Conspicuous Schemes and Accomplishing Dreams

Taiga woke up way earlier than necessary, but she still felt well rested enough. Every time she had any future plans she would always wake up hours beforehand to try and at least be extra, extra ready. Taiga could feel the excitement and anxiety welling up within her; rising from the pit of her stomach to her chest cavity. Despite her shakiness, she felt determined and was passing the time listening to the noises from nature from the opened window by the front door.

But every time Taiga spaced out she would quickly look at the time again to make sure she wasn't running late. She sighed, seeing that it wasn't anywhere close to 12:00 PM, and bounced her leg more. After doing this multiple times, she got too antsy to focus and stood up to shut the window. "I'm heading out now, Spark." After giving Spark hugs and parting ways, he contently went back to sleep. He was used to her behavior for times like these, and Spark truly believed in her anyways, so he wasn't too worried.

After grabbing her black duffel bag and locking up, leaving the apartment building, Taiga decided to try and kill time at the nearby park in town, for the moment. She's never been able to explore around there yet, and she did have around a minimum of an hour and 40 minutes left, last she checked, until she had to get to work. "That should help calm my nerves a bit more... Hopefully." Taiga kept repeating to herself on the way there what Spark kept on saying to her as well; "You've got this."

Using a map she kept in her bag, Taiga was able to successfully get to the park. Or at least, where it was supposed to be. However, the map left out a very crucial detail; she did get it a while ago from that run-down gas station by her place, but...

"Wait, wh-... Are you kidding me!?" Looking from the map and back up again at her surroundings multiple times confirmed the unfortunate truth.

The "park" wasn't even there anymore. A closed off section of the woods left in its wake. "That guy sold me an outdated map? They're that desperate for business!? Ugh!"

Taiga sighed, putting away the map and started to search for her phone, but realized that she forgot to grab it before leaving.

Taiga stopped searching and froze, looking down blankly for a bit...

Before letting out a scream of frustration. Her scream quickly stopped short and her ears perked up, facing towards the woods, when Taiga thought she heard a higher-pitched scream after hers, though. She paused, trying to listen closely.

...

...

...

Nothing.

"I guess... I'm hearing things...?" She felt slightly uneasy for some reason but decided to shrug it off; blaming it on her stress. "Eh, maybe I could explore there instead, but then again, I don't want to possibly get lost or lose track of time right now. I should probably get going anyway since I can't see the time."

Taiga felt really drawn to the woods, and was curious about why it was blocked from public access. "Maybe I could ask Isolde... But, I don't want to waste her time. I guess I'll figure it out later." She quickly shook her head and sprinted off back the ways she came, heading off to work once getting back to the more familiar areas in town.

Thankfully, Taiga was 19 minutes early, and made it inside the bakery. Isolde turned from the front counter to face her after hearing the welcome entry's doorbell. "Ah, there you are~! Ready for your first day?" "Ah, um, yes! I am, ma'am!"

Cue the older woman's same, well-practiced smile; "Oh, how wonderful~!"

It dropping already, she walked up to Taiga and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Let's get started!" Taiga could see some of the other employees already in uniform, setting up and finishing cleaning.

However, Isolde was taking her away from the front, and not to the kitchen, but back by the lockers. She showed Taiga where hers was and what combination she'll have from now on unless something changes. "But I'm sure there won't be any changes anytime soon~" Taiga felt a bit more nervous and like the pressure to do a good job was getting intense. "R-Right!"

"Anywho..." The woman's tone suddenly became more serious. "I've personally come up with a very special job for you! I'm sure our customers will love it!" She looked confident and determined.

"No one else seemed special enough to pull this off well, but I believe you'll be perfect." At the flip of a switch, Isolde had a sickeningly sweet and praising tone, that honestly did calm Taiga down and boost her confidence. "Really...? Um, but what is it going to be, exactly?" Isolde slightly smirked after hearing that.

-10 minutes later-

Taiga was staring down at the floor in humiliation, looking anywhere else except the mirror in front of her. "I... have to wear this... outside?" She barely squeaked out in embarrassment.

Isolde scoffed at that remark. "What else? Oh, and don't forget to get people's attention as much as possible! We need to pique their interest! You're going to be out front most of the time!"

Taiga was told that she'd have a waitress uniform to wear like the others she saw out front, and that in itself didn't bother her, but the way it was designed for her looked downright ridiculous in her eyes. She begged Isolde for something less... "out there." Yet she refused, promising it was for the good of their bakery. "...You don't want to disappoint everyone and fail our business, do you?"

Taiga froze. "I'd hate to have to let you g-" "I'll do it." "Wonderful~!" Isolde's cheery tone was back again for a short moment before becoming chilled again. "Be out there in 5!"

Taiga could barely believe this. Her uniform looked like it came from a cartoon or something. It was a much brighter pink than the other's, with white stripes along most of the fabric, and a matching headband. Isolde was adamant that her ears and tail be on "full display." Taiga cringed uncomfortably and fidgeted. "How'd she even get my measurements...?" A shiver went down her back.

"At least this follows dress code... I guess? But still, this is... so... embarrassing. Why do I have to be a spectacle like this???"

Taiga sighed and tried to calm herself down. She tentatively picked up the directional sign given to her as well that she was supposed to point towards the bakery's entrance.

It read: "Come taste our (N)Eat 'n' Sweet treats here! Our 5,000th customer will get a special prize!" It was written in a very "cutesy" style and matched the pastel colors of the building's aesthetic inside and out.

Taiga gave herself a pep talk to try and feel better. "You can do this... No worries." Her voice and body language betrayed her words, but she went outside anyway. At least it wasn't cold out, she figured.

Taiga could swear she heard laughter from some of her fellow employees inside before the door closed behind her. She tried not to show her dejection, but her ears went down anyway. Isolde lightly knocked on the window to get Taiga's attention. Once she had it, she made the motion of lifting up her cheeks into a big smile and making two thumbs up before narrowing her eyes at her with a deadpan expression. Taiga's eyes widened, and she quickly nodded, turning back around.

She breathed in deeply, using all her courage to stand up straighter and hold up the sign properly. Whenever someone looked over or came by she smiled, but inside was starting to panic. 'Everyone's looking at me... Hold the sign steady! Oh god, I hate this. No, stay focused! It's not that bad compared to other things you've gone through, don't complain!'

She called out as loud as she could without scaring off others, even through her trembling voice, for the individuals nearby to: "Please come and give our lovely bakery a chance!" Some people thought Taiga looked interesting and that she was in a costume or something, decided to head inside since the advertising seemed unique, but Taiga was slightly shaking now, too busy freaking out in her own mind to even call out to anyone at this point. She closed her eyes, trying to hold back tears. "Don't do this, Taiga... Please. But, what if they-?"

Taiga could feel how hot her face was. She must be red as a beet now. All of a sudden, a tiny voice and small pull at the hem of her uniform's dress broke her train of thought, and she quickly blinked back her tears and sniffled. Looking down after gathering some of her composure, Taiga saw a little girl. "H-Hello..." The girl didn't respond right away.

"Can I take-?" "Are you ok-? Ah..." Taiga stopped herself short, realizing she interrupted the girl. "Sorry... Uh-" Looking back into the front of the bakery through the glass, Taiga saw that most of the staff was busy with the new customers.

She didn't even think about how many people stopped by since she was mostly focused on what this girl wanted. Since they weren't paying attention at the moment, Taiga knelt down to her level and spoke softly this time, setting the sign down beside her. "I'm sorry... What is it you wanted?" The girl spoke in a shy tone.

"Can I... take a picture wiff you?" Taiga was taken aback. "You're weally pwetty, wike pwincess Ambwosha! She's my favwite!"

Taiga looked puzzled, but soon noticed the characters on the girl's small camera once she pointed out the one in the middle with a tiara, who's clothes also resembled the color patterns of ambrosia; it clicked. There was an individual dessert theme for each of the 5 women in fighting stances shown. Taiga assumed it was a popular cartoon, and she did have her hair styled similarly to this certain character she was compared to. "Well, I..." Taiga was about to say she wasn't part of that group, but didn't want to let the little one down.

"Okay. Let's do it." They both smiled, but seeing hers made Taiga glad she could at least make this kid's day. A thought popped into Taiga's head, and she gently took the camera, figuring out the timer function on it. "I have an idea. Want to help me with it?" "Okay!"

She ended up posing in an Orthodox stance, trying to do her own thing, similarly to the characters, but Taiga encouraged the girl to also come up with her own pose. After she decided, Taiga helped her, showing how to try and hold it for the positioned camera against the bakery's outer window pane. The picture turned out well. Taiga looking like she's fighting alongside the girl, who was trying to do a high judo kick. Taiga smiled more, impressed with how she did her pose; giggling a bit along with the girl. Maybe she actually took classes.

Taiga stopped in surprise when the girl suddenly hugged her. "Thank you! I want to gwow up and be a hewo just wike you! I won't stop twying~!" Before Taiga could say anything else, two ladies who seemed to be her guardians came out of the bakery, and the little girl ran up to them happily after grabbing her camera.

Taiga was still stunned. The pair asked the girl what she was up to, and she excitedly explained what happened. They seemed touched and praised her, as well as thanking Taiga off to the side. "I should be thanking her... She helped me as well."

One of the women stayed behind while the other took the little girl and the treats they ordered back to their car. The little one turned and waved bye back to Taiga before leaving, which was happily returned. "We really can't thank you enough!" The woman beside Taiga spoke. "You really seemed to lift her spirits."

Taiga didn't know what to say, but next thing she knew, after getting a parting handshake from them, a 50 dollar bill was placed in her hand. "I'll make sure to tell my friends about this place. I'm glad there are still people like you around. By the way, great costume! Very realistic! You'll have to tell me your secret sometime!" They spoke while waving and walking off.

Taiga stood in absolute shock with her eyes wide, and mouth agape after seeing the bill, going completely speechless. She snapped out of it after seeing them drive off past her. The breeze slightly hitting against her form. Watching the car until it disappeared, she then looked back down at the bill in utter confusion. "But I... I didn't even get to know your names."