Chapter 2: Morning Routine At "Monso Rooster"
A blissful sun shined in the skies of a northern French town. With its light it brushed old, lined up houses, built in a vast number of architecture styles. Due to their close arrangement, some of the streets were still hidden in the shadows, saving the moist coolness of the night.
Crowds of people, at their own pace, were marching towards their workplaces. Some of them were yawning and walking slowly, only to be passed by those who were hastily running by. Seemingly, their work hours were supposed to start early in the morning, but the dreamworld captured their minds and left just a few minutes to get to the workplace. Those deviant figures were the main reason for the gentle chaos that regularly occurred in the narrow streets of the town. People collided with each other, cars were abruptly stopping to let pedestrian cross the road, and all of it was accompanied by elegant curses spoken in French.
Suddenly, a boy in cheap, dim clothes fell down, because someone pushed him from behind. He was selling the newspapers, and now all of them are scattered on the ground. The boy gasped and tried to pick newspapers one by one, but people were still walking around, turning this simple task into a challenge. Some other kids in rags, who were greedily observing those passerbyers, did not miss an opportunity for mischief. They grabbed some papers and ran off, laughing at the cries of a boy who was selling them a few moments ago. As he tried to catch them, a strong gust of wind blew away all the remaining newspapers. But the finale blow to his moral was done by no other than ignorant joggers, who trampled down the little which was the boy left with. Not being able to bear this unfair chain of events, he sat down on a curb and quietly sobbed to his sleeve.
This scene was observed thoroughly by the employee of a café. He was watching over that boy's struggles through a big window, on which the name of one fancy café was displayed, "Monso Rooster". This place was quite popular amongst coffee connoisseurs, thus it regularly got crowded by those seeking trends or good cup of coffee, but right now, in the morning, there were barely any clients. Such was the reason for this employee to observe the poor fellow in the streets and not work.
"That's really unfortunate, quite a tough job for a kid…"
As the employee was leaning on the table to see if at least some newspapers were left untouched, he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. The slight chill ran down his spine, and he faced the one who was silently calling for him. It was a young woman, his colleague or rather junior. She narrowed her thin brows, expressing irritation.
"What are you doing?"
"Observing the hardship of the lower class against society. And you?"
"I am working, Eugene, and recommend you to do the same. Mop the floor or something if you are that bored."
Shortly after, Eugene turned away, ignoring her call. Considering the hierarchy of this place, it was expected, but the girl did not give up on him. Instead, she glared down at the man until he finally turned back and explained his slacking.
"Jessie, what is the point in washing the floor early in the morning, if we did it yesterday before closing?"
"Ugh! Who cares about the floors!? Just find another matter to not show your laziness to our clients or return to kitchen. If an employee will just sit by the table and observe the views, what will they think of this place?"
After hearing out her reasoning, Eugene took a peek on the right, where all the tables in the café were placed. At first, it might be surprising to see such an exquisite Victorian interior far the café, but the more you visit it, the more you get used to it. Thus, Eugene did not stutter at all, upon seeing the tables made out of dark wood, refined custom-made chairs and even a big oil painting of the battlefield during the Napoleonic wars. No, the ones catching his attention were people minding their own business.
At the moment, there were three clients, scattered around the place. An old gentleman with a monocle in his left eye and a thick cigar in his mouth, he was calmly reading today's newspapers, which were sold to him earlier by the boy from the streets. Another customer was a young man in a school uniform. His head was buried in the book, and the only thing which connected him with reality was a half-full cup of coffee. And finally, there was an old woman who was a regular visitor of "Monso Rooster". A favourite amongst employees due to usual and fine tips.
The fact uniting them was the total lack of interest towards Eugene's doings. Jessie already rolled her eyes from the sight of Eugene's wry smile. He then casually said, "Well, apparently they think nothing."
"Fine, I will tell Arnold that you are the one who broke the display window a month ago," said Jessie spitefully and departed to the kitchen.
"Whoa-whoa, you did it with us! Wait!"
Eugene followed Jessie, who already reached the kitchen door, in vast pace. Then he blocked the pathway. But before he could say anything, the girl answered to his complaint.
"So what? He is more likely to believe my inability of mischief, since I am a girl."
"Goddamn it, fine! I will mop the floor or whatever. I really wish Arnold could hear what you just said."
Now it was Jessie's time to gloat, but unfortunately she was not able to celebrate the victory for too long. The place where the student was seated, was now occupied by only an empty cup of coffee. Apparently, he finished his reading and was now heading towards the exit. His annoyed gaze was fixated on both employees, perhaps this farce interfered with his studies and the man decided to quit from the café.
Even though an accusing stare from the student planted the seed of embarrassment in Eugene's heart, he still snorted in anger. Considering Arnold's short temper and old-school nature, he would surely trust Jessie and severely punish the man for a total accident.
Suddenly, he heard a hoarse voice with a strong British accent coming from the exit door. Someone was greeting the leaving student. Think of the devil - said Eugene in his head and began marching towards the utility room. It was Arnold who came back to the café.
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