If watching Farron work was an Olympic sport, Cora would win the gold medal, along with the silver and bronze, if that was possible. It may have been almost a month since they became an official couple, but Cora didn't think she could ever get over how Farron—going by she, her for the day—was amazing with everything she did. Sure, she still looked like she wanted to murder someone as she focused on shoveling ice into a blender, but that was part of her charm. It almost made Angie the Orange's incessant singing bearable. Almost.

At least Cora had learned to ignore the obnoxious orange's animated dance moves on the mounted television, instead focusing on Farron hard at work below it.

"You're not being very subtle," Kevin muttered from beside her.

Cora frowned, but she didn't avert her gaze. "Does it matter? I'm a gay barista, not a spy."

"What if you were both?" He paused. "That would be a pretty cool movie, actually."

"I'm not a spy. It's just..." Cora sighed. "Seeing Farron during the shift makes it more entertaining."

That was part of the truth. The other part was that Cora's quality time with Farron had been cut short for the day, and Cora needed to make up for the deficit in any way she could.

They had met at Farron's apartment for breakfast that morning, but they only made it halfway through the meal before Farron was called in for an emergency: there had been an accident at Fruitastic, and they needed everyone available to cover for their handful of injured employees. While Cora had urged Farron to go ahead on her motorcycle, she couldn't deny that the bus ride to the mall was lonely after a week and a half of company.

Next to her, Kevin hummed. "I thought what made work entertaining was the irresistible smell of coffee and the chance to show off that Cool Beans charm. Isn't that what you told me during my first week?"

Cora scoffed, her eyes still watching Farron as she smacked a blender, and the viscous contents flowed into a cup as easily as water. How could someone's arms be so mesmerizing? "It's not like we can show off our charm when we don't have customers. Even Darlene left early to go to another one of her 'meetings.'"

"I like the quiet, though," Kevin said. "There's less of a chance for me to mess up. Or at least fewer witnesses."

He had a point, but just standing around made Cora feel useless. If she could, she would help out at Fruitastic for a bit, partially to give Farron a break, but also to join in on the excitement. She loved a good rush of customers, and just watching the Fruitastic employees scramble around left her itching to jump in.

Well, she was offered an interview with them a few days ago. Perhaps she should take them up on the offer...

"Oh, shoot," Kevin muttered, his words followed by the clattering of objects against the metal countertop. "That can't be good."

Before Cora could look at Kevin to see what he was talking about, she saw the problem herself: Farron was rushing across the food court with a pinched expression. In fact, she was already halfway to Cool Beans, but Cora had been too distracted by...other things to actually realize what Farron was doing.

"Cora, what did you do?" Kevin hissed when a group of kids blocked Farron's path, making her brows furrow even more.

"Me? Nothing!" Cora paused. "Maybe she has bad cramps...or she has to poop."

"Are you seriously talking to me about your partner's bathroom hab—Farron!" Kevin exclaimed as soon as Farron was within earshot. "Is uh...everything okay?"

Farron glanced at Kevin, breathless, before turning to Cora. "I need help."

Cora's eyes widened. She already knew what her answer would be. "Do you need a tampon?"

Judging by how the question replaced Farron's concern with shock, Cora was either spot on and Farron was impressed, or Cora was completely off track and Farron had no idea what she was talking about.

"Uh...no," Farron said, blinking away her confused expression. "There's a problem with our freezers. They can't get anywhere near cold enough, and everything in there is thawing. All of our smoothies are coming out too thin, and if this keeps up..." she took a shaky breath, "we'll have to throw away everything. And...it's a long story, but I'll be the one responsible."

After a second to process the situation, Cora forcefully forgot her mental strategy of how to get Farron to the bathroom in record time, then focused on making a new plan. "How much stuff is there?"

"Well..." Farron began, her vacant eyes darting around the store. "Our freezer's about the same size as yours, but...we have two of them. And one of them is packed full."

Cora nodded, and even though her own heart was racing, she refused to let her panic show. She had to at least pretend to be calm, if not to handle the situation, then to be some sense of stability for Farron. "Then we'll need help. I'll check the other restaurants for space. You or one of your workers can start bringing stuff here." She turned to Kevin. "Reorganize the freezer to fit as much as you can in there. It's colder at the bottom, so move our stuff to the top. We both can reach it, at least."

"The freezers must've been on their way out this morning," Farron said, her voice shaking as her watery eyes focused on Cora's hands. "That's what caused the accident—they tripped on the melted ice during the middle of the morning rush. And I... Part of my job is to check the equipment at the start of my shift, and I was in so much of a rush that I..."

Farron gulped, and her next words were strained. "Sure, our company is pretty lenient with the occasional mishap, but this? This stuff was supposed to last us two, maybe even three days. What if...what if I lose my job over this?"

"Farron," Cora whispered, setting her hands firmly on Farron's shoulders. "Hey."

It took a few precious seconds for Farron's eyes to meet hers, but Cora wasn't going to rush her just then. She would just make up the difference later.

"We're going to take care of this," Cora said, rubbing her thumbs over Farron's shoulders. "You and me." There was a cough from beside her. "And Kevin. And your coworkers. And this whole food court. We'll figure this out—together. And Fruitastic isn't like our...some other companies. They won't get rid of an amazing worker like you because some machines broke down. They'll understand. I know it."

After a beat, Farron nodded, then cleared her throat with a sniff. "Thanks."

Cora smiled, then, even though time was of the essence, pulled Farron into a tight hug. "Everything's going to be okay."

With another sniff, Farron nodded into her shoulder.

As soon as Farron hurried off, Cora and Kevin went to the backroom to evaluate their own situation. Since most of their frozen beverages only needed the ice machine, the majority of their freezer products were juices and pastries.

"It's close enough to the rush that we can start thawing these," Cora said, marking the appropriate pastry boxes with a pen. "With those out and everything else moved to the top, we should have about half of this space free for them to use."

"Do you think Darlene will find out?" Kevin asked, turning to the backdoor as if saying their manager's name would summon her.

Cora took a deep breath to soothe her impending panic. She had definitely thought about that scenario, and if it did occur, she would have no way out of it. The most she could hope for was that Darlene would keep her normal routine of leaving early for her "corporate meetings" and not returning.

"Maybe...just try to act natural in front of the security cameras, and it'll be fine," Cora said, mostly to herself, before tapping the boxes. "Take care of these. I'm going to the other restaurants."

While Cora was on decent terms with the workers around the food court, aside from the sandwich shop's after they caught her sneaking one too many mayo packets, she wasn't sure if it was enough. Letting her take home their expiring products was one thing, but giving up their valuable resources just before the afternoon rush? If their management was anything like Darlene, Cora wouldn't stand a chance.

"Just some freezer space?" the manager of the pizza place asked. "Sure, we can do that."

Cora had to take a couple seconds to ensure she heard them correctly. "Wait, really?"

The manager shrugged. "Yeah, why not? A little more electricity isn't going to put us out of business. We probably only have a couple shelves to spare, though."

"That's perfect!" Cora said, and even though it was far from enough, she couldn't help but embrace the relief that washed over her. "I'll let them know."

"You can also tell them I'll throw in a free pizza too," the manager said. "Some of those Fruitastic kids look like they could really use it."

As soon as Cora thanked them, she hurried to the next restaurant, texting Farron the news along the way.

"They need freezer space?" the manager of the ice cream shop said. "Not fridge?"

Cora grimaced. She figured it wouldn't be likely for a place that primarily served frozen products to have freezer space, but she had to try. "Yeah, it has to be the freezer."

The manger hummed in thought, glancing at the back of their store. "Not sure if we can help with that, I'm afraid. We just got a delivery this morning."

"That's fine," Cora said, trying to quell her disappointment as she mentally recalculated the space they would need from the remaining stores. "Thanks anyway."

"We may be able to help in another way, though," the manager said. "Do they use vanilla or chocolate ice cream? We have some tubs that expire at the end of this shift, and it doesn't seem like we'll be making much of a dent in them. They can have those, then use the space they free up afterwards."

Cora was so excited about their generosity that she almost accepted without knowing if Fruitastic could actually use those ingredients.

"I'll ask right now," Cora said, already unlocking her phone. "That would be amazing, though, thank you!"

"Better than letting all of that go to waste," the manager said. "We're not allowed to donate anything after it's expired, even if it's been frozen this whole time."

Cora hummed in solidarity, more focused on typing her text to Farron. She could relate, though. Cool Beans had to follow the same rules.

"You don't have to answer," the manager continued, "but you two are together, right? You and the Fruitastic manager. I always see you two having lunch."

Luckily, Cora had just managed to send a text to Farron before she froze, then carefully raised her gaze from her phone. "Y-yeah."

"Yes!" the manager cheered, making Cora jump before turning to a worker in the back. "See, Frankie? I told you."

"Are you kidding?" a voice from the back exclaimed, then sighed. "I figured they'd never get past the flirting stage."

Cora chuckled nervously, hoping Farron would reply faster. She didn't need to know how many people had been watching them, granted, in the middle of a very crowded and very public space.

"Good for you two, though," the manager continued, nodding. "You both seem happier together. Or you're at least not glaring at each other from across the food court anymore."

Before Cora could dwell on their last statement, her phone buzzed with an incoming text. Farron would stop by to compare the ice cream with Fruitastic's, meaning Cora's job there was done.

"Happy to help," the manager said after Cora relayed the news with her own gratitude. "And best of luck to you two."

After another thanks and a stilted laugh, Cora scurried to the next restaurant, wishing she could slap some of that ice cream on her warming cheeks. Hopefully, the other workers weren't as observant of the goings-on of the food court. But even if they were, Cora was on a mission, and she would endure all the awkward conversations in the world to get the job done.