Paulie × Reader OC

Chapter 1

"#5 DOCK! I WANT ALL HANDS TO FINISH THIS PART OF TOWN WITHIN 4 MORE DAYS! YOU'RE GETTING NO MORE THAN THAT! IT SHOULD'VE BEEN FINISHED A WEEK AGO!"
I said as I stomped my hands on the deck. I was sick of men cutting slack in their work.
I tied a knot to my shirt as I walked out of the office to the shipyard.
"Oh! Look! Here's comes Water 7's scariest shipwright!"
Paulie joked.
"I'm scary for a reason Paulie."
I grabbed his collar.
"Honestly, just what is his problem! Going around ordering women around! It's so absolutely annoying! I swear I will mail him to a ship and send him off as a free gift."
I gnashed my teeth while arguing with the most promising shipwright of #1 Dock.
"Hey! Wear some clothes! Cover your legs! Are you a pervert?!"
"They can wear whatever they want to Paulie. If you don't like it, gouge your eyes out."
I snarled at him.
"What did you just say to me?!"
He grabbed my collar.
"Oi! Oi! Paulie! Calm down! What are you doing?!"
Lulu calmed him down.
"We already have a reduced workforce since Lucci and Kaku!"
Lulu explained to him.
"ARGUING WONT BRING OUR TOWN BACK!"
"Your voice is too loud!"
We both, me and Paulie, punched Tilestone in the face and he fell on the ground.
"Paulie, we need to finish this!"
Lulu explained as they looked at the state of Water 7.
"Oi, Woman. How many people do you need to go with you to bring back some supplies."
"I don't need any. Give me the list, I'll get them delivered at a bargained price."
"Tch. Sure."
Paulie said as he sat down to write the list. He handed me the list.
"That's it?"
I raised my brow looking at the list with only 4-5 items on it.
"We're rebuilding a city! How much is this guy underestimating the need of materials! We can't go on multiple trips! We're short on staff."
"Okay. I'll make sure that these get delivered."
I said and I started running to the shop. A bunch of people waved at me and I suddenly got stuck in a group of women.
"Nuha-sama! Can I have an autograph?! Aaah!"
Said one of them.
"Nuha-chan! Click a picture with me!"
Said another.
"Nuha-sama! Can I please hold your hand?!"
Said the third.
I tried my best but I couldn't refuse them.
"You jerks! What are you doing sucking up to a lady like that?!"
Roared a voice from behind me everyone stood back.
"Madamoiselle, if you would allow me."
The mannered and curly browed blond held his hand out.
"Of course. Thank you so much."
I accepted his hand and he ran into a building.
"What's our destination?!"
"The supplies store. Near the Dock #1"
"As you please."
We barely managed to keep up the conversation running up the stairs.
"Why are we going to the roof tops?"
"Straight is the shortest way, isn't it?"
He said and we finally reached the top of the building.
"If you would, then please hold on tightly."
"Huh? Okay. I'm counting on you."
I said and I grabbed on to his shoulders. He scooped me up and he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, carrying me.
The air blew on my face and I cheered as I looked down.
"Woohoo! This is probably what Kaku felt like! No wonder he loved doing this so much! Woohoo!"
I laughed and cheered at the excitement of being able to enjoy this for myself.
"Hmm?"
He suddenly stopped and put me down.
"Do you have any enemies, madamoiselle?"
He asked me.
"Enemies? Not exactly. I mean there are just those people who say that I shouldn't be a shipwright because I'm a woman, but that's about it. I've recieved some bad words, nothing more."
"Hmm. Okay. It would still be best for you to be careful."
He said not looking at me.
"I guess it's because you're not used to-"
I caught a arrow flying straight towards my head. It had a note in it.
"Women's place is in the kitchen. Stop trying to look cool and give other women wrong ideas."
"This is exactly what I'm talking about."
I showed him the note and he seemed very disappointed.
"Treating a lady like this... Unforgivable."
"But Sanji-san, even you treat women differently from men."
"That's true, madamoiselle, but I don't treat them differently because they're weaker or something is wrong with them. I treat them differently because women, are the gift of God to mankind. You can't treat third-rate ingredients and first-rate ingredients the same way, madamoiselle."
He smiled at me, his blond hair waving in the air carrying the smell of Aqua Laguna.
"For me-" he picked me up again and started jumping from roof to roof, "- there's nothing a lady cannot do."
He looked very serious and I was happy to see this new and refreshing point of view.
"By the way, madamoiselle, we're looking for a shipwright for our ship. Vacancy is open to anyone who's interested."
"Sanji-san, I thank you deeply for the offer and as much as it is fun with you guys, I can't leave this city. There's a lot more responsibility on me that what it looks like."
I smiled at him as he offered me the position.
"Uh! Please, madamoiselle, if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask me. I shall be your knight in shining armour."
I chuckled at the comment.
"Thank you, Sanji-san, but I don't need a knight in shining armour. I would like someone who could be my best friend."
At my answer, his eyes converted into hearts and his nose started bleeding a little.
"Sanji-san, that's where we have to get down!"
He immediately looked down and landed both of us near the supplies store at the dock.
"Thank you so much Sanji-san. It's because of your help that I was able to come here in far lesser time!"
"You don't have to thank me, madamoiselle, please. If you would, we could have dinner some day."
"We will, the next time you come to Water 7, we'll go!"
I winked at him and left him with a smile.
He fainted on the spot and I continued to the Dock.
"Send triple the amount of each from the list to the backstreets of town. Also, make sure to send gloves, a few first aid kits, a couple of bottles of machine oil along with a few bags of spare sawdust."
She ordered.
"Paulie-san gave you a bad estimate again?"
The supplier laughed as he noted down the supplies to be sent to town.
"It can't be helped."
I sighed and smiled as well.
"Paulie-san never learns."
Both of us chuckled.
"It will be there by an hour max. Thank you ma'am."
I left the place and started walking back to the backstreets. I had to go through downtown. It seemed to be known as the place where most of my so-called enemies came from.
I walked down the streets.
"Oh! Nuha-chan, why don't we make a deal. Let's put our differences asi-" a random rogue appeared from the shadows and put his hand over my shoulder, "- de and agree to get married. You can stay home with our beautiful kids and take care of the hous-"
"Sorry, but I don't have any intention of getting married so soon."
I said as I kicked him and broke a bone from the hand he put on my shoulder.
"Don't go touching women so easily."
I warned him as I left.
I knew people were staring at me, I could feel it in my bones. They watched from the sides, but I was used to this now. They've threatened me a lot, shunned me a lot, gossiped a lot about me.
"OI! DON'T GO AGAINST HER! DON'T YOU KNOW, SHE SLEPT HER WAY TO THE TOP!"
A random voice yelled out from behind me.
"Obviously, isn't that how women solve all our problems?!"
I thought as I continued without paying much attention.
"SO, HOW MUCH FOR ONE NIGHT?!"
Another voice.
"I WOULDN'T EVEN PAY! LOOK AT HER!"
And another.
"YOU SHOULD PAY PEOPLE TO EVEN LOOM AT YOU!"
And another.
"Just what do these people think it is to be a woman?! Life isn't that easy for anyone."
I liked to think of them, more as people who were uninformed, rather than people who weren't ready to change their minds. As it is said, you can wake up a sleeping person, but you can't wake someone who's pretending to be asleep.
I continued through this nightmare for a while, until another one showed up.
"Nuha-sama! Click a picture with me!"
"Nuha-sama! Sign this drawing!"
"Nuha-chan! Can I have an autograph?!"
"Nuha-sama! You're super beautiful!"
I ran as fast as I could. Now that people didn't have Lucci or Kaku or Khalifa to fangirl over, the attention was excessively turned to Paulie, Lulu, Tilestone and me.
"Please! Let me work! I'll do everything you want when I get the time!"
I yelled as I ran from the people, but they simply wouldn't get off my back.
"What kind of food do these people eat?! Are all of them marathon runners?!"
I continued running and running and running and I ran some more, until I couldn't even stand properly.
My hopes of losing them were only raised to be shattered. They showed up just in a few minutes before I could even catch a breath.
I suddenly had entered a weird part of town. It seemed like I hadn't been here before.
"Oh, look who's come to greet us!"
I heard a wicked laugh.
"Who are you?"
I turned around and asked him.
"Don't remember me?"
He said as he walked towards me. Light barely lit his face enough for me to recognize him.
"You got away last time, but your bodyguard isn't here now."
He laughed with a despicable smile on his face.
"What do you want?"
"What I want from you is very simple. Stop being a shipwright and-"
"Let me stop you, right there. I am absolutely not going to stop being a shipwright. I do what I love."
"Now, now. Women shouldn't speak in such harsh voices."
"Oh, scared of a woman's voice? What are you going to do when you get a woman's punch?"
I smirked at him.