Chapter 16

She had gone through her weekend suitcase and extra bag three times to make sure she had absolutely everything she needed. It wasn't necessarily her need to make sure she had everything she could possibly need, but rather to keep her mind busy so it didn't wander those couple blocks away and into her boss' home.

By the time she was positive there was no more packing and checking she could possibly do, it was nearing the time for her to leave and meet up with Rebecca. She looked at the folder on the kitchen counter that awaited Trevor's approval. She grimaced at it, wishing she didn't have to go over just yet. But she understood there would most likely be hell to pay if she skipped out on her duties just to avoid an awkward situation.

She snagged the file as she loaded up her car for her trip, going over in her head what she would say to him when she saw him again. For a second, she thought she was over thinking it all, that maybe the cold shoulder that Trevor had presented her was just a fluke and the next time he saw her it would be back to normal. Natalie shook her head, even if it was a one time thing, she wasn't going to just ignore it. She didn't want to be treated that way, she didn't want anyone to think that treating her like that was alright.

Natalie drove over to his trailer with her head held a little higher and her jaw and shoulders squared. She was sure she was ready for anything that she'd have to face when she arrived. She pulled over to the side of the street outside his trailer, finding Michael on the porch smoking what had to be a pretty high priced cigar. He waved at her as he saw her get out of her car, speaking as she made her way up the steps.

"Trevor's not here."

She stopped in her tracks, her ego and arrogance deflating right there, suddenly feeling stupid for over thinking it so much. She tried to play off the fall in her shoulders and her sudden speechlessness, "Where'd he go?"

If Michael noticed, he didn't say anything, "He's out with Patricia again."

Again. She tried to hide her frown, but it still marred deep into her face. She handed him over the folder in her hand, "Then just give him this when he comes back. Everything's alright, like usual. Chef's taking over for me until I come back."

He grabbed it and set it aside on the outdoor table, "You're leaving?"

Natalie was a bit surprised to see him interested in what she was doing, she always got a self-centered vibe off of him in the few times they encountered each other. Besides, his current state of visible self-loathing further confirmed her surprise. Perhaps he was just bored, "I'm going down to Los Santos for the weekend with an old friend of mine."

Something crossed over his face that she understood immediately; longing. She felt bad for bringing Los Santos up, forgetting that being forced away from his home was probably hell for him. She remembered the time she stayed with Franklin and how much she missed the towns surrounding the Alamo Sea. He ignored his own feelings, something she seemed to be doing a lot lately too, "Sounds fun."

She decided not to torture him with the details of her trip to LS, knowing he'd probably kill to be able to go back south. Plus she had to head out soon if she hoped to beat the traffic, "Yeah, I got to go. Make sure he gets that." Gesturing over to the file.

He nodded and stuck the cigar back in his mouth as his means of ending their small talk. She gave a small smile as her goodbye and turned, stopping again as he spoke up, "Do you have a crush on him or something?"

She thanked whatever god was out there right now that he couldn't see her face just then, it probably showed what she didn't want anyone to know, and yet she wasn't entirely sure what that feeling was exactly. It felt like all the headache inducing thoughts she kept at bay for the past few days slammed right back to her with gusto. She just wished that whatever was going on stopped. It all made her feel uneasy and just the slightest bit nauseous.

Natalie turned back to him, trying to look as casual and nonchalant as she possibly could. Despite the fact that Michael wore a pair of Aviators that covered most his face, she felt that the answer to his question was already written all over his face, she only wished that she knew the answer herself because this was starting to get crazy.

"No, of course not, I'm not suicidal."

–

Her friends were running a bit late by the time she arrived at Vespucci Beach, leaving her with some time to herself. As much as the idea of being alone with nothing to do was the last thing she wanted for the past few days, she welcomed it now. Her head was no longer in a fog of stress, perhaps it was being away from Sandy Shores that helped out.

She did still love her home, but there was far too much going on there for her liking, despite most of what was troubling her was her own self-made issues. Being in Vespucci Beach with nothing to do just seemed like the best thing that could happen to her for the time being.

She lounged on the front of her car as she waited for her friends to make it. She grabbed a case of beer on her way to LS and was now sampling one of them. She tuned into her favorite radio station, one that she'd grown to love from her frequent trips to Los Santos that also unfortunately was not on the airwaves in Sandy Shores.

She started to people watching, seeing joggers and beach-goers alike pass by through her pair of sunglasses. She had a faint sense of sadness nestled in her chest, almost wishing to have an average life, one where she didn't have to kill, where she would've never had to deal with her confused feelings about her meth-head boss. But she thought better of it, it was crazy to change life goals over a few tough weeks.

A car was soon to park next to her within the next hour, her life-long best friend immediately jumping for the driver's side, waving wildly to Natalie. In only a few strides Rebecca had her in a crushing bear hug. She hugged her friend back tightly, burying her face into her shoulder. Natalie didn't realize how much she missed her, but as soon as she saw her she did her best not to well up with tears. Everything just seemed so hard nowadays, and being friends with Becca just seemed like the easiest thing in the world.

Becca pulled away, cupping her friend's face in her hands and getting a good look at her. She squealed in her excitement, "You look so great!"

Soon enough the other two came out of the car. One she knew from back in high school, Rebecca's boyfriend John. It was no secret John had a crush on Becca for ages, it was about time she came around. He was tall and blonde, muscular and just all around gorgeous. He was perfect for her too, they were both so happy around each other even before they were dating, it was a wonder how they hadn't ended up together sooner.

The other was new to Natalie, remembering from the text that his name was Avery. He was thinner and nerdier looking than his friend John, but still pretty good looking and friendly enough. They made their quick and slightly awkward introductions and were soon unloading just the essentials of for their day at Del Perro from their cars. Rebecca wasted no time in chatting up a storm and filling Natalie in about how absolutely perfect John was and didn't stop until there was a hot dog in her hand from a cart on the boardwalk.

–

The girls and the boys split up as it was nearing sunset, the guys going by the shore and the girls touring the shops lining the boardwalk aimlessly. Rebecca seemed to steer most of the conversation, not that Natalie minded, there wasn't much to tell her. Actually, there wasn't much she could tell her. Her life now seemed to be consumed by crime, when she wasn't helping in Trevor's ever growing methamphetamine business she was at a gun range with an untraceable gun. Even now, said gun was tucked inside her beach bag in case things got hairy.

She barely felt like Rebecca's friend anymore, just some person who was pretending to be her. Her entire life seemed like something she had to hide from the most important person in her world, whether is was a fear for her friend's safety or fear of her friend never seeing her the same way. When asked about her life there was only some small things she could give away and it left her feeling sad that she couldn't pour her heart out to anyone.

The only thing Natalie couldn't keep hidden was the healing bite mark on the crook of her neck, having to tell her it was from an overzealous partner, but the only detail she revealed about said 'lucky man' was that she worked with him. Rebecca didn't seem suspicious in the least, she had no reason to be for so long after all.

"So what do you think of Avery?" Rebecca asked with no follow up, looking over a few dresses on the rack in front of her.

Natalie glanced at her as she was browsing from a table of knick-knacks, "Avery? He seems pretty cool."

Rebecca lowered her sunglasses to get a good look at her friend, a smile spreading across her face "Yeah, but do you like him?"

She had to laugh a little, shaking her head, "It's a little early to figure out if I like him or not, don't you think?"

"Well, he likes you, y'know." She nodded as if to further her sureness, "Actually, he thinks you're 'pretty hot'."

Natalie grinned, "Does he now?"

"You should totally go out with him."

She flinched a little. Dating someone, especially someone who wasn't in the crime life like she was seemed like a very bad idea. Even a single date with Avery could lead to a lot of hell. But she didn't want to let Rebecca down, "I'll think about it."

By then they decided to head over to a local bar and meet up with the guys for a night of drinking before they retired to the hotel. The bar was packed with drunk tourists, a flaw with vacationing on the weekend, though it was a sure thing they would end up drunk tourists too well before last call for drinks.

They picked a table as far away from the general noise as possible, sharing more than a few beers and stories of other times alcohol had gotten the best of them. As John was retelling a story of how he once woke up in a church after a two day bender, Natalie couldn't help but throw a few subtle glances Avery's way.

She had to admit, he was pretty attractive. He had a particular unkempt scruffiness, his hair so casually disheveled it looked fashionable and a 5 o'clock shadow that advanced half an inch. He was tall and thin and had a look about him that seemed to ooze snarky humor. In all honesty, he didn't seem as much of a law abiding citizen as she took him for. Perhaps he sells Deludamol to angst-ridden hipsters or just knew a pretty good dealer and partied on the darker side of the nightlife often. But she doubted he had any part in mass trade of America's most dangerous drug and it was much less likely his line of work involved killing.

Avery made eye contact with her when she forgot to space out her glances, smiling a little more when he caught her. She forced a smile to try to hide her embarrassment. He turned to their friends and spoke up, "How about we get out of here?"

None of them need much convincing, quickly shot gunning what was left of whatever it was in their glasses before the grabbed their stuff and navigated through the bar crowd and poured out onto the Vespucci streets. They quickly went back to their cars and grabbed as much booze as they could fit into their arms as they made it down to the beach to build a fire pit.

After a few rather unsuccessful tries a fire roared to life and illuminated the small spot they claimed for the remainder of their night. Natalie was quick to get drunk, after all, needing to loosen up more than the rest of them. She was quick with stories by then, but not stupid enough to compromise her situation, even flirting with Avery a bit, much to the happiness of Rebecca.

John was midway through a epic tale from a time in college where he was locked in a Burger Shot when Natalie's phone went off. She cursed quietly for having to miss the rest before quickly excusing herself to take the call. She stumbled away to a quieter location away from her friends before she looked to see who was interrupting.

Through her blurred vision she saw Trevor's name in bold letters on her phone. Her heart skipped a beat and she quickly told her heart to stop doing that just as her mind started racing. Some small part of her held onto hope that he was calling to apologize for being an ass. The other part wondered why she would even care, he was just her boss, or it seemed that's all he wanted to be ever since he snatched up Patricia.

She tried to summon the most sober version of herself when she answered, "Trevor? Something wrong?"

"Where are you?" He spoke bluntly.

She glanced back at her friends who didn't wait up for her, the story already finishing without her. Damn. "I'm in Los Santos, remember? I'm here until Monday."

He almost seemed to ignore it, "I need you here now for a shipment."

Her need to work sprung to life inside her, suddenly yearning to be there and do anything she could. But by the distance between them there was no way she could get there as soon as needed. And even if she could, her current state of drunkenness would leave her unable to use a gun or write legibly. She bit her lip, "I don't think I can, Trevor; I'm drunk."

She heard a highly irritated groan come from the other end at her answer, that one unintelligible sound making her almost regret leaving for the weekend, "Nevermind" Was all Trevor said before the line cut and he was gone.

She wasn't sure if she should feel offended or regretful. Offended that he continued to treat her with such coldness, or regretful that she couldn't help in a stressful time for not only him, but the company she was dedicating life and limb to. But something told her to ignore it, ignore the thing within her that was telling her to humor everything set to stress her out, and she was beginning to see the appeal that apathetic side.

She turned to her friends and joined back into the inebriated conversations.

–

Her weekend seemed far to quick and Natalie seriously considered just not leaving and developing a life of freedom with the local homeless. But responsibilities still called to her and she found herself packing her car back up. Rebecca was already trying to make plans to reunite the new dynamic foursome for another weekend getaway. John had gently shushed her before she became to excited about anything when they were still in the hangover stages of their vacation.

While Becca and John had busied themselves with the last of their luggage that needed packing Avery slipped beside Natalie to help out with her own necessities, despite the fact she didn't need much help with such a small amount she took with her. Natalie didn't say anything about it though, she'd played this game plenty before, knowing what his intentions were.

"So turns out I live not far from Sandy Shores." He began, his eyes elsewhere to make the conversation seem casual.

She was the one to turn to him, "Oh yeah?"

He shrugged, "A little further south, not far from the prison. Anyways, I don't really go out much cause I work at home. I was hoping you would show me around some time."

She smiled, raising a brow, "Are you asking me out?"

He tried to play it off coolly, but there was the hint of a smile on his lips that she could definitely see, "If you want to call it that, then yeah, I'm asking you out on a date."

She laughed a little, but had to think about it for a moment. The good thing about Sandy Shores was that nearly everyone there was a criminal, meaning the dating pool left her with people who could handle themselves and handle her lifestyle. But with Avery, his legality status was still unconfirmed, which left both him and her with a lot of risk, which could potentially lead to either of their deaths. But despite logic and morals telling her it wasn't too great of an idea, she still wanted to try it out. Maybe he would just be a distraction for her while she got her emotions figured out, but it was good enough for her.

He looked at her when there was a few moments of silence in between them. She put his growing nervousness to rest, smiling wide at him and nodding, "Sure. Sounds great."