[color=f7941d]CELESTE BROWN[/color] - Sandy Coves Inn -- morning

Celeste had nodded off here and there for the next couple of hours.  Twice she had to jump out of bed to vomit into her toilet.  After the umpteenth time of waking up uncomfortable and in a sweat, she decided to try just staying up for a while.  Or at least...at all.  She pulled herself upright, waiting for several moments before attempting to turn and get up off the bed.

She rubbed her face with both hands before reaching towards the nightstand featuring her untouched glass of water, and scone.  She broke off a small piece and put it into her mouth, chewing carefully, hoping beyond hope her stomach would accept such a paltry offering of food.

Celeste swallowed.  She took a tiny sip of water.  It seemed to stay down.  She tiptoed her way to her bathroom and drew a bath of warm, though copper-coloured water.  She washed her skin and hair, continuing to take small bites of the scone here and there, slowly feeling energized by the combination of bathing and eating.

She dressed into a pair of canvas pants and a pink, knit sweater, scrunched her curls in her hands, and stepped back out to the lobby.  Archie was sorting...something, behind the counter.

"Manager Celeste!  How wonderful it is to see you up and about."

"Any customers?" she asked, sounding bored.

"Ah, indeed not, at least, not yet.  You look a little pale, is everything all right?"

"Mostly."  Celeste cleared her throat and looked around.  "I think I might get some fresh air, maybe see what Adam is up to, today."

"All right," the robot replied.  "I shall tend to matters here while you are absent, hm?"

"Thanks," she replied, offering the biggest, most genuine smile she could manage.  Celeste stepped out into the bright, but cool morning.  She no longer had a headache, thanks to the painkillers, but her body did not seem ready to take on the day.  She wandered her way through town to Adam's place, remarking how different the town looked in the full daylight.  She drew up to the door and knocked.

"Good morning!  It's me, Celeste," she chimed as cheerfully as she could, though she still felt a little rough.  Nothing replied but the sound of some flotsam hitting the shore.  She knocked again.  "Adam!  I was just wondering if you would like to have dinner at my place tonight.  I mean, I'll have a hard time competing with that wonderful steak from last night, but we could maybe...sit by the water, for a little bit?"

She toed the ground while she waited.  Still, no response.  Celeste boldly took the doorknob in her hand and attempted to open the door, but it was locked.  She took a few steps backwards and looked around, finally noticing that his brahmin wasn't in her pen, either.

"Did he just...leave town?" she wondered aloud.  "He wouldn't have done that, not after a night like we had.  Would he?"  Celeste pulled a piece of lint off her sweater and flicked it to the ground.  "He's a trader.  Like a treasure hunter.  He probably just went out to look for some more wares."  Feeling reassured, she started to wander back.  The smell of coffee wafted into her nostrils.  She saw Steve some ways down the road, looking like he'd left the diner.

Coffee.  Despite her condition, she felt compelled to seek some out.  Archie hadn't made any, or she would have just had some back at the inn.

Just as she got to the doorway, there was a shriek from inside.  Brandy hustled past her, totally unaware of her presence.  "What the...?"  Celeste entered the diner to see a young woman, her hand on the side of her head, frantically working to pull it off.

"Ah, oh!  You're not Ace," Celeste exclaimed, drawing up to the counter of the bar.

The young woman jumped, as though startled, then continued to try and work her hand free from her hair.  It seemed to have been glued into it.  "What was your first clue?" the woman replied with a snap, returning her attention to her awkward position of her hand stuck in her hair.

"Are you okay?" Celeste pressed on.  "Why did you glue your hand to your hair?"

"For heaven's sake -- [i]I[/i] didn't glue my hand to my hair, that bitch Brandy pranked me.  Came out of nowhere and splat, just right in my hair, and before I could stop myself, I touched it, and..."  The woman yanked her hand again, yelping as she painfully pulled some strands out by the roots.

"Okay, okay, take it easy," Celeste cooed, coming around the bar.  "Pulling it isn't gonna make it better.  You're gonna need some kinda paint thinner or somethin'.  I'm sure I have some in the inn basement.  Why don't you come with me and we'll fix you right up?"

"I can't leave the diner," the girl replied miserably.  "I'm the only one here."

"I thought Ace was the only one here?" Celeste replied.

"He was, until yesterday.  I'm Betty."

"Nice to meet you, Be--"

"Are you gonna help me or not?"

"Ah -- oh -- right.  Of course."

"Actually, there's some tools in the basement, down that cellar door," Betty pointed with her free hand.  "Maybe you'll find something down there, and I won't have to wait so long for you and your short legs to get back here."

"Are you sure that's okay?" Celeste asked, glancing at the faded, but recently polished metal sign that said EMPLOYEES ONLY.

"Ugh," Betty groaned.  "Didn't I just say, I'm the only one here?  That makes me the boss.  Go check it out, already."

"Sure thing," Celeste answered, lifting the door to the basement and making her way down.  She found a closet lined with shelves and several dusty pieces of hardware.  She tapped her chin, reading the labels slowly, finally deciding on an aluminum canister labelled 'TERRIFIC TURPENTINE!'  "This should help!" she exclaimed with glee, snatching it off the shelf and barrelling back up into the diner proper.

"Lean over the sink over there and I'll pour some of this in," Celeste instructed.

"You gonna be able to reach, short stuff?"

"Oh, I'll be fine.  I'll just use a chair," Celeste replied, completely nonplussed.  Betty leaned over the sink, nearly quivering in her anxiety.  Celeste slowly poured a stream of the turpentine into the matted mess of glue and hair, but most of it trickled down Betty's hand, wrist, and arm, into the sink.

"It's not working," Betty growled in a huff.

"Need some way to soak it," Celeste agreed.  She looked around and saw a dishrag lying on the counter.  "Aha!"  She grabbed the cloth and soaked it with the turpentine, then placed it onto the glue.

"Is this done yet?  I'm starting to get really cramped, and my hand is already numb."

"I don't know how long it will take," Celeste answered, kneeling on the stool and holding the rag onto Betty's hair.  "Sorry it smells so bad.  I've got soap and hot water at the inn, you could take a bath after, if you wanted.  Ace can take over, couldn't he?"

Betty grumbled some response that Celeste couldn't understand.  Suddenly, she began to exclaim.  "It...it's working!  It's really working!  I can wiggle my fingers!"

"Good!" Celeste cooed, clapping her hands together.  "I'm Celeste, by the way.  Do...you mind if I just grab a cup of coffee?"

"Do whatever you want," Betty replied, too preoccupied by being able to loosen her fingers from her own hair.

Celeste poured herself a mug of coffee and sat at the counter, watching Betty free herself.  "So!  How's your morning been, otherwise?"