Unsurprisingly, the rest of the first half of Cora's shift was painfully slow. The entire time, she was forced to watch customers flock to Fruitastic while only occasional patrons stopped by Cool Beans. Worse, whenever someone was intelligent enough to know they wanted the soothing aroma of coffee instead of pulverized frozen fruit, Cora had to listen to Darlene's comments over Kevin's subpar workmanship.

"No, they want an iced latte, not a hot latte with ice," Darlene muttered over Kevin's shoulder, then smiled at the awaiting customer. "Sorry, it's his first day."

It was actually his third month, but Cora kept her mouth shut as she slowly reached for a medium-sized plastic cup, ready to start their order ahead of time. There was a good chance Darlene wanted Kevin to make the drink too, but there was only so much secondhand embarrassment Cora could take.

If only Darlene had let Cora continue training Kevin herself, back when he first started. Unfortunately, they had only spent a few days covering the basics of espresso-based drinks before Darlene commandeered Cora's meticulous training regimen, citing Cora's lack of qualifications. Sure, Cora held the same job title as Kevin, but at least she wouldn't scold him for pressing the computer's giant red "latte" button at the top instead of the tiny gray "iced latte" button at the bottom.

"A hot latte is fine," the customer said. "As long as it's a mocha. All I need is coffee and chocolate."

With that, Cora inched towards the mocha syrup, hoping her movement wouldn't draw Darlene's attention.

"He could use the practice anyway," Darlene said. "Cordelia, don't you have your lunch break?"

Cora froze and plastered a sweet smile on her face before facing her manager. "Oh, right! I can just...make this drink really quickly."

Darlene's smile was wider and faker than Cora's, and that was saying something. "You've done enough. Besides, Kevin needs to practice."

Kevin hunched slightly at his name, but his thick-framed glasses and black-nail-polished fingers remained glued to the computer screen. Cora felt some guilt for leaving him to fend for himself, but it wasn't like she had any power over their manager. What was she going to do? Tell Darlene to go to lunch instead?

"I'll...be back in thirty then," Cora said, leaving the cup directly under the chocolate syrup pump before heading to the backroom.

"And clock out!" Darlene's voice followed her before the door could close between them.

Once the door clicked behind her, Cora dropped her smile, but she still clocked out as instructed. No amount of frustration with Darlene could make Cora knowingly break the rules. As soon as her hours were logged, Cora threw off her hat and apron before grabbing her lunch containers from the employee mini fridge—struggling to maneuver around Darlene's entire lunch bag—before rushing out the back door. She had thirty minutes, so she couldn't waste a second.

Thankfully, there were several open tables, and Cora took the closest one just out of sight of the Cool Beans storefront. The last thing Cora needed was Darlene watching her eat. Her table ended up having a small patch of dried soft drink on one edge, but Cora had more than enough space for her two tiny containers.

One was filled with rice porridge she made a couple days prior, and the lumpy, off-white dish was colored with green specks of chives, a brown splash of soy sauce, and red drops of chili oil. In the other was an assortment of wilted greens from the discount section of the grocery store the day before, topped with a dollop of tuna salad. Well, canned tuna with the essence of mayonnaise scraped from the jar. Mayo wouldn't go on sale for another five days, and the sandwich shop workers were keeping a close eye on her whenever she just so happened to wander by their condiment table.

Still, it was good enough for Cora, and she helped herself to the sad salad first, only pausing to massage her cheeks that still ached from smiling. While the porridge would've been better warm, Cora wasn't about to waste a second of her precious lunch break for the weak Cool Beans microwave to elevate her subpar meal to an adequate level. It's not like she expected her "cooking" to win any culinary awards; she just needed to get through the day.

But apparently, Angie the Orange was out to ruin Cora's life and lunch break. While Cora could ignore the song echoing throughout the food court, she couldn't avoid Farron taking a seat a few tables away, smirking.

Cora, freshly off the clock, didn't hold back her grimace before glancing at her own table, wondering which seat would be the best to avoid Farron's obnoxious face. The dried soft drink made the rest of the countertop relatively unusable, and its legs were bolted to the ground. Just as Cora was about to glance at the surrounding tables, she paused. She may have lost the first battle of the Coup D'é-Tea, but she could still win the second.

For too long had Farron forced Cora to put her lunch on hold to find a way to eat undisturbed. Whether that meant Cora would stay on the clock, ignoring her empty stomach until Farron returned to work, or sneaking outside to find a shaded patch of sidewalk to sit on, Cora had always been determined to spend her lunches in peace. But maybe that wasn't the answer. Maybe her lunches had to be spent asserting her dominance. Maybe instead of eating food, she needed to fight with it.

Just not a literal food fight, of course. That would definitely get her fired.

With her mind made, Cora met Farron's gaze; Farron, as expected, was still smirking. Her arm—the one with a tattooed dragon wrapped around it—held up her chin while her other hand drummed the lid of an instant noodle cup, the paper held down by a pair of chopsticks. Even Cora's hodgepodge of food was classier than Farron's lunch, and that was enough motivation for Cora to narrow her eyes. While she had no idea what she was challenging Farron to this time, Cora was slightly pleased to see Farron's eyes widen.

But when Farron's smirk returned, this time coupled with a wink, Cora's boiling blood would've been enough to heat her cold porridge.

No one told the assistant manager to smile, alright...because if they did, they would get that infuriating smirk in return. Sure, maybe it was better than the murderous glares Farron would normally give. And maybe some people—not Cora—would find it attractive. But to most people—like Cora—such a look would only instigate annoyance instead of appreciation.

Cora would never dare to make such a risky expression on the clock, but that didn't mean she was incapable of doing it. And if Farron—with her lazy lunch and snide sneer and too-short sleeves and overly muscular arms—thought she was the only one who could pull off such...sultry expressions in the food court, then she was sorely mistaken.

Without taking her eyes off Farron, Cora stabbed at her salad. She felt the prongs sink into the slightly soggy leaves, though there was a gentle chime when the metal utensil clipped the glass container. Still, Cora didn't stop; instead, she slowed, raising the fork to her mouth before twirling the end in front of her parted lips, letting her gentle breath graze the wilted greens.

In the middle of her suggestive salad consumption, Cora almost dropped everything to head straight back to work in embarrassment—almost. Thankfully, the sight of Farron's slipping smirk was enough for Cora to not only continue, but to go all out. After letting the leaves dance closer to her mouth, Cora finally took a bite, taking great care to withdraw the fork from between her pursed lips as slowly as she could, then let her tongue slip out to lick up the remnants of tuna shortly after.

If Farron thought she was the only one who could be alluring, she had no idea what was coming for her.

For a moment, Cora thought Farron wasn't going to take her up on the ridiculous challenge, if her frozen stare was anything to go by. It took a few more seconds for Farron's smirk to return, and while it wasn't as wide as before, the woman kept her eyes on Cora as she opened her instant noodles.

Steam wafted out of the cup, only increasing when Farron stirred the contents with her chopsticks. She continued to watch Cora as she leaned over the dish, but instead of taking a bite, her eyes closed, and her shoulders gradually lifted as she took an exaggerated inhale. When her eyes fluttered open, she met Cora's gaze as she took a bite, taking her sweet time in slurping the noodles. Even when they were gone, she held onto Cora's stare as she chewed, wiping the edges of her lips with her thumb.

Cora wasn't prepared to see Farron's tongue boldly emerge into the open to lick the collected drops from her finger, as if families weren't sitting between them.

Judging by Farron's following smirk, not only did the woman know she caught Cora off guard, but Cora's face must have looked even more shocked than Farron's had been. Cora had to retaliate, and fast.

Without thinking, she switched to her spoon in her rice porridge. Cora had no idea how to make the consumption of liquid lumps look seductive, but it was too late to backtrack. All she could do was dedicate herself to the cause and hope she didn't embarrass herself in the process.

First, she stirred the concoction while holding Farron's gaze, hoping to buy herself some time to think. Unfortunately, Farron nodded at her weak attempt, then waved a hand gesturing to Cora to continue. So, refusing to surrender, Cora slowly scooped some porridge out, brought it to her lips...then let her tongue trace the edges of the spoon before sliding the utensil into her mouth.

Cora's face warmed from her own boldness—it definitely couldn't have been from her cold porridge, after all. Luckily, Farron's raised eyebrows seemed impressed; unfortunately, it seemed like she was waiting for more, and Cora was out of ideas. For a few more seconds, she stalled by licking the tip of the spoon one more time, but Farron continued to watch her, unperturbed. It wasn't enough. Cora needed to do more.

So, she tilted her chin down and stared at Farron through her eyelashes, letting the tip of the spoon rest on her lower lip as she slowly blinked.

"Mommy?" a high-pitched voice rang out over the chatter. "What's that lady doing with her spoon?"

Cora nearly dropped the offending utensil in shock before she lowered her head towards her lunch, suddenly intent on inspecting the lumpy grains in her porridge. She wasn't sure if her act made her look even more guilty, but she didn't lift her gaze to find out. Even after she heard the mother scold her child for pointing and to finish their chicken nuggets, Cora kept her head down for a few more minutes before carefully looking around her.

It seemed like everyone else in the food court was focused on their meals, their dining companions, or their phones—everyone except one person. Farron was still watching her, and while her gaze wasn't as intense as before, her hand stifling her laughter still made Cora's face warm.

Before Cora could go back to hunching over her food in embarrassment, Farron finally uncovered her mouth. Although her wide grin only made Cora feel worse, her subsequent thumbs up somewhat alleviated Cora's regret, as did her nod that Cora could only interpret as approval.

Her remaining embarrassment disappeared when Farron tapped her wrist to gesture at her nonexistent watch, and Cora remembered the pressure of time. While she technically had ten minutes left, Darlene would expect her to clock in at the half-hour mark exactly, and Cora didn't want to take any chances. Before she knew it, Cora was scarfing down her food, and it wasn't until she was done that she remembered her enemy was only a few yards away.

Farron had also turned her focus to her food, but she was also scrolling through her phone at the same time. Between her fingers was a clear phone case with small printed photos underneath. Before Cora could figure out what they were, the phone was placed on the table...and Cora belatedly looked up to see Farron watching her.

Cora should've expected Farron's smirk, but after their lunchtime battle, the sight made Cora's face warm again. When Farron nodded towards Cool Beans, Cora could only manage a halfhearted glare before collecting her belongings and scurrying back into the breakroom, feeling Farron's eyes following until the door closed behind her.

She had stood her ground during their lunchtime battle...but she wasn't sure it was worth the price of her pride.