Sheehan's
I do not own / am not associated with the NBC show The Black Donnelly's in any way. (Unfortunately…)
Sarah wiped her forehead, as she made her way behind the counter of her father's restaurant Sheehan's, which in the neighbourhood was considered to be a place for upscale, fine dining in the midst of Hell's Kitchen. Even though it was almost three o'clock in the morning, the place was packed of teens and young adults, who had apparently just left a school event of some kind and found Sheehan's for some after-party relief. The fact that the air in the kitchen was almost the same temperature as the oven, added to the fact that she was completely exhausted and frustrated didn't help her mood either.
"Sarah!" Her co-worker Caroline called to her as she was filling the salt and pepper shakers. "Sarah!" She called again, making her way over to her. "Sarah!" Sarah, frustrated and distracted dropped the large salt container on the floor, spilling it everywhere.
"What Carrie?!" She pounded the counter before turning around to face her. Caroline, who stood a petite 5'4, wiped her brunette hair out of her face, looking just as frustrated as Sarah that they were unexpectedly, understaffed that night.
"Sorry, there's someone at table thirteen looking for you."
"I don't have table thirteen today."
"I know, but they're asking for you to pick up the bill," Caroline put her hands up, not wanting to fight about it. Sarah wiped her forehead again in exasperation. "They said they wanted you to do it."
"Fine," she grabbed the bill from Caroline as she briskly walked by her. Throwing the two-way door open, she quickly glanced over the bill and the credit card in the sleeve as she made her way, without even looking, to table thirteen. "I hope everything was to your liking," she placed the sleeve down on the table. When she looked up, Nicky Cottero and three other men sitting with him were staring back at her.
"Well the service was lousy and I think the food is giving me indigestion," he put his hand to his stomach as he looked over the bill. "You know Sarah," She immediately put her hand to her chest to check for her name tag which wasn't there. "You'd think a pretty girl like you would have some brains in her head, and wouldn't waste her time with no good people like the Donnelly's. We finally know what you little boyfriend did. We don't let those kind of things go easily." He picked up the pen and began to write on the bill. "Maybe one day you'll stop wasting your time with them and try some Italian," he winked at her as he and the rest of the men stood up. Handing the sleeve back to her, he patted her on the behind. "Be careful out there babe, it's dog eat dog," he whispered in her ear as they all left the restaurant. "You think she'd learn from the last mistake he tried to get with." She could just hear them laugh as the door closed behind them. Sarah's heart thumped in her chest, as she stood stunned at the table. Looking down, she opened the sleeve to look at the bill. He had written 'Watch your back...' across the receipt without signing it. This was going to have to come out of her own pocket. It was all of her tips from the night. She took a deep, tired breath as she made her way back to the till counting the tip money she kept in the front of her apron.
"Carrie, do you have two bucks I can have?" Giving her a confused look, she pulled two one-dollar bills out of her apron and slapped them in her hand.
"Ugh," she punched in the order and closed the sale. Feeling a sharp pain behind her eyes, she went back into the kitchen. "Larry, I'm taking a second, I'll be back out shortly!" She yelled back at one of the chefs in the kitchen, who merely lifted his knife in recognition and went back to work. Sarah sat down in one her father's office, which was a small room at the very back of the kitchen. On the desk was a picture of her and her father at an Independence Day parade a few years back. She smiled at it before resting her head back on the plush leather chair behind the desk. Closing her eyes, she tried to soothe the pain she felt pounding on the back of her eyes and on the top of her skull. As the moments, passed by she could feel the throbbing pain start to slowly recede.
"Sarah!" A voice suddenly cut into the quiet of the room, bringing back the pain in her head. She moaned as she sat forward, rubbing her forehead with her fingers she opened her eyes.
"Yeah?"
"There's someone out here to see you," Larry motioned towards the front. Her heart raced again at the thought that it could be Nicky back to talk to her. Slowly she got up from her father's desk and walked through the kitchen to the two-way door.
"Hey!" one of the servers yelled just as she put her foot through the door, taking her by surprise.
"Sorry," she sighed, holding the door for him as he walked back into the kitchen. As she turned back around, there was Tommy waiting by the front door with a rose in his hand and a smile on his face. Relieved, she made her way over to him, stopping behind the greeter's stand.
"Hey," she smiled, happy to see him there. She leaned forward on the podium to be closer to him as he tipped the rose towards her wafting the rose's sweet perfume her way.
"Hey, I came to take you home." He gave her a devilish grin.
"Is it three already? We've just been so busy here, I've barely had time to catch my breath." She looked down at her watch. Tommy looked around at all of the people in the restaurant.
"Are you still up for breakfast? We could go to Cora's, It's not too far a walk from here." He leaned in to nuzzle her neck, taking in the subtle scent of lilacs. It was the perfume he had bought her for her birthday, which he loved, and she wore every day just for him.
"I dunno, Tommy, I'm just so tired you know? Would you be mad if we just had breakfast at home, I'm sure I have stuff in the fridge I could make."
"Whatever you want, but I'm making breakfast this morning, you've done enough for today."
"Okay," she could help but smile again. "I'll meet you out back." He left a whisper of a kiss on her lips before she turned away, her cheeks almost the same color as the rose he had given her. Quickly she ran back to the kitchen where Caroline was picking up an order.
"Carrie I'm off! It's three! Holly should be coming in soon!" She barely got out before she finished counting out and ran into her father's office to grab her things. Doing a once over of the office to make sure she didn't leave anything in her rush, she headed for the back door where she found Tommy sitting on the stoop, waiting for her.
"Hey," he stood up with a smile that was brighter the moon in the sky, "you ready?" She hopped into his arms off the stoop.
"Let's go." She took his hand in hers, happy to see him after the gruelling shift she had just had.
"So how was work? I saw it was busy." Looking down at the cracked, wet, pavement, she remembered what Nicky had said to her.
"Uh," she paused, her voice cracking a bit. She knew Tommy saw the expression on her face change from the happy girl who had just jumped into his arms, to one of distress and worry as they walked hand in hand. She sighed, pondering if it was a good idea to tell him or not. If not for the dim of the lights surrounding them, he probably would have seen her turn a shade of red.
"What is it?"
"Tommy... someone came in today."
"Who?" He stopped her from walking as they stood in the alleyway, just steps away from the main street, which was empty of people and cars.
"I..."
"Who was it Sarah?" He probed, lowering his head to try and make eye contact with her. She didn't answer. "Sarah?"
"Cottero and his guys came in, I wasn't serving them, but they asked for me to pick up their bill..." she trailed off hearing a noise coming from behind one of the dumpsters in the alley dark alleyway.
"They what? Did they do anything? What did they say to you?"
"They basically said I was stupid for being with you."
"Son of a bitch." Tommy wiped his forehead in frustration. "Did they say anything else?" He looked at her. She noticed a car with tinted windows slowly driving by the alley where they stood.
"Tommy..." she could barely get out before the window rolled down and shots were fired in their direction. "Tommy!" She stepped backwards and screamed just before Tommy threw her to the ground, falling on top of her. She felt her head crack against the wet cement, and the full force of Tommy's muscular body being thrown against her back. It all lasted barely ten seconds before the car sped off down the street and out of sight.
"Sarah!" She could hear him yelling on top of her. He panted, out of breath as he called her name. "Sarah!" She felt the weight of his body lift off of her. It was only then, that she felt the scorching pain in her side.
"Oh my God," he looked her over grief stricken. And it was only after hearing those words that she knew she had been hit. She tried to speak as he yelled. She knew she was saying the words she desperately wanted to say, but she couldn't hear the sounds coming out of her mouth. She knew she was going to die, she felt it. She felt the blood seeping out of her side, and both the pain from her wound and from the pressure of Tommy's hand trying to stop the bleeding. She felt her breath shorten and her eyes start to close. She wanted to reach out to him but couldn't feel her hand to move it. "Sarah!" She heard him call to her again, "Sarah, wake up! Sarah... Sarah, wake up! SARAH!"
