[3rd POV]
"Hi, can you tell me where the Teen fantasy is at? My daughters have been wanting a new book and I've been told this place has the best selection" A woman asked a shorter girl, who smiled up at her.
"The teen fantasy section is in the middle row at the very end. And I'd personally suggest Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. It's an excellent book and the start of a pretty big series" The shorter girl, who was in fact Amity, responded.
The woman smiled and thanked her for both the directions and the suggestion.
Watching her go, Amity did an inward happy dance.
She had been working at Miss Maximoff's bookstore for a day now, and had already binge read an entire book. Mostly because she had a lot of time off whenever not working, so she had read through the entire first Percy Jackson book, and loved it.
"Good job hon" A voice echoed from behind her as Amity jumped in fright.
Spinning around in recognition of the voice, Amity let out a breath when she realized it was just Miss Maximoff, the woman that had given her such an incredible opportunity.
"Thank you, Miss Maxim-" "Wanda, dear. I already told you to just call me Wanda. I may be old, but I'm not old enough to be called Miss Maximoff just yet" Wanda cut her off, an amused expression on her face as the girl looked a little uncomfortable with the idea.
Probably because she was so used to calling adults "Miss" or "Sir" in a respectful manner. Wanda suspected that that was because of her awful parents. Most likely her mother in particular.
They seemed exactly like the type that would force her to use etiquette beyond when it was actually needed. And she was even more certain that their etiquette training was much more...hands on than it should ever be.
More abusive than anything.
But everything about them is abusive towards the poor girl. That much had become abundantly clear to Wanda when she had returned for her first official day, which was today.
She had come back with bruises hidden underneath her clothing, something that was another product of her mother. And these bruises once again miraculously were healed the moment that she had walked through the front door, courtesy of the magic placed upon the place.
The fact that they abused her ever single day was only serving to make Wanda more furious. But, she would have to wait a bit longer before she can take care of the two worms. She first needed to make Amity trust her enough to tell her about her family and what they were doing.
That, and she needed her to trust her enough to let her help take care of the problem. But, they had only just met so it would be a while before she trusted her.
"...Thank you, Wanda" Amity responded, a small smile forming on her face as Wanda gave her a warm pat on the head.
"Good. Now, how about you go and get some lunch in that stomach of yours? I've made a sandwich that I think you might like" Wanda said, as Amity looked at her with confusion.
"Bu-But I have to work, don't I? I can't take a break already"
"It's lunch time, Amity. You've already been working for three hours at this point, and deserve to take a break. So go and have some lunch, okay? I can handle the shop. Plus you'll be sitting right next to me anyways" Wanda said, motioning to the seat she had placed next to her own at the counter.
Amity looked at it in surprise, before looking back at Wanda. She wanted to refute her words, but decided to go along with them, understanding that Wanda was not one to change her mind on things, and was not one you should argue against. That, and this was her new boss, it would be rude to not listen to her at this point.
She was still confused why she was so nice to her though, they had barely known each other at this point, having only really met yesterday. And yet here she was acting so kind to her, as if it was nothing.
It was strange.
Walking over to the counter, Amity sat down as Wanda sat next to her. A small smile formed on Wanda's face as she saw the widening eyes of Amity when she saw the delicious looking sandwich in front of her. It was a simple ham sandwich, but it was elevated with other tasty additions, and smelled absolutely divine.
Amity gazed at it for a few more moments, licking her lips before she lifted it and took a small bite of it.
The second she bit into it, she stilled, her eyes widening at the taste as absolute glee flickered in her eyes.
It was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted in her entire life.
Wanda watched with growing sadness as the girl began to devour the food as if she had never eaten before. She suspected it was due to being starved by her awful parents, or at least not being fed nearly enough.
"Don't eat too fast hon, you wouldn't want to choke" Wanda said as she brought out a glass of orange juice for the girl. Amity looked at her with a little embarrassment as she wiped the crumbs from her face, and began to eat slower.
"I am glad you seem to enjoy my cooking so much though" Wanda added, a teasing smirk on her face as the girl looked to the side and continued to eat. She took an occasional sip of orange juice, once again surprised at the taste of the juice.
It was also incredible.
"I didn't realize you were such a good cook" Amity couldn't help but say, as she continued to eat her lunch. The sandwich was already half gone, but she didn't care as she continued to munch on it, while sipping her juice.
Nothing about Wanda's food was hard to eat, and nothing about it was gross or anything like that.
It was absolutely delicious.
"Mmhmm, I find that cooking is a good hobby to have, besides reading of course. And thanks to the fact that I also sell bakery goods here, I've gotten very good at cooking. And I do hope you get used to it, as you'll be getting lunch and breakfast every single day from now on. Regardless of if you come in for work or not" Wanda responded, she had already told Amity this, but she wanted to make sure the girl understood this point.
That she was going to be getting fed well. That she was not going to be starving or anything like that.
That she would never have to experience deep and gnawing hunger ever again, not while Wanda was there to feed her. Not while Wanda cared for her.
Amity looked up at her with wide eyes.
"Why? I-I'm just one of your workers" Amity said, confusion clearly on her face.
"Because you deserve to eat till your stomach is full, Amity. And I mean no offense when I say this, none at all, but I can tell that you have not been eating well" Wanda responded softly, as the girls eyes widened in terror as she looked away, realizing that Wanda had noticed some things about her.
Things that she did not want anyone to know, especially not the woman that was now her boss.
"You don't need to be afraid, Amity. I'm not going to tell anybody, okay? All I want to do is help you, and I hope that you'll at least let me start with feeding you" Wanda softly said, doing her best to not make the girl more worried than she already was.
As it was very clear to the woman that the girl did not want anyone to know about what her parents had been doing to her. The abuse that she had been suffering for who knows how long at this point.
Wanda was sure that she didn't want her family to get in trouble. Probably because Amity was too blind to see that what her family was doing to her was wrong, plain and simple. And family, true family, would NEVER abuse a member of their family.
Wanda would need to slowly but surely make that clear to the poor girl that was trying her best not to cry in front of her.
"O-Okay Wanda" Amity responded, still nervous as she began to continue to eat.
And as she ate, Wanda just sadly watched. Inwardly she couldn't wait to visit the world of Owl House.
For...
She had some people to punish.
____________________________________________________________________
Gain access up to an additional chapter 10 chapters early for each of my main fanfics (40 chapters on total), as well as other bonuses (like more than 200 exclusive stories, including exclusive R18 chapters/fics) on my Patreon for 10 dollars a month! Or 100 dollars for an entire year!
There are also cheaper tiers for 3 dollars and 5 dollars. 3 dollars gives one additional chapter (4 in total), and 5 gives 3 additional chapters (12 in total).
(Or just look up Crazedmadman on Patreon and you should find me)
____________________________________________
That's the end of the chapter!
Anyways, have a good day!