Chapter 2, Part 2: Questionable Choices

News travelled quickly once the date for Bubble Buzz's Grand Opening was finally announced; to say the town was 'buzzing' about it would not only be quite punny, but also the truth. Since the building had first been erected, everyone was wondering what exactly it would be like to step inside.

And now, the opportunity had come.

The day arrived almost more quickly than Molasses could prepare for, but it was all worth it the moment she saw the sea of bright faces looking at at her as she started to unlock the front doors for entry. It was a small crowd, but enough to chill the nerves she'd had all morning.

Among them were many faces she recognized, but even more important were the ones she didn't; it was good to know that her drop in advertising while training the 'fantastic four' hadn't cost her too many customers.

"Well, everyone," Molly said exuberantly as the small crowd suddenly hushed to silence. "Bubble Buzz is officially open for business!"

The first half-hour or so was... chaotic, behind the counter. Everyone was pleasant and patient, but even Lichen didn't have time for his normal quips about how 'that woman really shouldn't be drinking this many calories' or 'that boy is way too young to be drinking caffeine'.

In fact--at least for the first day--he was incredibly wary of the espresso machine... but that may have been because it exploded on him once or twice during training.

"Can I have a... pumpkin latte?"

"Would you like the pumpkin swirl, pumpkin with extra nutmeg, vanilla pumpkin, triple pumpkin fudge, or just the regular pumpkin latte? Would you like that in Bitty, Boppity, or Bubbletastic size, how many whips, and--of course--would you like anything to dip in that?"

"... Uuuhh... Huh?"

"Ask them one at a time, Honeydew, you're going to overwhelm them! They're just as new as you are."

"Oooh... Gaaah, I'm so sorry! I'm just so excited I can barely--"

"That's fine, Dew. You're doing great."

Molly finally got a chance to escape outside after Lichen had a somewhat problematic encounter with the espresso machine ("Aaagh, the foam! It's going EVERY WHERE!"), but, thankfully there weren't many people out on the deck, yet. It gave her a bit of a chance to breathe.

"How's everything going, Paprique?" she asked as she leaned up against the juice bar.

"Riveting," he offered in a low grumble. "No one's bothered me all morning."

Molasses couldn't tell whether he was being sarcastic or not, so she just smiled and continued. "Well, everything's a little hectic, inside, if you want to go help out the kids--I'm sure things will pick up out here later in the afternoon."

Even Paprique's lack of enthusiasm couldn't bring her down today, though. As she bobbed back inside with a bounce in her step, she began to sidle up to customers and schmooze their opinions out of them.

She was particularly pleased to see that Mr. Soybean had kept his word; she spent quite a long time talking to him and his daughter before an unexpected sound erupted from the other side of the room.

I didn't hire anyone to play, today, Molly thought as her head swivelled around--but when she saw who it was, her entire face lit up.

"Merlot!" she gasped as she approached the stage. "You came!"

"Of course I came, sugar," he said with a crooked smile between two chords from the piano. "I said I'd try my best."

Molly shrugged as Merlot began to sidle away from the piano. "I know, but I honestly didn't imagine you'd be able to make it until much later, if at all." She paused nervously. "So... what do you think?"

"Honestly? This place is amazing. You really outdid yourself this time. I think there's a few kinks you'll need to work out, but overall? I'm really impressed."

Molly scowled. "What do you mean, a few kinks?"

"Well..." Merlot bit his lower lip. Great. He was really hoping she would've waited until later to ask. "Some of the people you hired are a bit... questionable."

"How so?"

"Well, the girl that took my order was a little bit... skittish, and the boy making my coffee kept giving me sour looks and mumbling things under his breath. 'Course, I know teenagers have all sorts of mood swings, but... well, your cleaning lady came up to me and yelled at me for no reason. It was a little off-putting, honestly."

"Oh, you mean Hyacinth?" Molly turned and looked, only to find Hyacinth deep within some sort of argument with herself. "Yeah, she's... a little bit of a work-in-progress."

"Work-in-progress? I'm not even sure if there's anything there TO work with," Merlot sighed.

"Look," he continued. "It's completely up to you who you do and don't hire, but I'm a little confused. When you told me you were digging through some hire-ees pasts to decide who you were going to hire, I thought it meant you were trying to weed out the bad applicants and get the ones most qualified."

"What, and you don't think I picked ones I thought were qualified?"

"I--just--I guess--I don't--" Merlot backed away a little. Fudgecicles. "Maybe?"

"Look, they may not be the smartest and the brightest and the most people friendly, but these are good people. They just need someone to give them a chance, okay?"

"I know, Molly, but--you're taking a big risk, here. What if they don't work out? I hate to say it, but I've watched things crash and burn for you before because you put too much faith in the wrong people--I care about you too much to sit and watch as you do it again."

"Don't. Don't even. I perfectly well know what's best for me. I know I've made some mistakes in the past, but this isn't going to be another one, alright?"

"Alright, but--"

"Don't 'but' me, Merlot. If you look at these people again and tell me they're not good enough, you may as well come right to my face and tell me I'm not, either. These people deserve a chance that no one else is bothering to give them--and I didn't start a new life here in Sugar Valley to become a hypocrite."

"Molly, please, I'm sorry, let's just--"

"No," she hissed underneath her breath. "You don't apologize me, you apologize to them. Now if you'll excuse me--I have work to do."

"Please--"

She turned away. "Merlot, just go. We'll talk about this later, alright?" Molly began rubbing her temples softly, now that a headache was starting to form there.

Merlot said nothing else. When Molasses refused to give him another look, his face fell and he, too, turned away--leaving Molly with the sudden, sickening feeling in her stomach that she may have taken things too far.

It shouldn't be any surprise, though--she was quite talented at that.

"Did... Did I do something wrong?" Hyacinth bobbed up beside Molly, her face half-buried in her hand.

"No, Hyacinth. You're just fine."

"It's just couldn't help it, he looked too happy and I was--"

"Cinthy. It's alright," Molly insisted with a firm voice. "It's not your fault."

Yes, maybe Hyacinth had been the catalyst, but it would have taken more than a jarring set of insults from a crazy person for Merlot to walk out that door. Some friendships are simply deeper than the questionable choices each person can make.

But, as Molly watched Merlot push the doors open and leave, she couldn't help but wonder: was this one?