Thursday-Assistant Auditions (Robbie, Elva)

[Paulo Ortiz]

Paulo was surprised at how cheap it was to buy flowers, apparently. He'd expected them to be a bit more expensive than this, but whatever. At least he wasn't blowing too much cash on his little plan. (Though he'd pay quite a bit more for the results he hoped to get, it was nice to know he could do it for cheap as well.) He took the change and neatly put it into his wallet--he could struggle with identifying the bills and folding them properly later--then picked up the cactus.

"Thank you," The appreciation in the man's voice was real. The boy had genuinely helped him, and honestly, might have been worth recruiting if M.S.A.D. wasn't crumbling. The kid was just the right combination of enthusiastic and stupid; he could probably be talked into anything. "You have a nice day too. And tell Mama that I came in, okay?"

With one last grin, Paulo turned and left, off to pick up a teddy bear.

[Elaine Tonaya]

Elaine pointed out to Elva all the different tools she had in the back. "I keep the exact-o knives in the drawer back here. They're mostly for cutting ribbon and wrap and those sorts of items. When working with the corsages and boutonnieres, you have to cut the stem very close to the bud and work with the tape. Here's the flower tape, and then you tie it up with a few ribbons and a couple extra sprigs, and maybe dip it in some glitter. This is some of the more advanced work, but you can always try it and see what you think." She pulled out a few stools and sat on one of them, showing Elva how to cut and wrap a rose bud.

When Robbie came back, Elaine looked up from her work. "Oh, there's a customer? Well, you might ask if he just wants some daisies or carnations, since little girls tend to like those sorts of flowers. If he wants a plant to grow, though, there are some other things in the window. I'll be out in just a minute, if you still need help." He returned to the front and Elaine finished demonstrating to Elva the particular flower she was working on.

"Just like that," she said, holding up the finished corsage. "And all you really need to do now is attach it to the ribbon or elastic. I find that most girls prefer elastic bands, because it stays on better, but it's good to try to dress it up with a ribbon, too, so it doesn't look cheap." It was at this point that she remembered that Robbie was up front with a customer--she had forgotten for a moment.

"Oh, we should go check on Robbie!" she said, already heading into the main room. The door was just closing behind the customer. Elaine glanced over to see who had just come into the shop, and she froze in shock and horror. It was the man from the party, the one who had terrified her so much. What was he doing here in her shop?

"Who..." she stammered slowly, still staring after the man. Then she turned to Robbie. "Are you all right?" she asked breathlessly. "Did he say anything to you? Is everything all right?" She was worried about her assistants, and worried that the man (what was his name again? Oscar?) had been in her shop. But at least he hadn't seen her, and maybe it was all just a coincidence. Maybe he didn't really know whose shop this was. Maybe she was overreacting. "What did he want?" she asked slowly. "A present for a little girl in an accident, right?"

[Robbie Wilkes]

Robbie smiled widely when the customer seemed satisfied. It was proof that he had done a good job. This was easy peasy, wasn't it? "You're welcome sir and I will! Come back any time!" Robbie waved the man off just in time to turn around and beam at Elaine. But the smile dropped the moment he saw the panic on Elaine's face.

"M...Miss Tonaya? I'm fine, are you alright? Um...yeah, he bought a cactus for his friend's little girl. A Jesse, I think. Oh, and he sent that bouquet of flowers over there for your son." He grabbed the little card the man had written on and handed it to Elaine. "Here, he says to give this to Mister Tonaya." Robbie said, slowly wondering if he did something wrong.

"Miss Tonaya, have I made a mistake or something? I gave him the correct change and I gave him the cactus in a little baggy and I even helped him pick the card for your son's bouquet of flowers. I thought I did a good job..." he offered the woman a little smile, hoping he had not done anything wrong.

[Elaine Tonaya]

Elaine looked at the card and the flowers. He knows, she thought to herself. He knows exactly where this store is, and he knows who I am. Oh God, I hope he doesn't try to hurt Morgan... But then Robbie was asking her what was going on and she couldn't let herself break down right now. There would be time for that at home.

"Everything's fine, Robbie," she said with a weak smile. "You did very well. And I see you used the calculator effectively. Correct change and everything?"

How was he supposed to know that the person who had just come in wasn't to be trusted? How was he supposed to know about all the horrible things that had been going on recently, when even Elaine didn't know the whole story?

"Next time there is a customer, Robbie," Elaine said, "You do the exact same thing. You did just fine. But next time you see that man, I suggest you don't talk to him. All right? He's not the kind of person you want to be around." The least she could do was give them a warning. "Same to you, Elva. Don't go near that person if you can help it."

Then she looked around the shop. "All right, well, I think I've shown you everything there is for today. Let's just focus on keeping this place clean and dealing with any customers who come in, all right? And again, any problems you run into, just ask me."

The rest of the day passed uneventfully until closing time, when Elaine had her two helpers sweep and wipe down counters while she did a quick inventory and looked over the purchases for the day. She shuddered when she saw the purchase from Paulo. She dumped the flowers into the garbage can behind her desk, unwilling to take them back to her son and not willing to see them given to anyone else.

"Great job packing up everyone. Now let's go home."

[Robbie Wilkes]

When Elaine reassured the weather manipulator that everything was fine, Robbie chose to believe her and nodded, happy for the subject change. "The calculator came in very handy so yeah, I got everything correct!"

Elaine's warnings was met with a little frown but Robbie just went with it. He didn't know why Elaine thought that the charming Oscar Mendoza was someone he should be wary of. He seemed so nice!

While they cleaned up, Robbie couldn't help look at Elaine funnily. Maybe the lady was stressed out that her son had been absent from school. Must have been something serious...

Once they finished cleaning, Robbie gave Elaine a smile and a quick hug just to let her know that she wasn't alone, if it was any consolation. He also had people to worry about. "Your son will be fine, Miss Tonaya. He's a strong man." He said, completely out of context. All he was implying was that Morgan was going to bounce back from whatever ailments he was having.

"Thanks for today, Miss Tonaya but I really won't be offended if you decide not to go with me as your assistant." He beamed reassuringly. "You going back to Hammel, Elva? I'm heading there." He said before waving goodbye to Elaine and exiting the shop, proud of his accomplishments today.

[OOC: Wrapped for Robbie!]