Competition

Anita was ecstatic when she learned Shasta was her soulmate. He was a good friend for whom she already had some affection. So getting to know him better should be easy considering the many shifts they shared. But for every time Shasta was there, Norman was there too, fighting for her as he promised. All Anita had learned was that Norman was persistent and Shasta had a quick temper. It was nothing new, but with everyone's feelings on the line, it was growing tiresome. To Leigha and Sierra, the whole thing was rather amusing.

"Order up." Sierra passed a plate up. Anita hurried to take the order, only for Leigha to take it from her, forcing Anita to continue to entertain Norman although he seemed to be doing pretty well entertaining himself with his new hobby.

"Do you think Frank's grandmother would like a scarf?" asked Norman as he continued knitting. This time it was a folder of sorts to hold the papers given to him by Cyrus. He had knitted Anita and Leigha scarves, with both Sierra and Ramona turning down his offer. But now he was stuck with a bunch of pink yarn.

"Possibly, it is already getting pretty cold. I'm sure Frank's grandmother would appreciate the gesture," offered Anita.

"What about your mother, would she like a scarf?"

"Anita gave her mother a scarf two Christmas' ago when she managed to get the day off," Shasta answered for Anita. The other two turned to him in surprise.

"You remembered," Anita sighed.

"You already met her mother?"

 "And her father, although he is a less pleasant person to be around."

"Both her parents!" Norman whined in desperation. "Anita, when will I be able to meet your parents?"

"Um well…"

"That's a sensitive topic; you shouldn't push her like that. 

"It only seems fair that I meet them too."

"You can meet them when you start thinking about Anita's feelings."

"And you have? Mr. Soulmate is contrived until it suits you."

"It’s whomever Anita decides to be with. It is up to her and her choice."

"Stop it, both of you!"

The men turned to look at Anita.

"I agreed to give both of you a chance to get to know each other better. And if this is how it’s going to be, then I will see neither of you until you act like adults. You," she said pointing to Norman, "you do not need to meet my parents. If you do, I hope it's under favorable conditions. And you." She pointed to Shasta. "Stop trying to fight him. I said I would get to know you too as I got to know him, so trust me on this."

"I trust you. It's Norman I don't trust since he has taken to coming over every day you are working."

"True." She turned back to Norman. "You need to focus on your job, Norman."

"I am. I can multitask."

"Not that well," coughed Sierra, who had been hiding in the kitchen near Shasta.

"I'm sure you can, but I can't spend time getting to know Shasta if you're always here. You understand, right?"

Norman nodded, slinking back to his seat. Leigha sat in a stool nearby to watch the confrontation, patting Norman on the shoulder.

"There is a simple way to fix this," offered Shasta back inside the kitchen. The other two turned to him.

"We take her on dates, evenly, and no interrupting." He glared at Norman for the last part. "That way, we get to know each other without work interfering."

"That's a good idea," encouraged Leigha, Norman perking up.

"I guess I can agree to those terms. So long as the restaurant…"

"You can be a target of my ladle anytime in the restaurant."

Norman nodded. The boys both looked at Anita. She looked to the other two girls, who both gave her a thumbs up.

"I guess this could work."

"Perfect," cheered Norman.

"Great, so I got the first date," announced Shasta.

"What?"

"In fairness, you've already had several dates with her. So I should get the first one."

"One date, the rest of the time we're in a group setting."

"Except for the festival, you two were alone for a bit."

"Well, you had Anita alone at the beach on a group outing, so I would say that cancels that out," argued Leigha.

"They were on the beach?"

Anita blushed at the events.

"Whose side are you on?" asked Shasta.

"Whatever side is more fun."

"Anita, next summer we will go to the beach," announced Norman.

"That doesn't matter until next summer," challenged Shasta.

"It's called a reservation."

"Stop it!"

They both turned to Anita.

"If you are going to fight over dates, then no dates."

Both boys slunk to their sides. Norman went back to knitting while Shasta started cooking again. The two other girls looked to the boys before starting their work, leaving Anita at the bar.

"Anita," she heard Shasta call her name.

"Yes," she asked, exhausted by the whole thing.

"On our next day off, would you please go on a date with me?" he asked, cracking a small smile.

"I would love to."

She heard a thump behind her and Leigha's consoling and demeaning pets of "there, there." Hopefully, Anita would now get to learn more about Shasta in peace.