Door To Door

Customer Type #8: The Ones Who Are Busy

"Hello, ma'am, I'm Hudson Ellis - I'm a representative of the charity Man's Best Friend. You may have heard of us?"

"Hold on a second, Trisha, it's one of those door-to-door salesmen - " the woman is clutching her phone to her ear using her shoulder in a way that reminds Hudson forcibly of Piper. Her hands are occupied with a bowl and whisk, which she's whirling through what appears to be cake mix at a dizzying speed. "Can I help you?" she asks in a tone that really means Can you leave? Hudson perseveres nonetheless.

"Um, we're a charity that helps disabled dogs - "

"You have leaflets, right?"

"Uh, yes - "

"Great," the woman looks distinctly uncomfortable in her current position, and Hudson wonders absently how the phone perched between her shoulder and her ear hasn't fallen yet. "Do you mind just leaving me one? It's just I really don't have time right now..."

It is a truth universally acknowledged that, historically, leaving houses with just leaflets makes the residents about eighty percent less likely to donate - simply because they can't be bothered to read them, or they forget to, or they tell themselves that they will and they don't. 

Despite this, Hudson smiles and nods, fishing an information pack out of his bag and holding it out to her. There's an awkward moment as she tries to find enough hands to take it from him, but she does eventually, already beginning to step away from the door.

"Thank you for your time, madam," Hudson starts to say, maybe just a little bit ironically, but the door's already been shut in his face. 

☒

"Hey."

Piper has chosen a booth towards the back of the diner. Hudson decides it's acceptable to join her, considering they haven't really talked for a few days, except for the occasional wave through their windows. 

"Hey Hudson," she says absently, biting at her lip as she types at her laptop. Hudson watches her for a few moments, then rolls his eyes when she doesn't look up. 

"Piper," he says, covering her still frantically moving fingers with his own hands, stopping her movements and trying to ignore the shivers that are running down his spine at the contact. 

Piper finally looks up, and a beat passes, before she slumps back into the leather seat, sighing and pulling a hand away from Hudson's to run it through her hair. "Sorry," she says tiredly. "Lots of work."

"I can tell," Hudson grins, trying not to be too distracted by his other hand still on hers. "But what have we said about taking breaks?"

At that, the hints of a smile begin to play at Piper's lips. She sighs again, then moves to close her laptop. Hudson immediately misses the feeling of her fingers against his. "Sorry," she says again. "How are you?"

"I'm good," he tells her as she sips at her milkshake. "Why do I get the feeling I can't say the same for you?" he adds with a wry smile.

Piper groans, taking a bite of her burger. "Don't remind me," she grumbles. "Goddamn people slacking off their work..."

"And you have to do the work that they don't," Hudson finishes with a raised eyebrow. Piper nods, mouth full.

"Basically," she says after swallowing. "But didn't we say this is a break? No talking about work."

"True," Hudson concedes. "Although I doubt anything we do could live up to our last break," he says, grinning. 

Piper smiles her typical smile, the one that's only a hint of something teasing at her lips. "I agree," she replies. "That was pretty good."