Sunset and Vine | Adopted By Elizabeth Olsen

13 | Natalia Romanova

Things were finally looking up as the last of the displays were filled with already-made sandwiches and pastries. Olivia had taken to organizing everything on display, and much to Jay's delight, when she turned around to make sure the little girl was still okay with the task, she adored the way that Olivia had intricately filled space in the case, leaving no spot empty but still managing to create a display that wasn't overwhelming to the eye. The flower cookies were her true enjoyment though, despite everything else and how much she loved stacking the little pastries on top of themselves to make pyramids. The little girl had decorated a two-tier stand, overlaying one petal on every flower until all of them were on the board, save for one blue cookie she saved for Lizzie, although it wouldn't have fit nicely into her not-so-elaborate design if she had tried to include it.

When her task was complete, she turned back toward Jay, asking what else she could do to help. The woman was already hands deep in preparing different types of salads. The classic house and caesar were complete, and she'd moved onto the two specialty options the cafe carried during summertime alone.

"Chop up the strawberries, I'm going to work on making the dressings." Much like had been promised when filing out contracts, an entire walk-in closet was prepped with ingredients, and around the corner, in a smaller but similar style building to all the others adorning the studio lot, was an entire kitchen for Jay and Olivia to bake. "If you finish those before I finish this, the walnuts need to be chopped too. Be careful though, the little buggars like to jump about. Don't want any sliced fingers on the first day." Jay teases and Olivia nods, taking her task seriously. The badge was placed on the waist of her shorts, handing over the front right pocket. She probably should've been wearing her apron, but Jay'd accidentally left it back at the car, and much was to be done before nine when crafty opened.

The little girl got to chopping, surprisingly steady with the blade as she found an easy rhythm. Her finger tips were tucked back as she held the strawberry in place, moving the knife back and forth with little movement anywhere else. Jay was impressed, a nagging feeling in her gut that said she should've given Olivia more things to do back at the cafe. Clearly she was capable.

"Put them in this bowl?" She questioned once the entire commercial sized carton had been emptied and chopped. Jay smiles encouragingly, nodding silently as she worked on the dressing. Olivia slid them off the cutting board and into the glass bowl, sliding it toward the bowl of lettuce before moving onto the can of walnuts.

Olivia learned quickly that Jay was correct about the walnuts being finicky on the board, but she found a good rhythm only loosing a few pieces to the floor. When that was done, she set them in a smaller glass bowl, before moving to collect the lost pieces. She washed her hands afterward, smiling wildly at Jay; the first genuinely real and authentic smile she'd given the older woman.

"Alright you, Elizabeth's coffee next. You wanna try and make it? I'll walk you through the machines, they're not as scary as they look." The older woman encouraged, nodding toward the line-up of industrial coffee and espresso machines. Although the coffee pot looked the least bit frightening, the specific machine Jay uses for iced coffee isn't the same. Olivia leads the way toward the machine, and Jay follows. She points to buttons and spouts, but ultimately Olivia does it by herself, and she's confident in the fact that she has it down pat for the next time she needs to do it.

"Well done." Jay smiles, wiping her hands on a dishrag after accidentally swiping her palm through strawberry juice on the countertop. "Wanna give it to her? Her name should be on the trailer somewhere over there. Just make sure to keep that badge we're it is."

Olivia gnaws at her bottom lip again, looking warily between the crafty tent and the stretch of distance between the trailers. While not obscenely far away and out of few, it's still a couple minute walk. "I can still see you from here. You'll be okay."