Dinah's POV :
Laurel begins to doze off before she can finish her sentence and I'm relieved. Simply because I'm finding it harder to dodge the obvious. Even harder to keep the truth from myself. Especially when she makes it clear that I'm the someone keeping her up at night. The one who makes her feel like she's not enough.
It's not her though, it's me and the guilt I feel for allowing myself to care for her. To entertain the notion that I could... I can't even think it. But it's how I feel when I see her; and her green eyes look at me like I'm the only one in the room. I know she catches me gazing at her when I think she's not looking.
Like I am right now while she sleeps. How could I know when she walked into my bar a few months ago that the joy of a familiar face would become more. She's only lying next to me now because the thought of off her in bed with someone else bothers me. I let my most base emotions make me envious of a kid, and worse yet, I let Laurel see it.
These same emotions pushed me into kissing her on her birthday. They're telling me to kiss her now, but I won't. I think one uninvited kiss is enough. I place my hand on top of hers, a compromise, and I stare as though she's the only person on Earth. After a short while I finally doze off.
"Vincent-" I hear Laurel moan. I'm half asleep but I raise my head at the mention of his name. "I'm sorry," she cries out.
She's having a dream about my Vinny. From the terror on her face it looks more like a nightmare. I knew she'd been having nightmares, but she never mentioned them being about my dead fiancee. I feel this outrage erupt from my gut and settle into my chest. There's a large part of me that wants to slap her awake, but at the same time, I can't blame her for the actions of her subconscious. I'll just have to wait for a better time.
The smell of a freshly made breakfast arouses me from my deep sleep. I sit up in bed and see that Laurel is still fast asleep. After a quick stop to the bathroom I make my way downstairs. Nina has her headphones on and is cooking and dancing around my kitchen. More notable is that she still hasn't managed to locate her pants. "Nina!" I shout.
She can't hear me as I pull up behind her then pull the headphones out of her ears. She is startled by my not so sudden arrival, nearly collapsing onto the stove. "Dinah, what are you doing up?" she asks, "you scared the shit out of me."
"You have a lot of questions for someone staying in my house," I reply. "Do you need to borrow a pair of pants?" I ask. She looks down at herself and blushes.
She rushes into the living room and grabs her pants from the back of the couch. It becomes a spectacle watching her get them over her thick thighs. She returns to the kitchen, "I wanted to make breakfast as a thank you for letting us stay the night," she says.
"Where's Riley?" I ask.
"She's in the bathroom," she answers, "also... I figure if I make the breakfast you're more likely to stick around and eat it," she adds.
I raise my eyes at the glib remark. "And why wouldn't I stick around for breakfast in my own house?"
"It's just something Laurel mentioned last night," she remarks. There's nothing I dislike more than a catty female. I won't take the bait but - "something about you avoiding her at breakfast," she continues.
I clench my teeth, "She told you that?" I ask.
"I just thought I'd make her breakfast so that we could get to know each oth-"
"I thought breakfast was for all of us," I interrupt. She points at the counter, and there are in fact four plates. However, some plates are presented more meticulously than the others. "I see, but I do have a question... what do you think is gonna happen here?" I ask.
"Oh... I see what's going on with you," she says, leaning on my counter. "So now you're interested in Laurel, now that another woman is showing interest?"
"Look here little girl," I say, stepping toward her. Riley steps between us suddenly.
"Hey! What's going on here?" she asks. Her eyes are fixated on her friend, "Nina, drop it and let's go back to Mia's," she says.
"No, Riley... it's obvious that she thinks she is just so above it all," she says.
"Excuse me-" I say.
"Oh please, how long has Laurel been living here?" she asks, "and she just found out last night that your sofa is convertible."
"What's your point?" I ask, sharply.
"It's obvious that you put her on this intolerable couch so that she'd end up running upstairs to your bed. Just like she did last night."
"What's happening down here?!" Laurel exclaims, as she ascends the staircase.
"Nothing - right Nina," Riley says.
The brat sizes me up, "Nothing at all..." she says. Riley takes her by the arm and they begin to collect their things. It only takes them a few minutes until they are clumsily stumbling onto the elevator.
"Thanks for letting us stay the night," Riley says, before mouthing an apology in my direction. I nod back, realizing that this isn't her fault. They wave goodbye to Laurel and she happily returns the gesture. She never waves, except to me, and I don't particularly like that she's decided to do it now.
"Good Morning," Laurel says, with a half-hearted grin. I turn without a response and start clearing the dishes off the counter. "I see we're in a mood," she adds, taking food from a plate, then popping it into her mouth. I toss the plate in the sink and it shatters, the noise grabs her attention. "What the hell Dinah?!" she shouts.
"Don't what the hell me-" I respond with a harsh tone, "why am I hearing from a recruit that there's problems between us?" I ask.
She shakes her head, "Oh no... this is not about us and you know it," she answers. "So whatever problem you and Nina have you two can work it out."
"How do you know I'm talking about Nina then?" I counter.
"Because I have eyes to see and ears to hear," she retorts. "And just so you know, I was talking to William last night, she just happened to be in earshot."
"Why are you talking about me to everyone but me?" I ask. "For God sake, we live together," I remind her.
"You got to be kidding me," she sighs, adding a chuckle, "whenever I try to have a real conversation with you, you recoil into yourself. Or you make a joke just to avoid the tru-" I stave off her response by return to cleaning. "Just like you're doing now," she continues.
I turn back toward her and she's reaching for another piece of food. I snatch the plate from her grasp. "You can have these eggs, or you can have mine! So pick..." I demand. It doesn't take long for me to realize how ridiculous I am coming off but it's too late to take it back.
She just stares at me with her lip turned up. "We are still talking about food, yes?" she asks.
"Yes, of course," I reply, turning away to shield my humiliation.
"Yeah... I'll just have some toast," she says, "and I'll probably have it somewhere that's not here." She backs away from the kitchen.
"Wait!" I shout. A sudden stinging pain shoots up my hand, "Son of a -" I groan. I glance down into the sink and there's blood leaking from my hand. Laurel appears at my side and pulls my hand from the sink. She wraps it in a kitchen towel and guides me over to the stool. "Be careful," I whine, as she tries to unwrap the towel.
"Hang on while I get the kit," she says. She rushes to the bathroom and returns in seconds. I can't take my eyes off her as she cleans the gash then gently bandages it. There's a tenderness in her manner, a calmness I've never seen in her eyes. Our eyes wander around the room but inevitable are always drawn back to one another. I sense she's about to say, "D, you know that I-"
"Don't..." I interrupt. I shoot up from my seat and try to walk away, but she grabs hold of my arm.
"Dinah..." she says softly. I don't look at her, I just pull away then rush upstairs to my bedroom. A few seconds later she knocks on my door. Even though it's locked, I still feel the need to press myself against it. "We don't have to talk about it until you're ready," she says; from the other side of the door.
After awhile I no longer hear her moving outside my door. I peek outside into the hall and she's gone, without a word or even a message. It makes me feel as though I'd been abandoned, but that is what I wanted. At least now I can make my way to my bar, and avoid the awkward stares and silence.
Riley is already downstairs with the girls, including Nina. The lunch shift has been hectic lately since I've started letting the girls help out. It's no coincidence that the rate of our older, more affluent clientele has risen. That's to be expected wherever there's a rotation of beautiful young women. I go a quick scan of the restaurant as I head toward the bar.
"Laurel isn't here," Riley says, "she went to Mia's to help her out with training protocol."
"Nina didn't want to join her?" I ask.
"I suggested to her that after coming off like an ass this morning. It might be nice if she tried to make up for it by helping out today," she says.
"Thank you, but it's really okay, she's was just being Nina," I tell her.
"No it's not, and I shouldn't have participated in her hopeless endeavor," she says. "It's obvious that Laurel only has eyes for one person in this bar."
I'm just about to respond when a soft voice interrupts, "So, this is where the rest of my girls are..." Mia walks up to the bar.
"Sorry little one, I forgot to tell you," - She shrugs it off - "I had a rough start this morning and needed to borrow them for opening," I reply.
"It's fine, I gave the rest of them the day off anyway. They were driving me nuts," she says. Riley is visibly bothered by her remark. "Let me get a coke," Mia tells her.
"Get it yourself," Riley says, as she retreats behind the kitchen door.
I fill a glass with coke and slide it her way. "I like her," she says, "gotta love a girl who won't take anyone's shit." She takes a sip from her cup, "Hey, is Laurel here?" she asks
"No... Riley said she was going over to your place," I reply.
"She didn't say anything to me," Mia says. "Maybe she went to see William. I think she likes him more than me."
I chuckle, "Don't be silly, there's no favorites here."
"Yeah there is, William is hers, and I'm clearly yours," she replies with a large smirk.
"You know what, you win," I sigh.
Perrie approaches the bar with a troubled look on her face. "Heads up," she warns, nodding toward the entrance. I look over and see Marc heading our way. "He better hope Laurel doesn't see him," Perrie says. I shoot a warning look so that she keeps her voice down, but it's too late because it's obvious that Mia overheard.
He meekly approaches the bar. "Hello Dinah, I was hoping that if you're not too busy we could talk?" he asks. Mia looks him up and down then turns her attention to me. "I want to apologize for last week," he continues.
"And why would you need to do that?" Mia asks while glaring up at him.
"I'm sorry... but, who are you?" he asks. Mia gets the look Oliver used to get when he was too annoyed to use his words.
"It's fine, Mia," I tell her. "We can talk in the back office," I tell him. He follows me at a courteous distance as we walk into my office. I keep the door open, conscious that my girls can be gossips, and I don't need this getting back to anyone.
"I just want to apologize," he starts, "I was a complete tool last week and I was out of line." There's part of me that wants to send him away because I don't want to deal with this, but I'm just too exhausted to be hostile.
"Can I ask, why were you being a jackass last week?" I ask. I am truly curious because it was so out of his character.
He points to the empty space on the desk next to me and I make room for him. "Honestly, this is gonna sound childish... but I got dumped," he admits. He tosses his head back, "I mean dumped bad."
"Ouch, I'm sorry to hear that Marc."
"Yeah, but it's no excuse to have acted how I did. I truly am sorry Dinah," he says, sincerely, "and if your friend is here, I'd like to apologize to her as well."
"Uh yeah, she's not in right now."
"Well, make sure you keep her around," he says, "I don't think I have anyone in my life that would have defended me like that. There's no one I can think of that I would defend like that, no offense."
"None taken," I reply. I throw an arm around his shoulder, "there will be someone else out there for you."
"It's my fault I should have told her how I really felt, but I was being selfish. I wanted her close but not too close that she could hurt me," he admits, "I know I must sound pathetic."
"Not pathetic at all, sometimes its easier to keep them at a distance then to risk losing them because feelings might not be reciprocated," I say. The sound of someone's throat clearing gets our attention. Laurel is leaning on the door frame with her arms crossed. There's a look of betrayal on her face that makes me move my arm from Marc's shoulders.
"So you can confide in him, a rando you've known for all of a month, but you can't confide in me," she says, her arms folded across her chest.
I shoot up off the desk, "I never said that!" I exclaim, "you can't come in on the end of a conversation and pu-"
"You don't have to say it," she interrupts, "you never say much of anything, not to me anyway."
She turns in a huff and disappears down the corridor. It takes all my strength to ignore the urge to chase her and honestly its all I want to do.
"I can talk to her and explain this misunderstanding if you want," he offers.
"It's not about you, it's fine. She's angry now, but we always work it out in the end," I tell him.