It was winter time in the south side of Chicago and Lip was late to work once again. He's woken up by a furious Fiona on the other line of his phone "Where the hell are you!? You were suppose to be here half an hour ago. You know you make me look bad since everyone knows you're my brother right?" This working with family thing was not working out. "Yeah yeah yeah whatever I'll be there soon" Lip blabbered as he jumps out of bed.
On his way to work, Lip thinks about how shitty this year has been in every aspect of his life. His internship that was suppose to make him a millionaire turned out to be a bust, he couldn't make it work with Sierra or Tammie, and his family's still a pain in the ass. As late as he is, Lip knows he won't be able to survive his shift without some caffeine and he's not about to drink the shitty turd water Patsy's Pies calls coffee. That morning he decides to make a turn into a local cafe instead of grabbing his typical redbull at the gas station. (If he was gonna be late, might as well make it worth it right?) Luckily the cafe is fairly empty with only one worker, a petite blonde who was faced away making an espresso for the only other person there. He always had a weakness for blondes. "Here's your espresso sir" the girl says in a chipper tone. Lip is stunned when he finally sees the girl's face. He couldn't believe it. It couldn't be. She looks virtually the same as when he last saw her- golden blonde locks, piercing blue eyes, and soft pale skin. "Hi. What can I get ya?" she says in the same chipper tone. Lip is so overwhelmed he can't seem to get any words out of his mouth. "Hellooo? Sir?" Karen is starting to turn pink from the awkward silence and intense stare Lip is giving her. "Karen?" Lip blurted out. "Yeah?... I'm sorry do I know you?"
Duh, how could he have forgotten that she probably wouldn't remember him after her accident. "Uh I'm sorry. My name's Lip. We kinda.. uh.. knew each other from before.." "Oh shit, mom told me this might happen when we moved back" Karen sighs in relief. "Sorry I didn't recognize you. I don't know if you know but I was hit by a car a couple years ago and lost a lot of my old memories. What was your name again?" "Uh Lip" Lip replies in a sheepish tone. "Well its nice to see you. I'm glad I ran into someone from the past"
As Karen is making Lip's coffee, she asks if they were close before her accident. "Uh.. yeah, we were pretty close" Lip says with a chuckle. "I wish I could remember" Karen says with a hint of sadness. On one hand, Lip is sad that every memory they ever had together is gone forever but on the other hand, he's glad she won't have to recount all the painful stuff that happened in the past. "Hey can we talk and hang out sometime? What time do you get off today? Lip asks nervously. "Um.. yeah sure. I get off at 5 today" Karen is shocked. Why would anyone want to hang out with the crazy girl who couldn't remember anything from her past? She's still unsure about the nature of their relationship but she has a million and one questions for Lip. "I get off at 7. Can you meet me at Patsy's Pies then?" Lip asks hurriedly. "Uh yeah sure thing" Karen responded. "Great, I'll see you then" Lip says as he rushes out the door.
Lip really hopes Karen will remember their future date later that day. He still can't believe he ran into her- someone he had thought he would never see again. Seeing Karen is bringing up a bunch of old feelings he thought he would never feel again. He decides against telling his family about his encounter with Karen. He knows it would only bring up more unneeded drama...