Chapter 2: Simmons the Working Adult

A loud thunder echoed on the roads. David Washington, a man of slim weight, and pale qualities looked out the main doors to the beach side resort he ran with his wife. He put down the morning paper into a neat fold atop the glass table in the main area of the entrance and stood up from the soft, and warm spot his butt once occupied on the couch. He stretched his back and opened the front doors to meet the morning breeze with a smile. He felt the breeze hit his naked scalp, and even now he preferred to keep a shaven head. No hair meant little mess in the kitchen. He gazed in the direction of the thunder that approached on this sunny morning. The rubber that burned on the road left a trail of a very unpleasant smell behind. As heavy as the smell of tar. The roar of the beast neared, and it quietened as the driver made the turn into the employees parking. David crossed his arms with as a heavy expression gently wrapped around on his face. The rider removed his helmet and the ruffled hair stuck out in a noticeable fashion. The rider fixed the itch in his patchy beard as he looked at David standing near the main entrance. David stared at the bike with a raised eyebrow, and looked towards the road by the entry to their parking lot. A skid mark was as visible as the sunlight on this clear day. But the owner gently breathed outward and gave a gentle wave. "Good morning, Simmons."

As Simmons fixed his hair, he gave a gentle nod. "Morning."

But he knew something was different. The voice and the facial expression did not seem to meet one another, as if they did not see eye to eye. David's concern was even more so apparent when the man's gaze completely fixated onto the bike, unmoving and frozen like a statue. Simmons tied the bike down and walked towards the entrance with the helmet over his shoulders. He stopped to look back with a small smile and reassured David. "It's already been a year and a half since I have had this bike, and my driving record is spotless. You need to stop worrying about this bike and me, David."

"Yeah, you are right," David held the front door open as the two men entered. He pointed in the general area for the employees and said, "Go ahead and sign in. We need to begin setting up for the day."

"Yes, boss," said Simmons as he accessed the sign in console to account for his working hours. Having quickly changed, he stepped out to meet yet another day's worth of challenges. He straightened out his shirt and apron, and took notice of the tapping of two little feet against the wooded floor. He saw a young girl run circles around him, as her mother, a red head chased after her with much vigour. Carolina almost caught her, only for the little one to slip away rather quickly. "You need to stay still Sheila, you have to get ready for pre-school. If you don't, you will be late!"

However, Sheila cared not for the concerns as her smile echoed the carefree world of her mind she currently was enamoured with. Her arms spread wide out as her laughter only grew in sound. She lifted her head high with her chest held outwards. As Carolina saw her daughter turn a corner, she stopped to catch her breath and wiped a stray hair strand from her forehead. She gave a morning nod to Simmons who returned the kind gesture. She looked back at the now empty corner and wondered, "Where does she get all this energy from?"

Simmons took notice of a young boy, sharing many of the same features as his father, sit quietly at one of the dinner tables. Simmons moved closer and gently spoke, "Morning, Derek."

"Morning," said the young boy in a quiet voice. Simmons' eyes gazed at the device Derek held in his hand as he fiddled with its features. Derek looked at the various apps and their functionalities on his mother's phone. He looked for ways to see how best he could overcome the app's limitations.

"Quite the tinkerer you are", said Simmons as he quickly shoved his hands in his pockets for a sudden urge to grip the table overcame him. "Reminds me of someone I used to know once."

Derek looked up from the illuminating screen as the young one noticed the loneliness in Simmons' voice. But just as quickly Simmons noticed the stare, Derek hid behind the screen. Simmons smirked to himself pondering, I used to be the same when I was young. Although for me it got worse after my father left me. But before he was given any further opportunities to interact with the family, he was called into the kitchen. A mountain of dirty plates waited for his tender care much to his annoyance. Dish duty first thing in the morning. As the cleaning began, he noticed the rest of the staff, quickly scrambling to prepare the morning breakfast for the expected rush of guests in the dining hall. As his hands moved on auto-pilot, in a circular motion, his gaze was fixated on the staff outside. But his head was put back into manual gear as soon as he felt a moderately strong bump to the back of his head. David once again knocked on Simmons' head playfully as he said, "Don't go getting distracted by what's happening around you."

"Sorry."

"Just finish cleaning the dishes," David offered a smile. "Don't dwell on it."

David took the free spot beside Simmons and grabbed the cutting board, several ingredients and a well kept cutting blade. The blade cut clean through the freshly washed carrots with little resistance. Side by side, there was only silence that covered the area the two men occupied. David quickly looked at Simmons from the side of his eye and asked, "How are you managing in your own place now?"

"It's fine so far."

"You know, you didn't have to move out," David spoke with a saddened smile. "We would have been happy to continue providing you with a room here."

"I know, but I needed to leave and get out on my own," Simmons dried the dish that marked the halfway point for him. He gently rinsed the next one's soap off, and dried it. "How is the construction of your house going?"

"Oh-ho," David felt a sudden bubble of stress burst and shower him. "The construction on the house is quite the story. It's slow, and for whatever reason it has stayed that way, no matter how much we complain to hurry it up."

"Are the kids looking forward to the house?"

"Nah," David looked out the kitchen window towards Derek. "Well, to be frank, Sheila doesn't really care, but Derek is the one that's more or less very attached to this place."

"He must have grown quite fond of this place," said Simmons. "I also imagine that they will no doubt miss all the little details they have explored here, and all the things they were able to do here. Where as a new house would mean having to start from scratch basically."

"But that's life, gotta move on," David looked at the boiling pot from which steam echoed like a train's whistle. He left the cutting board to study the fine granularity of the freshly made oatmeal. Simmons took over the cutting duties as he was now done with the dishes. He watched David serve the oatmeal breakfast to his family and pondered back to Blood Gulch. Donut used to serve us breakfast like that occasionally. He looked down at the half cut carrot and placed the knife vertically atop it. With a quick clean cut, it went through the carrot's body. Gotta move on, David's words repeated in Simmons' head like a broken record, over and over again, and with each iteration, his voice got louder. From behind him, in a grovelled, aged voice he heard a man speak, "Are you happy with this daily drivel, Simmons?"

Simmons gazed back to see the shadow of his former mentor. Sarge stood still in his solid red armour. Simmons looked back down to the onion he was cutting. "You don't know anything. I'm happier right now than I have been as a soldier."

"Don't kid yourself," Sarge noted. "You are a terrible liar, you always have been."

"Listen here-," but before Simmons could say anymore, he stopped at the sudden dark mist surrounding Sarge. A dark visage overtook Sarge and his visor glowed red, nearly as bright as the morning sun, blindingly so. Sarge's voice deepened with a growl. "I know the truth Simmons. I will always come back to remind you of it, no matter how much you want to bury it, I will always come back."

Suddenly, a stray potato at the side of the cutting board felt the full brunt of the knife. A loud clang echoed against the cutting board as Simmons had made a clean cut through the potato. He looked down and took a deep breath. Those around him froze at the violent gesture for they too felt their hearts rush. It wasn't only Simmons who struggled to keep his heart in his chest. He gently rested the knife on the board with a confused stare, and with an equal measure of fear. He slowly looked up with much shame in his eyes. "Sorry."

Quickly, he left the kitchen. The other employees simply crossed their arms as one asked, "Is this another one of his episodes?"

"Yup," another confirmed. "Frankly it's becoming a little frustrating at this point."

"Only a little?" asked another.

Out at the dining table, Carolina served breakfast to her now tired daughter. "See, you shouldn't have run around so much first thing in the morning. Now you are all tuckered out. Eat your breakfast, it will give you more energy for later."

"Really?" Sheila inquired as she then took her spoon and dug in upon her mother's confirmation. "Then I will eat lots!"

David opened the door to the perch that overlooked the beach. A nice breeze welcomed him, as did the calm ocean waves. Nice day to be out and about on the beach today. He walked forward to meet Simmons' gaze who rested his whole body weight against the railing on the perch. David instantly noticed the sweat on Simmons' forehead. Out here to calm down I see. He stopped by Simmons' side and looked out at the calm ocean. The sun light glistened like fireflies, gently flying across the sky. "Simmons, was it the voices again?"

Simmons looked at the ex-freelancer and simply nodded in response. David then asked, "Have you been taking your medication to help with these episodes?"

"I have, but in lower dosages," he admitted. "The medicine only seems to worsen my performance in general."

David let out a worried sigh as he looked into Simmons' nearly soulless eyes. Simmons took a step back at the continued stare, a gaze so sharp that it felt like his very chest was being ripped open to see the feelings in his inner abyss by David. Simmons took a sharp right and began to walk back towards the building with a slight mumble. "I will get back to work now."

"Wait," David called out before his friend could stumble back into the kitchen and shook his head with a slight headache. Worrying about you like this is also starting to affect me. He turned back out towards the ocean and stretched his neck to hear a most satisfactory crackle. "Maybe you easing off your medication is not such a good idea Simmons. Your performance may already have been impacted."

"What?" Simmons asked with a quick look back, only to see David's back towards him. Is my performance that bad, is my job in danger?

Carolina looked out to the two men. I hate to walk in on them like this, but she had to. She knocked on the door to get their attention and motioned for David to come closer. As David walked towards her, Carolina's morning smile shifted towards Simmons. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"No, thank you," Simmons answered as he watched David and Carolina go back inside hand in hand. Carolina gently wiped Sheila's cheek and said, "Eat as much as you two like, there is still plenty. But be mindful of the time, we need to get ready to leave soon."

"Are you dropping them off today?" asked David.

"Yes," Carolina sat down beside her husband as they ate their breakfast in a timely manner. "It will be a busy morning today. It's not just the guests here, but many buses will be passing through with several passengers making pit stops here in the morning."

"And they will all be hungry probably," David replied. "A good opportunity for business."

"I guess my attitude has rubbed off on you a bit."

"Kind of hard to ignore that business mindset of yours," he smirked as he pointed up towards their bedroom. "Especially when you are always so busy chatting about how to grow the business."

Carolina lowered her head as her cheeks flared red. "I don't talk about the resort that much, do I?"

"Yes, you do Mrs. Washington," David teased as he gently pinched her nose. She in return kicked his shin, his eyes opened wide as he held back a squeal. And some things have not changed about you. Carolina cleaned her plate off and wiped her lips clean. "It is because of this mindset that the two of us were able to build our lodgings from the ground up."

David agreed with a nod as he too finished his plate. He looked back out to the lone figure outside. Carolina knew from just one look at her husband, that his earlier talk with Simmons bothered him. "How is Simmons holding up?"

David smiled at Sheila as she closed her eyes tightly and squinched her face at her mother's gentle wipes of Sheila's mouth. "Well, from talking to him, it seemed like he was holding up fine. But my guts say different."

Derek finished his plate and held it up with his lips tugging up from one end to the other. David's eyebrows held up in surprise as he reached over to give his son a gentle rub of the hair. "Good job Derek, that was faster than yesterday!"

Derek stared proudly at his parents with his mind off into its own world, satisfied with his achievement. Carolina reached over to gently tap his forehead. "Don't go around getting a big head. I dare you to do even better tomorrow. If you do, I will even throw in an ice cream as a prize."

Derek's ears perked up as he excitedly agreed. Sheila crossed her arms as she looked at her mother angrily. "I want an ice cream too, I bet I can eat faster tomorrow as well!"

"We will see you little squirt," Carolina grinned whilst taking Sheila into a big hug. Derek noticed his mother's phone on the table beside her plate and gently stood up in his chair. His hand crawled over to her spot but his plan to get the device was quickly foiled by Carolina. "No playing with electronics while we are eating."

Derek sat back down with his arms crossed. He stared away from his mother, at the empty space to his left as he breathed out a heavy, irritated breath. David stood up to rub his son's back and patted it. "Cheer up, check out the view outside Derek. It's looking like it will be a great day again today. Maybe you can even play outside once you get back from school."

"Yeah," Derek replied in a soft voice. He stood up to rest his body against the glass door to see the inviting beach. "I wish I could go there right now."

He already imagined himself being engulfed in the blue, and clean water of the ocean that vibrated with the sunlight piercing through the surface. Simmons still gazed out at the waves as he quickly slapped the sides of his face with a shake. I gotta focus. He decided to head back inside where he saw David and Carolina share a parting morning kiss. The kids followed their mother closely as the trio left for the parking lot. David walked back inside and gently patted his friend on the back. "Are you alright now?"

"I guess," Simmons answered passively. "I should get back to work since the guests will be coming down soon."

As he entered the kitchen, a pink figure stood before him. Donut blocked his way to the cutting board. Again with this shit? Simmons closed shut his eyes as he gritted his teeth. David watched the ex-sim trooper frozen still. You are not alright, my friend, you are not alright. As Simmons strangely walked around thin air, Donut took a sharp turn. Simmons continued his work. Donut looked at the neatly cut vegetables and tried to reach for one, only for it to phase right through him. "How are you able to live with yourself like this everyday Simmons?"

Silence was Simmons' answer. Donut then continued, "You know what you feel, you know about the past that haunts you and how it defines your right now."

Again, silence greeted the pink one. Donut laughed to himself as he walked to Simmons' other side and leaned closer. "Just how long do you think this strong conviction of yours will continue to last in the future, especially when you will eventually succumb to all the pressure around you?"

Simmons reached into his pockets and grabbed a medications bottle. Donut shook his head with pity. "You are a shell. You will fall and never rise again, that much is an inevitability!"

Simmons quickly popped one pill and swallowed with determination to make them disappear. Donut saw the fire in Simmons' eyes, however temporary and bleak it was. "We will return again Simmons. You will pay for your crimes and failures."

Simmons closed shut his eyes and opened them again only to find that the pink one has vanished. Simmons walked over to his work station and punched the cutting board with his fists, surprising all. As the many gazes of surprise and shock beamed in his direction, he quietly got back to work for the morning rush had started.

A/N: What did you think about Simmons' working life and his job back here on Earth?

Did you ever imagine him being in this position both in terms of career and emotionally?

I know that not a whole lot happened in this chapter, but I hope it helps to establish a bit more of the setting for Simmons after he left Blood Gulch. Next chapter, you will finally see the return of Tucker!

I appreciate all constructive feedback, thank you!

Thank you for taking the time to read!

~ Monty