Prologue (pastries)
Location: Brooklyn, Peter Pan Donuts & Pastry
Time: 1:50 PM
Michelle Jone-Watson despised the heat and humid climate of New York.
And it was only the start of the summer.
And so as she grabbed another overly glazed doughnut from the shelf, and slid it into a white to-go box, she couldn't help but linger in front of the A/C vents. The cool air hit her hard, and the breeze made her loose hair, brush against her face. Luckily she was planning to head out early today, and although she had to make a stop (hopefully short) before she headed home, it was something.
"Actually can I have the chocolate one with vanilla cream in it?" Customer #53 asked with a shameless look on their face, pulling her out of her thoughts. Michelle turned to the awaiting customer and plastered a fake smile on her face and nodded her head.
"Sure." She gritted out. Turning back, she placed the glazed doughnut back and instead plucked out longer-width donuts with a label below that read, 'Coco-Cream.' She then placed the tongs back onto the flimsy paper plate that had more crumbs than a peanut butter cracker could make. After billing the doughnut for the customer, she took a peek at her watch.
Finall y.
She didn't bother even looking twice at the next customer walking through the glass doors with an open sign hanging from the hook above. Some other employee could deal with the customer.
She stalked to the back room pushing past the "Employees Only" creaky door that really needed to be checked out. She threw her apron into the laundry box below the hooks for clean aprons. Some poor sucker would have to be stuck with cleaning the sticky coffee that patterned her apron from work that day.
"Clocking out early for my interview!" She called out as she passed the door of her boss's office room. Michelle could hear the sound of farewell and something else but didn't bother to stick around to decipher his words. Snatching her backpack from the coat rack, she swung it on her back in one fluid motion. As everything was electronic nowadays, she could just sign herself out online. And it wasn't like she hated her job, it was just irritating and exhausting talking to people all day, sucking all the energy from her.
The back of the Peter Pan Donut & Pastry shop was pretty clean for an alleyway, thankfully. Giving the wasted pastries in the trash, a mournful look she walked toward the sidewalk. The young barista made a mental note to bring that topic up later with her boss next time. She took her first step out of the alleyway and was met with the glare of a hot burning sun no longer shielded from the taller buildings. As she headed toward the steps to the subway, she dug into the pocket of her blue jeans, reaching for her wired headphones. Her feet matched the rest of the frantic New York hustle, as she climbed down the escalator’s stairs squeezing through people standing around.
("I was tired of my lady, we'd been together for too long.")
She grimaced as the heat of the subway suffocated her even more, New York overheated platforms were a real problem.
("Like a worn out recording, of a favorite song.")
She hoped this interviewer's law firm had some decent A/C.
---
Location: Brooklyn, Peter Pan Donuts & Pastry
Time: 2:30 PM
Peter Parker had made a list. In fact, he made more than one list. He made multiple lists. He had a list for the groceries. He had another list of supplies to buy to prepare for the Winter. Along with an additional list for ways to pay rent. And then he had another special list. That list was super duper special.
That's why it was also empty.
It was also another reason why his GED textbook was flipped to the Mathematical Reasoning practice section, and nothing was bubbled in.
Not because he didn't know the answers - no, it was because it was a library copy.
Peter tried to focus on scribbling his answers on a spare sheet, but his eye wandered to the barista area. MJ usually had this shift, but there was a different barista today. In fact it'd been a little more than an hour but MJ still hadn't shown up. Peter wondered if she had changed her schedule or maybe she had left work early and had missed her. He did come late to the shop that day as he spent a bit too long stitching up a knife cut on his calf this morning.
He didn't like to call himself a stalker, he just liked to stay in this homey cafe from 1 o'clock to six and read the menu section over and over. The cups sitting near the cashier table were designed quite beautifully as well.
As he sat at the corner of the pastry shop, facing towards the barista area, he felt like a sophomore in Midtown high again. Trying to gain his crush's attention, but also trying not to, but also trying to. Once he got a job, things would get better. At least that's what he told himself. He had earlier submitted a couple of pictures of spider-man courtesy of himself to the Daily Bugle.
Can't beat them, join em'
Peter slouched in his seat. He hoped he would get the gig, not a lot of people interviewed folks under 18 without much background or high school information. And the only way a company (that he knew of) would overlook this was Daily Bugle and that was with some satisfying pictures of what J.J Jameson liked (or rather, hated) the most.
Peter stretched his arms out above him. He gotta admit though, it was quite nice having no curfew. No one was waiting for him at home, awake with worry. Not that he wouldn't mind some comfort having May back at home ready to wrap her soothing arms around him or help him stitch a gunshot or a scrape up. But the young vigilante had learned from many mishaps from his first couple of weeks alone that looking at the positive side of everything was the only way to bear through his day.
Peter looked at his hand timer as it began to ring in an obnoxious sound, well shit . Clicking it off and giving those around him an apologizing look, he looked down at his textbook with bleary eyes. He did need some sleep. Maybe he could take a nap before hitting the swings.
Shutting the textbook close, he began to pack his items back into the tan-colored backpack that he carried everywhere and had everything.
Everything.
---
Location: Unclear
Time: Unclear
The gold-colored card gleamed as the red-suited finger slid it out of the white envelope. It was labeled with a delightful amount of 0's. There was only one word on the golden card though.
Spider-man.
"Oh, my goody gobblers!"