pioneers

She was in the back, behind the bar where the inn had it's kitchen, when one of her staff came up and said that someone off the streets wanted to speak with her. Tiena called over a chief on duty to continue making the soup she had started and walked out to the front - not before washing her hands thoroughly. As she stepped onto the tiled floor, she removed the hair net and pocketed it in the front of her apron. Violet eyes met covered ones, yet she knew immediately who this man was. It was not like she had been keeping tabs on him over the years like some crazed stalker, no. The inn had access to tabloids because the patrons demanded it. The news covered the "locals who hit success" from time to time. The inn had been featured a few times as well. It was also hard to forget a face, even if that face was trying to cover itself.

It was one of the perks of being an Innkeeper. You had to learn everybody's name, had to remember everyone's face. Their likes, dislikes... It was essential to train the staff in that manner, just like she had been raised. This man was without a doubt Salem Bauer, her ex-boyfriend. She hadn't seen him in years. Tea never invited him nor his friends to the inn when they were all in high school. She never talked about the inn much, only that she worked there. Back then she had been a little resentful about the whole business. She did not want to be seen as the girl with a fixed background, or one who was wealthy. That was not how she wanted to be judged.

She did not think that Salem wanted to be judged because of his fame.

He was trying to blend in, after all. If he wanted to be treated like a regular customer, he would have sit down. But he asked specifically for her. Hmm. Tea let a smile slip across her face. "Ah, thank goodness you are here" she turned and walked toward the back of the inn, to a door. She announced this all to the curiously few customers who happened to glance their way. "my rabbits... they will not eat. Nor drink. I am very worried about them. Thank goodness someone from the clinic could come so quickly."

Unlocking the door, she ushered Salem into a medium-sized garden in the back of the building. Here he could take off his sunglasses if so desired, not worrying about the public. The spot was isolated.

"Hm? You think veterinarians are not stylish?" she replied, turning her back to Salem and unlatching one of the huts. When she turned back to him, she held a fat brown splotched rabbit in her arms that was munching quietly on some alfalfa grass. "the regulars and my employees know I am too busy to take my rabbits to the clinic, so the veterinarians come here when needed." It was not her fault that Salem insisted on standing out in a crowd. She had no warning he was coming, so she could not shut down the inn for the day. Even then people would talk. They would see a lone man go into the inn when it was supposed to be closed. Who was it, Miss Argall? A cousin? A business partner? A new employee? Your lover? She would wave them all off, of course, but she did not think anyone needed the attention.

The woman studied her old acquaintance for a few seconds, then bent down to let the rabbit roam around the enclosed space. He looked quite thin. Oh, Salem, not the rabbit. It was established that the rabbit was very fat. "I heard you were back. I assumed they were just rumours. Why did you come see me? N-not that I am not happy to see you, of course!" she waved her hands in front of her, hoping that she did not offend him. But after they broke up, he never wrote or contacted her. He had moved on. She was content with that. They both had things to concentrate on. Now, all of a sudden showing up like this... Very unpredictable. And risky. He could have easily contacted her another way. To her knowledge, she was the only 'Tiena Argall' on the island.

"Rumours spread easily from lip when alcohol is involved" she replied, turning her back to him again so not to show she was flustered. Yes, she had kept tabs on him. But she kept tabs on all her friends who had moved away. She even kept tabs on her sister. It was either the drunk patrons, the gossipy housewives, the die-hard fans or the tabloids. She chose all of them to get her news. Tea never could work a computer to save her life. In reality, a few giggling young women who were regulars kept coming in and announcing loudly - when drunk - that Salem was coming back to Nova Athenis. But she heard rumours like that every day. Carys Argall was coming back, she made such a big name for herself... And when she finally contacted her sister all excited, made her room up for her... Cake sadly told her she wasn't even near the island. Someone famous was coming, she set aside rooms for them, anything they would need and she made a fool of herself.

She was just that gullible.

So she didn't actually assume the rumour was true this time. "Oh, uh... this?" letting out a light chuckle and waving her hand around the Teacup Inn absently. "this is... not me. It is my family. It always has been. I'm just the face!" The young woman smiled almost sadly.

"Too long" it was her turn to feel sentimental. "did you think... because we stopped dating that I did not want to be your friend? Salem the Rockstar... I did not know him. I liked Salem Bauer, the young man who would taste my cooking even though I know that I did not get the recipe right half the time. Who let me hang out with his friends when I did not have many. I understood that you were busy - we both were - but a letter... Anything..." she broke off, frowning.