Moving away from the stairway, I led the three of us over to the room furthest to the left. This apartment building was a rectangular box with six small apartments housing residents within each floor. However, because it was so small, the stairway was built outside of that neat box.
Swerving around the staircase to the small apartment behind it, the three of us were so engrossed in our small talk that I almost bumped into Ralph.
Stopping myself in time, I muttered a sorry as I observed his slightly less lonely figure. Maybe it was because his arms were filled with a familiar brand of biscuit.
As the four of us met eyes, Ralph seemed to glance briefly at Linel and Frank before turning those eyes to me and smiling. Then, from behind him, an incredibly familiar old lady slowly walked out of her apartment with a warm smile
Wearing handwoven clothes that looked a little washed out, Dara limped behind Ralph with her hands on her cane. When she spotted the four of us just staring at each other, she gave her signature endearing grin.
"Welcome back Dan. I see you've brought your friends here. Come, I still have some more biscuits left!"
Smiling as she said so, she slowly turned around.
"Wait, I'll get it for you!"
Rushing over to her, I put my hand on her arm and paused her in her steps. Then, nodding to her, I ran into her apartment and grabbed a couple of the biscuits that she usually left on top of her table for visitors.
I jogged back to the group and handed out the biscuits to Linel and Frank. Although Frank seemed slightly occupied.
"Frank, it's been a while since you've come here! How is Jesse and Gilbert?"
Hobbling to Frank, Dara placed a wrinkly and thin hand on his arm and asked about his family circumstances. Frank, in the most gentle way possible, maneuvered his other hand to support her.
"Mom and Dad are very healthy, Although business has been a little tough recently, our income is still enough to live on."
"That's good, that's good! Tell Jesse and Gilbert to drop by one day! I came across several plates with beautiful designs that Jesse would love!"
We turned our eyes and ears away from the two who were catching up, and I pulled Linel closer to Ralph. The three of us huddled together to talk in whispers in order to not disturb Dana and Frank.
"Let me introduce everybody."
Starting off the introductions since we had nothing to do right now, I pointed to Linel, then Ralph, and then Frank.
"This is Linel. He's a friend from school. And this is Ralph, who lives next door to me. The one talking with Dana is Frank, another friend from school. A long long time ago, before my family moved in, Frank's family used to live in this apartment. Then when business was good, they had enough money to buy a better apartment on the middle of Middle street, which they live in till this day."
Giving a rough explanation, I thought back to how the two of us got so close to each other. In the beginning, although we were in the same class, we never really talked. After all, I thought we didn't really have anything special in common. It wasn't until Frank and his family visited Dara one day where the two of us really had a chance to talk and become friends.
Finding out that Frank had been from this apartment, and that we both had more common ground then expected. Those times where Frank would come over almost daily to discuss our family circumstances and experiences were one of the warmest times of my life. However, after Uril had left his door unlocked and had left, we stopped meeting up here.
Pulling myself back to reality, I shook my head to remove those depressing thoughts. Turning my head, I saw Linel help lighten Ralph's arms a little and the two boys locked eyes with each other in a childish staring contest. Looking at the furrowed eyes on both of them, the two glared at each other for a full 2 minutes before Ralph looked away first and Linel gave a satisfied smile.
I rolled my eyes at their antics and the three of us opened some of the biscuits to munch down on. After all, it was currently time for lunch and we were slightly peckish.
"I see you three are getting along really well!"
Hearing Dara's glad voice from behind me, I quickly swallowed the food in my mouth and turned around to smile at her.
Chuckling, she reached forward to wipe off several biscuit crumbs from our cheeks before waving goodbye to us and limping back to her apartment. My eyes lingered on her thin back before I pulled myself back to our group.
"Have the two of you told Ralph yet?"
Walking up to us, Frank asked as he tore open the wrapper of his biscuit and bit down onto it.
"Not yet. But I guess now is not a bad time to do so."
Turning our eyes to Ralph, I saw him tense up as he glanced warily at us.
"Don't worry, we're not going to force you to do anything bad."
Reassuring him, I opened another packet of biscuits and signaled with my eyes for Linel to start. After all, he knew the Owner more than we did.
Giving me a look, Linel then rolled his eyes and introduced the local cafe.
"There's this local cafe between High street and Middle street called Lux Aestiva which stands for Summertime, although we either call it LA or the local cafe. The Owner there is a nice lady from High street that loves summer and cute food, so she built her own cafe. The location is good, and during peak time you can go there and help out at her cafe for a substantial amount of money."
Making a money gesture, Linel grinned as he continued.
"However, if you are a full time employee there, I heard the terms are better! The shifts are usually quite flexible, and the Owner isn't very strict. Although you might want to invest in several sets of summer themed uniforms to avoid boring the customers with only one set."
Listening to him, Ralph seemed to tilt his head in thought as he absorbed all that information. Then, shifting a little closer to me, he gave me one of his biscuits before pocketing the rest.
"The Owner is always hiring, and she isn't stingy with her money so the cafe is one of the best temporary jobs you could get. Although not many people stick around too long since there's no upward mobility in that small cafe."
Giving a small sigh, Linel then pulled the topic back on track.
"Anyway, since it has a high pay, it's one of the best choices to choose from! And I kind of know the Owner so it'll be easier for you to get started. What do you say?"
Linel looked over at Ralph for an answer, to which Ralph responded with a nervous nod. Smiling, Linel stretched out a leg to continue walking when Frank's suddenly exclaimed.
"Wait! Don't you need to tell your mother about this?"
Addressing the second half to Ralph, Frank looked over at him.
"Ah right. We forgot about that."
With an embarrassed face, Linel smacked his forehead.
Shooting Linel a weary look at the sound, Ralph then shook his head slowly.
"No need. My mom would probably be happy that I have something to do. And if I can earn a bit of money from it, it would definitely be better for her."
Lowering his head slightly as he walked, I noticed his hand sneak off to touvh the biscuits in his pocket. They were probably saved for his mother.
With that, the three of us slowly walked to the local cafe.
Knocking on the backdoor, we didn't have to wait for long before Jade opened the door. She was wearing a pink floral dress with white trimming, but looking at her cold expressionless face, it felt as if I was standing in front of a pile of snow instead of on the beach.
"I see you brought a new friend."
Looking down at us, Jade immediately zoomed in on Ralph. And with two ice cold expressionless people, I could feel the atmospheric temperature drop to below zero.
Staring into each other's eyes, Jade was the first to break away and show us in. Unlike the previous time we visited, the cafe was currently not in peak period. A lot of the seats were either empty or occupied by only one or two people, and several of the cooks in the kitchen were taking long breaks while sitting on the boxes.
As the five of us approached the kitchen, several eyes immediately turned towards us. Sitting on a box, the Owner smiled at us as she stood up.
"What brings you all here today?"
Facing the Owner, as soon as she came close enough to us, Linel pointed at Ralph and explained our trip.
"We were wondering whether you could hire Ralph to work here during the afternoon and evenings."
Hearing Linel's words, the Owner shifted her gaze over to Ralph and gave a thoughtful look. She blatantly scanned him from head to toe, her eyes calculating, before she smiled.
"No problem!"
Gesturing to Ralph, she brought him away from us.
"Since you three are here, want to try out some of our new recipes?"
Looking worriedly as Ralph's back got further and further away, I was suddenly distracted by a cold voice beside us.
Turning my head, I met Jade's ice cold eyes as she handed us a plate containing a breezy blue colored dessert.
"Ah, thank you..."
Receiving the slightly cold plate, I took the small spoon from Jade and scooped a little of the blue frosting up.
The dessert was shaped like a wave, with a green blue tint on top and a calming and relaxing blue for its body.
Taking a small bite, I expected the blue to taste like some sort of overly sweet or bland frosting like the rest of the cakes I have had before. Surprisingly, the frosting didn't taste that sweet. Instead, it had a hint of saltiness that added a surprising kick to it.
"So? Is it good?"
Looking up from the interesting creation, I nodded my head at Jade's question and received a warm smile from her.
"The fact that it's salty is so novel!"
Exclaiming from beside me, Linel dug out a larger scoop of the blue frosting and took a hearty bite. Frank....well Frank was so absorbed in his cake that he wasn't paying attention.
Seeing our reactions, Jade stood up and took another plate from the countertop.
"Then, try these next."
As soon as we finished one dish, Jade immediately replaced the empty plate in our hands with another. At first, the sight of these new cakes excited me to no end. After all, cakes were a pricey treat that our family could only afford once every three months.
However, after eating 4 slices, I felt my stomach screaming at me to stop before it burst. And when Jade came to replace my plate again, I shook my head and placed the empty plate on the counter by myself.
"I'm sorry. I can't eat anymore."
Looking at Frank, his face felt a little paler than usual as he sighed and put the plate down.
"I don't think I can taste anything sweet for a while."
Meanwhile, Linel was easily scoffing down dessert after dessert with no difficulty.
Seeing our struggles, the dessert monster even had the cheek to look at us in concern.
We're not the ones who were abnormal, you are!