“I can sleep when I’m dead,” Bast said with a laugh. “Or at least, I can sleep when my dissertation is done.” He paused, then added, “Or maybe more realistically, I can sleep when these quizzes are graded.”
“Ah, the curse of marking. That makes more sense,” Lottie acknowledged. “You should become a radical teacher and just stop giving quizzes or tests and just grade according to how nice someone has been to you and how many times they made you laugh.”
Arden’s brows raised a bit, curious exactly what muttering she’d heard. “That so, Lottie?” he asked, his lips curving into a little smirk. “Can’t imagine the mutterings are too interesting. We’re simple people for the most part.”
“I’m sure you are Arden,” she agreed. “But large group of the same family move into town will always cause tongues to wag. I shall however pass back to the city information board that you are simple people and make sure they send you out the words of no more than one syllable welcome pack.”
“You would if you were dying of cancer and needed a partner to help make you cash out. I think someone wrote a TV show about that,” Arden smirked, laughing a bit with her. Her reason was as bullshit as his, but he wouldn’t call her on it. Simply didn’t know her well enough. “Arden Romano. What about you? In case I’m in need of your skills?”
Lottie looked away, her lips twitching in amusement at his joke. “I believe they did. Does mean nobody would believe it in real life any more.” With a nod of her head at his introduction she flicked her cigarette before responding. “I’m Charlotte Berdini, I usually go by Lottie though.” Tipping her head she gave him a serious look, “So you are one of these famous Romanos who have descended from the hills. I’ve been hearing all sort of muttering about you.”
“Yeah, thirteen years,” he answered with a smile. “And the coffee isn’t great, but the pastries here are good. Try the cherry one next time you’re here.”
“That’s quite a while,” she agreed, almost about to remark he didn’t look that old but stopping herself in time. “Cherry pastry, got it. I’ll give it a go but it will have to be pretty impressive to beat the apple and cinnamon ones.”
“So what does one do with a chemistry degree besides make crystal meth and sell it?” Arden asked, little smirk on his face as he glanced over at her. “Teach? Biochem? Research?” He took another drag off of his cigarette, chuckling at her description. “Mm, well – not too far off, I guess. We’ve transported sod before.”
Lottie didn’t reply immediately, her eyes dancing with mischief, “If I was planning to go into crystal meth production I wouldn’t tell a total stranger now would I? However you’ve got me, I intend to be the youngest department head at the university and dedicate the rest of my life to teaching and research.” She laughed out loud, the idea of Lottie spending any longer in education seemed hilarious to her. “Transporting sod, you really are living the dream!” she grinned. “Do I get your name? Just in case I find I need to transport any hay myself.”
Arden shrugged, not disagreeing with her. “There are some days I definitely wish I could Magic Mike my way through life. Got to be easier.” He exhaled a plume of smoke, though he was careful to blow it away from her. “Chemistry, huh? Must be a smart little cookie. And trust me, we aren’t shipping anything interesting. Agriculture, mostly. Textiles, some metals. Expanding the list every day.”
“Shake those hips, work it,” she chuckled at the idea of the man being a stripper, it just didn’t seem like him. “Oh I’m very smart, smart, adorable and a delight in every way,” Lottie laughed with more enthusiasm. Her amusement calming down a little as she listened to his response, “I have such visions of you transporting piles of grass and hay bales. It’s a very pretty picture in my head.”
“Oh goodness, math! Calculus, geometry, trigonometry, all those things make my head spin!” Daisy giggled. “Science is such hard work, and it requires such a different way of thinking. I really couldn’t do it, even if I did have the time for it.”
“It is hard work but it is a bit more clear cut than something like literature or art where things are very much depending on you creativity and everyone having the same perspective. It can be quite enjoyable once you crack the equation and get the chemical reaction to work properly.”
“That’s a good idea, actually. But my cup’s still half full, I think.” He popped the lid off to look, then snapped it back on. “Yeah. I was drinking it more for the caffeine than the warmth anyway…” He smiled a little, hesitation showing in hsi face. He was never really sure how to interact with strangers, though he didn’t blame her for sitting with him, since the cafe was pretty crowded.
“Wrap your fingers around it and it will hopefully heat you up a bit then,” she replied, looking over him wondering why he is so tired. “You sound like you need to sleep instead of sitting in a cafe,” she remarked.
“Stripper. Been an outbreak of the clap at the nightclub,” Arden replied, the corners of his mouth twitching into a mischievous little smirk. He took another drag of his cigarette. “Work for my family’s company in the shipping department. What about you?”
Lottie burst out laughing at his response, tipping her head to the side and running her eyes over his body in consideration at the idea. “Shame, I hear that can be nasty,” she agreed, her own smirk firmly on her lips. Copying his move she took a drag herself, leaning back against the wall. “The stripper sounded far more fun,” she quipped. “I’m a student, chemistry before you ask. So what sort of stuff are you shipping?”
Lottie's wild adventure 