Owner Grace comes inside, with worse news

The two sat in silence for around a minute, before the barista suddenly made his way into the back area. Gwen immediately sprung up, prepared to lash the young and inexperienced man with strong words.

"W-wait! I just came back here to tell you that Grace is about to walk in the front door."

Gwen's eyes went from a furious glare to slight scare. She looked over at Marie, confirming that there was still a naked woman in the kitchen (a clear violation of health code, which Grace religiously adhered to). Gwen quickly moved to the front of the kitchen, and took a deep breath. She decided that the best move would be to explain the situation to Grace, and hope the woman would be able to understand.

Gwen caught Grace (the owner of the establishment) right as she was passing through the doorway, a smile spread wide across her face as she gently put down her purse. The blonde woman was dressed similarly to Gwen, and the barista at the opposite end of the counter.

"Gwen! How's business been so far? I hope it's been busy!" Grace asked politely, already moving towards the back. Gwen quickly cut her off, and stood between her boss and the doorway.

"Wait. I need to tell you something before you go back there." Gwen explained calmly, holding a hand in front of her.

Grace pulled back, and crossed her arms. Gwen wasn't the type to be confrontational, so her sudden abrasiveness let her know there was a problem. "Alright. Spill."

"Well me and Adrian were fine all morning. Opening was good, new batches prepared, everything was fine. Well about a half hour ago, my friend Marie showed up completely naked. She managed to lock herself outside the house, and came here looking for a spare key." Gwen explained calmly, pointing to the back.

Grace blinked for a moment, before pointing to the back. "You said her name was Marie? Is she... A little rich? Maybe an investor?"

Gwen put two and two together fairly quickly, and grinned ear to ear. "Yep. That's her." Gwen answered calmly, stepping aside. No sooner had she moved out of the way, when Grace slipped behind the counter, and through the doorway with eager haste.

"You must be Marie! I'm so happy we get to meet! My name's Grace, and I'm the owner of this Cafe!" Grace exclaimed as she entered the room, extending a hand in Marie's direction.

Marie stared aghast at the woman who had barged into the back, and introduced herself as if Marie was wearing clothes, and not at all ashamedly covering her body. She had barely even reacted, only throwing a subconscious glance below the shoulders occasionally. On instinct, Marie wanted to return the offer of a handshake, but quickly realized she would have to take a hand off of a portion of her body she didn't want to expose. Instead, she opted to nod her head towards the overly-forward woman, and smile awkwardly as her face's color changed to a bright shade of red.

Grace realized that she wasn't going to have a handshake returned, and reluctantly withdrew her hand. "I don't think we've met in person, but do you remember our brief video call? You may know me as the crazy lady who was hardly on screen, because she kept having to get her kids to behave."

Marie suddenly put two and two together, and recognized the woman in front of her. Grace was the owner of the coffee shop downtown, and a mom of four kids. She had shown up to the call in a T-Shirt, and athletic shorts whilst the other two owners had been dressed neatly in business casual. Her constant yelling at her kids off-screen had made Marie laugh numerous times, putting her at ease when the other owners asked difficult questions.

As she took a second to recall their brief interaction, Grace decided she couldn't resist the urge to look any longer, and blatantly stared down at Marie's naked form for a few seconds. A smile rose to her lips, as she turned away.

"Well, I feel like I should stop trying to dodge the issue. First of all, you have a very nice rack." Marie blushed, and stared off towards the floor as Grace continued. "Second, Gwen told me you locked yourself out naked, and came here to look for the keys. Why didn't you just ask your neighbors for some clothes to wear first? I would've never had the courage to do what you did."

Marie considered her answer carefully. Ideally, she would have had plenty of time to ask a neighbor for clothes, but the thought just hadn't crossed her mind amidst the panic. "I was so worried about missing the video call later today, that the thought never crossed my mind." Marie stated nervously, as the air-conditioning turned on, and began blowing cool air across her body.

Grace shrugged, seeming to accept the answer. "Well, I actually don't know about the meeting. The whole city's internet is out, and our city's local provider said the soonest they can get a repairman out is tomorrow morning, because our city's only repairman is on vacation. Even if you get home, I don't think everybody will be able to make it to the meeting."

Marie stared forward, suddenly realizing she had lost all of her hard work. All the preparation she had made to make the meeting happen, in addition to her humiliating plight could all be in vain due to an internet outage. She felt the world collapsing around her, and began to breath sharply.