Jayme was frustrated. Where had he put that paperwork? He hadn't left it in the office or the break room. Ugh! Frustrated he began to pull everything out from under the counter. Where had he put those applications. Even if none had been suitable to run the office, He needed some help with deliveries, one or two had to be suitable for that if only he could find the applications.

He had trashed the store now, nothing was wear it belonged, except the flowers. That was when he found the appliactaions, on top of the copier. At times he was such an idiot. He went through them all again. several were from people who applied over and over in spite of having no qualifications. He sat them aside and went through the applications by procees of elimintation.

In the end he had two, he called the first and the number was disconnected. That one got file thirteened, leaving only one.....Lin Parker.....

He dialed the number.

Lin was at her apartment, leaning in a chair on the back two legs. She was staring at the ceiling, bored out of her mind. A toothpick was in her mouth and poking out to the side. She’d just had a lot to eat, but when does she not eat a lot? Needless to say it was all meat as well; pork to be exact.

The phone started ringing in the middle of her….busy schedule. She looked at it for a moment from the chair then finally leaned the chair back onto all four legs and got up and headed for the phone. Picking it up she placed it to her ear.

”Hello?” Hopefully who ever it was had something more entertaining for her to do other than sitting around.

"Hello, is this Lin Parker? I'm Jayme MacAllaisdair, You recently applied at the something is blooming flower shop." he said.

He looked around the shop, he had no delieries at the moment, but the place was a mess now, he figured if she was still available he'd let her start today. Bev, one of his counter girls, came back from lunch and surveyed the mess with wide eyes. She said nothing while he was on the phone though, rather she began to put things away if she knew where they went.

”This is Lin.” She listened as he said who he was and that she’d recently applied at the flower shop. Ah yes. The flower shop. She’d actually almost forgotten she’d applied there. Work would make the day go by quicker, however if he’d called to say she wasn’t being hired she’d be rather upset that he’d called just to tell her that. One could easily say the same message by not calling at all.

”Indeed I did. Got a job for me?” She asked rather blatantly. Fingers twirled around the toothpick in her mouth.

"If you think you'd like to deliver flowers and help around the shop, then yes." he answered a twinge of humor in his voice. "When can you start?" he asked not wnting to inconveniance her by demanding she come to work on short notice.

Bev, made curious faces at him while she listened to snatches of conversation.

She tossed the idea around for a bit as she’d never really be partial to flowers. However it was a job and it did get money for her to pay the bills. It’s not like she could keep her apartment without any money. This job was probably all she would get seeing as all the butcher shops had a put a restraining order on her. The nerve of them keeping a cat away from meat. Such a disgrace.

”When do you need me to work? You sound a bit desperate.” Nothing got by her sensitive ears. Her instincts could also pick up on certain emotions based on body language, but there wasn’t a body to analyze at the moment either. Hearing could pick up on another moving about the store.

"If you'd like, now, I've made the shop a disaster this morning." he answered. While he was om the phone he and Bev were communicating via gestores, nods, and waves. He could tell he was exasperating the girl. She kept roling her eyes at him. She wasn't mad, she was used to Jayme, but he did know he could be a pain in the neck. He was waiting for Lin's answer.

”Alrighty. I’ll be there in a bit.” She hung up and spit the toothpick into the trashcan near by. At least something was going to be done today although the prospect of cleaning up wasn’t on her priority list. But the idea of getting money while cleaning made it appealing if nothing else.

She changed into more appropriate work clothing putting on a pair of khaki pants and a tight black short sleeved button down shirt. She tied her black hair back into a ponytail and slipped some Dockers on and then headed out the door. If she had over dressed, oh well. He’d tell her what to wear next time.

-----

About a half hour later she was walking in the front door of the store and the bell rang over the door to signal someone was there. She looked around the room and shook her head in disbelief. How did someone let their place get so messy?

Bev was behind the counter going throguh stacks of papers and throwing some of them out. Jayme was vacuuming the break room. "Jayme did it, it happens when he forgets, which is a lot, I must warn you." Bev says. "You must be the new delivery driver.?"

In the break room Jayme sings while he vacuums.

Joy. As long as he didn’t forget when her pay check was do he might keep all his limbs attached to his body.

”Indeed I am.” She picked up a few things as she headed to the counter. Ears picked up on the sound of singing and vacuuming which was probably Jayme no doubt. He seemed like an upbeat person, even in his forgetfulness.

”What do you do here?” She asked, returning her full attention to the lady before her who she still did not know the name of.

(she has a nametag actually lol)

"I'm Bev, I work the counter, and pick up after Jayme." she giggles as Jayme's volume increases and he can be heard singing...."Roxannne, you don't have to wear that dress tonight......"

"If he wasn't so nice, it might be annoying." Bev said.

Oh please say she didn’t have to clean up after Jayme all the time. She might explode if he made messes all the time. Just tell her where he lays stuff and she’ll be sure to remember where he placed it. She was pretty good at remembering stuff.

She couldn’t help but have a smirk creep up on her face as she heard Jayme singing in the back room. It was just too funny.

”Yes. It is a good thing that he is nice. I’m Lin by the way. Not sure if you heard that over the phone or not.” Lin assumed this was the other person moving about while she was on the phone.

"Oh, nice to meet you, Jayme forgot to tell me, but I didn't want to make him forget what he was doing. I do wish he had waited to look for things till I was back from lunch though. This is why he goes on deliveries a lot, it keeps him out the shop." Bev says.

Finally Jayme comes out of the breakroom with the vacuum. " Hi Lin." he says merrily as he puts the vacuum away.

”Ah.” Was all she stated to Bev talking about Jayme. She looks towards the doorway to the back rooms as he walks out and says hi.

”Hello. Nice singing.” She says with a smile on her face as she leans against the front counter.

"No I don't do weddings, so don't ask." Jayme teases. Most of his mess is cleaned up now except for his office. Jayme shows her around and then shows he the vans.

"You think you're up to taking some flowers to the hospital, someone will come out the van and help you with them, but it's Monday, so you'll need to pull in by the childrens' wing." he says to her while he shows her where the carts and dollies are fro loading the vans.

She laughs at his comment. Good thing. She states in her mind, but she was only teasing. Would have been more entertaining had she said it out loud, but she wasn’t about to go get on bad terms already with her new boss. That would be a bad mistake.

”Can do.” She says as he tells her about a delivery that needed to be made to the hospital. At least she doesn’t have to clean up.

"Okay great let me finish loading these flowers and this helium tank for the balloons." Jayme says.

When he finished he handed her the keys. "Drive careful." he says to her.

”Will do.” She said taking the keys and getting into the driver’s seat. Turning on the ignition, she buckled up and then pulled out on to the street and disappeared after turning onto another street.

-----

She returned about an hour later and parked the van where it was before and turned the ignition off. Getting out she shut the door and headed for the door of the shop. Once again opening the door greeted her with the bell placed over the door. That was going to get agitating. Hopefully she could just deal with it.

”I’m back.” She stated as if the bell didn’t make it obvious.

Bev was on the phone when Lin came back and Jayme was cleaning the shop windows. "Did you have any problems or did it go okay?" he asked Lin while he cleaned.

Bev got off the phone and said to Jayme, "What are we having for lunch today Jayme?"

”It was fine.” She said handing him the money for the delivery and the keys. When Bev got off the phone and asked what they were having for lunch Lin immediately looked to Jayme. Meat? Meat is good; she thought to herself. Of course when was meat not good? Any kind would do really. Of course Lin had also just eaten as well, but that didn’t stop her from wanting more to eat. It was amazing that she kept her small figure with how much she ate.

Jayme pocketed the keys. (it might be good to know later when he looks for them) and had Bev deal withthe money.

"What should we get for lunch, just had fried chicken yesterday, how does Mongolian bbq sound? Jayme asked them both. Meat sounds good to Jayme all the time too, he's a big dude, takes a lot of protien to keep him going.

”Sounds delicious.” Had she not been around other’s she might have licked her lips at the sound of tasty meal. She wondered how much she could order. Her gaze turned to Bev to see if she would say the same thing. Lin wanted to sent a look her way that said ‘you better say yes’, but that wouldn’t be good just starting out at the store. Threatening a co-worker with a glare. So she remained mellow and awaited her decision.

Bev didn't even notice Lin, "Sure Jayme But I'm not going to try anything spicy no matter how much you swear by it this time." she said.

"Okay, write down what you want, and two ribplates, for me and give Lin some cash to get it and whatever she wants. You know where it is Lin?" he asks her.

Did he even have to ask if she knew where it was? She knew where all the places in town that served meat. Most of them had only recently started to ban her as some caught her in the back room stealing meat. She couldn’t help it. How else was a poor kitty supposed to get her dinner with no money?

”Sure do.” She hoped that he would give her a decent amount of money so she could order several rib plates. Of course then she’ll come off as a pig, but it’s not like she is going to go out of her way and order a salad to make sure they didn’t think she ate a lot.

Bev hands over a list of food and a wad of cash.

"Oh heck" Jayme says," where did I set the keys?"

It is doubtful Jayme would say anything, his former office manager was eating quite well at lunch as she got further into her pregnancy. "OOh get me some fortune cookies too please." he says.

Bev wrinkles her face and says "I can't believe you eat those."

Lin just smiles and shakes her head at her new boss. ”You put them in your pocket.” There was amusement in her voice as she spoke. She nodded when he asked for fortune cookies. Lin agreed with Bev when she said she couldn’t believe he ate those. Who would choose such nasty things over a little extra meat? Didn’t seem reasonable to Lin.

"Oh yeah." he blurts and pulls out the keys. "Here ya go." he hands them over. "Be sure you tell them you are from the flower shop, and that I do not want dinky portions like two weeks ago.....they ought to remember, I was a prick when I drove back over there." Jayme says.

Bev only shakes her head. Jayme is not a mean person, likely he'd gone in and scowled at them and not much else.

She gets the keys back and she will definitely honor his wishes of bigger portions. No doubt if she didn’t get bigger portions she might get just a tad violent with the cook. And then she’d end up getting kicked out of yet another meat based establishment.

”Be back in a bit.” She says taking the money and list of food and then got into the van and drove off.

------

A half hour later she was back with the food. She brought in three bags, one for each order. She handed Jayme and Bev their food and then she gave Jayme the keys and extra money.

”They were very cooperative on making larger portions.” A smirk was on her face. Indeed they had been, after she accidentally scratched the man. Needless to say they’ll give them larger portions all the time.

”I’m going to go eat outside. I saw a bench not far down the street.” She then headed back out the door and down the street to the bench and started to eat.

Jayme and Bev exchange an odd glance as Lin goes outside to eat but say nothing. Jayme eats out on the counter and Bev goes into the break room.

The portions are indeed very generous, even Bev comments on the improvement.

"You should send her all the time I think. You're too nice when you go." she calls from the break room.

"Maybe, as long as she's nice to our customers." Jayme answers.

Lin was getting a few stares from people walking by as she ate rather viciously. The delicious taste was making the tiger quite restless within and her canines were actually starting to show up in her teeth; changing. But as soon as she was done they went back to being normal incisors.

Finishing up her rather large meal, she cleans her face with napkins (and a bit of licking) and heads back inside after dumping the trash in a nearby trash can.

Back inside she noticed Jayme was still eating. Slow poke. Reaching in her pocket she pulls out the fortune cookies and sets them on the counter.

”These got into my bag somehow.” She leans up against the counter.

Jayme nods and says something unintelligible while his mouth is full. He has two pots of flowers on the counter with the van keys and a dlivery ticket. He swallows and gestures for her to come behind the counter.

"Here," he says pointing at the map of the city " is where we are, and these," he gestures at the flowers," need to get here." he shows her the address on the map that is written on the ticket. "Think you can get it or would you like me to ride along?" he asks.

A smile was on her face as he tried to speak with a full mouth. No manners huh? She followed him behind the counter as he motioned for her to follow. She crossed one leg behind the other and crossed her arms on the counter and looked where he pointed.

”I think I can handle it. But if you want to come along you can.” She picks the keys up and sticks the delivery ticket in her pocket so she can pick up the flower pots. She waits for his answer.

"If you think you can get it, it ought to be fine. Drive careful. Tommorow I should have a phone for you, then you'll be able to call if you have trouble finding a place." he tells her. "and when you get back I'll print you a nametag out." he promises. "Don't let me forget."

”I won’t.” Lin didn’t forget things often, unless she really didn’t mind forgetting the information. A name tag might be useful though. She then headed back out the door again, backwards though since she was had her hands full and then headed to the van and was off on the delivery.

-----

About 45 minutes later she arrived back at the shop. The place had not been too hard to find. Once again she walked through the front door; already she was getting a routine down.

”Nametag Jayme.” She blurted as soon as she walked through the door as if she assumed he already had forgotten. Heading over to the counter she set the keys down as well as the money from the delivery.

Bev rang in the delivery. Jayme went into his office and came out after a few minutes with a name tag. "Here you go." he said handing her the newly punched name tag. It had her first name and said delivery staff.

Bev handed Jayme a ckipboard. "Hotels." she reiminded him. He nodded and took the clipboard to his office and got on the phone.

"He needs to take their orders for this week." Bev offered in explanation.

"Did Jayme ask you if you wanted uniform shirts?' Bev asked.

”Thanks.” She put on the new named tag and listened to Bev tell Jayme something about hotels. She explained what she meant and Lin nodded in understandment.

”No he didn’t. Let me guess. He forgot?” She said rather amused.

Bev handed Lin a book to look at. "Yeah, he doesn't mean to, he just does.There's the ones we're allowed to order," she said flipping to a scetion." Jayme will pay for five, after that you're on your own for six months." Bev says.

In the office Jayme is laughing loudly at something, Bev rolls her eyes, "I hope he's writing stuff down. So do you thnk you're gonna stay?" she asks.

Lin flipped through the section Bev opened to and looked through the uniforms. ”Which ones did you pick?” She stated without looking up. Hearing laughter, she brought her attention to the doorway. He really was different than most store owners.

”Probably. I haven’t found any other jobs to my liking yet.” In other words none of the places she really wants to work out will let her within 50 feet of the premises.

((OOC poor Lin, eternally banned from the meat industry))

IC

"I got the green ones and the khaki ones, the potting soild seems not to show real bad and hey wash out well. The first time I got the red ones and they weren't so great. Jayme always gets white, I dunno how he keeps them clean." Bev says.

(He uses spells on his laundry lol)

"Cool, maybe Jayme can fix the office, since it looks like you'll be staying." She says.

((Yes it’s sad. Perhaps that’s why she’s a little cranky all the time. lol))

”I’ll probably get the khaki ones. Tan’s my color.” She pointed to the ones she picked out and then set the book to the side. She was leaning on the counter again.

”So how long have you been working here?” Might as well do something to pass the time. Why not start a conversation?