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By Anabelle B
Beatrix used to have a normal life before they started art school. Before they had given up on having a proper sleep schedule. Before coming out to their parents.
The alarm went off for the second time and they groped for their phone wanting to turn it off. Unfortunately, they just missed it and instead accidentally pushed it off the bed, and it landed on the floor. It was still ringing and vibrating, sighing they pushed themself up and got out of bed. Grabbing their phone and finally turning off that god-forsaken alarm.
They trudged over to the bathroom where they finally began to wake up after a quick warm shower. They didn't get to take those very often. Hot water was expensive and they were living on nickels and dimes, so to speak.
The only reason they were even able to go to art school to get a major after everything they went through was that there was a law in place that made sure that parents paid for their children's school until they got a degree. They were unendingly grateful for its existence as they quite enjoyed not living on the streets and being able to eat even if the food they eat is from the dollar store or the perfectly good food that their job can serve.
By the time they got to their job, the cafe was open and in the middle of the Monday morning rush, they made their way to the back of the store put on their apron, and tied their dark purple hair up in a poor approximation of a bun, then walked out to the front and began to make drinks and take orders with the only other person that worked at the cafe.
As they worked and their body went through the motions of their job she began to retreat into their mind and think about their predicament.
They hadn't always lived alone once she had been with their “family”.
She was often looked over for her star athlete of an older sister and her “genius” little brother along with the fact that she was stuck as the unremarkable middle child who was never good enough. No matter how many A+’s she got or the influential friends she made she was constantly living in their sibling's shadow.
She had simultaneously been expected to give up her personal life to be their brother's caretaker and also was expected to do something great like their siblings.
She realized it was a toxic cycle when their parents punished her for not being “perfect” like her siblings, then immediately turned around and called themselves great parents after the brother she had raised won a spelling bee.
Her only refuge was art, she had spent so many hours locked away in their room making art.
It allowed her to get out her feelings and was the only thing she was ever good at. So when it was time to choose a profession she went into art and she finally found happiness.
Eventually, she had a proper friend group and people supporting her despite being queer.
It was a completely different environment to the stifling and ornate mansion she was supposed to call home but more and more she learned that her school and even more her friends were more of a home, more of a family than the house and people she had grown up with for so much of their life.
She learned that families were supposed to support and take care of her. Not because it would lead to another trophy for the cabinet or some high-paying job or important governmental position that put your family in a position of power. But instead, because they genuinely loved her, and wanted her to succeed not for themselves not so they could gain another scrap of power. But instead, because they wanted the best for their children, they wanted her to have the ability to live a happy and comfortable life.
She learned that you should expect your family to love you despite your flaws, not hate you because of them. Eventually, because of Bea's real family, the one she chose, she was able to explore her sexuality to realize that she wasn't a she but a they…
Soon their mind began to wander once again and they found themselves thinking about their job.
They had started working at the cafe because she needed to pay the bills and this place had been recommended to them by one of their friends from school. They had been told that the cafe had decent pay and the hours were good.
So they applied for a job there and soon were accepted and told they'd be working as a barista.
their co-worker was the owner yet she still worked the front as a barista. Bea didn't mind that because honestly, they didn't care what the other did as long as she pulled their wait and didn't cause too much trouble.
Most days were okay, sure they’d have to deal with the occasional rude customer or god forbid Karen, but most of the time the shifts were fine, a little boring but fine.
But occasionally they’d come in and know that today would be “interesting”. On those days they’d stay away from the customers sticking to making drinks and engaging in idle chit-chat with Tiffiny like it was any other day.
Those days were when Bea would notice the eccentricities of their coworker, small things like Tiffiny being so light on their feet it was as if they weren't even touching the ground, (when they had thought about it later they excused it as her just being naturally very sneaky).
Or how she claimed that she was 27 even though she talked about things that happened decades ago as if she'd been there, (although most of the time Bea just chalked that up to her knowing so much about the subject that she might as well have been there).
But the most peculiar thing that Bea had seen was that sometimes when they saw Tiffiny out of the corner of their eye they swore that she had delicate purple and blue butterfly wings sprouting from her back. Sometimes they’d see that Tiffany's ears would be pointed, the skin transitioning from its normal caramel color to the same purples and blues as the wings on their back. Most days that they saw it they excuse it as a trick of the light or an effect of them being constantly sleep-deprived but some days there were no lights for it to be a trick of and they'd be extremely well rested so it couldn't be that it had to be that Tiff was something other but when they brought these facts up in their conversions about the strange girl their friends would laugh and find some excuse before moving on to other topics so they had learned that it was better to just not bring it up. Eventually, they'd just excused it as another odd quirk of their coworker nothing else, and had just decided to leave it alone, and it stayed that way for a long time.
It had been a Sunday they hated Sundays purely because every single Sunday without fail their mother would call and every single time they would be forced to pick up. Because not even a minute of peace would be ruined by their mother bombing her phone with voicemails, emails, texts, and even more attempted phone calls for literal hours.
All calling her among other things they dare not mention, “a horrible daughter who enjoyed watching her poor aging mother be in pain because she didn't respect all the time she spent caring for her”.
The first few times this happened they had to get a friend to physically restrain them so they wouldn't be able to send a response that they knew wouldn't do anything but make her act like even more of a bitch.
So all they’d be able to do is accept the call and sit there for about an hour or more as their mother insulted them along with their career, friends, job, and position as a member of the LGBTQIA community, all while using their dead name and pronouns.
On that particular Sunday, their mother called early and their phone was on silent so their mother's call was sent to voicemail which meant that once they woke up and checked their phone they found that there were hundreds of messages, phone calls, emails, and voicemails, clogging their phone and all of them where from their mother.
And every single one of them where full of their mother calling them homophobic slurs using, harmful stereotypes, condemning them to hell for their blasphemy of being gay and not going to church, and trying to guilt-trip them into doing several things all while using their dead name and pronouns.
So no duh they were having a really shitty morning. And now they couldn't even go back to sleep because they were far too awake so they decided to just get dressed and go to work early to try to make some extra money and keep their mind off of the things that their mother had said.
Sighing they went through the motions of the morning throwing on a baggy black-blue turtleneck with a gray skirt that reached just above their shins and a trench coat and belt both colors of the coffee they spent so much of their life making.
Grumbling they pulled on their boots and unseriously dumped their keys, phone, and wallet into their heather blue saddle bag. Bea left the apartment, locked the door behind them, and made their way down the street to the bus stop.
Once they had gotten off the bus they walked the additional block to their job finding that the door was locked and the windows were still dark. They grabbed their lanyard, found the key to the backdoor, walked to the employee's only door, and unlocked it.
Once inside they closed the door behind them and made their way to their locker putting away their things and coat.
Bea stretched their joints popping before hooking their lanyard to their belt putting on an apron and tying their hair back.
Walking to the front Bea got everything set up and opened the store.
They spent a few hours taking orders making drinks and calling out names before Tiffiny joined them at the front and started to help with the workload.
A few moments later she asked if she could take names instead, but Bea just waved her off and said that they could handle it the answer seemed to annoy her but she just kept making drinks.
Then she asked again an hour later and again Bea said no and Tiff got more annoyed.
This just kept going with Tiffiny asking if she could take orders and Beatrix who was lost in the motions of their job declining which would make Tiff more upset which meant that she would ask more frequently.
Eventually, it got to a head when Tiffany stopped making orders took a few deep breaths, and with all the fake cheer she could muster called out.
“Beatrix my office now!”
This was almost enough to make them go to the office immediately but they were currently dealing with a difficult customer.
So they began to hesitate as leaving the customer alone wasn’t a smart move but not listening to their boss was also a bad idea they were paralyzed with indecision.
They wanted to think it over to decide who to try to appease but their body had other plans and they found themselves going to Tiffany's office before they had even decided what to do.
When they went inside the office Tiffany was there waiting for them she was shaking and her image was flickering with the same wings and ears flickering in and out of existence.
Bea shut the door behind them before they walked up to the desk in the middle of the room pulled out a chair and sat down.
Tiffany took a deep breath before addressing Bearix
“Listen, Bea, I consider you a friend I didn't want to use your name but you are really messing up my entire operation so what you're going to do is simple when we go back out there I am going to take orders, and you are going to make the drinks and not get in my way understand?”
Beas mind was reeling what was happening why was their manager suddenly being so cold why was Tiffany being the one to take orders that important?
Then it hit them every odd thing suddenly made sense, the floating, her constantly chipper attitude, the discrepancies between her supposed age and knowledge even the wings and ears she was a Fae their boss is one of the Fair Folk, Grey neighbors, Faeries. The ones who are known for deriving power from and over the people whose names they know. The ones who are known for eating and enslaving humans. The ones that you should never anger.
Bea realized that they had nothing left to lose so they decided to call her out on it.
“You're a fae aren’t you Tiffiny”
Ding ding ding got it in one Bea
She tilted her head to the side like a cat before continuing
“I'll be the first to admit you are smarter than I gave you credit for I imagine that you're not going to keep quiet for me so I guess I'm going to have to make you stay quiet.”
She began to walk forward hand outstretched eyes glittering with sadistic amusement.
Beatrix began to back up eyes frantically searching the room looking for a way out.
They wanted to escape they wanted to explain themselves they wanted to be anywhere but hear their head was pounding from panic and desperation and anger it was all too much.
Bea couldn't take it any longer it was all far too much so they finally let all the pent-up emotions out ranting, and raving they exploded.
“ listen up you fae fuck I don't care if you're a fae I don't care that this whole cafe is just a way for you to gain power I've been having a very shitty day and I don't need any of your drama I don't care about your over-inflated ego or about anyone in this godforsaken cities opinions about me or my lifestyle so go ahead do your fae shit and fuck with my mind I've been on the very edge from the beginning and I'm this close to strangling the next family member that walks through my door I don't care that you're a fae I'm just trying to pay the fucking rent I have more to worry about then the extra curriculum activities of my coworker I just work here because it pays enough to pay the rent so can you please fuck off and let me do my fucking job”
Tiffany just stood there flabbergasted
“ Now if you don't mind I was dealing with a bitch of a customer before I was forced into this office so if you don’t mind I'm going to go back to doing my job”
And with that, Bea stormed out of the office slamming the door behind them as they went.
After a little while, Tiffany sat down and pondered her desidgens she was astonished by her employee's rant
It was the next day when Bea was called back to Tiff's office and asked if they'd be willing to let her take orders and call out names, and have Bea just make the orders in exchange for a raise and dental coverage.
In the end, Beatrix accepted the compromise and they found a new normal at the cafe they were never able to look at each the same way after the incident but that was ok in the end at least they both got what they needed and Bea was able to finally feel at peace with their job for the time that the where going to have it.
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