Toast And Bananas [Ursula]

[mina pandora oliveira]

@ursula

Morning. Opening shift at Flourish & Blotts. Mina typically tried to avoid those as much as possible, simply because there were more customers to deal with as people tended to try and get things done before going in to work. That was great and all, but also made the store overcrowded and hard to handle. She also wasn’t a fan of having to wake up early. Her days normally started around nine in the morning, only because the dog had to be walked and fed by then. If Callisto didn’t do it first, that was. Sometimes she got a jump on it if she was feeling particularly nice. Either that or Mina was still passed out from a night on the town and clearly going to be hungover and unable to move. It happened more often than not. Today she was fine though. Middle of the week meant she hadn’t felt the need to drink her problems away. Yet. That could always change by the end of her shift. Depended on how things went. The only good part about opening the store (yes there was a good part), was that she could expect to be done by around two. Having to be in at five in the morning made that all worth it. Since Ursula was the best boss ever, her shift the following day would be closing. That meant being able to go home this afternoon, take a quick nap, and then go out drinking with her muggle friends for a mid-week decompression.

But today was different. Mina had been in the shop for close to two hours already, and there was no one there. Sometimes she was thankful that a real book store still existed in the magical world, because it was starting to look like they were becoming obsolete in the muggle one. Other times, days like today, she hated it. What was so hard about wanting to stop in and browse through a few aisles? Apparently a lot, because only a few people had been in so far. Mina often wondered if it was her presence behind the counter that turned potential customers away. Seemingly all of her shifts were void of them. It was nice at first; she was able to read to her heart’s content, or take smoke breaks without the fear of someone stepping in while she was halfway through a cigarette. Now it was just boring. And here she was, hoping that the opening shift would bring something new for once. Nope. Ursula wasn’t in yet either, so that meant she was alone to her own devices. Which was eating a second breakfast, toast to be exact, because being bored and sitting around always made her hungry. At least she’d have a decent amount of food in her stomach if she was going to go out drinking later. Tomorrow’s Mina would thank her for that.

[Deleted]

Ursula had had a late start this morning. It was part way to do with her two cats. Jade and Wicca had both curled up next to her. And she just couldn't wake up. But the other reason, was that she had been up extremely late working on her latest project. She had been commissioned to make some more explosives. These explosives were going to be the next generation of bombs. Last time she blew up kings cross, she observed the damage and the how both muggle and magical law enforcement managed it. This next explosion was going to be better. Ursula had learned that some muggle bombers would put sharp items in the bomb for the sole purpose of causing damage. These items would be forced out with the explosion and create more shrapnel. She was going to see how that worked out.

Ursula finally looked at the time. Realizing how late she really was she got up and quickly got ready. Jade simply moved into the spot where Ursula had been. More warmth. But Wicca followed her around the apartment as she got ready and ate a quick breakfast of beagles. She put food in the bowl for the cats while she did. By the time Ursula was ready to go, Wicca, had a leash and a harness in her mouth. "Ok, fine, you can come." She told the large Savannah cat. She placed the harness on Wicca and walked out the door.

Ursula walked into Flourish and Blotts and unhooked the leash on Wicca who went up the stairs and curled up on a cat bed in the corner by the railing, so she could watch over the store as people came in and out. And if they didn't come in and out, she could watch the people passing, should she choose. "Good morning Mina! Sorry I'm late." She smiled at the girl behind the counter who was eating toast. Mina was amazing. Everything was perfectly open. And had it been busy, she probably wouldn't have like her employee eating, and being seemingly unproductive. But there was no one in the store, so there was no need to be productive. Ursula looked in the back. No boxes. She was expecting a shipment of new books to stock, and some old books that were fan favorites, and people just couldn't get enough of. "I am going to kill that man." She said under her breath. But she wouldn't. Not yet. Her distributor said that they would arrive 'sometime today'. So he still had time. Since there was nothing to do, yet, and no one in the store. She moved to sit behind the counter with Mina. "So hows life? Everything going alright?" She smiled and sat down "I feel like it's been forever since we have had a chance to talk."

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

@ursula

The door to the bookstore opened with a jingle. The same annoyingly high-pitched ring-ring that she heard day in and day out. Muggle office workers dreaded the sound of phones ringing according to her non-magical friends. Mina though? She hated that damn bell above the door. She didn’t want to know when people were entering unless she was down an aisle restacking books or already helping a customer. From her spot at the counter, she could see the door. Having an auditory alert as well was not necessary. Last she checked, her eyes were perfectly capable of giving her all the necessary information. The dinging was not necessary. Still, Mina tried to wrap up her bite of toast as fast as possible, only realizing after she swallowed it that there was no need to worry. It was just Ursula after all. Mina watched as the savannah cat ran past her and up to its bed. That was a well-trained animal right there. Maybe one day her own dog would be tame enough to be able to bring her in. Mina had a feeling that was never going to happen though. Her Akita had a bit of trouble when it came to listening. Nothing new there. It was a trait that ran in the family with both pets and humans.

“Morning,” Mina stifled a yawn. That was the first she had said to another human being all day. Callisto had a night shift, so it had been about a day since she had last talked to her sister, meaning her only human interaction were customers that entered the store. “Didn’t miss much. No one has been in yet.” She bit down on her piece of toast, munching on it for a bit as she watched her boss move around the store. Mina knew exactly what the peek into the back storage area was for; those stupid distribution boxes. Getting more than one of those a day was a nightmare, because that meant locating where the books went and then shelving them. Even with magic, having to re-arrange books took time. That was all a part of it though. Right now, the problem was getting the new books into the store. The delivery guy had to bring them in before she could shelf them. Mina understood all too well the frustration that came with waiting for the boxes. If they had arrived this morning, it would have been something to do to kill time when customers weren’t in. Should they arrive around lunch or later afternoon, then the store would be swamped with customers and have one of them trying to put the new books out.

Ursula seemed content with how the store was opened and sat down behind the counter as well. “Usually its passing comments between cashing customers out, so yeah, forever sounds about right,” Mina grinned. This was one of those rare moments that neither of them ever had while in the shop. As for the first question, that one was a little easier. “Everything’s going well. Still getting used to this being an adult thing. That’s where my sisters would laugh at me and then joke about how I’ll never really be an adult.” Mina paused. Was that too depressing for this early in the morning? “They aren’t exactly wrong though,” she laughed awkwardly before taking another bite of her toast.

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Yes, Wicca was a cat, but Savanna cats are known to be trainable. That was one reason why Ursula loved to bring the cat with her. Wicca watched over the store and then layed down and closed her eyes for a cat nap. Ursula’s other cat, Jade, also came to the store sometimes. But she was not as well trained. She would just travel jump up where ever she wanted, and did what she wanted. Because of this, she often just left her home.

”That’s a little boring.” She responded as her employee told her that no one had come in today. She hated slow days. Granted, her busiest times were the two or three weeks leading up to the new semester. Seeing as it was spring, it wasn’t even close to that time. But she would need to get the list of books that she should over stock on in a little while from the Headmistress of Hogwarts. But she wouldn’t worry about that yet. She didn’t need to worry about it yet.

Still fuming a little about her order not being here, Ursula sat next to Mina. She laughed, feeling a little better as Mina spoke. When she did see her, it was usually busier, or they had something to do. Like put books away, or arrange books on the shelves for a new order of books. Doing such took time, and Ursula tried to do most of it, and let Mina, when she was in, take care of the counter. But if no one was there, she would have all her employees who were in that day, help. She also let them take turns organizing the front display each month. But one of the other employees just did that a week or so ago. Because of these reasons, their conversations often were passing comments, or strictly about business. ”I understand. There are times that I wish I could go back to school.” Ursula owned her year. She was popular and had the hottest boyfriend who was also the captain of the Slytherin quidditch team. Life couldn’t have been better. ”I’m thinking, if it doesn’t speed up in an hour or two, we should both go over and get some ice cream at Florean Fortescue’s, my treat.” She then looked over at Mina who was eating at this time. ”If you’re feeling up for it.” It would still be a few hours from now, but it would be fun, Ursula Thought.

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

@ursula

Boring indeed. That was one thing both of them could agree on. Running a shop definitely had its own interesting and quirky moments, but none of that could happen when literally no one was walking in. This was exactly why Mina craved human interaction by the end of the day. More like she thrived off of it and went crazy. No wonder Callisto hated her half the time. Wasn’t her fault that she managed to only get her daily dose of talking a couple days out of the week. She didn’t have a fancy-pants job like her sister. Finishing her current bite of toast, Mina swallowed. “Something like that. Still better than having those ancient curmudgeons wandering in and complaining about how lazy I am.” Mina left it at that. If Ursula wasn’t around, they had a habit of lashing out more than saying she was just lazy. It wasn’t exactly her place to tell them off and she was used to the criticism at home. Business was still business, and the older generations of magic didn’t really understand how the younger ones managed their shops. That was just how it was.

She let out a small laugh when Ursula said she wanted to go back to school at times. That wasn’t exactly what she had meant, but close enough. “Don’t get me wrong, school was a blast. But I didn’t mix well with it.” She didn’t want to say that was the reason she was currently a cashier and nothing more, but it kind of was. “So I think I’m fine staying where I’m at. The scary part is learning that change from school to work. My muggle friends are mostly still in uni, and even they seem to have it all figured out…” Mina frowned as she trailed off. The muggles she went drinking with, while a wild bunch, were also intelligent. She knew she was the outlier in that crowd, magic roots aside.

Taking another bite of her toast, Mina nodded her head at the prospect of getting ice cream in the middle of her shift. That sounded wonderful. Probably also meant she could have a longer smoke break. The unfortunate side effect of a slow day was more time spent puffing away outside to kill time. It was better than falling asleep behind the cash register again. “It’d be silly of me to turn down ice cream. Have they announced the summer flavors yet, or are we still stuck on all of the spring ones?”

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Being the boss meant that Ursula usually had something to do. Like put new shipments out, but it hadn’t come in yet. She could also probably check the books and make sure that noone or nothing was cheating them. But that was just busy work at this point. She would much rather talk with Mina right now. Ursula nodded at Mina’s comment, she knew that some customers could be quite testy. She got a decent amount of it when she was here. She felt bad for her employees when she wasn’t there, it was her job as the boss to handle those type of people.

”It’s tough figuring it out.” Ursula spent so long around her family's mansion, with no one around, and nothing to do. She couldn’t stand it, so she made it work and figured it out. Sure she sole many priceless artifacts from her parents. But the money was hers now and she felt as if she was doing well for herself. She wouldn’t mention that though.

Ursula smiled when she thought about summer and the flavors of ice cream.

[/b]” I feel like I’ve heard of some of them, but I can’t remember. We should ask when we go.”[/b] It would be Ursula’s treat, of course. She loved spending time with people. Luckily at that time a customer entered the shop, and Ursula said her greeting to them, telling them to let them know if there was anything they could do. Just because a person was there, didn’t mean things were picking up. It only meant that, if they had lots of questions, and wanted to be shown a location.

mina pandora oliveira
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[mina pandora oliveira]

@ursula

Tough. That was a simple, yet accurate description of what school had been like for Mina. All the professors had known she struggled, and so had her parents. Admitting that to her siblings was too difficult, even though she was sure that Callisto knew. Only a few friends had actually been clued in on the problems that had transpired during her fourth year, where she had almost been expelled due to poor marks. Everyone played it off like it was her not trying or goofing off too much. While technically that was partially true, the only reason she was acting out in that manner was because she couldn’t grasp anything that wasn’t done in a practical setting or fun to read about. Almost flunking out solidified the fact that she was a failure. Sure, she graduated and had a job now, but it had taken almost three years to get that job, and a lot of wasted time in between. Solemnly nodding her head at Ursula’s answer of it being tough to figure out, Mina left it at that. That was behind her, and she had more important things at hand. Like ice cream.

The boss lady said that she was pretty sure she had heard of a few of the summer flavors, but that was it. They were interrupted by a customer, and Mina contained the groan that desperately wanted to escape from within her. They had been that close to getting ice cream. Speeding the customer along would be easier, as long as they weren’t one of the needy ones. As much as she enjoyed helping people find the book they wanted, the ones that asked tons of questions every time they came in were annoying. They didn’t care about her or the service she was giving them. She was just a way to kill time. The ones that did stick around and actually got to know her were worth the time though. They at least brought something to the table. “If they aren’t quick about this, one of us could always run and get the ice cream. Then we won’t have to worry about locking up or being stuck helping customers all day,” Mina offered quietly, so that the person wouldn’t hear her. Business was still business after all.

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Ursula smiled when Mina nodded. The past was the past, and they should focus on the future. That was more of what Ursula tried to do. She ignored her family completely now. Ursula was glad that Mina left the conversation about adulthood with a simple nod. Talking about work and the future, along with bills and anything else “adulty” tended to get dull and depressing fast. That definitely was not the way she liked to spend her time. The customer came in and Ursula greeted them with a smile. She heard Mina whisper her proposition, and Ursula smile widened. ”Excellent, why don’t you go and get the ice cream and I’ll tend to the customer.” She quietly whispered back. After telling Mina what she would like, she glanced at the customer who seemed to be paroosing. ”Make sure to get a receipt and I’ll pay you back.” She then went over to the customer and began to help them out.
mina pandora oliveira