Janette Porter

“Oh yeah, I love pasta. Let’s do pasta,” He paused, “Wait, what kind of pasta?”

Janette grinned at the other before lightly shrugging her shoulders. “Obviously a creamy pasta, i can’t eat tomato based ones.” she throwned as she nudged the other gently. “You know it makes me sick.” she chuckled softly as she look at the menu. “Maybe a Boscaiola or Carbonara?”

“Hmmm?” Ferris suddenly heard a voice, making him wake up from behind the sunglasses he had been using to hide that he had been sleeping. It wasn’t the best idea, however it had worked… Until now. He let out a sigh as he looked at the person who had been standing there for God knows how long. “Sorry, you were saying something about…”

Janette raised an eyebrow at the other completely aware she’d just snapped him out of his daze. “Do you sleep alot in public?” she joked lightly a small smile playing on her lips. “You really should be more careful, someone might try and rob you next time.” 

Listening to the person in front of her, he shook his head a little bit before speaking. “Hm, it’s been quite.” He answered, a little distracted with the texts coming in on his phone. “Um, but yeah. No stabbings is good. Let’s just hope the event continues to be quiet.” Woody continued. “Have you been enjoying the event?” 

Janette raised an eyebrow at the other noticing he was clearly distracted by his phone. “You know, mother always said using your phone at the table was rude.” she grinned widely as she took another mouthful of her drink. “It’s been alright, a little quiet if anything.” she shrugged her shoulders as she glanced around the barbeque. “You should lighten up a bit deputy, it’ll slow down the process of you getting grey hairs.” 

Woody took a moment to break, knowing that there were enough people out on patrol that he didn’t need to be there for a few minutes. Sitting at one of the tables towards the back, his eyes looking over the screen of his phone. His brother was having one of those days where he couldn’t stop thinking of their parents, and Woody was realizing how hard it was going to be not being able to get to his brother when he needed him. He hadn’t noticed that someone sat across from him until a little after they had. “If you need the table I’ll be up in a minute. Just… Breaking.” 

Janette shook her head as she took a sip from her hot chocolate. “It’s fine, i mean it’s a small town how bad company could you be.” she offered the other a kind smile as her eyes scanned the crowd. “Busy night Deputy?” she asked curiously before returning her attention back to the man in question. “I think the events going smoothly, no ones stabbed one another yet.”

“Oh I don’t know about that, at least crayons don’t get stuck in your hair for a week.” Martha commented before scrunching up her nose a little, “I’m not sure fear is the word that I’m going for, more like just a little bit of respect. And maybe it is, still, I’d rather it stay on their plates or in their mouths and not on me.”

Janette nodded her head as she listened to the brunette. “You have a point, i mean no one like having to clean up a mess whilst babysitting.” she chuckle softly as she thought about her own history with babysitting. “I much prefer working with animals nowadays, a little bit easier to care for than toddlers in my personal opinion.” 

“ Animal Biology. Can’t say I ever took that one. Are you going to be a veterinarian ? ” Cassiopeia had only been out of college a little over a year, but there wasn’t much she missed about it. “ I couldn’t tell you if it’s a placebo effect, but you can try that crazy theory about the peppermint. Apparently if you eat one while you study and while you take it, your memory is more expansive. Or it could just be a conspiracy by peppermint company trying to get people to eat that shit. ”

“Yeah thats the dream.” she offered the other a small smile. “I actually heard this rumour about chewing gum? and then chewing the same gum in the exam? It’s supposed to trigger your memory or something dumb?” she chuckled softly to herself as she shook her head. “It’s a pretty good course, i’m lucky that i can intern at a vet clinic though.” she shrugged her shoulders as she glanced at the brunette. “Hands on experience and all that crap.” 

“My granny,” Scarlett said, “She taught me and she co-owns this place but she’s getting old so it’s mostly just me and some other employees doing the baking. She’s mostly the face of the business now.”

“That’s honestly the sweetest thing i’ve heard in a long time.” she smiled widely at the other. “Every successful empire needs a face, even after there gone they’ll be widely remembered for bringing people the joy and happiness they felt in this bakery.” she nodded her head a the other. “Not that i’m implying she’ll die soon.” 

“I think I show you how grateful I am for you daily,” Taran teased, licking his lips as he settled back in his chair. He reached out, grabbing hold of his coffee and taking a sip to give both of them a moment to just enjoy their beverages. “But if you think I need to be a little more forthcoming, we can work something out.” 

“Maybe so but you know after a while the same thing can get boring.” she grinned widely at the other before lightly flipping her hair over her shoulder. “A pay would be great.” she winked at the other the clear tease in her voice coming through. “I would never say no to more money.”

“They don’t, they just get grumpy and throw peanut butter at you the next morning.” Martha chuckled, though she often complained about how gruelling her job was, she wouldn’t change it for the world. “I think they saw it as a threat more then a trick, maybe that’ll give me a little more respect in their eyes though. Who knows.”

“Better than crayons.” she grinned at the other as she rubbed her forehead. “I used to babysit for a rich family in town and there bratty 3 year old would always throw crayons at my head.” a small sigh escaped her lips as she thought of where she was now. “I know a lot of teachers use fear to get the control they need in classrooms so no judgement from me.” she shrugged her shoulders as she thought about the peanut butter. “If only peanut butter was good for your skin, it would be a win win.”

Cassiopeia looked the other over, confusion settling on her features. They weren’t exactly friends, but it wasn’t like Cassie had anything else to do this afternoon. “ Why not?” Pulling out the chair to sit, she raised an eyebrow. “ What’s the exam on?”

“Animal biology.” she stated as she glanced at the other. “It seems easy enough but during exams they pull out all the crap don’t they.” a small laugh escaped her lips as she ran a hand through her short bob. “You feel prepared and then you get in there and you forget everything you thought you knew.” 

“That would be me. At least today it is,” Scar said with a smile, “And I co-own the place so I don’t plan on leaving any time soon.”

“Thats fascinating.” Jane propped her chin on her hand as she glanced at the other brunette. “Who taught you?” she raised an eyebrow at the other as she continued to down her muffin. “And who do you own this fine establishment with?” she chuckled softly to herself.

“I don’t doubt that, I had such a great time getting my business degree,” Barbara nodded in agreement. “I think the only thing holding me back is just how many options there are, I wish I could do it all you know? Life just isn’t long enough to try everything though, I guess,” she laughed and shrugged. “I don’t want to interrupt your studying, but I can stick around if you want a break. It’s helpful to take breaks after all.”

“I could use the break.” she answered honestly as she glanced at the blonde. “Maybe we can spend some time going over your options?  I know the list is long, but maybe something will stick out for you.” she chuckled softly. “Who knows maybe a textiles degree might be right up your alley.”

Taran smirked slightly. “Why would I do that when you’re irreplaceable?” he teased. “No one does their job as well as you do.” Plus, he didn’t like the idea of someone else doing Janette’s job. He liked the routine that they had, and he enjoyed her company. Standing, he winked at her. “Be right back.” He made his way over to the counter, ordering her drink, and waited with crossed arms. He came back a few minutes later with her order, and handed it across the table to her. 

“Make your life easier i’m sure.” she shrugged her shoulders as she answered honestly. “It’s quite simple actually, you just need to make sure there not useless and have a bar of common sense.” she offered the other a small smile as she shrugged her shoulders. She waited patiently as he brought back her drink. “I appreciate it you know, and besides sometimes you should show how thankful you are to your staff.” she grinned at the other before talking a sip. “Coffee is a good start.”

“I wasn’t sure what you wanted and didn’t want to get you the wrong thing,” Taran explained, licking his lips before smiling. “So I thought I’d come over here and see how you were doing before asking you what you would like. I’ll go grab it,” he offered, watching her with an attentive expression. “We’ve been short-staffed as of late. We’ve all missed you.” 

“Iced Latte.” she grinned at the other as she tapped her fingers along the surface of the table. “Thanks for checking though, theres nothing worse than getting a drink you don’t like.” a small laugh escaped her lips as she glanced back down at her notes. “Maybe you should hire new staff.” she joked lightly before raising her gaze again. “maybe you should of got someone to cover my job whilst i was away.” 

Taran looked around for a moment, licking his lips as he moved to sit down across from her, a coffee in hand that he placed down on the table. “Yeah?” he asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. “That’s good. You’ll have some down time after it’s all over.” 

“I hope you brought another one of those for me.” she teased before letting a laugh escape her lips. “Yeah, it’ll be nice to be out of study mode and get back into being a wonderful assistant.” she grinned at the other as she placed her pen down on top of her notes. “You’d be missing the extra hands at work i’m sure.”