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Agatha cherished her Saturdays with Nicky, there was no school and no work and they could just go wherever the day took them. If Nicky wanted to go to the park, they went to the park. If he wanted to go to the aquarium they went to the aquarium. It was basically his yes day, except Agatha did have some limitations on what she would allow.
But those limitations did somehow not extend to walking into a pet store and buying a pet rabbit that Nicky had been insisting for weeks that he wanted. And so señor scratchy was a part of their little two person family.
Two people and a rabbit.
One Saturday when Nicky had asked for a very specific breakfast of diner pancakes with syrup and juice while they sat in a booth and planned the rest of their day who was she to say no. She got them both ready and quickly googled the nearest diner, it was closer to them than she was expecting.
When they both left the house, Nicky holding onto Agatha’s hand, the sunlight hit Agatha’s face as she stepped out the door. As much as she loved the cosy nights sat by the fire in winter, the first real sunny morning of spring was always a delight. They walked to the diner, Nicky rambling onto his mother about this book they were reading at school and how he would love to have a pet dragon like the little boy in the story but how it would be a bit impractical given the size of their garden.
Agatha didn’t know where he picked up these words sometimes, what six year old used the word impractical in a sentence.
They made their way into the diner and Nicky looked around at all the available seats before deciding on the booth at the furthest end of the restaurant, he toddled his way over there just as a teenager arrived to greet them. He looked at Nicky wondering off as Agatha gave a small apologetic smile.
“Apparently we are sitting over there” Agatha laughed as she pointed at her son making himself comfortable in his chosen seat.
“He’s a cute kid” the teenager smiled back at Agatha as she looked down at his name tag and handed her some menus so Agatha could make her way over to Nicky.
“Thanks Billy” Agatha responded, assuming his name tag was correct and she hadn’t just called some teenager their fake customer service name.
“Does this suit your requirements for breakfast, young sir?” Agatha playfully asked Nicky as she passed him a menu, despite his instance on he knew what he wanted.
“It’s perfect” he grinned
Just as Agatha was about to respond a woman with dark hair pulled back into a messy bun approached their table and Agatha nearly forgot what breathing was.
She was about the same height as Agatha but she stood at the edge of their table with a confidence that Agatha knew ran right through her veins. She had on the same uniform that everyone in the diner did, a dark green apron with black trousers and a grey T-shirt, but the way the sleeves were wrapped around her arms had Agatha’s brain short circuiting. And when Agatha eventually looked at her face she was greeted with the darkest pair of eyes staring back at her.
“Hi there, the name’s Rio and I’ll be your server here today, do you know what you want or shall I give y’all a few more minutes” Agatha could’ve sworn with that last sentence she sent a wink Agatha’s way, the waitress who seemed to be trying to give Agatha a gay panic attack over breakfast stared at her as she waited for an answer. Agatha blinked trying to figure out what an appropriate answer was.
Before she could speak Nicky spoke from the other side of the booth.
“Hi Rio, I’m Nicky. You have a cool name” he replied with the innocence of a child that didn’t know you didn’t have to introduce yourself to the waitresses
“Why thank you Nicky, I really like your name too, did you know your name in Greek basically means victory for the people” Rio replied, Nicky’s face turning into an expression of awe as he listened to Rio.
“Woah it does? That’s so cool, mama did you know that!” Nicky bounced up and down in his seat to get Agatha’s attention
“I did not” she smiled at Rio “how did you know that?” Agatha asked accompanied by a smile as she tried to look anywhere but in Rio’s dark eyes.
“Oh I took a side course in Greek and Latin while I was in university, it really helps when you’re trying to remember all the names of plants if you actually understand what they mean” Rio spoke casually
Agatha didn’t get impressed easily. Her work colleagues did not impress her, if anything they disappointed her on a day to day basis. Her mother did not Impress her with her weak attempts to reach out to Agatha and Nicky over the years. Nicky was the only one who did, with his brain like a sponge who soaked up everything she told him.
But Agatha would be lying if she said that the fact that Rio learnt two other languages, one of them being Latin, just to understand the names of plants didn’t make her want to show Rio how impressed she was right in the middle of this diner.
“So, what can I get ya?” Rio asked, pulling Agatha from her train of thought that she really needed to get off while she was in public.
They finally placed their order, Nicky having his pancakes and syrup as requested and Agatha picking the first dish she saw on the menu, which turned out to be an omelette, due to her distraction with some very not safe for being out with your child images of Rio in just the apron currently circling round in her brain.
Nicky managed to pull Agatha back to the land of being normal to talk about their day and what he wanted to do which now consisted of going to the museum to look at all the ‘old things’ as Nicky had called them. Agatha had obviously agreed even if she had no particular interest in old statues and artefacts, if it’s what Nicky wanted then it’s what they did.
After they had finished their breakfast, Nicky successfully avoiding to get any syrup on his clothes, Agatha went up to where Rio was currently stood at the cash register to pay for their food.
“Got any plans for the rest of your day?” Rio asked Agatha as she once again tried not to make eye contact with Rio to avoid any of those images coming back into her head.
Pull yourself together Harkness, Agatha spoke to herself , she’s been flirting with you all morning, give her something back
“Well seeing as somebody got my son interested in Greeks and their language, we’re going to the museum to look at old things” Agatha punctuated the last two words with air quotes as Rio let out a laugh that came straight from the gut, not just any old customer service laugh that she used to butter up the customers into giving her a better tip.
“I would say sorry about that but then I would be lying” Rio teased back, her tongue poking into the inside of her cheek making Agatha blush harder than she thought humanly possible.
“You should really get going though, the museum opens in fifteen and you wanna get there early, avoid all the crowds” Rio shot a wink in Agatha’s direction. Agatha had no idea why she found it as attractive as she did, they were talking about a museum for gods sake.
Agatha took some notes out of her purse and handed them over to Rio.
“Don’t worry about that, it’s already been taken care of. Consider it a kind gesture” Rio locked eyes with Agatha as she pulled her hand back, pocketing the notes but not before dropping one right in front of Rio.
“It’s the least you could do considering I’m probably about to spend a lot of money on Greek books for a now very interested six year old”
Nicky broke the tension between Rio and Agatha by running over and pulling on Agatha’s hand.
“Come on mama we’re going to be late” he pulled her towards the door as Rio shouted a quick goodbye to the pair of them, a small wave coming from Agatha and a very loud “bye Rio” being shouted by Nicky as he left the door.
~~~
Agatha was indeed correct when she stated that she would come home with several books for Nicky, after their trip to the museum it was safe to say Nicky was obsessed with anything Greek. He picked out several books at the gift shop and had spent the entire week reading about the Greeks, talking about the Greeks and watching documentaries about Ancient Greece.
Meanwhile Agatha had spent all week thinking about a certain dark haired waitress and wondering why she couldn’t get Rio out of her head.
The following Saturday Nicky requested to go to the diner again, he had stayed in his own way that he needed his weekly pancake fix, and how the diner pancakes were the only thing that would do it.
If Agatha didn’t know better she could’ve sworn Nicky had an ulterior motive but then she remembered he was only six and this was highly unlikely. But he was also her son so anything was really possible.
When they walked into the diner this time Nicky took off and headed for the same seat as last time, walking straight past Billy as he handed Agatha the menus and smiled.
When Billy came over to their table, a notepad in hand Agatha’s smile dropped for a moment, she wouldn’t get to see the person of her thoughts today then. Maybe it was for the best so she could stop thinking about Rio and how she had winked at Agatha.
“Welcome to House of Pancakes, my name is Billy I’ll be your server today” the teenager began before Nicky interrupted him to ask a question
“Where’s Rio?” He titled his little head to the side and continued to speak “I wanted to show her my book on Greece!”
“Ah I’m sorry buddy but Rio isn’t working today” Billy explained “but I’m sure she would’ve loved to have seen your book”
Nicky looked disappointed until his pancakes arrived and he had forgotten why he was sad in the first place. When Agatha looked up at Nicky he was nearly done with his meal, pushing the last bite of pancake into his mouth.
“Did you even chew them Nicky?” Agatha laughed as Nicky smiled around the food in his mouth.
“Can I have more?” He asked with a cheeky smile and a flutter of his eyelids
“You will definitely be sick if you eat more pancakes, but you can have some of mine” Agatha bargained as she cut off a portion of her own omelette and moved it onto Nicky’s plate.
He eyeballed the unfamiliar food as he pushed it around with his fork and cut off a piece. Slowly putting it into his mouth and chewing.
“It’s nice” he declared as he pushed another piece into his mouth before he had finished the first one
“Jesus Nicky chew your food” Agatha laughed as Nicky continued to put bits of omelette in his mouth.
After they left the diner they headed straight for the library as Nicky said he desperately needed more books and who was Agatha to say no.
Nicky had wandered round the stacks of books three times before deciding on the books he wanted to take home with him. Agatha had even picked up a book for herself, a slow burn romance novel that should take her interest of a certain someone for a while, just because she wasn’t getting any means that the next best thing is reading about two people that do. God she felt pathetic.
“Alright Nicky time to g-“ Agatha spoke as she turned round from the shelf she was looking at to the chair behind her where Nicky was, or rather, where Nicky was the last time she saw him.
“Nicky!” She whisper shouted as she moved round the stacks of books, weaving in and out of she shelves calling Nicky’s name as she did.
But there was no sign of Nicky. She put her books down on the nearest shelf and hurried around the rest of the ancient languages section. Still no Nicky.
Agatha headed out to the main corridor of the library and continued to shout Nicky’s name, the panic in her voice showing as she continued to search for him. Where could he have even disappeared too?
As Agatha stopped for a second to try and regain some of her thoughts, she heard very familiar laughter from the reading corner just ahead of her. She rushed over to find Nicky squished into a beanbag next to Rio.
Rio was showing Nicky something in one of the books he had picked out, the smile wide on his face as Rio explained the difference between all the Greek letters.
“And then Delta is the one that looks like it has the funny hat on, see?” Rio pointed to the page in the book Nicky was holding, a giggle coming from him as Agatha slowly made her way over to the pair of them.
“So this is where you ran off to huh?” Agatha asked Nicky, hiding her panic that was present only moments before, trying ti remain calm in front of Rio.
“Rio was explaining Greek letters to me! They look weird and different from our letters but she said I’ll know what they are in no time!” Nicky repeated what Rio had said to him only moments before. Agatha shot a look at Rio.
“He’s a smart kid” Rio complimented as Agatha reached out her hand towards Nicky, a silent way of saying they needed to leave, Nicky thankfully understood what his mother was saying and got out of the bean bag and took her hand.
“Of course he is, I made him and I’m exceptional” Agatha quipped back, pleased with herself at getting a flirty remark in before Rio could make her blush.
“That you are” Rio spoke under her breath, quiet enough that Agatha could hear her but not Nicky.
“We should be going, I’ve got to find the books I dumped somewhere in this place while I was looking for you” Agatha looked at Nicky as he smiled back at her
“I was okay mama I was with Rio” Nicky responded as if it was a basic fact everyone should know.
“Say goodbye to Rio then” Agatha instructed Nicky. His little hand detaching from Agatha’s as he did a little wave towards Rio
“Bye Rio, thank you for showing me the funny letters”
Just as Agatha was about to turn away and towards Nicky, Rio cleared her throat and Agatha turned her head back.
“You know I never did catch your name” Rio lightly teased
“It’s Agatha” she responded before she could think about any reason why giving this woman her name was a bad idea.
“Bye Nicky, Goodbye Agatha ” Rio’s tone gliding over Agatha’s brain like a waterfall
And there was the reason why she definitely should not have given the hot waitress her name because once she heard it she could not stop replaying it in her brain.
~~~
Nicky’s interest in Greece had only grown since Agatha had been providing him with a steady flow of books and documentaries. His little eyes would be glued to the tv for as long as it took for him to learn everything he could about it. His teachers at school had commented on how much he has told them about Greece and asked how he got into it, Agatha fumbled at that question.
The next weekend Nicky woke Agatha up by bouncing on her bed and giggling in her ear.
“Come on mama It’s time for breakfast!” He giggled as she turned over to the other side but Nicky was too quick and he slid off the bed, running round to the other side and met Agatha as she rolled over.
Agatha groaned as she was not going to be able to persuade Nicky to go back to bed today, might as well get up and start their day.
As they headed to the diner once again for their weekend trip, Agatha silently hoped that Rio would be there. There was something very enchanting about her and the way she had infiltrated Agatha’s mind the last few weeks.
Nicky rushed in ahead of Agatha once again, standing on his toes to see if he could spot his new favourite person over the counter.
“She might not be here little man, come on let’s go sit down” Agatha tried to steer Nicky towards his seat whilst also looking to see if she could see the particular waitress.
They sat down at their table and Nicky was in the middle of telling Agatha about his friends at school and how they don’t even know where Greece is as Rio came over to their table.
“There’s my favourite little historian” she addressed Nicky
“Rio you’re back! We were here last week but you weren’t”
“I’m sorry buddy, but I’m here now. Do you know what you want to eat?”
In a move that was very unlike Nicky he slammed his fist down on the table and spoke at the top of his voice
“I wish to devour the unborn!”
Agatha, who had been casually observing the moment between this not so stranger and her son, sat there with her mouth open as she tried to work out what the hell Nicky was on about. Before she could even speak to ask Nicky what he actually wanted for his breakfast Rio replied
“Okay so eggs for the young historian, and what about for you, Agatha?”
Agatha stared at her for a moment trying to process what the fuck had just happened
“Erm how did you-?” She pointed between Rio, Nicky and the menu trying to convey her point while she grasped for the words
“Oh, the ancient Greeks had a very dramatic way of speaking, he must’ve picked up on it from the last book you got him at the library when I saw you the other day” Rio responded as if it was everyday knowledge
“And you knew what that meant?”
“Of course, I got you buddy” Rio held out a fist to Nicky and gave him a light fist bump.
“Right, okay” Agatha tried to regain any semblance of knowing what the fuck was going on that she had and ordered her breakfast.
As Rio walked away Agatha looked at Nicky with a very confused face, Nicky just smiled at his mother and drank his juice. As if anything that just happened was normal to Agatha, she felt like she was living in a sitcom.
As it turned out Nicky loved the eggs that he had requested, he ate them slower than the pancakes but still devoured them like he hadn’t eaten for a week.
Agatha was still in a total daze about how Rio had so effortlessly understood what Nicky was talking about. She had tried many routes to figure out the solution, maybe she was going insane, maybe she had hit her head and was suffering a concussion induced dream, or maybe it was just the fact that she wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off of Rio’s mouth, with her own mouth. And maybe her tongue.
They stayed at the diner longer than they had done the past few weeks. Nicky quite content to sit and read his book while Agatha just watched him while she drank her coffee and tried not to pay attention as Rio flashed past every now and then. Not that she was watching her, but every time she thought about approaching her she was always talking to someone.
Finally, after her coffee had long gone cold and many tables had left, she spotted Rio alone. Agatha slipped out of the booth and made her way over to her. A small smile showing at the corners of Rio’s mouth. Before Rio could even speak Agatha handed her a card.
“I’m paying this time, can’t be kicked out of my sons favourite place because somebody kept giving me free food” Agatha raised a eyebrow in a silent conversation with Rio, as if Rio was going to deny that she was going to let Agatha off again.
“Well it would be a shame to not see your face in here again” Rio smirked at Agatha and handed her the receipt and her card.
“I bet you say that line to all the customers”
“Only the hot ones with genius kids” Rio winked
“Well it looks like I’m in luck then doesn’t it” Agatha handed Rio back the receipt and turned on her heel to walk back to Nicky. Rio turned over the receipt Agatha had handed her to see a phone number and a message
Call me if you maybe want to talk about something other than Ancient Greece
Hot Agatha with the genius kid