STATIC BLUE | carmen berzatto

iv. hot n' cold

complicated - beabadoobee

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"Hey Marcus!" Margaret greeted as she walked into the restaurant. She walked into his small bakery corner carrying a box, "I got you.." she said as she opened the box, "a new stand mixer." she smiled, showing him the contents of the box. "I know it's small but your current one is so clunky and loud-"

Marcus cut her off with a quick hug, "It's great, thank you, Margy" he let go and slipped it out of the box and set it down gently.

"Oh now you too with the 'Margy'?" she said sarcastically.

Marcus shrugged, "Blame Richie." Marcus said as he started to toy around with the settings.

"What about me?" Richie asked, rounding the corner and peering into the bakery. "Woah-oh-oh, what the fuck is this?" he asked, observing the mixer.

"It's a new mixer I got for Marcus. It was on sale so," she said to Richie.

"Sick."

She gave Marcus and Richie a small wave then continued through the kitchen to the lockers. Sydney smiled as Margaret walked over, "Hey girl."

Margaret opened her locker with a creak, "Hey Syd." she smiled, slinging the tote bag off her arm and hanging it on the hook. She shrugged off her puffy coat and hung it over the tote bag.

Sydney shrugged, "So..I overheard you got Marcus a gift," she said as she tied her apron around her waist, "I was just wondering when I was going to get a gift," she leaned against the lockers, hands behind her back, "from you." she quickly added, in her loveable, awkward tone.

Margaret sat on the bench to tie up her non-slip shoes, "As soon as I see something on sale that reminds me of you, I'll get it." she sympathetically touched her heart as she stood back up.

She pulled her apron out from her locker, then kicked the silver door closed. Her and Sydney walked to their stations together as Maragret tied her apron around her waist. As they prepped, they jumped from topic to topic, content with the quietness of morning.

Carmen came into the building frazzled, quietly mumbling under his breah. He sped walked through the kitchen then went into his office, slamming to door shut. Everyone looked around, silently sharing the confusion.

"What the hell is his problem?" Tina asked with a confused look on her face. Sydney and Margaret looked at her, then shrugged their shoulders as they continued prep. Tina dismissed it with the wave of her hand then went back to searing the meat.

Carmen was in his office for about an hour, sorting through files upon files before he opened the door back up.

"I'll be right back." Margaret said, excusing herself from her station. She smoothed down her apron as she slowly approached Carmen's office. She leaned against the doorframe, softly knocking on the side. She watched as he furiously scribbled in a notebook, adding up numbers and writing notes next to calculations.

He looked up at the sound of knocking, then back down at his paper, "Shouldn't you be prepping?" he asked, still writing. He seemed agitated by her presence. Annoyed even.

"Yeah but-" she started but was cut off by him sighing.

"Go back to prep." he said, still not looking up from his writing. He paused looking at the numbers, only their breathing filling the air. He smacked his hand on the table which caused Margaret to jump. He stoop to leave, clearly frustrated about something unrelated to their conversation,

"I wanted to talk to you." Margaret said, a hint of conviction in her voice. He brushed past her, bumping her shoulder by accident. Or potentially on purpose. It was impossible to tell with him,