Thank you very much to The Walrus and the Carpenter for helping me Beta this document.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 19.-Sunshine.
Maya POV
The suspense is killing me; I am all about opening the package as soon as we are back in the car, but William gave it to Stink bomb with the whole and only purpose to avoid me trying to open it.
Jeez! Is it bad for a girl to be curious? Honestly, I am mad—almost mad enough to not put the filters ups to reduce the stench….almost!
Duct tape helps attach the filters to the A/C system, and the air improves significantly once they are up. It helps that I put a couple around Jacob—not that he appreciates the gesture, but he should count his blessings. I am almost tempted to throw the carbon dust directly on top of him to see if it removes the stench, but William opposes to my idea.
What a party pooper.
After crossing back to the USA, Jacob put his foot down regarding having a decent meal and not the crappy food from a drive thru—what a picky eater—so we stop at a local diner located at the outskirts of a town. I actually don´t put up a fight—not for his benefit, obviously, but actually because it gives us an opportunity to open the mysterious box.
When we enter the diner, and as expected, all heads turn to see us, and well ... I understand their point of view; two grown up males, one extremely good looking, with two teenage girls doesn´t look good. It's is why Nessie and I took off when we arrived at the park back in Canada; obviously, Jacob and William didn´t see my point of view, and I was scolded.
This time I hold Nessie back and let William and Jacob pick a table; I don´t want to be chastises again. We end up on the far end of the restaurant where we are not visible. They pick a booth, and I go and sit next to William—considering that I am most definitely not sitting next to the Stink bomb, who is now eagerly eyeing the menu.
William takes advantage that our hands are not in view of Jacob and Nessie and quickly intertwines his finger with mine. He smiles at me.
Oh why God? I just want to kiss him.
"Welcome to Sunshine's. May I take your order?" a nasally, uninterested voice interrupts my trance that I had going on studying William's face once again.
When I see our waitress the last thing that comes to mind is Sunshine; the poor woman looks like she needs a break. The pins in her hair are barely holding the strands of hair that are fighting their way to get lose, and the smudges on her make up indicating how tired she is feeling.
Her outfit is yellow with a white apron on top, carrying a nametag. According to it, her name is Marie. Her shoes are white with a small heel, and her poor feet are swollen. She is probably around her late twenties but looks older, considering how unflattering the uniform looks on her and how tired she looks.
Something else about her catches my attention, and I close my eyes and hear her strong heartbeat, and a very faint heartbeat following her own … she is with child. When I open them, I realize there is a small bump in her stomach; she's probably in her mid-second trimester.
Close by is a younger waitress, her attitude chirp and happy; it seems that she can´t stop smiling. She constantly keeps glancing towards the counter where the manager is located and winks at him, her smile growing when he returns the wink.
"Yes please," Jacob takes over the conversation and starts ordering as if he was going to feed a battalion.
The poor waitress writes as fast as she can, trying to keep up with the speed that Jacob is talking to her.
I can´t stop staring at the other waitress, the way she flirts with the manager and ignores her customers—which keep calling her, trying to get her attention.
"Eloise, time for a break," the manager says while looking at the flirting waitress, giving her a not too subtle signal to come and join him at the back of the restaurant. Our server sighs, even if she is not looking at the scene. She is aware of what is going on.
"Anything else?" she looks at all of us. Nessie, William and I shake our heads. "I´ll bring you some extra plates to share." She looks sternly at Jacob.
She leaves us and quickly puts the order to the kitchen and rushes to attend Eloise´s table, who are now becoming rather desperate.
No wonder she looks tired; who knows how many breaks Eloise has taken.
"You should take it slow on her, Jacob." I look at him, his face is full of doubts. "You ordered half the menu—like you are really going to eat all that food."
"Well duh? I am hungry. I have a big appetite." He looks exasperated at me as if I should know this. "Nessie should also eat some."
I look at Nessie, and she shakes her head.
"Maya, I am sure Jacob is not trying to annoy the waitress," William says, and I look at him.
Ugh! Why does he keeps defending Stink bomb? I am his girlfriend; he should be backing me up.
"So when can we open the package?" Nessie says breaking the tension that was starting to build up.
"We should probably wait, for Jacob to eat." William looks at Nessie and gives her a smile.
"Oh no! His order is going to take a long time to process," I say, a little bit desperately. "You already tested my patience and curiosity more than enough for today!"
Nessie laughs at this, and Jacob rolls his eyes, and honestly, I don´t want to look at the warning look that William is probably giving me.
"I want to see what is inside—don't you Nessie?" I know William and Jacob are not going to back me up, but Nessie might, and if she does, I'll already have won Jacob´s vote.
"Well … yeah!" Nessie´s face lights up.
Two against two….Yeyy! Don´t look at William, don´t look at William.
Instead, I look at Jacob; he eyes me knowing exactly what I just did, but I know he is curious as well.
"Maybe…" Jacob looks at William, but stops on his tracks.
Oh nuts! What does he means with maybe? Lesson learned; the dog is not going to be a good sidekick.
"There is a reason I don´t want to open the package in such a public area," William puts in.
"How about the piece of paper?" Nessie is looking at William. "We don´t exactly know what is in it?"
I see William's face crumbling.
YES!
I mentally high five Nessie. She is going to be an excellent partner in crime.
"If it is an address we might as well be driving the other way and losing precious time," I say innocently, without daring to look at William.
"Terrible acting skills," Jacob says looking at me and shaking his head. "You really are an oddity within your group." His voice serious.
I glare at him and stick out my tongue; it is rather childish, but making Nessie laugh makes it totally worth it.
"But she is right, William," he turns to William, "it is better to know what is going to be our next step."
I finally dare to glimpse at William. He is looking down at the table and nods.
He moves opposite to my side, facing the wall and starts opening the box. He is not letting me see anything no matter how much I crane my neck trying to get a glimpse at the package. He makes sure to block me, but the widening of Jacob´s eyes make me think that there is something more interesting inside it.
I hear the box being closed.
Curses!
On William´s hand there is a small piece of paper. He opens it; there is an email address and a phone number below it. He hands me the piece of paper so that I can get a better look. I read the information, trying to think which state has that specific area code.
"What is it?" Nessie asks, looking at the piece of paper.
"Here," I say stretching my hand to pass it to her.
"Coming Through." The chirping voice from Eloise indicates that she is approaching us; it takes me by surprise, and by the time I turn to look at her it's too late. I feel a cascade of beverages and food falling on top of my head.
I most certainly can state that I am not happy; I look down at myself and see some French fries and clumps of milkshakes in my hair, ruining my beautiful hairdo and clothes. I look up; Nessie is barely affected—just the sleeve of her arm.
I turn at the guilty party in not a very kind way expecting to see Eloise, but stop when I realize that the unfortunate waitress that caused the accident is Marie, our waitress.
"I am so sorry," she says quickly and nervously, putting down whatever is left in the tray on a nearby table. She quickly grabs the napkins, but when she gets a good look at me, she realizes it's going to take much more than that. "I-I-I..." Her voice is all shaken up and tears start welling in her eyes.
"What the hell, Marie?" the manager says as he approaches our table, his voice nowhere gentle, and his eyes blazing with fury. Marie puts her shaking hand on her belly.
"Oh, Marie, again?" If Jacob thinks I am a bad actress, I´ve met my match with Eloise.
I stand up and look at William; he looks worried. I then turn to Jacob; there is amusement in his eyes, but I have to hand it to him, he is keeping quiet. Nessie is also looking at the whole scene, her eyes full of concern.
"Are you okay?" I come closer to where Marie is. Her face is surprised; she was probably expecting me to be yelling at her and not asking her about her wellbeing.
"Miss, I am so sorry about the incident," the manager says, while he starts cleaning my soaked shirt with his towel.
"Oh silly me!" I say, taking the towel from his hands. I don´t like the way that he eyes me and touches me. "It was my fault." I look at William, begging him with my eyes to help me; he catches my drift.
"Again, Maya?" He puts in. Standing up, he walks to where I am and removes some French fries from my hair. "She is very clumsy." He turns and looks at the manager rolling his eyes. "I told her to be careful when the food was arriving, but instead of staying put she stands up; she never listens to me."
Marie looks confused; she knows I was not getting up, but for her sake, she keeps quiet. William continues helping to remove the rest of the food from the top of my head.
"I think it's better if I go to the ladies room," I decide after seeing that my hair is going to need more than just a small towel.
Nessie stands up; she has been quiet the entire time. "I´ll go with you," she says.
William and Jacob look worried; splitting up is not something that they like, but it's not as if they can follow us….
Shoot!
"No, Nessie, I´ll be fine." I walk to where the ladies room is located, not waiting to hear her answer.
When I reach the ladies room, I find a speck of amusement at my current predicament. It seems there is always a first time for everything. I don´t recall ever walking to a restaurant bathroom.
I enter and hear laughing and talking inside. I stay near the door quiet; I'd rather clean myself without witnesses.
"Did you see her face when the tray started to go down? She didn´t even notice when she tripped on my feet"—that's most certainly Eloise's voice—"she was just lucky that the customer thought it was her fault…" More giggles from inside.
"Did you check out the hottie the customer is with?" the other voice speaks up. "I was so looking forward on him sitting on my tables."
"Maybe he won´t think she's so beautiful with all her make up smudged, and French fries in her hair," Eloise says, and they both start laughing aloud.
"I thought the other one was cuter, he has more of manly look with his dark skin—yummy," the other one replies.
"I am planning on slipping my phone number on the check; honestly, either one will do." Eloise is the one talking again.
Bitch!
"What about Brian?" There is a tinge of jealousy in the voice of Eloise's friend.
"What about him? I am with him to get a better cut on the tips and to have a little fun. Oh don´t you dare give me that look; you do the same every once in a while." Eloise starts giggling.
I hear footsteps approaching the restroom from inside restaurant and decide to walk in; I didn't want to be caught eavesdropping.
The minute they realize I am walking in, they go quiet. They quickly finish washing their hands and leave the restroom, holding from laughing. I look at my reflection and see the damage the food actually made on me. I no longer have food on my hair, but it's still dripping from the milkshake and sodas. Besides, there is food still on my clothes.
I reluctantly remove my gloves and start the water.
Somebody enters the restroom, and I see Marie coming in through the reflection of the mirror.
"Hi." I smile at her and start washing my hair as best as I can in the sink.
"Let me help you," Marie says, stepping closer to me.
"I am okay, thank you," I answer trying to avoid her, but she ignores me and starts helping me anyway. She takes soap from the dispenser and puts it on my hair, gently scrubbing it and rinsing it with the water.
"You have beautiful hair," she says, and I chuckle at this, "long and thick. I wish mine was like that." I remember her hair trying to escape from the pins. "Thank you for taking the downfall." Her voice is serious.
"As far as I am concerned it was not your fault," I say looking at her in the mirror.
She smiles; the first smile since I met her. "And neither was it yours." I feel her fingers going through my hair trying to untangle the knots.
"You should leave it like that. I´ll brush it later on." I bring my hair together and wring as much water from it as I can.
"Here, put it under the hand dryer blower; it should help a little."
I do as told, and I soon feel the warm air helping it dry.
With my hair damp—which is better than dripping—I walk back to the mirror to study what should be the next step and sigh. There isn´t much I can do about my clothes other than change them.
I wash my face, and Marie hands me some toilet paper to dry it. I am careful when I take it to avoid touching her hand. After I am done, I put my gloves back on, ignoring the inquisitive look on Marie's face.
I look in the mirror and see the old Maya back with no hairdo and no makeup.… Oh well; it wasn´t going to last forever.
"Can I braid your hair?" Marie asks kindly.
I look at her not really understanding her question.
"I want to practice before she arrives." She touches her belly, and I can´t help at smiling at her.
"Sure," I say, and she moves behind me; she is a bit taller than I am which helps. She silently works on my hair. It's not a tight braid as I was expecting; it's loose, giving my hair some liberty. She takes a rubber band from her apron and finishes the braid.
I don´t remember ever looking like this; it's different, but not bad.
"That is the best that I can do." She smiles looking at the result.
"I like it," I say, turning my face to one side and then to the other.
Her smile widens, before there is a surprise look on her face and her hands automatically move to her belly. She looks at me. "She likes you," she says.
Well...yeah... I don´t have a clue what she is talking about.
"Here," she grabs my soaked gloved hand and puts it on top of her belly, "can you feel her?"
I am taken off guard; I definitely feel something moving inside her and I can´t help but laughing at this. Never in my life did I expect to feel a baby moving inside a mother's womb. Nevertheless, here I am inside a restroom, in a diner, with my clothes all soaked, touching a pregnant woman and feeling the baby move inside her.
If this could actually happen to me, we might have a shot against the Volturi.
"Thank you." I remove my hand and look her in the eye. "Have you decided a name for her?"
"Not yet. I still have a while to go." She recovers from the surprise and we both start making our way towards the door. "Maybe you can help me. What do you think I should name her?"
I open the door and let her go through first.
Two names automatically pop into my mind. "Marian or Marissa." I don´t know where those name came from, but I can´t help at smiling when I say them.
"I like Marian. Do you?" she looks down and pats her belly, and it seems that the question is not for me. "Seems that Marian liked it also."
"Give it some time; she might change her mind." Why should a child be named after some crazy thought from me?
Marie starts laughing when she hears my nervous voice. "Take care" she says and smiles before taking a different route.
I make my way back to the table and see Eloise walking towards me carrying a tray with a piece of pie on it. I can´t help it, she is the reason that the tray fell down, and it was no accident.
She is distracted winking at whom I now know is Brian, and as I make my way through I slightly pull out the chair that I just pass. I am not able to see what happens next, since I am walking in the opposite direction, but I clearly hear something falling and not hitting the floor, along with a small scream. I figure that the pie did not land on the floor; hopefully it landed on top of her head.
The look that William gives me is a clear sign that he saw what I just did, but it's not a warning look; it's actually an amused look with a slight shake of his head.
I sit down in my previous spot. It seems the kitchen has been working diligently filling Jacob´s order, as the result is now on the table. There is a plate in front of each of our seats with food in William´s and Nessie´s, but they are not eating it.
"Dig in," Jacob says and points towards the food. Yuck! "For appearances," he whispers.
"I am already wearing it," I answer back and notice the smile coming to life on his mouth.
"Maya," I look up and see Nessie´s worried expression.
"What is wrong?" I am now in full alert, eyeing all the corners of the restaurant.
"The paper, we lost it," her voice is nervous. She opens her hand and sure enough the piece of paper is there all smudged with food and some other liquid. If the handwriting was hard to read when it was dry, it's now impossible.
Jacob puts his arm around Nessie, comforting her.
I look at William and he is already staring at me; he knows the information is not lost.
"William," I say stretching my hand; he immediately pulls out a piece of paper and a pen. I write down the information that I'd memorized.
"Here, Nessie." I push the piece of paper to her side and see her face light up, together with Jacob´s. I make a quick glance at William and see him smiling at me, giving my hand a small squeeze from below the table. "See, stink bomb, I am more than just a pretty face."
Nessie starts chuckling, and Jacob rolls his eyes.
William pulls out a cellphone and quickly dials the number that I'd written down before waiting for an answer. But nothing. He tries again with no luck.
"Nobody is answering." He is disappointed, and by the looks of it, everybody is. I know I am.
"We can always e-mail them." Nessie looks at William and me.
William pushes the piece of paper towards Nessie. Obviously, like most teenagers in America, she pulls her cellphone from her purse and starts writing an email on it.
"Nessie, it's better if we create an account that doesn´t link back to you," Jacob says while eyeing her.
"As if the Volturi are that technological developed," she says without looking back at Jacob.
"Better safe than sorry, Nessie," William puts in.
Nessie stops and pulls an annoyed face, but from the look on Jacob´s, I get the impression that she is doing as William asked and creating a new e-mail address.
"Is the phone safe?" William says while looking at Nessie and Jacob.
"Alice said it was; shouldn´t be traceable." Nessie keeps writing fast. "So what should the e-mail be?"
I turn and look at William; it needed to be something that Fred will know is us, and not spam.
"Skatevamp?" William turns and looks at me.
I shake my head; too obvious. Unlike Nessie, I do believe the Volturi are aware of technological developments.
"What was the name of the National Park where we met him?" I look at him and see that William likes the idea.
"Norvin NJ." He turns and looks at Nessie. "NJ, as in New Jersey".
Nessie puts the information in and smiles; it seems that the name hasn´t been taken.
After a small while, she looks at us. "So what should the e-mail say?"
What we have to tell him is not something that we can explain via e-mail; it would probably need to be in person just to make sure that he believes us and knows he can trust the source of the information. Knowing what I´ve seen from Nessie, the way her ability works will leave no doubt in the recipient that what she is showing them is the truth.
"Fred: Call us on the following number, important information," I turn and look at William, so far he has not shared the number that he is using with the rest of the team. He dictates it to Nessie and she starts writing it down, "William and Maya." I say the last part for Nessie to write it down.
"Okay, let´s hope he returns the call soon." Jacob says, and it's hard to understand him, considering he has food in his mouth.
I throw him a disgusted look but he ignores me, and to our luck it seems it was the last scoop of food that he had on his plate.
"Check, please," I say before he gets any idea for dessert.
Brian eyes me and nods, and I see Eloise approach and wait for Brian to give her the check. Part of her uniform and apron has the evidence of where the pie landed. Marie is standing a couple of feet away, her face full of disbelief; we are her table after all.
"I wasn´t done yet!" Jacob's voice brings my attention back to the table.
"After all that you ate?!" I point at the plate and raise my eyebrows.
I hear Nessie laugh.
"You are wearing half of it," he replies, and my smile disappears completely bringing my previous anger.
Eloise approaches the table, writing something on the check.
Payback time—again.
"I am about to get you dessert for free—and a show," I say to Jacob, but I don´t dare look at anybody, and I ignore the clearing of William throat. He is probably going to tell me to keep a low profile. Well … we lost that when the food was dumped on me.
"Here is the check," Eloise hands the check to William who is already stretching his hand towards her, obviously ignoring my hand that is right in front of her. I get a hold of it before William and pull it towards me.
"My turn to pay." I look at William giving him a big smile; he eyes me in a not so friendly way. I turn to Eloise; her face is full of shock.
I analyze the check, and of course, right at the bottom together with the grand total is her phone number and ´Call me ´ with a little face winking and sending a kiss.
"Ummm, Ma´am, there seems to be a problem with the check." I eye her and enjoy her reaction. "You forgot to charge us for an extra soda." I smile at her and see relief in her eyes. "Manager!" I say at the top of my voice.
Brian jumps from his seat and immediately comes towards us.
"Yes?" His face is eager and a little bit nervous. William tries to pry the check from my hands, but as soon as I see him moving closer, I stand up and move closer to Brian.
"You forgot to charge us for an extra soda." I point to the area where the beverages are indicated; he silently nods, "and your waitress is hitting on my boyfriend." I smile at Brian and see the surprised look on his face when he sees Eloise's number at the bottom of the check. He looks at her furiously, and I dare to look at William. He is looking at me just as furiously. I don´t care.
"I am sorry, Miss, I assure your there must be a mistake." He glares at Eloise; the color is leaving her face. "Let me bring you a complementary dessert while I sort out the check ... and, well, the inconvenience."
"Thank you, sir." I go back to my seat and look innocently at William; he is not happy about the situation, but then again I did not appreciate being soaked from head to toe with soda and who knows what else. I am still sticky all over.
Eloise and the manager leave and Marie quickly steps in bringing us four plates of pies. She gives me a big wide smile and winks at me. I return her smile, and as soon as she leaves, I prepare myself for the lecture I am going to get.
"What the hell was that?" Jacob is the one that speaks up, but his voice is full of amusement.
"It was time to pay." I put on an innocent tone, and hear Nessie laughing.
"The check, Maya!" William says, and I can´t help at looking at him. His tone is not happy, but his eyes betray him.
"Stink bomb wasn´t done; I am just providing food for my teammate. Right?" I look at Jacob but he is already gulfing down the first pie, not answering.
"Why exactly did you do it?" Nessie asks me.
"She is a bully and is taking advantage of her position."
All of a sudden we hear screaming coming from the kitchen.
Good!
"And you are not a bully?" William speaks up; I look at him. "I am not sure she is going to have a job after the stunt that you just pulled."
Why is he defending her?
"Well, she probably knew the risks when she wrote her number on the check. Plus Marie needs the job far more than Eloise; she keeps trying to get her in trouble." I look to where Marie is, still managing Eloise's tables; her mood has improved significantly.
I turn and see Jacob reaching for my pie; I give him a slap on the wrist.
"Really? Are you going to eat it?" he says, glaring at me.
"No, but is polite to ask, not just reach out and take it. I am assuming you were not raise by wolves for crying out loud." I look at Nessie and see amusement in her eyes, and I can´t help but giggle at the irony of the situation.
"Here, Jacob, take mine," William says, and his voice is full of annoyance, "and, Maya, stop picking fights."
I roll my eyes at him.
"You are such a little annoyance," Jacob says, continuing to glare at me.
"What? I am literally sugar coated. What is not to love?" I answer, taking advantage of the work Eloise did on me.
"Aarrghh. How can you put up with her?" Jacob tells William.
"I didn´t have a choice," William answers him.
"Hey! You are free to leave anytime," I exclaim, hurt by William.
He chuckles, then takes my hand beneath the table as his thumb starts circling my wrist.
"That doesn´t mean I wanted to leave you behind," he says with fierceness in his voice, making me hold my breath while getting lost in his eyes. "Not even now."
Jacob manages to steal my piece of pie during that small distraction.
"Well actually not that you can do that—without the Volturi tracking you," Jacob says.
…and killing you, my mind completes the phrase with the reality. Thank you very much, Jacob, for dumping that cold bucket of water. This is not a field trip, so welcome back to the present, Maya. This is reality no matter how much sucks.
"Then for our sake, and for the rest of us, let's make sure we contact as many vampires that we can," I say with disappointment, raising from my seat without waiting to see if Jacob has finished eating his pie.
I hear some footsteps following me, and feel a small tug in my arm, but I pull it free and walk out of the diner. I let the cool air of the night fill my lungs, hoping it helps clear the dark thoughts from my mind.
Think positive, Maya, improbable things have occurred in the small time frame we have been in the restaurant; who knows what the future has in store for us.
"We will make it through, Maya," I hear William´s voice at my back and immediately feel his arms go around me. I don´t dare to look at him; I just turn around and let the warm of his body comfort me. He kisses the top of my head.
The moment doesn´t last; we part the moment we hear the door from the diner open. I look up and see Nessie and Jacob coming out with the package in his arms.
"I need to change," I tell William, realizing how sticky I am. "I don´t know when we are planning to stop again; I better take advantage of this stop."
He nods, walks over to the car, pulls my backpack from the trunk and hands it over to me.
I go back into the diner, straight to the restroom without a glimpse and take possession of one stool. Once inside, I pull out a set of clothes. I decide to wear a white V-neck shirt and a pair of jeans. I pull out some underwear and change. I´ll have to confess, that never in my life have I worn a bra, and honestly I find it tricky at first, and it takes me longer than expected, but at the end I manage to figure it out—I think.
I finish the look with a different pair of shoes, then leave the stool, and see Nessie wearing a different shirt, looking at her reflection without putting a lot of attention into it. Her eyes lost as tears well in them. Her reflection breaks my heart, she looks so young and innocent; I feel the need to protect her.
"Hey," I say gently trying not to scare her.
She looks at me and bites her lower lip.
"What is wrong?" I step closer to her and touch her hand.
"We are too late," her voice breaks.
"You don´t know that, Nessie, we still have a long…" I begin, unsure how to finish, but it's not necessary; she cuts me off.
"Jacob just told me. They captured them." A sobs interrupts her.
I know I am breathing, but the oxygen doesn't seem to reach my lungs.
"They captured Benjamin and Tia," she finishes.
Benjamin? Who is…?
Oh no!
With Benjamin, the Volturi will now be able to control the elements. This is not good, not good at all.
Thanks to my wonderful and talented Beta for helping me with this chapter I really truly appreciate your help and you totally rock hun :)
I am working on the prelude story of Maya the story is call "Bright Moon" and will be donate to Fandom Against Juvenile Diabetes, so it might take me a Little longer to update Solstice since I need to hand the story by the end of this month (yikes!)
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Take care and I hope to be hearing your reviews