Veronica woke up a bit groggy. With tired and squinting eyes she looked around the already brightening room. She wanted nothing more than to crawl under the covers and go back to sleep... Instead she steeled her mind and got up.
After grabbing her dress for the day, she went downstairs and nearly bumped into Sofie who was just leaving the kitchen.
*Yawn* "Sorry Sofie." She said between yawns. Sofie looked her up and down once, then just smiled at her sympathetically.
With uneven and tired steps she approached the bathroom door and went inside. She got of her clothes, then crawled into the mildly warm water. It was very comfortable, in fact it was so good that she dozed of in the bath.
Suddenly there was the sound of knocking at the door, and Suze slowly looked inside. Veronica stared back at her with drowsy eyes, she didn't even bother to cover herself.
In the doorway Suze raised a questioning eyebrow, then sighed and said, "I think you should take this day off. The past few days must have been really tiring, and the late night study sessions didn't help either."
*Yawn* "But don't you need my help?..." *Yawn* "I can still work, just a bit more slowly..." As she finished the sentence her eyes started to close again, but before she could fallen asleep a chuckling sound came from the doorway.
"No need! You should probably get out of the bath though, it isn't good for your skin to stay that long." With that Suze went inside and didn't stop bothering her until she got dressed and went back to her room.
Inside there she went back to her bed and closed her eyes.
'What an overbearing person... She acts like my mother...' This connection brought a small smile to her face and she happily fallen asleep.
...
Her eyes slowly opened, somewhere a bell sounded two times marking 2 pm.
'It's already so late? Damn I should go downstairs and help them with the afternoon customers!'
With slow movements she left her warm bed, then put on a pair of raised hilled shoes and went downstairs. Unlike the chaos she had expected there weren't that many guests, and everyone was taken care off by Sofie.
Veronica approached James with the intention to ask for work, but he just pushed a ten gelt note into her hand.
"This is the previous week's payment. You have the day off as well, so just go and enjoy it." Before she could protest or say anything, James sent her outside and told her to not come back until it's dinnertime. He wasn't angry or anything, instead it was meant as an act of kindness.
With a strange expression she turned back towards the inn's entrance, then slowly a smile appeared on her face.
She looked down at the money in her hand and quickly she put it away in her small purse that she always kept on her. It didn't hold much just a bit of money, her identifications, a handkerchief and a lipstick Suze gifted to her.
After that Veronica began walking down on Smith Street towards the harbor. This was the closest main street that lead to there, so the traffic was never small. Also this place was full of shops, cafes and restaurants, which Veronica always wanted to check out.
First she went to an establishment name Shore Cafe. She was really hungry since she hadn't eaten anything yet, so a cafe was the perfect option for her. The building was small, much smaller than the inn, but that's what gave it a nice cozy vibe.
As Veronica opened the door a tiny bell rang above it, signaling the arrival of a new customer. The interior was elegant and clean, she sat into a box seat next to a large window and soon a waitress came to take her order.
"Good afternoon, what would the lady like to order?" Said the dark brown haired girl, she was barely into womanhood, but working here didn't seem to mind her. She was happily smiling, and it even looked genuine.
"Good afternoon to you too. Uh, can I have a menu please, I'm starving!" Answered Veronica with a similar smile.
"Of course! While the lady decides what to eat, can I get some kind of beverage?" Her cheerful aura was very infectious and brightened Veronica's mood even further.
"Yeah, sure. What do you suggest?"
"Well, the lady could drink coffee like most people, but we here at Shore Cafe make one of the best teas in Hammon!" She exclaimed proudly, which was a bit funny because her joyful and seemingly humble nature.
Veronica just smiled and said, "Tea it is then."
Back on Earth she wasn't a big tea drinker, but she spent more than week here already.
'I might as well try a few new things, starting with their tea!'
The girl only took a few minutes before bringing out a warm cup of black tea with milk and sugar, she also brought out a menu for her.
"Thank you very much!" Said Veronica which made the girl's smile grew a bit. Only after working for a week as a barmaid did Veronica realize, how nice it was to be polite to waiters. They worked just as hard as other people, but most looked down on them.
"Please enjoy! I will be back in a few minutes for the lady's order!"
When she left Veronica raised the cup of scolding hot tea and smelt it. It gave off a refreshing fragrance with a bit of sweetness. For a few seconds she fully let herself be absorbed by the smell, then she raised it even higher and finally tasted it.
It had a small bold earthy flavor at first, but then the milk smoothed it out and the sugar sweetened it. The overall feeling was similar to the smell, but even more delectable.
'Damn this is much better than what I brewed back on Earth. I could definitely get used to drinking this daily!'
With a small satisfied expression she put down the cup and looked at the menu. They mostly served breakfast foods, which were similar to what they ate back on Earth. There were a lot of options which caught her eyes, like pancakes, waffles, or cheesecakes, but she didn't want to eat anything sweet.
Soon the waitress came back and said, "Does the lady approve of our tea?"
"Definitely yes! I'm actually not a big tea drinker myself, but this is truly amazing!" What she said made the small girl puff her chest out a bit from pride, and Veronica had to turn away to not laugh.
"I'm glad the lady enjoyed it! Did the lady decide what to eat?"
After taking a few deep breaths she regained her composure, and read her choice from the menu.
"Yes, I would like the omelet made with bacon and cheese, also two pieces of toast with butter, please."
"Okie Dokie!" Said the girl, then went away with a bit of spring in her step.
While waiting Veronica stared out the window and watched as the people and carriages moved along the street. The sight was magical in it's own way. Each person had a story, and they walked towards something, maybe even they didn't know where.
One man was in a hurry with a briefcase in his hand, this scene alone told a tale and provided hints of his background.
'He is definitely late from somewhere, since he is in a nicer suit that would suggest a better background. But he isn't that rich since he didn't want to use a private carriage and instead decided to run... Hmm, my guess is he is late from a lunch with someone, possibly a date.'
Back on Earth she and her friends always played games like this. It was basically judging a person purely by their looks and actions from afar. They even made up whole stories about their lives. It was especially entertaining while being drunk.
The girl soon arrived with her food and after a quick thank you, Veronica dug in. She raised her knife and fork, then cut a piece off the omelet. The smell was really amazing, but it was the taste that mattered.
She bit into the toast with melted butter on top, it was great but nothing special. Then she lifted the omelet and placed it on her tongue. Now this was something else...
The taste of egg and bacon perfectly blended together and the cheese gave it an exotic aura. At first she planned to take her time with the meal, but only after a few minutes her plate was empty, same for her cup.
With a bit of sadness and dejection she stood from the table. The whole meal with the tea would've costed her about 12 coppen, but she decided to pay a bit of extra for the nice waitress.
When she came out, the table with the nice lady was empty. It was a bit disheartening since it was always nice to have kind customers, but as she was about to take away the plates she found three 1 eura notes below it.
In this world tipping wasn't really a thing, but every now and then it happened. The one thing that really surprised the girl was that the lady's tip was larger than the cost of the meal! This never happened to her before.
She quickly put the money away, then tapped her chest at three separate points while making a circle, which represented the Clock of Time. She also made a quick and silent prayer for the kind lady.