i don't fear the dark anymore;

"Yeah, I don't care." Raleigh was standing in front of Orchard House, her hand on the open door as she nods towards the sidewalk. "I don't want to be open today, so we're not."

"But- Raleigh, we've been closed three days this week, and I have to pay my rent." Amber, the college student who was home for the summer who Raleigh had working the cash register most days stubbornly stood in the shop.

Raleigh's brows shot up, and she smiled sweetly. "Honey, you must be under the assumption that I actually care about your lack of preparedness. Do I look like I care? I said I don't. You should have saved some money or something, it's not my problem. Now, out. I have to lock up."

Staring at her boss, Amber slowly started to gather her stuff. "What is wrong with you? I can't- I can't just not have work. I mean, I love your bakery, and I used to love working for you--"

"Used too?" Raleigh paused, and her lips pressed into a thin line. "You know what? Here. I'll make it easy for you. You're fired. Now get out of my store before I call the cops." Plastering on another smile, she shrugged her shoulders like Look what you made me do, before she cleared her throat.

"What?"

"I said you're fired. Are you bad at English, too? Here I just thought it was your basic math skills. Out." Raleigh watched her go, her lips quirking up into a tiny smile as she tugged the door closed, humming as she locked it. She just doesn't feel like working today - this evening she's meeting Joel about her leg, and that means she just wants to sort of... soak it all in, before maybe he'll actually be able to fix it. Nevermind that she's got an audience to what just went down - she honestly doesn't care.

OOC: Open to everyone! Her last post before ppl figure out What Is The Something That's Really Wrong. :D

times, they are a changin' - for Joel CLOSED

After the day she's had, Joel had better have this shit figured out.

Her leg hurts, for one. She's been taking the potion thing he's made her pretty much constantly for the last couple of weeks, and she figured she should stop before he just up and fixes it... but she's not used to it, anymore. That, and she's been doing some things that maybe she shouldn't, like clubbing and wearing heels, but it's not like she's going to let anything hold her back from what she wants to do.

Except now? Now her leg hurts.

He'd first talked to her about it almost a year ago, and maybe it's taken him this long, or maybe he's been too busy with Spencer and Dane and honestly, she gets that she's not married to him or his son or whatever, but they're supposed to be family. She's tired of coming last with people - and yeah, she's last, because otherwise he would have probably fixed her leg sooner if he could have done it this whole time.

At least, that's what makes sense. It's what she told himself after he called. He said that he'd finally figured it out, but it's not like he's really had time to look into it lately, what with the baby and all - she wondered just how long she'd been dealing her leg, and he'd known how to fix it. Well, maybe not dealing because he made her the potions, but it's not like having to take them every six hours was easy.

But she's finally fired that freeloader Amber, and maybe people just don't get how hard it is to run a business, but she's here, and Joel will fix her leg, and then she can figure out what the hell she wants to do after that. So she knocks, and pastes on a friendly smile that actually ends up looking vaguely irritated, to get this show on the road.