Chapter One: A Visit For Rube
It was nothing more than a regular day in the northwest. The rain came down steadily on the grey, dismal February morning granting with it the promise of colds, the flu and maybe even a car accident or two. The only shining light, or so it seemed, was the neon radiating in an electric hum from the sign of Der Waffle Haus as it had every morning.
The streets were shiny and slick which made her steady walk slightly swayed and irregular, the stiletto heels clicking on the pavement as she looked at the restaurant from the distance of the city block. It had been way too long since she'd been inside those walls, years it must be by now. Even standing so close gave her a feeling of home, something that Boston never gave her. There it was, steady and true as always with no doubt the same wait staff and customers that filled the vinyl booths every day. A gust of wet wind lifted the auburn curls from her collar and she swept them away, tugging her scarf closer to keep the rain from going down her neck. Damn west coast weather, it always had to rain, always.
The now not-so-sure footfalls brought the tall figure closer to the well lit restaurant and she looked up at its roof with a face full of reverence. Her heartbeat thudded to life and into a free-for-all drum line chorus that made her chest hurt like crazy. Yeah, she was definitely home.
Through the huge picture windows she saw The Booth. It hadn't changed, still the one in the back in the center by the counter. Rose tinted lips pursed as she saw the group that lingered in that booth. True, some of the faces had changed since her last visit but at least two remained the same. A smile crossed her face as she wandered closer, eyes still locked on the group and she hardly noticed as she bumped into a man coming out of the doors.
"Oh...I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't paying attention." She offered and backed away suddenly.
"Damn kid… pay the fuck attention to what you're doing. You want to get killed or what?" the man shouted and stalked off to what had to be a 'rewarding' job in an office building.
A few blinks later she turned and smoothed one hand over her black trench, letting the water slide off on to the welcome mat. A fluff of her hair with two nervous hands meant she was set to go in. Why was this so hard? This wasn't anything to be freaked out over, was it? She was coming in for a visit that was all. That was ALL.
The jangling of the bell over the door sounded her entrance and it felt as though every eye lifted to see her walk in. Even the waitresses stopped to see her lick her lips and head for the back, her feet hesitating as her eyes locked with the divider that kept her out of view from The Booth.
I can do this… This isn't anything to be tweaking over. It's just them. And she made her way to the back. Four pairs of eyes looked up at her as she rounded the corner and took a few steps toward them. Two pairs cocked an eyebrow, two others shifted back and forth in confusion at her approach.
"Hi, I was looking for someone maybe you could-"she started and was immediately cut off by Kiffany.
"Oh my god! I think I'm seeing a ghost! What are you doing here?" the large black woman exclaimed as she put down the coffee pot and hugged the girl to her.
"- help me. I came for a visit, Kiffany." She finished and hugged back, a feeling of happiness fluttering up as the sight of a truly familiar face lit up her heart.
"You just up and left without saying anything. I was worried something had happened to you. Where have you been, child?"
"I'm working in Boston now. I got transferred short notice so I only had, like, a day or so to pack." She explained and slid the scarf off of her neck.
"Want anything?" the waitress asked and her eyes went straight to the pot of coffee.
"Coffee. Just coffee."
The waitress nodded and left for the counter in search of a cup. That left her to the gaze of the four people sitting in the booth who had, no doubt, a question or two as to how Kiffany knew her so well. Damn. Their 'fearless leader' wasn't there yet. Here it was almost 7:30; normally he'd be sitting leaned against the divider by now with a plate of eggs in front of him. Still, things had been off as of late. Hell, she didn't even live here and she could figure that out.
Her slender form took the booth beside theirs as Kiffany brought the coffee and a hundred and one questions as to how she'd been and what she was doing. White lies about a job in an advertising office passed her lips with ease from her extensive use of them. That was her 'life': a successful business woman who moved from place to place whenever her job was done. Well, that was half true. She did move from place to place when her job was done. The coffee was rich and fragrant, almost unlike any diner coffee she'd had since she left. Yes, this was home alright. The familiar yodeling music made her smile as she sank back into the vinyl covering and locked eyes with the young man sitting in The Booth. He looked at her for a moment before speaking in hushed whispers with the rest of them. Oh yeah, this would definitely be interesting.
The bell jangled to life again and this time her mark entered. The tall, stately man made his way to the back, the short black hair the same as always and those dark, brooding eyes sweeping the room before sitting down. The group talked for a moment before she took a breath and made a move to stand. She couldn't. Her legs were suddenly grape jelly and refused to make any sort of commitment to movement. Fuck…
All at once Kiffany came bustling up to their table wielding the ticket book and a pot of coffee. A worried look passed her face and she knew this wasn't going to be good for her anonymity. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Shit. Damn. She jumped up from the table, hoping to and succeeding in avoiding Kiffany's gaze, and ran around the corner of booths to slink into another and slide down as far as she could in the seat.
"Hey, Rube. You didn't tell me Ros was back in town for a visit." The waitress quipped as she flipped the pages of the ticket book open to a blank one.
Dark eyes shaded over with confusion, "Ros is back in town for a visit? Since when? You gettin' enough sleep there, Kiff?"
"No, I saw her just a couple of minutes before you came in. She's sitting in the booth right there." She answered and turn to point but found only the empty booth with the coffee cup sitting alone.
Damn it. She cursed to herself as she rested her forehead against the faux wood tabletop. It was out of the bag now. That coffee cup didn't get a table for itself, did it? Maybe she should head over there and make Kiffany stop questioning her sanity so early in the morning. No, she wanted to catch him alone. Everyone there would only serve the asking of too many questions.
"She's right, you know. Some girl came in and Kiffany was hugging on her. She said she was looking for a friend." A British accent added.
"I think you're all nuts. And I'll have the Johnny Vegas with the bacon extra extra extra crispy with a lemonade, Kiff." The smooth older man's voice said and waited until their waitress was out of earshot, "Alright, kids, read 'em and reap. There's work to be done." As the Post-Its were handed out to the rest of the patrons of the booth.
"Um, excuse me, this one is on the bad side of town and I don't go there." A voice like that of a southern bell sounded.
"You'll go and you'll like it, princess, any other complaints?" the same smooth voice asked.
There was a silence that inevitably mean 'no' as the group set to eat. She closed her eyes in attempt to try and block it all out. Why did she come back? What could she possibly do? What could her presence here really do?
After a few minutes the taller man straightened up, "Alright guys, three and two bits each. Now get out of my sight I want some alone time." There was some murmuring as the sound of people shifted and she popped up, struggling to get to her feet as the group started to leave. She brushed the shoulder of a woman in a police uniform. Roxy. She hadn't changed at all, but when did she become a cop? There was another girl, a little blonde one. No more than eighteen years if that passed her with an odd glance followed by a taller platinum blonde. Probably the 'princess' she heard earlier. Finally there was the younger man lingering at the table. The Brit. Mason. She had fallen in love with the impish twenty-something on her last visit home. He reminded her so much of a cousin and that made her smile.
"Holy shit, Kiffany was right. It is you." The younger man smiled and opened his arms to her smaller form.
He was warm and smelled of soap and cologne rather than his usual Jack and cocaine mixture of years past,"I didn't want to see everyone, just my two favorites." She said and hugged him back.
The taller man hadn't moved from the booth and Mason leaned down to her ear, "he's in a bit of a foul mood so I'd be nice if I were you." She nodded and gave him a light push to send him on his way before sliding across from her mark.
"So what're you doin' here, anyway?"
"Nice to see you too, Rube, Jesus I thought you might be happy to see me." She rolled her eyes and rested her chin on one hand and looked into his face.
"I am happy to see you, Rosslyn, but I want to know why you're here." Rube answered flatly, poking at his eggs with a fork.
She hesitated and brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes before a strong hand reached out to grab one of her wrists. Her voice suddenly faded as she locked eyes with her old friend, "I heard about Rosie." Was all she said.
Rube nodded and let go of her wrist, going back to eating. He didn't say anything for a long time and her heart started that pounding drum beat again as she looked on with the fear that she had done something wrong.
"How'd you find out?"
She blinked and took a breath, "Penny… told me. She said you saw her before it happened. I wanted to…come and… and…"she faltered.
"Come and what? Pay your respects? What? You never come back here unless you're dyin' or something's up and you look fucking fine to me." he asked in that calm-but-bordering-on-raging-anger voice.
"I came home to see you." She blurted out and glared at him with the practiced stare she'd given him over many a year.
He gave her an even look before shrugging, "I'm fine. Leave it at that." He said in a 'that's the end of the conversation' tone of voice so she fell silent.
"F-fine." She stammered and started to pull the scarf around her neck.
"You stayin' a while or leaving after only a quick 'what's up?' ?" he asked.
"I can stay awhile. They know I'm here so I might be on your list in the morning for a reap." She answered, stopped in the middle of winding the scarf around her neck.
He scribbled something down on a Post-It and gave it to her, "Go there. They'll let you stay."
She took it and nodded, before giving him a look and leaving.
