It only took Yumi ten minutes to get to the cafe, afternoons were often the busiest as they caught the 'rush hour' traffic, people coming from work or school or heading off for their weekends. It was a nice place, situated on the corner of the avenue, a black canopy unrolled during the summer months and frosted black glass tables with black wicker effect chairs. The name written on the glass 'The Black Cat Cafe' in italicized hand writing with a picture of their mascot, a black cat with a crooked tail, beneath. Opening the door a bell chimed quaintly and Cristoff looked up from the till looking more than a little frazzled but smiling none the less at her arrival, mouthing a silent thank you to her as she dashed to the ladies room in the back.
She quickly changed into the uniform of the cafe, black blouse, black pencil skirt, knee length as they were respectable here, white barista's apron, the kind that tied at the waist with a pocket in front for note book and pen, she put her hair up into a high ponytail and slipped on the clip in fluffy black cat ears. When satisfied she looked smart enough she folded her other clothes and stuck them in a locker, depositing the key into her pocket and making her way back to the front of the shop. Usually Karen would be working this shift but she'd come down sick with something and couldn't make it in, Marie was on holiday and Angela was unreachable. She could see that poor Cristoff honestly needed the help, trying to manage the till, the preparation of the food and drinks and serving.
He rather obviously breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to a pair of trays on the counter, calling out their table number and uttering asking what it was he had interrupted, "Oh I was just moving into my new apartment and a nice man from the academy came by to answer any questions I might have had." Cristoff looked dumbstruck and she couldn't help but giggle faintly as she lifted the trays. "I'm so sorry, you should have said I would have managed by myself." Glancing around the cafe they both realised that wasn't quite true, not, at least, if he wanted his sanity in tact after. "It's okay, hopefully I'll see him at school." She said with that reassuring smile of hers, even if she didn't there would be tutors to speak with and other pupils too no doubt.
What followed was an hour of serving their home made pastries both savoury and sweet, along with their coffee, tea and other beverages to a seemingly never ending throng of customers. Once the crowd had thinned out they were able to get on top of the cleaning and Cristoff, flipped the sign to state they were closed. They made quick work of tidying up, cleaning the tables and putting the various dirties in the dishwasher before cleaning down the machines and finally sweeping then mopping the floors. Heading out of the locker room with her uniform under her arm she was greeted by Cristoff holding one of their take away boxes, a black cube with two handles and a length of silver ribbon tied in a bow. "If you hurry back that guy might still be there right? Share these with him as my way of apology. Thanks for all your help today." Yumi thanked him and gave him a quick hug before she left the shop with a chirpy goodbye and made her way back to the apartment.
Part of her had the strangest urge to knock on the door of her own apartment, fighting that urge she let herself in and slipped into her room to put away her uniform. Coming back out of her room with the box in hand she timidly made her way to the living room, it was unlikely the man would still be there right? If Arnaud's hostile nature hadn't driven him away he probably had other students to see. She idly wondered what kind of mood Arnaud himself would be in upon her return, especially since she'd run out so quickly. "I-I'm back." She timidly announced.