Chapter 2: Something Wicked This Way Comes
Lena Emerson bid her boss goodbye as she walked out of the restaurant as her shift ended, "Thanks Edna, I'll see you tomorrow!" Her smile evaporated as soon as she turned around and walked out the door, "Bitch." She cursed. Edna had yelled at her for something she didn't do. Ironically enough Edna was the one who messed up but she was too prideful and narcissistic to admit that she had made an honest mistake. Plus if she had brought it up to Jonathan, the District Manager of the local chain, it would probably come bite her in the you-know-where. It was highly known that both Edna and Jonathan liked to shack up together whenever the two of them were off the clock. The rumor started from one of the wait staff in one of the locations had spotted them making out in Jonathan's purple Camaro. From then on the rumor spread like herpes in a low grade brothel. Lena sighed; well at least the day was over and she could head over to her little one bedroom and one bath apartment. She had a rough day considering she had to deal with horn dogs who kept on trying to hit on her while she clearly showed no interest. On top of that there was one old lady who kept on bothering her about every little thing that you can imagine from the soup being too cold to not enough ice in her cup. Lena was glad because if the old lady had stayed any longer Lena would have choked her. The upside was that even with the perverted guys and the nagging old lady they had all tipped her very well. Lena knew how to treat her guests. She sighed again once she reached her car door. She reached for her keys in her coat pocket but realized that they were missing,
"What the fu…" She drew out the last word as she frantically searched her bag and her apron pockets, but there were still no sign of the keys. Suddenly it dawned on her as she looked through her car window, "You've got to be shitting me!" She yelled in frustration. There were her keys still in the ignition dangling slightly as if they were giving her the middle finger. She groaned in frustration as she pressed her forehead against the window. She remembered she had her iPhone and pulled it out to call someone until someone spoke,
"Need some help?" Lena turned around and saw two women looking at her sympathetically. The one who had spoken seemed like the older of the two with stick straight long hair past her shoulders and was attractive. The other woman seemed to be in her mid to late twenties with dark brown, wavy hair.
"I've seemed to have locked my keys in my car." Lena replied sheepishly. The oldest woman smiled kindly and sympathized,
"Oh I hate it when that happens. No problem, Darcy can pop the door open for you. As if on cue Darcy pulled out a Slim Jim and slid it through the widow and the door on the driver's side. After a few minutes of attempting to open the car, the young woman laughed triumphantly and opened the car door. A wave of relief washed over Lena,
"You guys are life savers. Thank you so much." Darcy put her hands on her hips in a stereotypical hero position,
"No need to thank us citizen, just remember only you can prevent forest fires!" Lena busted out laughing. She already liked this girl. She looked over at the other woman,
"How about some food? I work at the IHOP and I'll be happy to get Sonny to whip something up for you guys." The two women looked at each other and then looked at her. The other woman looked at her,
"Sure! We'd love to! My name is Jane Foster," She stuck out her hand. Lena stuck her hand out,
"Lena Emerson, but my friends call me Lennie." Jane smiled and pointed over to the other woman,
"This is Darcy Lewis, she's my intern." Darcy bowed majestically,
"At your service." Lena laughed and shook her hand as well,
"Come on. Let's get inside and get you guys a bite to eat." The three women walked into the IHOP where Edna looked at Lena in a confused manner,
"I thought you were going home?" Lena gave a fake laugh,
"Yeah, well…thing change." She grabbed menus and handed it to Jane and Darcy who accepted it graciously, "Okay guys, let me know when you're ready to order." They nodded and skimmed the menu. After a few moments they ordered their meals and Lena made her way to the kitchen where Sonny, the longtime cook at the location, stood. After she gave him the orders she made her way back to Jane and Darcy, "the food should be out in ten minutes." The women thanked her and asked her to join them. Lena smiled happy to oblige. While they waited for the food, "Lena decided to get to know her two "heroines" better,
"So, what do you guys do?" Jane smiled,
"I'm an astrophysist and Darcy is my coworker." Jane looked over at Darcy, who raised an eyebrow,
"Actually I'm her bitch." Darcy quipped. The three women laughed but suddenly Lena felt very inadequate. Jane and Darcy were close to her age but here she was twenty six and still a waitress. She made a quick promise to herself that she was going to do better. Jane interrupted her thoughts,
"Lena?" the twenty six year old looked up,
"What? Oh sorry, what did I miss?" Darcy jumped in,
"She was asking how long have you worked here ?" Lena blushed,
"Five years. When I moved out of my parents' house I needed to get a job while at school and I've been stuck here ever since. I've been trying to look for a job but nothing's popped up job wise." Darcy, highly interested in Lena's life jumped in again,
"But how can you survive with this paycheck. It's barely enough to get by?"
"Darcy!" Jane hissed. The younger woman looked appalled that she was being chastised,
"What? It's true." Jane sighed at Darcy and gave Lena an apologetic look. The woman laughed and dismissed Jane's look,
"Oh, it's okay. It's an honest question. Besides, I moonlight at the local strip joint." She gave them a serious look. Awkward silence ensued until Lena laughed, "Guys relax, it' a joke." The three women giggled and eagerly talked until Sonny called Lena to get the food. Lena brought the plates over and they enjoyed their meals together. When the plates were empty Lena got up and took their plates back, pausing briefly to speak to Edna. She then came back to the table,
"Shall we go?" The other two women nodded and gathered their things. When they headed to the door, Darcy turned to the other two,
"I'm going to head over the store down the road and check out the comics. Don't wait for me, okay?" She thanked Lena for the meal and headed for her destination. Jane shook her head,
"Oh, Darcy." Lena smiled after the retreating form of the younger woman,
"She seems like a sweet kid." Jane nodded,
"With everything I've been through…Oddly enough, she's kept me sane." Lena looked over at Jane who seemed lost in thought with a warm smile on her face. She was about to inquire about what she meant by that when she decided it was too personal of a question to ask a person she just met. Jane turned to Lena and smiled,
"Well Lena, I must be on my way. My work calls me," She pulled out a business card, "Text me your number. Darcy and I would love to hang out with you some more." Lena smiled excited that she could possibly have made two new friends,
"Definitely! I would like that very much. Thank you again for your help with getting my keys out!" She accepted the card and said her goodbyes to Jane. The two women parted ways and each headed to their own homes. Jane worked on her research while Lena listened to her iPod and surfed the internet. Rocking out to her favorite music, she did not realize that a dark figure had entered her apartment unannounced.
A/N: I hoped you liked it. I think that it's going to just get more interesting from here. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story and leaving a review. It really keeps me motivated in writing knowing that someone is enjoying my stories as much as I love writing them.