June 15, 2011
"Welcome to Five Point Dine, mon. I'll be your chef for today. You book it and I cook it for yah, mon," spoke a rather boisterous and feminine voice. The lady twirled a silver butcher knife as long as her head was tall between her fingers like a pencil; the lights glinted off as it danced in her right hand. The knife occasionally moved close to her neck, gently brushing her nearly black hair.
"You know, that's not exactly sanitary to keep hitting your hair like that, Larissa," spoke another female voice from across a counter. The woman across the counter stretched, took a gulp of water, and brushed her blonde hair out of her face.
Another woman, sitting to the right of the woman across the counter, laughed. "Oh, lighten up a little, Ivanna."
"Yeah, you know I be the best chef you know this side of the Rocky Mountains, mon." Larissa laughed and threw her knife into the air, catching it by the handle as it fell.
"You're the only chef I know," Ivanna snarked. Larissa gave Ivanna a sneer, but then the two of them shared a heartfelt laugh.
"I never would have guessed that you two were the best of friends," remarked the other woman. Ivanna took another sip of water and turned to the woman.
"Hey Gisella, I thought that Tyrell would be joining us. Where is he?" Ivanna asked.
Gisella picked up her phone, typed on the keypad, and waited for a response. Her phone vibrated with a soft chime a minute later. "He's on his way. He just ran a bit behind with band practice."
"That band of his is really taking up a lot of his time. I'm surprised he can make time for you," Larissa pointed out, mincing up some celery for another customer.
The Five Point Dine was a fine restaurant established in 1995. It was a sit down restaurant much like a Japanese Steakhouse where a chef cooked the food in front of the customers on a large heated sheet of metal. The building was large enough to hold at least eight of these metal sheets with plenty of room to spare. In the restaurant, there were four islands, each comprised of two metal sheets and a large counter made of oak in the shape of a letter C. Around the entire counter sat a total of eighteen bar stools, each made of a green cushion on a metal stand bolted to the ground. Each chef was assigned to a specific half of an island and had their own cart of supplies. Larissa's specific half of an island sat at the very back of the restaurant near a large wooden painting of a green dragon.
"Well, this Battle of the Bands competition is a big thing to him. I can understand it taking up his time. Besides, it's only a year and Tyrell and I have been dating for years now. This will just be a little kink in the relationship, that's all," Gisella explained, sipping on a glass of water.
"Alright then, mon. I'm just making sure," Larissa explained, slicing up some chicken into pieces.
June 22, 2011
About a week later, Tyrell finished tuning up his crimson red guitar and placed in a stand near a medium sized amp. He walked over to a pale yellow couch and sat next to Gisella, wrapping his arm around her. "So, what did you think, sweetie?"
"It was pretty good, Tyrell, though I think the drums were a little bit off," Ivanna pointed out. Lechtor, the drummer, smirked at her and twirled his drum stick.
"Sorry, but, I'm pretty sure I was talking to Gisella," Tyrell said rather defensively.
Gisella smiled and nudged Tyrell in the stomach. "Oh, relax. Believe me, Ivanna knows more about music than I do."
"Only by so much," Ivanna said, humbling herself. Gisella laughed and turned to Tyrell.
"So, have you decided on a name yet?"
"Not quite. We have an idea brewing, but nothing set," Tyrell explained, "In fact, we were thinking about adding another member."
"Another member? What's the matter? The Irish drummer and you aren't enough?" Ivanna taunted.
"Don't you be making fun o' me, lassie. You know I be Scottish-Irish!" Lechtor exclaimed, but Tyrell waved his hand at him.
"Calm down, Lechtor. She's just poking fun." Ivanna sneered adjusted her cerulean blue jacket. Lechtor grunted, opened up a silver flask, and took a swig. "Lechtor and I were thinking of adding that new kid... umm... what's his name?"
"You be talking about that new kid Chen, mon?" The door behind Gisella and Tyrell swung open, revealing Larissa standing there in the doorway. She had her white chef outfit neatly folded in her arms and was wearing a plain green t-shirt with blue jeans. Larissa laid her outfit down on a coffee table and took a seat next to Ivanna. "Why you be wanting to mess around with that kid?"
"Yeah, he's an amazing guitarist. If we had him in our band, we could go all the way to the finals."
"Chen? You mean Chen Fei-na? I know him, kind of. He lives just down the street from me. He's certainly a strange one," Gisella stated.
"Strange how?" Ivanna asked.
"He doesn't speak for one, mon," Larissa said, "His sister always orders for him. He never says a word as far as I'm aware."
"Well, he did recently move here from Japan. I can understand if he doesn't speak English," Gisella pointed out.
Ivanna shrugged and leaned back. "I can see the addition of another guitarist adding some musical diversity to your music. After all, you can make much more with much more."
"So, you said you had a possible band name. What is it?" Gisella asked, turning to Tyrell.
"We were thinking of... Dragon Clash!" Tyrell exclaimed, using his hands for emphasis. Ivanna and Larissa turned to each other. There was a pause of silence before the two of them burst out laughing. A look of disappointment shot across Tyrell and Lechtor's faces, but Gisella turned to Tyrell and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Well, I think it sounds great."
June 25, 2011
"Ugh, Larissa, got anything special to drink today?" Gisella stated, limping her way over to a bar stool at Larissa's island half three days after observing Tyrell's rehearsal. Larissa poured together a combination of colorful liquids and placed it on the counter in front of Gisella.
"Yeah, I call it Caribbean Splash, extra-virgin for you, mon." Larissa twirled her knife as Gisella took a sip. "What do you think?"
"It's pretty good, though a little strong," Gisella made out, coughing a bit as it went down.
"I guess it's a bit of an acquired taste, mon," Larissa said, preparing her own Caribbean Splash, but adding a shot of vodka to it. "It don't taste the same without a shot of the good stuff." Gisella sighed and looked at her empty glass. She was only 19, so she couldn't legally drink yet, but Larissa was 22, so she could drink the day away. Gisella grabbed a napkin and wiped off some of the drink she had spilled on her soccer jersey. "You're still wearing that old thing? How's it still fit you?"
"Just because I'm retired from the team doesn't mean I can't stay fit," Gisella explained, rubbing her left leg brace. She sighed and held her glass out.
"So, how much longer you have to wear that thing, mon?" Larissa asked, refilling Gisella's glass. "It's been three years since that incident."
"You know that I have to wear it for the rest of my life." Gisella sighed and drank the whole drink in one fell swoop. "It's not something that's ever going to go away." Her voice shrank a little and her eyes began to water. "In less than a minute, my entire life and future was broken like my leg. Not that I'm not enjoying spending my college years with you and Ivanna," Gisella quickly added, "it's just that the big plans with my soccer career were just ruined after some stupid mistake."
"Well, speaking of stupid mistakes that ruin things, I wouldn't turn around, mon." Despite being warned, Gisella turned around, but then quickly turned back to Larissa.
"It just had to be her," Gisella grumbled, holding out her glass again.
Walking towards the two of them was a young woman, about 18. She wore a salmon pink halter top and stunning blue jeans. She walked with a somewhat snobby attitude in her crimson red high heels. On her right shoulder hung a designer purse, lavender in color. Her light cherry blonde hair swayed as she walked, hips in perfect sync with her hair. She walked over and took a seat two seats away from Gisella. The woman spoke with a somewhat commanding voice, like a princess. "So, are there any specials today, or is it simply the usual muck you peasants eat?"
Larissa turned to the woman and let out a soft growl. "I don't have to feed you jack squat, mon!" She raised her knife and slammed it into the counter, adding to the numerous nicks in the wood. The woman recoiled in fear and stared at Larissa.
"Ugh! How uncouth! I cannot believe that a scoundrel like yourself is even allowed to be in public!"
"Why you... I ought to fry that pretty little head of yours right here on the grill, mon!" Larissa attempted to lunge at the woman, but Gisella stood up and held her back.
"Larissa! Calm down! She's not worth the trouble!" Larissa stood back up straight and pulled her knife out of the counter. "What do you want, Rosa?"
"Did you not hear me say I wanted a special, or are those ears of yours as broken as your leg?" Rosa taunted. Gisella's right eye twitched as she restrained herself from strangling Rosa right then and there.
"Oh, I'll give you something special, mon," Larissa stated, beginning to chop up various meats into cubes. She threw together minced vegetables and poured colorful juices onto the mix. The heat radiated as Larissa and her knife danced across the grill in a spectacular scene of culinary mastery. Combined with Larissa's nearly completed major in culinary arts at Globellum University, her natural abilities rivaled even the greatest chefs in world; however, she lacked the money to formally attend and participate in global competitions. Larissa hoped that after paying off her college debt, she'd be able to finally start saving. She quickly swooped up all the food she was cooking onto a plate and place it in front of Rosa. "Enjoy."
Rosa gabbed her fork, placed her purse on the ground, and took a huge bite of the dish. Immediately after the dish touched her taste buds, she quickly inhaled and spat out the food. She opened her mouth up wide and started fanning her tongue. "W-Water!" she exclaimed.
Larissa laughed and twirled her knife. "I hear the water from the bathroom sink is nice this time of year, mon."
Rosa leered at Larissa, but was more focused on getting a drink. "I'll get you for this, you Jamacian jerk!" She ran off to the bathroom not a moment later.
"You put a Peruvian Death Pepper, didn't you?" Gisella asked Larissa, both of them smiling.
"You know me well, mon. Oh, looks like little Miss Princess left her purse. I don't think she'd mind if we took a look, would she?" Larissa leaned over the grill and counter, but was unable to reach it. Gisella leaned over, picked up the purse, and placed it on the counter. "Let's see... There's probably at least five pounds of make up alone.... Not really too much else..."
"Hey, there's her phone." Gisella took the phone out of the purse.
"Ooh! Let me see that, mon," Larissa asked, snatching it out of Gisella hand. Larissa turned it on and observed. "Heh, little princess got a picture of herself as her background. Narcissistic little..." Larissa paused as the phone chimed as a message came it.
"Huh? What's it say, Larissa?"
Larissa paused, and then looked at Gisella with a forlorn look on her face. "I...I'm so sorry, mon."
July 2, 2011
Tears streamed down Gisella's face as she cried into a maroon pillow on her couch. Ivanna sat on a blue chair on the other side of living room while Larissa sat next to Gisella, trying to comfort her.
"Come on, mon," Larissa said, patting Gisella on the back, "it's been a week since you found out Tyrell was cheating on you. You need to get over it."
"Hey, this is a big event for her. She can't just get over this like that," Ivanna said, snapping her fingers for emphasis.
Larissa sighed and leaned back, twirling a pencil in the same fashion as she would a knife. "Well, you can't just sit here and cry your life away, mon. You have to stop sooner or later and decide what to do. I think C.S. Lewis said something lik-."
A knock at the door interrupted Larissa and Ivanna stood up to answer it. The door opened to reveal Tyrell standing there with a large bouquet of flowers of all colors and sizes. He was wearing a plain jade green t-shirt and tan shorts. His jet black hair stood out against the summer daylight. Ivanna glared at Tyrell and Larissa clutched the pencil in her hand. She threw the pencil at Tyrell, nearly skewering his head. "You got a lot of nerve to be showing your face around here, mon!"
"Yes, yes, I know. I came to apologize," Tyrell stuttered, a bit shocked at nearly dying. He pushed Ivanna out of the way and went straight to Gisella. "Gisella, come on, it's not what you think, sweetie. I wasn't doing anything with Rosa, hon-."
He was interrupted as Gisella smacked him across the face with her pillow. "I don't want to hear your lies, you...you...sweet-talking liar!" She grabbed a hold of the bouquet and threw it in his face. Tyrell stumbled back a bit and looked at the sadness in her eyes.
"I think it be best if you started leaving, mon," Larissa said, reaching for another pencil.
"Alright," he stuttered, "I'm going." He stood up and walked out the door, shutting it behind him. Ivanna huffed and walked over to Gisella. She wiped the tears off of Gisella's cheek and looked her in the eyes. Gisella, too embarrassed now to even look at either of her friends, turned away from both of them and fought back more tears. Ivanna had a compassionate look on her face and took off her cerulean blue jacket. This wasn't any ordinary jacket. Ivanna had won this in a debate competition. In fact, this jacket actually belonged to the judge of the competition. The grand prize of the competition was just a trophy and a $300 gift card, but Ivanna was interested in something else, the judge's jacket. It was a custom made jacket, the only one to ever exist and ever would exist. She wanted the jacket, but no amount of money could buy the jacket off of the judge, so, Ivanna tried a different approach. After defeating all her opponents, Ivanna turned to the judge and started to debate on why she should have that jacket. The spectators thought this was something akin to a bonus round, but to Ivanna, it was her final round. The debate lasted for two hours before the judge's arguments fell apart. Ivanna always chuckled at the fact that she managed to convince the judge to give her the jacket as a prize. She placed the jacket on Gisella's back and stood back up. Gisella looked at the jacket and then looked at Ivanna.
"Just be sure to wash it before you give it back."
July 9, 2011
Larissa sighed as she finished her drum solo. Ivanna was busy comforting Gisella still at her house, so Larissa was all alone. Gisella had finally stopped crying, but she refused to leave her house. Larissa wished she could keep comforting her friend, but she also had to focus on her job. The only reason she was practicing her drumming was that she only had a few minutes before she had to leave to work. She held her head and twirled her drum sticks in her fingers.
"Hey, I hope everything's going alright for you, mon. I'll be at the Five Point Dine if you need to talk. Catch you around." Larissa hung up her phone after she finished her voicemail to Gisella. She put on her spotless white apron and black skirt. Larissa placed her hat under her arm and walked over to where she kept her knife.
The blade was made of pure stainless steel, always polished and always spotless. The sleek mahogany wood handle was carved perfectly to fit Larissa's hands. It weighed less than half a pound, but could cleanly cut through the backside of a cow in one fell swoop. Her knife wasn't just any ordinary kitchen knife. In fact, she wasn't even sure what kind of model it was. All she knew was that it was with her at the orphanage back in Jamacia. The person in charge said that she was left at the door with the knife and a note saying to keep the knife with Larissa at all times. When Larissa finally decided to escape the orphanage and flee to America, she took the knife with her. Her trip to America was not the most pleasant, but she managed to make it. Now, she was one of the top chefs in the country. She removed her knife from the plaque on the wall and placed in a specially made pouch in her apron.
The trip to the Five Point Dine wasn't particularlly too long. Walking, the trip took about half an hour from Larissa's house, but driving shortened the trip to ten minutes. From Gisella's house, the trip was fourty-five mintues by foot and fifteen by car. Ivanna's house was just down the street form Gisella's, so no real change in time. The drive took any of the girls from their house past the main entrance to Globellum University, the college where all three girls attended. Gisella's major in culinary was almost finished, while Ivanna and Gisella's majors in politics and coaching respectively were just beginning.
Larissa clocked in the employee's area and went to gather ingredients on her cart. She grabbed the usual vegetables, meats, spices, and drink mixes, but also decided to grab some shrimp and rice.
Perhaps I be making something like sushi today, mon.
Larissa walked to her half island and prepared to begin her time at work.
July 10, 2011
"Look you little slimy sugarcane snake, mon! I don't have to be dealing with your attitude! You can go off somewhere else for all I care!" Larissa shouted to a young man, about 21 with blackish brown hair that he had gelled up.
"What attitude? My brother hasn't said anything at all!" shouted another woman, defensively. She sat next to the man, who didn't even seem to notice Larissa's yelling.
"Do you think we should stop her?" Ivanna whispered to Gisella, her jacket flowing off her chair.
"You know that it's dangerous to intervene when Larissa's fired up about something." Gisella whispered back, nervously taking a sip of water. It was her first day out of her house in a while and she felt tense, her hands shaking. "Maybe we should come back at another time."
"Hey, don't you be worrying, mon. This should be dealt with soon," Larissa said, still facing the woman and man, "Now, you look here, Chen. I am a professional and I want some respect, you got it?"
"..." Chen looked at Larissa, and then turned back to his glass without saying a word. Larissa felt her left eye begin to twitch.
"You aren't a professional yet," said the woman, "you're still in traini-"
"You stay out of this, Juni, mon!" Larissa slammed her knife against the grill, causing Juni to recoil in shock, but Chen didn't even blink. "Well, ain't you going to say anything in your defense?"
Chen looked at Larissa, then to Juni, then to his glass. He closed his eyes and simply raised his glass to Larissa. She growled at him, but refilled his glass with another Carribean Splash.
"That drink of hers has certainly caught on," Ivanna stated, glancing over the menu, "it's even got it's own spot right here under house specials."
Larissa turned around and faced Ivanna and Gisella, "Bah, I'm done dealing with them, mon. You girls are more important to me than some customer I just met." She filled her own glass of Carribean Splash and quickly drank it. "So, it's good to see you out of your house, Gisella."
"I'll admit, it does feel good to be out of it," Gisella said, rubbing her leg brace, "I just wish I hadn't been laying on my bad leg for so long."
Ivanna chuckled and took a sip of water. "I still feel bad for you, Gisella. I mean, if that was me, that boy would NOT have gotten off scott free."
"What do you mean?"
"She be talking about revenge, mon. You know, get even with him." Larissa couldn't help but sadistically smile at the thoughts running through her head. Ivanna looked and Larissa and rolled her eyes.
"Well, before we do whatever illegal thing Larissa's thinking of, how about we do something that'll realy stick it to him."
"Like what?" As Gisella said that, her eyes wandered to a poster behind Ivanna. Hanging up was an advertisement for the year long Battle of the Bands Extravaganza competition. Instantly, all three girls had the exact same crazy idea. "What should we call ourselves?"
"How about the An-Tyrells?"
"No, that's lame, mon. What about the Jerk Girls?"
"Yeesh, that makes us sound like we're the bad girls, Larissa. We're the good ones, right?"
"Hey, that sounds like a suitable band name, the Bad Good Girls. What do you two think?"
"Ooh! I like it, mon!"
"Me too."
"So, that settles it then." The three girls all clinked their glasses together in a toast of their new band.
"Welcome to Five Point Dine, mon. I'll be your chef for today. You book it and I cook it for yah, mon," spoke a rather boisterous and feminine voice. The lady twirled a silver butcher knife as long as her head was tall between her fingers like a pencil; the lights glinted off as it danced in her right hand. The knife occasionally moved close to her neck, gently brushing her nearly black hair.
"You know, that's not exactly sanitary to keep hitting your hair like that, Larissa," spoke another female voice from across a counter. The woman across the counter stretched, took a gulp of water, and brushed her blonde hair out of her face.
Another woman, sitting to the right of the woman across the counter, laughed. "Oh, lighten up a little, Ivanna."
"Yeah, you know I be the best chef you know this side of the Rocky Mountains, mon." Larissa laughed and threw her knife into the air, catching it by the handle as it fell.
"You're the only chef I know," Ivanna snarked. Larissa gave Ivanna a sneer, but then the two of them shared a heartfelt laugh.
"I never would have guessed that you two were the best of friends," remarked the other woman. Ivanna took another sip of water and turned to the woman.
"Hey Gisella, I thought that Tyrell would be joining us. Where is he?" Ivanna asked.
Gisella picked up her phone, typed on the keypad, and waited for a response. Her phone vibrated with a soft chime a minute later. "He's on his way. He just ran a bit behind with band practice."
"That band of his is really taking up a lot of his time. I'm surprised he can make time for you," Larissa pointed out, mincing up some celery for another customer.
The Five Point Dine was a fine restaurant established in 1995. It was a sit down restaurant much like a Japanese Steakhouse where a chef cooked the food in front of the customers on a large heated sheet of metal. The building was large enough to hold at least eight of these metal sheets with plenty of room to spare. In the restaurant, there were four islands, each comprised of two metal sheets and a large counter made of oak in the shape of a letter C. Around the entire counter sat a total of eighteen bar stools, each made of a green cushion on a metal stand bolted to the ground. Each chef was assigned to a specific half of an island and had their own cart of supplies. Larissa's specific half of an island sat at the very back of the restaurant near a large wooden painting of a green dragon.
"Well, this Battle of the Bands competition is a big thing to him. I can understand it taking up his time. Besides, it's only a year and Tyrell and I have been dating for years now. This will just be a little kink in the relationship, that's all," Gisella explained, sipping on a glass of water.
"Alright then, mon. I'm just making sure," Larissa explained, slicing up some chicken into pieces.
June 22, 2011
About a week later, Tyrell finished tuning up his crimson red guitar and placed in a stand near a medium sized amp. He walked over to a pale yellow couch and sat next to Gisella, wrapping his arm around her. "So, what did you think, sweetie?"
"It was pretty good, Tyrell, though I think the drums were a little bit off," Ivanna pointed out. Lechtor, the drummer, smirked at her and twirled his drum stick.
"Sorry, but, I'm pretty sure I was talking to Gisella," Tyrell said rather defensively.
Gisella smiled and nudged Tyrell in the stomach. "Oh, relax. Believe me, Ivanna knows more about music than I do."
"Only by so much," Ivanna said, humbling herself. Gisella laughed and turned to Tyrell.
"So, have you decided on a name yet?"
"Not quite. We have an idea brewing, but nothing set," Tyrell explained, "In fact, we were thinking about adding another member."
"Another member? What's the matter? The Irish drummer and you aren't enough?" Ivanna taunted.
"Don't you be making fun o' me, lassie. You know I be Scottish-Irish!" Lechtor exclaimed, but Tyrell waved his hand at him.
"Calm down, Lechtor. She's just poking fun." Ivanna sneered adjusted her cerulean blue jacket. Lechtor grunted, opened up a silver flask, and took a swig. "Lechtor and I were thinking of adding that new kid... umm... what's his name?"
"You be talking about that new kid Chen, mon?" The door behind Gisella and Tyrell swung open, revealing Larissa standing there in the doorway. She had her white chef outfit neatly folded in her arms and was wearing a plain green t-shirt with blue jeans. Larissa laid her outfit down on a coffee table and took a seat next to Ivanna. "Why you be wanting to mess around with that kid?"
"Yeah, he's an amazing guitarist. If we had him in our band, we could go all the way to the finals."
"Chen? You mean Chen Fei-na? I know him, kind of. He lives just down the street from me. He's certainly a strange one," Gisella stated.
"Strange how?" Ivanna asked.
"He doesn't speak for one, mon," Larissa said, "His sister always orders for him. He never says a word as far as I'm aware."
"Well, he did recently move here from Japan. I can understand if he doesn't speak English," Gisella pointed out.
Ivanna shrugged and leaned back. "I can see the addition of another guitarist adding some musical diversity to your music. After all, you can make much more with much more."
"So, you said you had a possible band name. What is it?" Gisella asked, turning to Tyrell.
"We were thinking of... Dragon Clash!" Tyrell exclaimed, using his hands for emphasis. Ivanna and Larissa turned to each other. There was a pause of silence before the two of them burst out laughing. A look of disappointment shot across Tyrell and Lechtor's faces, but Gisella turned to Tyrell and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Well, I think it sounds great."
June 25, 2011
"Ugh, Larissa, got anything special to drink today?" Gisella stated, limping her way over to a bar stool at Larissa's island half three days after observing Tyrell's rehearsal. Larissa poured together a combination of colorful liquids and placed it on the counter in front of Gisella.
"Yeah, I call it Caribbean Splash, extra-virgin for you, mon." Larissa twirled her knife as Gisella took a sip. "What do you think?"
"It's pretty good, though a little strong," Gisella made out, coughing a bit as it went down.
"I guess it's a bit of an acquired taste, mon," Larissa said, preparing her own Caribbean Splash, but adding a shot of vodka to it. "It don't taste the same without a shot of the good stuff." Gisella sighed and looked at her empty glass. She was only 19, so she couldn't legally drink yet, but Larissa was 22, so she could drink the day away. Gisella grabbed a napkin and wiped off some of the drink she had spilled on her soccer jersey. "You're still wearing that old thing? How's it still fit you?"
"Just because I'm retired from the team doesn't mean I can't stay fit," Gisella explained, rubbing her left leg brace. She sighed and held her glass out.
"So, how much longer you have to wear that thing, mon?" Larissa asked, refilling Gisella's glass. "It's been three years since that incident."
"You know that I have to wear it for the rest of my life." Gisella sighed and drank the whole drink in one fell swoop. "It's not something that's ever going to go away." Her voice shrank a little and her eyes began to water. "In less than a minute, my entire life and future was broken like my leg. Not that I'm not enjoying spending my college years with you and Ivanna," Gisella quickly added, "it's just that the big plans with my soccer career were just ruined after some stupid mistake."
"Well, speaking of stupid mistakes that ruin things, I wouldn't turn around, mon." Despite being warned, Gisella turned around, but then quickly turned back to Larissa.
"It just had to be her," Gisella grumbled, holding out her glass again.
Walking towards the two of them was a young woman, about 18. She wore a salmon pink halter top and stunning blue jeans. She walked with a somewhat snobby attitude in her crimson red high heels. On her right shoulder hung a designer purse, lavender in color. Her light cherry blonde hair swayed as she walked, hips in perfect sync with her hair. She walked over and took a seat two seats away from Gisella. The woman spoke with a somewhat commanding voice, like a princess. "So, are there any specials today, or is it simply the usual muck you peasants eat?"
Larissa turned to the woman and let out a soft growl. "I don't have to feed you jack squat, mon!" She raised her knife and slammed it into the counter, adding to the numerous nicks in the wood. The woman recoiled in fear and stared at Larissa.
"Ugh! How uncouth! I cannot believe that a scoundrel like yourself is even allowed to be in public!"
"Why you... I ought to fry that pretty little head of yours right here on the grill, mon!" Larissa attempted to lunge at the woman, but Gisella stood up and held her back.
"Larissa! Calm down! She's not worth the trouble!" Larissa stood back up straight and pulled her knife out of the counter. "What do you want, Rosa?"
"Did you not hear me say I wanted a special, or are those ears of yours as broken as your leg?" Rosa taunted. Gisella's right eye twitched as she restrained herself from strangling Rosa right then and there.
"Oh, I'll give you something special, mon," Larissa stated, beginning to chop up various meats into cubes. She threw together minced vegetables and poured colorful juices onto the mix. The heat radiated as Larissa and her knife danced across the grill in a spectacular scene of culinary mastery. Combined with Larissa's nearly completed major in culinary arts at Globellum University, her natural abilities rivaled even the greatest chefs in world; however, she lacked the money to formally attend and participate in global competitions. Larissa hoped that after paying off her college debt, she'd be able to finally start saving. She quickly swooped up all the food she was cooking onto a plate and place it in front of Rosa. "Enjoy."
Rosa gabbed her fork, placed her purse on the ground, and took a huge bite of the dish. Immediately after the dish touched her taste buds, she quickly inhaled and spat out the food. She opened her mouth up wide and started fanning her tongue. "W-Water!" she exclaimed.
Larissa laughed and twirled her knife. "I hear the water from the bathroom sink is nice this time of year, mon."
Rosa leered at Larissa, but was more focused on getting a drink. "I'll get you for this, you Jamacian jerk!" She ran off to the bathroom not a moment later.
"You put a Peruvian Death Pepper, didn't you?" Gisella asked Larissa, both of them smiling.
"You know me well, mon. Oh, looks like little Miss Princess left her purse. I don't think she'd mind if we took a look, would she?" Larissa leaned over the grill and counter, but was unable to reach it. Gisella leaned over, picked up the purse, and placed it on the counter. "Let's see... There's probably at least five pounds of make up alone.... Not really too much else..."
"Hey, there's her phone." Gisella took the phone out of the purse.
"Ooh! Let me see that, mon," Larissa asked, snatching it out of Gisella hand. Larissa turned it on and observed. "Heh, little princess got a picture of herself as her background. Narcissistic little..." Larissa paused as the phone chimed as a message came it.
"Huh? What's it say, Larissa?"
Larissa paused, and then looked at Gisella with a forlorn look on her face. "I...I'm so sorry, mon."
July 2, 2011
Tears streamed down Gisella's face as she cried into a maroon pillow on her couch. Ivanna sat on a blue chair on the other side of living room while Larissa sat next to Gisella, trying to comfort her.
"Come on, mon," Larissa said, patting Gisella on the back, "it's been a week since you found out Tyrell was cheating on you. You need to get over it."
"Hey, this is a big event for her. She can't just get over this like that," Ivanna said, snapping her fingers for emphasis.
Larissa sighed and leaned back, twirling a pencil in the same fashion as she would a knife. "Well, you can't just sit here and cry your life away, mon. You have to stop sooner or later and decide what to do. I think C.S. Lewis said something lik-."
A knock at the door interrupted Larissa and Ivanna stood up to answer it. The door opened to reveal Tyrell standing there with a large bouquet of flowers of all colors and sizes. He was wearing a plain jade green t-shirt and tan shorts. His jet black hair stood out against the summer daylight. Ivanna glared at Tyrell and Larissa clutched the pencil in her hand. She threw the pencil at Tyrell, nearly skewering his head. "You got a lot of nerve to be showing your face around here, mon!"
"Yes, yes, I know. I came to apologize," Tyrell stuttered, a bit shocked at nearly dying. He pushed Ivanna out of the way and went straight to Gisella. "Gisella, come on, it's not what you think, sweetie. I wasn't doing anything with Rosa, hon-."
He was interrupted as Gisella smacked him across the face with her pillow. "I don't want to hear your lies, you...you...sweet-talking liar!" She grabbed a hold of the bouquet and threw it in his face. Tyrell stumbled back a bit and looked at the sadness in her eyes.
"I think it be best if you started leaving, mon," Larissa said, reaching for another pencil.
"Alright," he stuttered, "I'm going." He stood up and walked out the door, shutting it behind him. Ivanna huffed and walked over to Gisella. She wiped the tears off of Gisella's cheek and looked her in the eyes. Gisella, too embarrassed now to even look at either of her friends, turned away from both of them and fought back more tears. Ivanna had a compassionate look on her face and took off her cerulean blue jacket. This wasn't any ordinary jacket. Ivanna had won this in a debate competition. In fact, this jacket actually belonged to the judge of the competition. The grand prize of the competition was just a trophy and a $300 gift card, but Ivanna was interested in something else, the judge's jacket. It was a custom made jacket, the only one to ever exist and ever would exist. She wanted the jacket, but no amount of money could buy the jacket off of the judge, so, Ivanna tried a different approach. After defeating all her opponents, Ivanna turned to the judge and started to debate on why she should have that jacket. The spectators thought this was something akin to a bonus round, but to Ivanna, it was her final round. The debate lasted for two hours before the judge's arguments fell apart. Ivanna always chuckled at the fact that she managed to convince the judge to give her the jacket as a prize. She placed the jacket on Gisella's back and stood back up. Gisella looked at the jacket and then looked at Ivanna.
"Just be sure to wash it before you give it back."
July 9, 2011
Larissa sighed as she finished her drum solo. Ivanna was busy comforting Gisella still at her house, so Larissa was all alone. Gisella had finally stopped crying, but she refused to leave her house. Larissa wished she could keep comforting her friend, but she also had to focus on her job. The only reason she was practicing her drumming was that she only had a few minutes before she had to leave to work. She held her head and twirled her drum sticks in her fingers.
"Hey, I hope everything's going alright for you, mon. I'll be at the Five Point Dine if you need to talk. Catch you around." Larissa hung up her phone after she finished her voicemail to Gisella. She put on her spotless white apron and black skirt. Larissa placed her hat under her arm and walked over to where she kept her knife.
The blade was made of pure stainless steel, always polished and always spotless. The sleek mahogany wood handle was carved perfectly to fit Larissa's hands. It weighed less than half a pound, but could cleanly cut through the backside of a cow in one fell swoop. Her knife wasn't just any ordinary kitchen knife. In fact, she wasn't even sure what kind of model it was. All she knew was that it was with her at the orphanage back in Jamacia. The person in charge said that she was left at the door with the knife and a note saying to keep the knife with Larissa at all times. When Larissa finally decided to escape the orphanage and flee to America, she took the knife with her. Her trip to America was not the most pleasant, but she managed to make it. Now, she was one of the top chefs in the country. She removed her knife from the plaque on the wall and placed in a specially made pouch in her apron.
The trip to the Five Point Dine wasn't particularlly too long. Walking, the trip took about half an hour from Larissa's house, but driving shortened the trip to ten minutes. From Gisella's house, the trip was fourty-five mintues by foot and fifteen by car. Ivanna's house was just down the street form Gisella's, so no real change in time. The drive took any of the girls from their house past the main entrance to Globellum University, the college where all three girls attended. Gisella's major in culinary was almost finished, while Ivanna and Gisella's majors in politics and coaching respectively were just beginning.
Larissa clocked in the employee's area and went to gather ingredients on her cart. She grabbed the usual vegetables, meats, spices, and drink mixes, but also decided to grab some shrimp and rice.
Perhaps I be making something like sushi today, mon.
Larissa walked to her half island and prepared to begin her time at work.
July 10, 2011
"Look you little slimy sugarcane snake, mon! I don't have to be dealing with your attitude! You can go off somewhere else for all I care!" Larissa shouted to a young man, about 21 with blackish brown hair that he had gelled up.
"What attitude? My brother hasn't said anything at all!" shouted another woman, defensively. She sat next to the man, who didn't even seem to notice Larissa's yelling.
"Do you think we should stop her?" Ivanna whispered to Gisella, her jacket flowing off her chair.
"You know that it's dangerous to intervene when Larissa's fired up about something." Gisella whispered back, nervously taking a sip of water. It was her first day out of her house in a while and she felt tense, her hands shaking. "Maybe we should come back at another time."
"Hey, don't you be worrying, mon. This should be dealt with soon," Larissa said, still facing the woman and man, "Now, you look here, Chen. I am a professional and I want some respect, you got it?"
"..." Chen looked at Larissa, and then turned back to his glass without saying a word. Larissa felt her left eye begin to twitch.
"You aren't a professional yet," said the woman, "you're still in traini-"
"You stay out of this, Juni, mon!" Larissa slammed her knife against the grill, causing Juni to recoil in shock, but Chen didn't even blink. "Well, ain't you going to say anything in your defense?"
Chen looked at Larissa, then to Juni, then to his glass. He closed his eyes and simply raised his glass to Larissa. She growled at him, but refilled his glass with another Carribean Splash.
"That drink of hers has certainly caught on," Ivanna stated, glancing over the menu, "it's even got it's own spot right here under house specials."
Larissa turned around and faced Ivanna and Gisella, "Bah, I'm done dealing with them, mon. You girls are more important to me than some customer I just met." She filled her own glass of Carribean Splash and quickly drank it. "So, it's good to see you out of your house, Gisella."
"I'll admit, it does feel good to be out of it," Gisella said, rubbing her leg brace, "I just wish I hadn't been laying on my bad leg for so long."
Ivanna chuckled and took a sip of water. "I still feel bad for you, Gisella. I mean, if that was me, that boy would NOT have gotten off scott free."
"What do you mean?"
"She be talking about revenge, mon. You know, get even with him." Larissa couldn't help but sadistically smile at the thoughts running through her head. Ivanna looked and Larissa and rolled her eyes.
"Well, before we do whatever illegal thing Larissa's thinking of, how about we do something that'll realy stick it to him."
"Like what?" As Gisella said that, her eyes wandered to a poster behind Ivanna. Hanging up was an advertisement for the year long Battle of the Bands Extravaganza competition. Instantly, all three girls had the exact same crazy idea. "What should we call ourselves?"
"How about the An-Tyrells?"
"No, that's lame, mon. What about the Jerk Girls?"
"Yeesh, that makes us sound like we're the bad girls, Larissa. We're the good ones, right?"
"Hey, that sounds like a suitable band name, the Bad Good Girls. What do you two think?"
"Ooh! I like it, mon!"
"Me too."
"So, that settles it then." The three girls all clinked their glasses together in a toast of their new band.