It was another day for Lyra. Get up, dress, fold her clothes she had washed the night before, get ready and head to the diner. It was almost routine and almost two months had gone by. It had been uneventful and a drastic change from the luxurious life Lyra had known, but she still felt she had done the right thing with all that being said.
"Hey Darlin. You look unusually tired. Everything okay?" Mary asked, seeming concerned at the dark circles under Lyra's eyes.
"I'm fine. You got it running all by yourself today? No cooks?" Lyra tied on the small white apron that was so typical of the small country set diner. Then she got busy doing her normal daily chores, first starting by filling up the salt and peppershakers.
"I gave em the day off. It's the slowest day and they needed some time. You want to run off and go do some shopping or something ? I can handle this place." Mary offered, making Lyra sigh in wistfulness. She did love to shop., but that was the old Lyra. The new Lyra had given up that life, that need of things and had just become a regular robot, doing as she was expected and going through the day's motions in a stiff manner.
"No, thanks. I'm okay, really." Lyra smiled gratefully, shaking her head at how nice Mary was. That, and at the sound of her singing to the radio station Lyra had begged so long ago to listen to early in the am hours, be it just until the customers came in. It was amusing that she was singing to the pop station's mix of Jojo's 'Leave, get out' at the top of her voice. It had been a settlement between her and Mary that they listen to pop since Lyra had wanted rap and hip-hop and Mary preferred country or oldies, they had decided on a compromise.
"You sure?" Mary walked out, frowning at her, staring at her with close eyes of concern.
"Yes, What?" Lyra asked, wondering if she really looked that bad.
"You just don't seem okay. I don't know. I can't put my finger on it, but I'm a mom. And of Brian, at that and so I know when something is up and I'm always right on these things." Mary shook her finger at Lyra in the most loving way as only Mary could do. This made Lyra laugh and then she straightened up the laugh, seeing Mary shake her head, pretending to be mean. "Don't dismiss me like that, young lady." She said, then smiled her usual smile.
"Wow, how long have you ran this place?" Lyra asked, later after a bit of silence. She was just amazed the woman could work so fast and get it all ready, practically on her own.
"Are you saying I am old?" Mary asked, raising an eyebrow, the creases in the corner of her eyes .
"No, not at all. I'm just amazed you can get this place ready to go in such short time." Lyra shook her head, now feeling bad that she would even think that of her.
"I know you didn't mean anything. You're parents did a good job raising you. You miss them?" Mary asked, peeling potatoes as Lyra washed some morning dishes she had dirtied earlier. Her pleasant look turned into a ghastly frown, making her loose her coordination and she cut her hand in the soapy water. She drew it back in shock and gave a small yelp of pain.
"I'm sorry. I'll be right back." Lyra tried to turn away from Mary, tears in her eyes.
"You are a stubborn one. Give me that hand." Mary ordered, and Lyra relented to holding it out to let her inspect the damage. "you might need a stitch or two." She frowned, pulling out her first aid kit as she led Lyra by the injured hand to her small office. The walls were filled with pictures of Brian and the diner in the early days.
"No, really, it's fine. I just bleed easy. I can just bandage it." Lyra said, starting to sweat. It was close to opening now and she knew she couldn't even risk going to the doctor for fear of being found out and not to mention the cost.
"I'll bandage it and we'll see if it will quit on it's own. If not, I will call one of my boys and have them take you." Mary sighed, knowing by now that Lyra was too stubborn for her own good.
"Your boys?" Lyra asked, wincing as Mary poured peroxide over the cut that was bright bloody red.
"Brian's friends. I adopted them all. I love them girls too." Mary laughed, smiling and thinking fondly of them. She had the kind of smile Lyra longed to have from her own money obsessed mom. She was the picture perfect mother in Lyra's opinion, the kind you could bring home your friends and the kid who just took you as you were, no matter the outcome or in her case, the kind of screw up and let down she was.
"That's cool of you." Lyra said softly, as Mary wrapped the white hospital smelling gauze around her hand to protect it. The clock chimed nine o clock and Lyra waited patiently for her to finish, immediately taking her hand from Mary the minute she was done and headed to open the door after she made sure to say thank you. She heard the telephone ringing and raced back to answer it but was beaten by Mary, who covered the mouthpiece to tell her something.
"Go take a break. You need to let me do some things and quit being such a busy bee." She scolded, making Lyra almost smile. Lyra wandered back to the small backroom and just out of habit, began to restock some Styrofoam cups , taking them down from the wiry overhead wracks and putting them in the slots that were empty. She did that, being lost in thought. She wondered if her mom had even made it a point to look for her, if she was even missed or if her step dad was consoling her with Gucci, Armani, Vercase, Tiffany's and all the other designer shops and things. He was always jumping to rid her stores of Lyra by buying her things, then going after Lyra to tell her what a screw up she was. Or how she put shame to the family. Or that she wasn't good enough to live in their 'socialite' life. Or what a disappointment she was.
"I'll check the bathrooms ." She heard a voice, a deep voice and then she heard a police radio with a bunch of codes and her heart skipped a beat. She froze, wondering if they were here to eat or what. If they were here to eat, she reasoned, they wouldn't be checking back here. She climbed on top of the wiry racking and hid behind the box, hoping her shrunken, petite frame wouldn't be seen. She knew she was being paranoid but she couldn't take any chances.
"Brian, you want to tell me what's going on and why my diner is being stormed like you guys are some swat team?" Mary asked, her hands on her hips as she demanded an answer, Brian looking around as he stood in front of his mom.
"The girl.. Mom, the girl working for you…" Brian trailed, hoping to keep his partner at bay as he informed his mom. He was able to do his job, thanks to Tanner and even had gained immunity for the crew, getting their blessing still being able to live with them and be part of the DT crew. "She might be a runaway." Brian sighed, hating to see the troubled look of care Mary had on her face, seeing that look of knowing she had hired the girl and realizing she had fallen for the lies she had told. It wasn't of ire or anger, more of pity and worry in concern for the girl, he knew. He gave his mom a look and pushed pat her to the backroom as his partner was informing him he was headed to the hotel room to do some searching.
"Brian, please…don't. I'll get her the help.." Mary started, earning a look from Brian.
"Mom, I have to do my job." Lyra heard Brian reply and the tears were trying got force themselves out of her captive eyes. She was shaking now, no trembling, in fear and of dread. Her thoughts were in a scramble of emotions as she waited to see how this would play out. She almost laughed out loud at the 'I'll get her help' line, though she knew it was sincere, she knew there was no way she could be helped. How can you be helped when you just have a bad mom that doesn't care and rips apart your family and life? She didn't see there was any help, be it from Mary, Brian, or the president of The United States.
"I have to get my customers." Mary said, almost coldly, her frown to Brian making him hate his professions he had chosen.
"I know you are back here. Come out." Brian said, standing at the door and leaning on the door frame, still in street clothes. He was only undercover and only on certain times did his job require a uniform. He sighed at the silence, hating to be the bad guy. "If you come down and talk to me and admit who you are, I won't tell my partner." Brian said, looking right up into Lyra's wild stricken, doe like eyes. He felt her pain right then, seeing the volume of panic and the lost hope in her eyes. He hadn't meant to look up and he figured it would have been harder to find her than what he did , but now he had almost wished he hadn't found her. He knew who he was looking at now and felt like an ass, Mia had been right all along.
"Please, I know I lied to your mom and I'm sorry but I have worked hard and I'm not a criminal, I don't know what you think or who you think I am but I'm not a criminal." Lyra said, shaking almost violently, her fear of breaking a rule overcoming her. That was just her personality. She always followed the rules, always did what people asked and expected of her, and here she was, now, being hunted by the police, like a fugitive who had recently been on a killing spree.
"Why did you say you're not Leon's sister?" Brian asked, his ice blue gaze locked into her big, widened eyes, as though using it a power to make her answer him.
"I don't know what you're talking bout." Lyra put a strand of misplaced hair behind her ear and then snapped her fingers, hoping her conviction would make her lie believable. "You mean, when that girl you were with asked me bout some guy?" She asked, pretending to be dumb at the moment.
"Come off of it and admit it or I will haul you down there and send you back. You had to have had a reason to be here." Brian's voice at first hard, then something as he watched her crumble in tears.
"O'Connor!" His partner, somewhat inexperienced compared to him, yelled as he walked back in. Brian looked at Lyra questioningly.
"What's it gonna be?" He asked, backing up half out of the little storage room in case his coworker did walk all the way in the back.
"What do you want from me? I mean, really? What, is it gonna make better?" Lyra asked, swiping away at her full-fledged tears in anger now.
"Admit it that you are the twin of Mira and that you are Leon's sister. Is it or is it not the truth?" Brian asked, looking down the small hallway at his partner coming in and himself looking like he was ready to sprint in the light of it being beneficial to Lyra, to protect her. "Come one, if you admit it, I'll sort this all out with you and maybe let you stay." He said, sounding more separate as his partner closed in the distance of them.
"Fine, yes, I am his freaking sister. I don't know how anyone can sort any of it out." Lyra hissed, even surprising herself at the bitter tone. She wasn't one to take to attituudish tones and mean sounds, especially hisses, were not her style.
"She's not back here, man." Brian said, his partner walking in the small room and Lyra praying to god she wouldn't be spotted. The two conversed some more and then left, Brian stopping to talk to his mom as his partner went to get the car and radio in what they had found. "Do not let her leave, no matter what. If she's found, she'll go straight to juvie and you and I both know she can't hack it there." Brian whispered in a fast tone, knowing he needed to leave and hurry to get back before the girl did anything else not to smart.
"Oh, you know I won't let her leave." Mary nodded, knowing her son was right on this one, as he most often was . She smiled at how proud of him she really was and felt good that she had raised him all by herself and then found herself feeling bad for Lyra. She managed to take her 'old' body back to the back of the diner, limping with her arthritis's, to find Lyra in the corner of the top shelf, hovered and crying as though her heart was truly broken. The huge sobs racked her body while the tiny muffled sounds tried to escape her throat. Her long, skinny arms were hugging her body frame for dear life and she was rocking to console herself, looking like a poster child for a teen runaway advertisement.
"Do you hate me?" Lyra asked weakly, looking up with her mascara running down her small thin framed face and her eyes a floodgate of never-ending tears as she still sat, shaking and trying to gain control.
"DO I hate you?" Mary chuckled, then looked at Lyra sadly, seeing she was totally serious. "No, child, I would never hate you." She said, holding out her arms for Lyra to come to. She was amazed at the broken Lyra, the Lyra that had been quite confident in the latter part of the days was so drastically different than this Lyra that was huddled in front of her. She was like an abused animal, one afraid of every little thing around her, be it a sound, a voice, or the thoughts of the unknown.
"Everyone else in the world does." Lyra sobbed, not resisting the feel of Brian's mother's arms around her. It was the first time in her life she felt hugged with true sincerity and she clung to Mary hard, not wanting to let the feeling go.
"NO. They can't, Honey. How is that even possible?" Mary sat down in a chair, not caring that the diner was open, it had a bell on the door and she figured this was more important at the moment. She hadn't expected much business, if any, today, so she sat the teenager on her lap and stroked her hair, letting Lyra cry out the past years of hurt and not forcing her to talk, not that Lyra could have managed any words out of her closed up feeling throat at the moment, and even if she could talk, she had no clue what to say. She had been taught to hide your problems, never show your weakness, never sell your family secrets.
"Can I at least finish out toady?" She finally asked, feeling drained and like her heart weighed at one or two. Mary shook her head at her determinedness and laughed.
"You are one heck of a fighter, kid. You really are." She ruffled Lyra's messy hair and got up., then turned around before leaving out the door. "You can stay today. I do need the help." She said and with that left to get back to the ringing of the bell, telling them both they had a customer. The time passed rather quickly and she kept herself lost in her work, or rather the work she had assigned herself. She was so set on keeping herself from reality that she was on her hands and knees scrubbing the baseboards. She was so lost in her own thoughts, her own defense mechanism of running from the real world by placing her mentality to another place that she didn't notice Mary talking to Brian, who had managed to make it back after his shift, worried she was already gone.
"She's been cleaning like this since I left?" Brian asked, wondering if he should let the crew in on this one. Maybe he would call Mia, he reasoned. Maybe not, he didn't want to loose Lyra's trust and he would for sure if he just called without her permission.
"Yes, she won't take a break, and Brian, I don't think she would try to leave. I mean, you and Abe really traumatized her. I have been trying my best to get her to talk to me but she just acts like nothing is wrong." Mary said, clearly fretting over her 'employee'.
"Hmm, I can't imagine where she would get that from." Brian said sarcastically, then looked at his cell phone for the third time, torn whether to call the group, any of them.
A/n :I know that this is short and all but hey, I work with Tempest who makes up for the shortness inher chapters, lOl.;)Anyways, hope you get the raw emotion I wanted to come through on this. Glad you ugys are liking Mary, I was hoping she came across as likebale! Love cheer