even going to waste my breath explaining to you how inappropriate that just was.” He didn’t understand, of course. He was a rich kid who’d had maids and servants all his life. But Tiana couldn’t just leave her mess for someone else to clean up. Not when she spent every damn day cleaning up after other people at work. She knew this tolerable ambience with Nathan couldn’t last long. Sooner or later, he would say or do something to irritate or vex her. It was how it was. Last night was just a weird fluke. This was the norm.

[workingtiana-blog]

tinkcrbella:

                         “   If I was gonna do something, I wouldn’t get caught.   ”           Tina huffed, smiling slightly.           “   If you need a little help meeting their demands, I’ve got a bit saved up that I would be willing to donate. Or we could start a Kickstarter campaign.   ”

Tiana shook her head. She was too proud to accept money from someone else. Even if it was a friend. “No, it’s fine. I’ll manage. I gotta, if I’m ever gonna open that damn restaurant...”

[workingtiana-blog]

ctrl-charlotte:

“Oh, sorry, Tia!” Charlotte said with a bright smile. She then sighed and pouted, “That’s why I’m only down to three, I went with my gut. I don’t know how to narrow it down any further.”

“Then go with your head, I don’t know!” Tiana knew nothing about throwing parties. She just cooked for them. Speaking of... “Who you got catering?”

[workingtiana-blog]

theoddliddel:

Alice couldn’t help but listen in a woman having a heated argument with someone over the phone. She knew better than to eavesdrop, however Alice couldn’t help but feel sympathy towards the woman. Wow, I haven’t heard such a loud phone call since I pranked my mom into thinking I was pregnant once.” She chuckled, trying to ease the conversation. “So… something troubling you?” Alice asked as polite as she could with a smile, hoping to help.

Tiana stared at her phone when the connection was cut. Unbelievable. She was startled by the voice that sounded near her. She hadn’t realised someone was listening. “It’s not good manners to listen to other people’s phone calls,” she told the girl, snapping more from her mood than any real resentment towards her. She glanced at the other for a moment. She didn’t share her problems. It wasn’t her. And she especially didn’t share them with strangers.

[workingtiana-blog]

capsize. // tiana & nathan.

[workingtiana-blog]

nathan-de-maldonia:

“Well hearing noises in your kitchen and smelling breakfast which is totally not normal typically makes a person curious and climb out of bed. Don’t worry. I’ll be heading back with a food coma as soon as I’m done here,” Nathan defended himself before digging into the pancakes, letting out a happy hum at how delicious they are. It felt weird hearing Tiana say anything polite, let alone to him, so he simply shrugged it off, not wanting to linger on the topic too much. It was already weird enough sitting at the counter with her and eating breakfast. Part of him had hoped that she would just leave on her own terms and walk home. This brought him to his next question. “So do I need to take you somewhere?” he asked, eyeing her as he forked in another mouthful of pancakes. 

Tiana laughed, surprising even herself. Especially herself. “Well, at least food won’t kill you. But alcohol can.” Was she... mothering Nathan? The thought was enough to make her shudder physically. This whole morning was even weirder than the night before. Like she’d accidentally stumbled into an alternate universe. She turned to her pancakes, more in search for something to distract her than hunger. Although she was hungry, and the food was welcome in her stomach. Her eyes snapped up at him at the question. “Huh...” She had to go to work, but she needed to stop by home to shower and change first. But one look at him and anyone could tell he was in no shape to drive her anywhere. “No, thanks. I’m good.” No need to prolong the weirdness, anyway

[workingtiana-blog]

tinkcrbella:

               Tina tilted her head. “I have a crowbar, large plastic bags, and some acid. I could get that price right back down, you just say the word.” She didn’t mean to interrupt the other’s call, but Tina wasn’t one to stand mistreatment of others. 

Tiana hung up the phone while the man was still talking on the other end. She was done talking. She heard Tina and her suggestion and scoffed out a laugh. “As much as I would appreciate that, I don’t want to be an accomplice to anything. Might get the place taken away from me and then it would’ve all been for nothing.”

[workingtiana-blog]

anyasmith:

“A restaurant? Wow, that’s amazing.” That was a big decision, but Anya had no doubt that Tiana would kill it. The girl was passionate, that was obvious from the phone call Anya had walked in on not moments ago, and from the few times she’d eaten her food, it was really good. “It’s not so amazing that you’re running into so many hiccups, but that’s expected, right? What’s wrong with time? Maybe I could help…” When she had been in foster care, Anya had spent a lot of her time trying to help and protect her foster siblings, and right now she had the same urge to help Tiana.

Tiana nodded, though she didn’t really feel ‘amazing’ at the moment. Sometimes, in moments of weakness, she wondered if it was even worth it. That maybe all these hurdles were a sign for her to give up. But she wasn’t doing it just for her. She was doing it for her dad. She had to do it for him. He hadn’t raised no quitter. “Do you happen to have ten grand stashed away somewhere? That would help,” she said, a hint of a smile on her lips. It was obviously a joke. She would never ask anyone for money, least of all a coworker she barely knew.