Following her outburst, Richelle is eager to get back to business and resume her role on the team. Only problem is, TNS East doesn't feel like her home anymore and she thinks it's time for a change.
The following day, Richelle was at the studio an hour early. She didn't want to be late for her first proper rehearsal with TNS West and she also wanted to show that she was definitely, fully committed. She was in Neutral Grounds, speaking to Heather who was still on shift for another forty five minutes. They'd never really had a conversation before, but Richelle found Heather quite easy to talk to. She was pretty chilled out, and didn't seem to treat Richelle any different to anyone else, which was what she wanted.
"What can I get you anyway?" Heather eventually asked her, after chatting about school and how long they had each considered themselves to be 'dancers'. Richelle replied without a second to think, because she always ordered the same thing, a cherry vanilla smoothie. Heather hesitated, already knowing how to respond, but checked behind her, then turned back. "Sorry... We're all out of cherries and we're waiting the delivery."
"Oh..." Well now Richelle was caught off guard. She wasn't quite sure what to do now because she hadn't planned this to happen. She picked up the menu and analysed it, "Just give me two minutes?"
Heather nodded and served the person that had queued behind Richelle, while she made her decision. She automatically thought of just getting water but she wanted to try new things. She knew Noah always went for the lemonade, and it was one of the cheapest drinks, but Ozzy always raved about the-
"Strawberry juice." Ozzy told her, and Richelle looked up at him. Where had he appeared from? He reiterated, "You should get strawberry juice."
Richelle bit her lip as she looked back down at the menu, still unsure if she wanted to spend money on a drink she'd potentially not like. Ozzy knew it was rare for her to make spontaneous decisions, so took the hint and got Heather's attention as soon as she was done with the other customer. "Two strawberry juices, please."
"Sure."
Richelle put the menu down quickly and looked completely shocked someone had just made the decision for her. "I was still deciding..."
"Yeah, but you were never going to pick it. You'd probably just choose water and be boring."
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Ozzy was not a boring person, and he didn't like boring people. He knew Richelle wasn't so straight forward as she made out, and this excited him. She had something about her that Ozzy liked, even if she did rarely go out of her comfort zone or take risks.
Richelle took the bottles of juice off the counter as Ozzy gave Heather the money, "Well I know I like water, so it's a safe choice. Thank you, Heather."
"You're welcome."
Ozzy took a bottle from Richelle and opened it, "Well, you've got nothing to lose if you don't like it, because I've paid." He took a big gulp and over emphasised how much he enjoyed it, which made Richelle raise her eyebrows, but still she began unscrewing the lid. "Come on," Ozzy told her and led her to the table he had been sitting on, with Kingston and Henry, before he came over.
