Chapter 3, Part 2: Suspicions

"I still don't understand that. You mean you've never gotten completely naked?"

"Well, obviously I was born naked, but... egh. I don't know! As a proper lady, I don't feel it's polite to my body to leave it so... unguarded like that."

"... Even in private? You are so bloody mental..."

"Ahem."


"Of course in private too, silly! I'm a lady! Part of being a lady is having manners even when no one else is--"

"AHEM."


"Oh come off it, you're just self-concious. How will you even, ya know, do it, when the time c--"

"AHEM!!"

A squeak left Honeydew's lips when she finally saw Molly's presence at the other side of the counter. "Ms. Macchiato! We were just--"

"Sitting on the counter, acting like children while I'm wasting my money paying you?!"

"I'm sorry, Molly, it won't happen again!"

Lichen rolled his eyes. "Oh who freaking cares, it's been deader in here than Honeydew's social life all afternoon... only thing we haven't done is mop the floors, Oh Queen-ly-ness."

Molasses sighed. Despite the fact she would love to berate them for acting unprofessionally, they were only teenagers--and, as much as she hated to admit it, correct.

After a moment of deep breaths to collect her temper, Molly slowed nodded. "I understand it's been slow, but please, try to keep your banter a bit more quiet... and preferably, not while sitting on the counter?" Lichen elbowed Honeydew with a 'told-ja', but his expression quickly soured when she added, "And bring up sex one more time during work, Lyke, and I'll ask Paprique what his going rate for neutering is."

Molly's cocoabean accent didn't often sound intimidating, but the combination of 'Paprique' and 'dismemberment' in the same sentence was the perfect composition of words to keep Lichen's tongue trapped firmly in his mouth.

"Now," she added. "At least pretend like you be working."

The truth of the matter is, this had been happening quite often, lately. Too much. Confecionaries were a competitive field in Sugar Valley, and although Molly played all the right tricks, knew all the right people, and  set up everything perfectly, there were still days that slowed to a crawl.

Most businesses took that into account. Most businesses would see the Bubble Buzzes continuing success, and believe Molly had it made--but she didn't. Not in her eyes.

She wasn't sure they were ready, but it needed to be done. It was time to move things ahead of schedule.

As she walked around the cafe, ponder it in her mind, her heart suddenly sank.

Merlot.

Her fingers touched the ivory keys of the piano, gently hitting a few un-graceful notes in succession. A few performers had come to play for the evening crowd, but they weren't the same.

They weren't the playful jazz with dark eyes and knowing smile.

The tipped hat, the caress on the small of her back.

She'd heard he'd been doing well, since she told him to leave--still playing pianos and heartstrings, still singing the blues, still making women's knees weak when he walked in a room.

She was still weak, and it'd been two months since he'd been in hers.

"Fudge, Merlot," she crooned to herself. "Why d'ya gotta go and listen to me so well."

Molly snapped to reality when she heard a small cough at the other side of the restaurant.

She didn't know the face, but it was familiar. She'd seen him in here quite often: always by himself, always wrapped up in a book or writing something on a computer. He was one of those customers that didn't care much for the coffee, instead roped into coming by a relative, and fell in love with the atmosphere so they keep coming back.

It was her least and most favorite kind of customer. Didn't get hooked enough for a big profit, but still spread the word... Or so, she hoped.

Yet, there was something different about him. Honeydew joked often about Molly's 'sixth sense', but call it what you will, those sidelong glances she occasionally caught from his eye ran something cold--not pleasant, but not unpleasant--up her spine. Usually that told her something, but with him? Nothing.

He was different, and Molly couldn't figure out why.

So she was going to find out...

... but not today.

"Molly--"

"Can it wait, Paprique?! I was just about to--"

"It's urgent."

Grumbling, Molly allowed herself to be pulled to the side, where Paprique whispered something inaudible into her ear.

"Already?!" she hissed back at him. "I just can't keep this guy off my back, can I..."

A few moments later, the door to the shop jingled open and close,  leaving a very disgruntled looking man and an anxious looking woman standing in the foyer.

"Are you sure you don't want me to order you anything, M-Mr. Spoom?"

"Of course not, Absinthee--do you think I'm mad? Stuff's probably laced with all sorts of nasty, wretched chemicals. Just do your job, and be prepared to leave."

"Yes, Mr. Spoom."

"And do remember to change my dry-cleaner, the amount of lint on this suit is preposterous."

"MAYOR! What a pleasant surprise!"

Putting on her brightest smile and most winning attitude, Molly glided into the entryway to greet her newest 'guest' with open arms. "I hope you're thirsty--the special today is Sulty Cinnabon Spice, bet that's right up your alley, mmm?"

"No, no, noooo, sorry, Ms. Macchiato--I'm simply here on business, assessing the establishment, making sure I'm familiar with all that's within my city."

"I see I see, well, I'm glad you finally found the... time... to stop by, your honor."

"Mmm, indeed. I don't believe you've met my assistant, either--this is Ms. Sambuca."

"Sir, if I may--the... cinna spice thing sounds really--"

"Not now Sinthee--Business, business!"

"So... what do you say, Ms. Macchiato--" Mayor Spoom spoke, silver tongue and wicked smile intact. "Care to give a curious man a tour?"

"Why of course--anything for you, Mayor."

"As you can see," she spoke lightly, gracefully sweeping her arms to indicate what was in front of her. "This is the dining area. Usually much busier than today, I might add--you've just caught us on a bit of a slow day, ya see."

"Mhm... But why all the empty room right here?" he snooped, pointing at the floor in front of him. "Why not maximize on the amount of occupants?"

"It's for dancin', silly," she smiled. "Every Friday night, the Buzz hosts a budding musician to come play for us, and usually the place gets quite rowdy and quite packed... too many tables would just get in the way."

"I see... you aren't violating any occupancy laws, are you?"

"Nah, sir--we been quite good about makin sure we don't do that. Don't you worry."

"Mhm," he responded skeptically. "Alright then... Shall we continue?"

As the pair disappeared down the corridor, Absinthee approached the counter with a very unsubtle expression of paranoia on her face. "Uuuuuhh... could you guys show me where the bathroom is?"

"Sure--I'll show you where the bathroom is... and I'll show you where a whole lotta other things are, too, you cute little fo--"

"UGH, Lichen, shut UP!" Honeydew threw a coin from a register at his face, causing him to duck out of the way. "Ms. Sambuca, just follow after where the other two went--it's the first door on the left."

"Oh... oh.. okay, thank you..."

When she'd disappeared, Lichen through the coin back at Dew--but missed.

"Hey, what's THAT for?!" she snubbed, sticking her tongue out at him.

"For always ruining my fun! First cute girl comes in here all day, and I barely get a word in."

"Ugh, whatever. Not like you had a chance, I can smell the sweat stains on that shirt all the way from here. Don't you know how to do laundry?!"

"'Course not, I'm a guy! That's what women are for!"

"UUUGH!"

Elsewhere, Mayor Spoom hunched his shoulders in defeat. His eyes searched the ceiling, then the floor, then examined every item in the room. His lips soured and pulled into a snarl.

"Nothing."

"Hmmm? You were expecting something else...?"

"Of course I was expecting something else--I'm not a dolt, Ms. Macchiato. I know who you are. I know what you've done--and what you're doing. I can't prove it, but I will..."

"Oh, you will, will you? Is dat so?"

"Don't play games with me. You may have everyone else in this town fooled, but none of them are looking beneath the surface--I know better."

"Mmmm... well, look all you want, your honor. You ain't gonna find a thing."

"Oh, I will. You underestimate me, Molasses... You shouldn't. I will find what you are hiding. Mark my words... you will rot behind bars, just like you deserve... just as soon as I catch you."

"I'd like to see you try."

Mayor Spoom could not have left the room fast enough; she was barely able to keep up with him, but as he neared the exit, he slowed to a halt. His face suddenly brightened, and the fake Mayor Spoom resumed his post. No one had to know the rage boiling beneath his skin.

"Well, Ms. Macchiato--it was a pleasure. I'm sure I'll see you again.. soon."

"Pleasure's all mine, your honor. Come back anytime."

The door behind them slammed a little harder than normal, leaving the glass quivering in the frame. Molly watched it in amusement, until he'd gone... then her face quickly fell to horror.

"Don't worry, she didn't find anything--I kept my eyes on her, like you asked."

"Good... good..." Molly responded, distantly.

"You going to be alright?"

"Yes--I'm just... I just thought I had more time to prepare."

"What are we going to do?" Paprique asked, his voice stone cold and solid as always.

"Well...." Molly considered this for a moment. She could stand back and let him come, but both herself and Spoom knew she couldn't hide everything forever. There had to be a better way... There simply had to.

She smiled. "We do the only thing we can. We fight."

Chapter 3, Part 1: Suspicions

Honeydew knew that at any moment, the focus of her gaze could turn around and see her eyes boring tirelessly in his direction--but she didn't care. To her, it was a game. Right now he didn't know he was playing, but soon enough, he would.

Soon enough, they all know they're playing her game.

A wry smile touched her lips as she heard Lichen's anxious footsteps pacing back and forth somewhere out of the corner of her vision. He was clearly trying to make her aware of his disapproval, but letting him know she even paid attention to him wouldn't be fun--especially since toying with Lichen was slowly becoming her personal favorite pasttime.

Finally, the pacing ceased and the grey-skinned boy folded his arms in front of her line of sight. "You're being stupid," Lichen spat.

"Says you," Honeydew scoffed, leaning to the side to see past him, but he'd already begun his annoyed pacing again. "You're just jealous that he's dreamy and you're not."

Lichen froze. Although she still hadn't turned to look at him, Honeydew knew that his face had wrenched up in disgust, just like it always did whenever she said something that particularly annoyed him. "I am not," he retorted. "More like, the fact that Ol' Pappy is probably old enough to be your father."

Honeydew giggled, her shoulders shrugging up defiantly. "So?"

"So--so? Ugh, you're..." It was no use; Honeydew clearly didn't care about his opinion, nor the fact that she was making it painstakingly obvious that she wanted nothing more than to jump Paprique's bones, despite the fact she was younger than Lichen himself.

Trying to get her to look at logic wasn't going to work, but he still had one play left in the book. "Seriously, Honeydew. You don't understand what you're messing with, here. It's fine with me if you go off and get yourself killed, but I don't think you'd be so eager to jump in his pants if you knew what he's done."

"Ooooo!" Honeydew slowly slipped down off of the table she'd been perched on, her eyes growing wide with excitement. "So are you finally going to tell me how Big Bad Paprique kidnaps babies and eats them for breakfast with a side of waffles?"

Lichen rolled his eyes. "Do you  have any idea how dumb you sound when you try to be sarcastic?" He sighed, rubbing the side of his face with the palm of his hand. "I'm freaking serious, Dew. They may not have found him guilty of the murder, but only because they couldn't find any evidence. It's obvious he did it, though."

"Maybe, but you still haven't even told me what it is that supposedly happened." She gave him the foulest, most you-better-talk-mister expression she could muster. "Why even make it a thing if you're just gonna keep it such a big secret, huh? I think you're full of asparagus."

Lichen paused in his tracks, nearly causing Honeydew to bump into him, being in hot pursuit only inches behind him. "Fine. I was trying to keep him from having a reason to target me, but if you're going to be so berry-freaking nosy..."

"See, before Paprique worked here, he was a writer. Pretty closed off dude, from what I hear, but he did have one friend from high school, I guess. Some guy named Tato Pie.'

"Anyways, Tato was engaged to some foxy minx named Strawberry... up until Ol' Pappy had something to say about it, at least. A few weeks before the wedding, Tato dies, from--get this--a poisoned apple.'

"The police spent weeks trying to figure out how it got poisoned and why he ate it, but in the end they ended up ruling it a suicide because of some note they found, saying life had become too much or some other nonsense Paprique forged to make it look like he killed himself.'

"Not two weeks after the case is closed, guess who ends up hooking up? Paprique and Strawberry. A few weeks after that? Engaged.  His story was that he hitched up with his best friend's girl to ease her sorrow, but I don't buy it--and I'm not the only one. Tato had quite a few friends at Paprique's publisher... and the whole situation left them feeling uneasy, so they terminated their contract with him.'

"That's why he's working here--the whole thing left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, so no one'll take his books anymore. Can't blame them... I wouldn't want to publish a murderer, either."

An unexpected chill ran up Honeydew's spine. "Yeah... I-I dunno, I'm not sure I believe that, Lichen. You don't think Molly would hire him if she discovered that, do you?"

"Honestly? I wouldn't put it past her. She did say she hired us all because of our secrets, and my guess is is that whatever she's got planned, she needs a hitman to do her dirty work." Although Lichen's words were slightly laced with sarcasm, a vile smile grew on his cheeks as he continued, "Besides, between Molly's connections, Pappy's scandal, and Hyacinth's bat-crazy antics, I'd say all of us are probably murderers of some kind.'

"... Well," he added. "Except you, anyways. Not sure what the heck she has on you, but it's probably small fries, compared to the rest of us."

"HEY! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh, c'mon--a little toothpick of a brat like you? Fine--I bet it was a murder... your neighbor's cat, maybe? Run him over while trying to learn how to use a stick shift?!"

"Of course not! I am just as... diabolical... as the rest of you, and you know it!"

Lichen smirked. "Awwww, loooook, dollface wants to be a badass tooooo..."

"TAKE IT BACK! Take it BACK, Lichen! I am JUST as capable of killing someone as the rest of you!"

They could've heard a pin drop. By now, their heated conversation had carried over the rest of the coffeehouse, leaving all the occupants staring in Honeydew's direction with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

Honeydew could feel the flush rolling into her cheeks, but even as she tried to hide her face, everyone continued to stare at her.

"I... I was just being hypothetical, folks... Lichen and I... just goofing around... totally kidding..."

A few eyes lingered for another moment, but after giving them a weak smile and a wave, the rest went back to what they were doing previously, minus the addition of a few extra murmurs running through the restaurant.

"Oh, man... that was priceless," Lichen said in a low voice, barely able to contain his laughter. "I don't think I've seen anything that funny since that customer came in drunk and tried to order two dozen lattes for a coffee bath..."

"Uuugh, just... shut up, fudgeface."

"What are you gonna do, cry to Molly?" His face beamed when her expression soured further at the suggestion. "Yeah, like she's gonna be real happy that you've spooked all those customers when we're supposed to be on the down lo--"

"GUYS."

Lichen's mouth hung open for a moment longer as his eyes shifted to Hyacinth, who had more or less appeared out of no where. In fact, Lichen wasn't even aware she'd been assigned to work today, so it took several seconds for him to register why she was even here at all.

"What," he finally asked, as Honeydew was too busy heaving a sigh of relief at having their conversation hijacked.

"The TORCH." Hyacinth's eyes grew large, and her arms waved wildly even though her voice remained hushed. "It's a HOLE."

"The torch... is a hole." Lichen blinked several times in disbelief. This woman was nuts. "Mind telling me how that's possible?"

Honeydew groaned. "Don't encourage her, Lyke," she hissed to the side, trying to avoid Hyacinth's frantic gaze. "I really don't wanna deal with one of her monologues again..."

"No, I wanna hear this," he spat back.

"Lots of things are holes!" Hyacinth continued exuberantly. "Didn't you know that?"

"Uh... suuure... but not normally torches."

"I know. That's why it's fascinating."

Lichen sent Honeydew a "So... where is this hole, then?"

Hyacinth blinked several times in confusion. "... The floor? Where else would it be?"

"How about the back of your head, where your brains fell out?" Lichen responded, crossing his arms as he began to laugh.

"You joke, but I'm not lying," Hyacinth retorted sourly. "It's a hole, and I know it. You'll see!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure we will." Lichen turned away, idly flicking a piece of lint off his shirt to avoid making eye contact with her. "In the meantime, how 'bout you go clean the sink in the men's bathroom? Some customer left quite a mess in there, and Molly's going to be here any minute to check on things.

Although Hyacinth was clearly perturbed, she scrunched her face and walked away, muttering things under her breath as she disappeared around the corner.

The moment she was gone, Lichen's face completely perked up. "You know," he said, turning to Honeydew. "I bet that one's willing to show you a few pointers on how to off someone, if you really want to get into the big leagues--"

Groooooaaann. "You're unbelievable..."

---

The view from Bubble Buzz's patio was one of the best in all of Sugar Valley. The beach was so close that Paprique could taste the ocean on his lips, a sensation that dug up bittersweet memories he spent far too much time dwelling on when the bar didn't need his services.

Molly had done him a great service, giving him this job, especially with what she knew--but that didn't stop the humiliation of spending his afternoons behind a nectar bar from stinging his pride.

Still, as he rested his hands on the glass railing, he tried to focus on the positive: this wouldn't last forever.

Not only that, but the few details Molly had entrusted him with, over the others, made her whole operation seem... profitable. Perhaps the town would continue to see him as a laughing stock, but the opinions of others had never mattered much to him, anyways.

There had only ever been one opinion that mattered.

"Put it back."

As deep as he was in his thoughts, he'd heard her. The gentlest open and close of the door, cat-like tip toes across the floor, the light squeal on her lips as his wallet had lifted from the table into her paws; most would have missed it, but not the person who had set the trap.

Hyacinth dropped the wallet to the table in a quick *thud*. "I... what are you talking about?"

Paprique shoved himself from the railing, stalking her as she backed towards the wall like  prey from its predator. She stumbled, intensifying the wild surprise and fear in her eyes.

"Thought you'd grab a few extra dollars? Steal my credit card? Get away with it?" drawled Paprique's deep, monotone voice. "Think I'm that thick, do you."

"No, I--I--"

"Look, girl. I don't know what you did and I don't care. I don't know why Molly thinks she needs you... I don't care. You step a toe out of line, you reach your fingers into another customers pockets, you try to take advantage of Molly's trust and faith in you.... I. WILL. Be. Watching. Do I make myself clear."

Hyacinth's nails snapped noisily as she bit them, trying to soothe the anxiety from Paprique's fierce glare. "You do," she finally replied, her eyes searching his for any weakness--finding none.

"Molly has given you an incredible opportunity. Don't waste it."

He walked away, clearly having made his point, but he froze when he heard Hyacinth's sheepish voice stutter out another question.

"You... you won't tell her, will you?"

"No, I won't."

Paprique cocked his head over his shoulder, deftly looking at Hyacinth over the edge of his glasses. She winced; you didn't need to believe Lichen's tall tales to see why so many people avoided Paprique. In him laid a particular menace many believed is what turned a Berry Sweet sour--something invisible, until you saw it as Hyacinth saw it, in the murky depths of his gaze.

"But if you do it again," he continued, his voice edged with bitterness. "You won't have to answer to her. You'll answer to me."

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?