A/N: Hey guys! You probably hate me for keeping you waiting so long. I have excuses such as I disconnected my internet and switched providers and a lot of other stuff. Either way, Chapter 3 is finally here! I hope you guys like it and don't forget to check out the trailer to this story on Youtube channel: TheMuseofEvol.
Her Missing Hero
Kelly rounded the corner of the sidewalk and headed towards her house. The first thing she noticed was her sister's silver Impala in the driveway. She was finally here even though she said she would be hours ago. The next thing she noticed was a man, actually it was a young man jumping out of the back of the U-Haul and carrying a big box.
He was a built guy but not too tall. He was wearing a red and gold WSU t-shirt and black sweat shorts and had short brown hair. When he caught sight of Kelly heading his way he smiled and she noticed how perfect his teeth were.
"Hey," Kelly said and smiled back. "I'm Kelly, you must be John. I met your mom."
John shifted the box he was holding with barely any effort to one arm and shook Kelly's hand. "Yeah, my lovely mother loves meeting new people. Nice to meet you Kelly, I'm happy to know you are not going to scream at me for helping you guys unpack."
Kelly was confused. "Scream at you? Why…"
John laughed and Kelly noticed his blue eyes squint a bit when he did. "Well, I was busy unloading some stuff and I believe it was your sister who confronted me a few minutes ago and demanded what I was doing in the truck. I think she thought I was stealing or something. I tried to explain but…"
"She wouldn't let you," Kelly finished knowing exactly how Torrie was. She made a big deal over everything and never heard the full story. "Sorry about that, she's a bit intense at times. Where is she by the way?"
"She stalked off into the house, probably to tell your parents about the robber in the truck," he said and smiled. He seemed easygoing and Torrie's outburst seemed to amuse him rather than annoy him.
"Well let's hope my parents were able to explain to her," Kelly said and the two headed towards the front door. As she opened it sure enough she could hear Torrie's voice as she complained to her parents.
"…it would have been nice for you guys to mention we would have a helper. I basically accused him for stealing. He just scared the crap out of me," she was saying and as she saw Kelly and John she stopped talking. Her cheeks flushed red and she turned away which was a rare thing for Torrie.
Shane who had been working on setting up the television in the living room motioned towards John. "Torrie this is John Cena, he is our next door neighbor. His mother kindly offered us his help in unpacking a few things." Shane made a face towards Torrie as if saying to be nice.
Stubbornly, Torrie stuck out her hand and shook hands with John who had set down the big box he had been carrying. "I'm Torrie. Sorry about before, no one told me you were helping out."
Kelly saw John smirk a bit and shrug. "No big deal, as long as the police weren't called." That made Torrie flush again. Kelly knew John was just pushing her buttons, he seemed to enjoy it. Then Torrie seemed to finally see her sister standing there and threw herself at her.
"Oh Kelly! I missed you so much! It feels like it's been forever since I've seen you," she said and crushed her with a big hug then stepped away. Her sister barely looked like her, the only thing they had in common was their long blonde hair. Torrie was taller and a bit more built because of her cheerleading history. Plus, unlike Kelly's blue eyes, Torrie had Grandpa Blank's emerald green ones.
"It's good to see you Tor. How was school?" Kelly asked just for something to talk about. John who hadn't know what to do started his way back out the front door probably to grab another box from the truck. Kelly saw Torrie give him a brief glance and then turn back to smile at Kelly.
She then rolled her eyes. "Very stressful! Too much homework, little sleep or time to do anything."
Heather who crossed the living room to the kitchen carrying some plates. "It wouldn't be college if there wasn't work, Torrie. By the way, we saw your marks and you barely passed some of your classes. I hope you focus some more next year and do better, sweetie."
Torrie made a face and turned to her mother. "Mom, I really am trying the best I can."
"Well maybe you'd do better if you weren't so distracted in having a boyfriend…" Heather started.
"You're just saying that because you don't like Carlito. I don't know why we always have to talk about this. He doesn't distract me, he motivates me to do better," she said looking upset. It would happen that minutes being back, Torrie and her parents would start arguing.
"I never said I didn't like him!" Heather started becoming upset. Kelly didn't like where this was going. She knew they were going to keep arguing if someone didn't stop them.
Kelly was about to speak up when Shane spoke already having finished with the TV. "Torrie, hunny we don't want to argue with you especially so soon. Let's just get to work, we want to finish before your mother and I head off to work tomorrow morning."
Torrie nodded and gave her mom an apologetic nod. Heather smiled at her daughter and grabbed her into a hug. Kelly thought how well her dad was at settling their problems.
"So, what can I help with?" Torrie asked.
The next morning when Kelly woke up in her new room, it took her a second to realize where she was. Her room was basically finished being set-up thanks to Torrie's help. She just had her twin bed with zebra covers in the middle, a white dresser in the corner of the room next to a large mirror pinned to the wall, then there was the computer desk on the opposite side next to her closet. She also had put up her old posters of her favorite movies and artists. When she got to putting up her bulletin board yesterday, Torrie wanting to help ran into some of the pictures she was going to put up on the board. They were family pictures and a lot of them with Kelly, Adam and Torrie. Some were from vacations they had taken or camping trips. Kelly knew it was hard for all of them to think of Adam as gone but for Torrie any thought of him brought her to tears.
She had tried brushing them away before Kelly could see but eventually gave up the attempt and headed downstairs to help her parents. After she had left the room Kelly looked at the pictures and again wondered why she had no reaction like Torrie did, she knew she missed Adam so much but why was she this weird emotionless robot?
Looking through the stack she found the picture she liked the best, it was of her and Adam. The band's friend Percy Watson was their camera guy of sorts. Whenever he could, he would go to their gigs or practices and record them performing. Sometimes, he would even take pictures for flyers and such. One day at practice he was goofing off taking random pictures of the guys and he then said Kelly and Adam should take a picture together. Kelly being camera shy, was trying to run away but Adam caught her swinging his arm around her shoulder, and Percy shot it. There she was laughing, head turned slighty to the side as Adam made a scrunched up silly face. It was a perfect moment.
She decided she would put all of Adam's pictures away and only put others on her board for Torrie's sake. She didn't want her crying every time she walked into her room. So there they were in a white shoe box under her bed calling to her every time she passed.
As Kelly started changing into her clothes, she could smell coffee from downstairs and hear talking. It was probably her mom and Torrie arguing again, she thought. Her father had already left she was sure since he started almost at the crack of dawn. He had to be at the construction site before the workers to get things ready.
Kelly headed to the bathroom and washed her face and teeth. She ran a brush through her hair and pinned it up on the side. When she entered the kitchen she saw Heather in a black knee-length skirt and a professional black jacket, her hair up in a tight bun. She was sitting on the kitchen island on one of the high chairs opposite Torrie who was already dressed in jean shorts and a flowery shirt, her hair down and wavy.
"…yeah I think it's a good idea. Instead of sitting around here all day, you can show her a bit of Clyde Hill, hopefully even make some friends by the time she goes back to school," Kelly's mother was saying quietly. I guess they weren't arguing after all, they were talking about her.
"Yeah, I've been through here a lot since Carlito's cousin Primo lives in Clyde Hill. I don't know Mom, Kelly is not the type to just make friends right of the bat. I mean it was awhile until she gained trust with…the guys," Torrie avoided saying her brother's name and the band.
"Well, it won't hurt to try. I just want her to go back to school with a bit more confidence, you know…Oh Kelly! You're up!," they turned to look at her a bit guiltily. They were probably wondering how long she'd been standing there.
"Um, yeah," she said acting as though she hadn't heard a thing she added,"so what is going on? Why are you up so early Torrie?"
Torrie looked at her mom and hesitated a bit, "I thought it'd be good for us to get out of the house since mom and dad are going to be gone all day at work. I can take you shopping, Clyde Hill might be small but the mall has good stores. We can even have lunch somewhere."
Kelly watched as her mom just kept her eyes on her coffee cup. Kelly knew they meant well and understood why they must be worried about her. She had broken out of her shell before with the help of her brother and now that he was gone, they were scared she was going to back and hide like before. Honestly, Kelly felt herself being dragged towards that way of being again and it was even scaring her.
Kelly decided it would be best not to worry them and go along. She didn't even know what she would have done all day if Torrie wasn't there. She guessed probably read or walk around the neighborhood again. However, she promised herself not to go to the park too often so she wouldn't look like a creep like last time.
"Yeah, that sounds fun," Kelly said and she saw her mother's shoulders relax. She wished she didn't worry her mother so much. "I was hoping to buy a few more pair of shorts actually."
Torrie smiled radiantly and grabbed Kelly into a hug. "Ah! I'm so excited to have some sister time. We should get going, I know it's early but it's summer so the mall gets packed later in the afternoon."
Torrie hurried off to the room she was staying in to grab her keys and purse and Kelly did the same. Her black satchel was hanging on a hook inside her closet. She might sound like a kid but she was still lucky to receive allowances from her parents so instead of spending them, she tried to save them for when she actually needed the money. Since her parents didn't think it necessary for her to try getting a job until she turned eighteen.
She threw her satchel on and took a quick peek in her mirror to check her hair. She had to look at least decent to go into town. She practiced smiling and looking happy. It all looked forced and that frustrated her. Everyone always wanted to help her "get better" and she wanted to show them that she was okay. Even if it was a lie, she didn't want them to worry anymore.
Kelly had to admit that she was having a good time. The Clyde Hill mall was pretty big, there were many clothing stores to chose from for a young woman like her. She wasn't a big clothes fanatic, she usually stuck with the usual jeans or shorts with a nice blouse outfit. However, when she stepped inside Forever 21, she ended up buying the shorts she needed as well three new tops. Torrie who worked a few hours at the WSU cafeteria cleaning and such to earn a bit extra money for school and other necessities was suffering looking at clothes and not being able to buy them. Eventually she ended up with a nice pink blouse and some capris saying she had to reward herself from working hard at school.
After a couple hours of looking around and not buying anything else, the sisters decided they were hungry. They headed towards the food court to figure out what they would eat. There were selections from Dairy Queen to Panda Express, but Kelly wasn't sure she wanted fast food. Torrie said anywhere was fine for her so as Kelly looked around trying to pick her eyes landed on a sign through one of the big windows of the mall.
The sign of a restaurant outside the mall called The Spot. It was a tall brown bulding with a porch on the second level. It had beautiful flowers planted at the entrance and big long windows. She wondered what kind of food they served. The Spot, she thought. Why did that sound so familiar?
Torrie who had been busy texting, probably Carlito looked up at Kelly and saw her staring at the restaurant. "You want to go there?" she asked making a face.
Kelly turned to her suddenly curious. "You've been there. How is it?"
Torrie shrugged, "Once before, the food is actually very good. It's just the service that's not so great. Last time I came with Carlito and Primo they even had a Help Wanted sign because they are so short staffed or have bad workers. I don't know but if you really want to go, we can."
Kelly looked back at the mall's food court and felt no desire to eat anything from there. She didn't know why she felt a pull to go to The Spot but she thought that it wouldn't hurt to try it once at least.
"Yeah, let's go."
As soon as Torrie and Kelly stepped in through the big wooden doors of The Spot and the short blonde hostess with a big smile came around the corner to greet them she knew right away where she'd heard the restaurant's name.
"Was it busy at the spot today?" she heard the small voice of the blonde.
"It was alright. I just had to help my aunt with some paperwork. Sorry we're late," Kelly heard Randy say…
It was at the park while she watched the teenagers play basketball, the same blonde who was their hostess had asked Randy. Randy, the gorgeous intimidating guy who was probably her boyfriend and she should stop thinking about him.
"How are you guys doing today?" the blonde asked them as she took two menus from the side of the front desk.
"Good, thank you," Torrie answered for them. She had looked up from her phone which she'd been texting away. Kelly wondered what was going on between her and Carlito because she didn't look very happy. The hostess led them through the restaurant which was busy with their lunch rush and seated them at a booth at one of the corners.
"Your waitress will be Maxine and she will be right with you," the blonde said smiling radiantly but quickly dashing away. Kelly could see a line forming at the front of the restaurant as she took her seat and saw the blonde starting to look a bit nervous. She even dropped one of the menus as she led a table of four to their seats.
"Man, it's packed in here. Hopefully we get served fast. I'm hungry," Torrie said and frowned as she pushed away her phone.
Kelly couldn't help it and the question tumbled out. "Are you and Carlito okay, Tor?"
Torrie was caught off guard and a look of surprise and then sadness crossed her face. She quickly composed herself though and Kelly wished she wouldn't have asked. She was about to tell her she was sorry that she shouldn't have asked when their waitress arrived.
She was a slender girl with straight long dark red hair that was pulled into a ponytail. She wore very bright red lipstick and an annoyed look on her face as she pulled her notepad out of her apron which was tied at her waist.
"Hi, my name is Maxine and I will be your server today. Could I get you something to drink to start off?" she said as monotone as ever. Kelly had the feeling that this was probably one of the workers that gave The Spot its bad reputation. She glanced at Torrie who just raised her eyebrows and looked down at the menu.
"Um, I'll just take an iced tea," Torrie said. Kelly nodded and told her to make it two. Maxine shoved the notepad back into her apron and shrugged away lazily. She didn't have any urgency considering the place was getting packed and the rest of the workers were running around.
Kelly glanced back at the front of the restaurant and saw there were still plenty of people waiting up front. Some seemed to be getting frustrated and Kelly started to feel bad for the blonde hostess who tried her best to settle the waiting customers.
"Man, she was something wasn't she?" Torrie said and Kelly nodded as she turned back to look at her. Then she continued, "Carlito and I are fine. He has just been stressed with the fact that his parents want him to move back to Puerto Rico. They think he's just wasting his time here and they think he's doing drugs for some reason…"
"Drugs?!" Kelly was shocked, "he doesn't…?"
Torrie looked offended. "Of course not Kels! Carlito would never do anything to ruin his life like that. I would have noticed if he had that sort of problem. His parents just want him back and it's driving him nuts. We keep arguing because I tell him he should go visit them this summer and he thinks I want him to leave!"
Kelly was surprised. "Do you want him to leave?"
Torrie's face showed it all. She looked troubled. "I think I do Kelly. I know it sounds bad, because he's my boyfriend and I should want him around all the time but that's the thing…I don't want him around every single second of my life! I do care about him a lot but lately he's been so over protective and jealous, it's freaking me out. I feel like he thinks I just want him to go so I can find someone else."
Kelly didn't know what to say. She hadn't thought of Carlito to be the jealous type but it probably accumulated over the time he and Torrie had dated because she was a very beautiful girl and she didn't doubt she had many guys admiring her. Carlito probably was just starting to get a bit self conscious that Torrie might leave him.
"I think Carlito is just worried that you're trying to find someone better than him…" Kelly started as she noticed Maxine pass by for the second time without their drinks.
"But I'm not! I don't want someone else…" Torrie exclaimed.
Kelly cut in gently. "Maybe he doesn't know that. He probably knows you obviously care about him but have you probably been hanging around other guy friends who he could be jealous of?"
Torrie twisted a strand of her hair as she thought. "I don't think so, I just hang out with him and his friend Shelton. Obviously also with Christy since she's my roommate…sometimes with Billy Kidman, my co-worker from the cafeteria but he couldn't be jealous of him…" Her eyes widened.
"That's probably it. You and Billy spend a lot of time together so he's probably staring to worry and that's why he's being overprotective. You need to talk to him and make sure he knows he's the only one you care about," Kelly explained. How strange it was that Kelly refused the help of everyone when she herself was always trying to help others.
"Oh. My. Gosh," Torrie said and dropped her face in her hands," I've been so rude to him lately but it's been me who's been causing the problems. I feel so bad!"
Kelly smiled. "I think he'd start to loosen up and start acting normal if you explain everything. I'm sure of it."
Torrie was staring at her phone like if she just wanted to grab it and call Carlito right away. However, at that moment Maxine returned suddenly with the drinks and set them down a bit too hard on the table. With her same bored and annoyed expression she took out her notepad, "Ready to order?"
The girls who hadn't even looked at the menu since having talked the whole time quickly skimmed it knowing if they didn't order now their food would take longer. "I'll just take the Turkey Panini with the fries," Kelly said and pushed her menu to the side.
"I'll take the Blackened Salmon but instead of the fried red potatoes, would you be able to add more of the steamed veggies?" Torrie said. She'd always been very good at watching what she ate. It seemed to bother Maxine a bit at the adjustment to her order. She just shrugged and wrote it down. Grabbing their menus, she then turned and left without another word.
Kelly saw as she headed to the back of the restaurant and saw as she punched in their order in one of the computers. Suddenly a very familiar brown haired girl with beautiful brown eyes appeared next to her, waiting for her to finish putting in the order. Kelly could hear a bit of their conversation.
"Max, could you take table number 63 please? I am just overflowed right now in my area and I'm helping Naomi with her section too. Please? You only have three, two people tables," the dark haired girl said.
Maxine finishing putting in her order turned to look at the girl. "I thought we were only supposed to work in our area, Eve. It's not my fault Tiffany is giving you more tables," she said and rolled her eyes as she walked away.
Kelly could see the look of fury on Eve's face as she punched in the order and quickly went to another table that Kelly guessed was number 63. She looked so different working as a waitress than seeing her play basketball at the park. Then again it was quite the same since she was the fastest at moving from table to table and had skill in talking and making her customers laugh.
It was a funny coincidence that some of the park ballplayers were working here together in a restaurant. She looked around and saw a dark girl with shoulder length hair also moving through the tables quickly. She guessed that was Naomi who'd Eve said she was helping. She hadn't been at the park though. Three waitresses for a whole restaurant seemed like too much work them to Kelly, especially during lunch time. Her eye then caught another figure in all black moving around carrying a dish tray and she recognized him too.
It was Zack. The spiky haired guy who had been trying to make half court shots during their practice. He was their busboy…so if he was here, maybe the rest of the group was here…?
She hadn't realized that she had been staring off into space until suddenly Maxine came with their orders setting them down noisily and walking away without asking if they needed anything else. Torrie who had been lost in texting as well looked up surprised.
"Huh, that was fast!" she said and shrugged.
The girls ate their lunch and Kelly realized Torrie had been right. The food was amazing, maybe even better than the Chicken Alfredo she'd had at Mizanin's. She hadn't realized how hungry she had been. She finished the whole Panini and most of the fries. Maxine came by to leave their check and hurried away without picking up their plates or a thank you.
Guessing they had to pay up front, the girls grabbed their check and headed to the front desk. All the people who had been waiting were finally gone since the lunch rush was coming to its end but there seemed to be a problem with some of the customers who were paying in front of Kelly and Torrie. She was a plump woman about Kelly's height with dark brown hair and wearing a yellow sundress standing next to a tall man (Kelly guessed it was her husband) wearing khaki shorts and a polo.
"I will not pay for a drink that took twenty minutes to arrive! I don't care if I drank it, I believe you guys should have discounted off my tab!" the woman was basically shouting at the short blonde who was trying to cash her out.
"Ma'am, I really am sorry that it was late. We get really busy during lunch time and our bartender got a bit backed up…" Tiffany started looking hesitant.
The woman cut her off throwing up her hands. "Is it MY fault you don't have enough employees? Take it off my tab or I will cause a scene."
Torrie who had stopped texting since her phone was out of her hands muttered under breath to Kelly. "Like if she isn't already."
The blonde looked nervous and looked like she had no idea what to do and Kelly felt so bad for her. Honestly, she probably didn't get the best service today but she wasn't one to care. She had watched Eve, Naomi, Zack and even Tiffany working their butts off and that was all that mattered. They tried hard to give the customers the best service even though they had some bad co-workers like Maxine and were short staffed. She enjoyed the food and was satisfied. Too bad, not many people thought like her as she continued to look at the scene.
The woman looked as she were about to scream again and something happened. Tiffany seemed to be taking a deep breath but as she fell back against the glass wall separating the restaurant and the front desk, Kelly knew something was wrong. The girl suddenly was sucking in air fast as if she couldn't get enough of it and she was holding her chest, her eyes wide with worry.
Kelly reacting stepped forward and saw Torrie do the same as if trying to help her. The angry woman and her husband looked shocked as they took a step back.
Kelly then saw Tiffany reach under the front desk and push something. She heard a beeping noise sounding in the distance. It sounded like it was coming from the back of the restaurant, in the kitchen somewhere.
Suddenly a woman with long brown wavy hair wearing a black suit jacket and slacks appeared at the end of the hallway near the restrooms. She was hurrying towards the front desk and Kelly noticed someone else was following behind her. As she neared Kelly noticed that the woman was pregnant. As the other figure also neared Kelly couldn't help but be caught off guard. Even though by now she should have guessed he's be here.
Randy, another of the teenagers from the park was standing next to the woman. He was in a white long sleeve chef's shirt with a black short cook's hat covering his hair. On the shirt, his name was sewn across it over his heart. He looked strange since you couldn't see his tattoos at all but he still had the same authority as before. His blue eyes took in the scene as he hurried over to Tiffany.
The woman walked over to her too and whispered something to Randy. Then she said gently, "Take her to my office. She can calm down in there."
Randy obliged as he swung one of Tiffany's arms around his shoulder and helped her walk down the hall. She was still wheezing and sounding like a fish out of water. Kelly watched the gentleness Randy used as he carefully held her next to him. She turned away from them, trying to ignore the emotion of jealousy she suddenly felt. Why?
"I'm Stephanie Orton, I am the Manager here. What is the problem?" the woman who had came with Randy was speaking to the angry customers. She said everything so regally but firm that she could tell the other plump woman was taken aback.
"I, I was just telling the young lady that I received my drink twenty minutes after I ordered it and I don't find it fair to have to pay for it. I don't understand…what happened to her?" the woman said with a strange look on her face. She must have felt like she had been the one to cause whatever it was that happened to Tiffany.
Stephanie looked as though she didn't want to talk about Tiffany's incident. She bluntly said, "She has anxiety attacks," she then looked at the computer in front of her, "a Malibu Rum Colada is six fifty. Here."
She stuck her hand out stiffly to the woman who looked surprised. She took the money and stood there.
"Was there something else?" Kelly could tell by Stephanie's tone that she was upset but she was still being friendly.
"No, no. Um, thank you," the woman spattered and she tugged her husband's sleeve to pull him towards the door.
As it swung shut Kelly and Torrie stepped forward to pay. Stephanie started talking at once, "I am so sorry you had to hear all that. I hope everything was good for you two?"
Kelly saw that Torrie was about to answer and she cut in. Maxine was not a good waitress but Kelly thought after the scene Stephanie would have not want to hear that. "It was all great. The food was so great. Thank you."
Stephanie smiled and her cheeks flushed as she rubbed her stomach once and cashed them out. "Well I hope to see you guys back here again. Thank you for your business."
Torrie smiled at her and was heading out the door when Kelly stopped. "I'm going to head to the bathroom really quick. I'll meet you by the car?"
"Yeah, that's fine," Torrie said and nodded as she headed outside.
"At the very end of the hall," Stephanie announced to her suddenly. Kelly smiled her thanks and headed that way. As she neared the door she could hear the sounds of the grill cooking, bells ringing for orders that were ready and of two guys talking to each other loudly.
As Kelly was about to push the door to woman's bathroom open she took a brief glance inside the kitchen which had no door from the side she was standing on. She caught sight of Randy first who was working the grill then of another good looking guy who looked to be around Torrie's age or a bit older who was running back and forth from the prep table to the deep fryer. She was also able to see movement at the back of the kitchen but she wasn't able to see the person until Randy called out.
"Jack! Do you have that saucepan ready?" Randy called out loudly.
Sure enough there was the blonde burly guy Kelly had seen Randy walk to the park with carrying a rather large saucepan and hand it to Randy. He hurried back to his dishwashing station.
"Hey, Johnny, you got the rest of this order? I just want to go check on Tiff really fast," Kelly suddenly heard Randy say to the other cook who nodded. Randy was turning to head her way and she didn't want to be caught in the act of eavesdropping so she pushed her way into the bathroom almost running into someone standing by one of the sinks.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" the figure said and as she stepped back Kelly saw that it was Tiffany. She looked better now, she wasn't panting for breath that is. However, her eyes seemed to be rimmed red from crying.
Without thinking Kelly said, "Are you okay?"
Tiffany brushed her bangs out of her face and looked at Kelly curiously. She was probably trying to remember Kelly from the scene up front. When she finally did she smiled, "Oh you were up there weren't you? Yeah, I'm fine. It happens at times that I get these panic attacks especially dealing with tough customers."
Kelly wasn't sure she had the right to know all this but for some reason she was just so curious about these people. Not just Tiffany but all her friends from the park. She thought they had just been a group of friends hanging out and playing ball but they seemed now to be more than that. They even worked together at the same place. They were like family instead.
"Oh I see. I'm sorry for asking. I just got a bit scared for a minute. My sister and I had no idea how to help you," Kelly explained remembering her helpless feeling from before.
Tiffany smiled weakly and shrugged. "It's okay. Most people have no idea what to do, heck! I don't even know what to do. I try my best to calm down but it's hard. It just hits me out of nowhere, I'm just lucky to have good people in my life to help me out."
"I saw how the manager and the cook rushed out to help you. How did they know?" Kelly said still wondering how they had rushed out right at the moment Tiffany was having her attack.
Tiffany's eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh! It was all Randy's idea actually, he's one of the cooks, he gave me a buzzer to keep up front under the front desk for whenever I start feeling bad they'll basically come out and help me since when I press it a beeping noise is heard in the kitchen."
Kelly then remembered how Tiffany who had been panting for breath had reached under the front desk and suddenly understood. "That's a good idea."
Tiffany nodded happily. It seemed she was coming back to her regular self. Kelly remembering she had to use the bathroom headed towards one of the stalls as Tiffany continued standing in front of the mirror dabbing at her eyes. Kelly suddenly saw herself earlier today at home in front of her mirror before heading out with Torrie. She had being doing the same thing Tiffany was doing now, trying to look presentable as if nothing was wrong even though it really was.
Kelly used the bathroom and washed her hands, as she passed Tiffany the girl smiled at her through the mirror and Kelly smiled back.
Just as she was about to step out the bathroom, she turned back to Tiffany. "So why do you work here if it's so hard for you?"
At first Kelly thought she wasn't going to answer but the blonde turned and smiled radiantly all of a sudden. "Everyone asks me that. They think I'm crazy to work at a place where it's so busy and hectic and my panic attacks could strike at any time but the thing is…I love it here! I love the craziness, the customers, well some of them and most of all…the people I work with. Here at The Spot it's like a second home where everyone knows me and accepts me for who I am. Having these attacks is not weird or strange to them at all."
Kelly hearing all this wondered how crazy to be so attached to a place but she only smiled. "That's really nice. Well I'm stop bothering you now. Hope you feel better."
"Thank you," Tiffany said and turned back to the mirror.
Kelly stepped out the bathroom and almost crashed into someone again. She really should be more careful when stepping through doors. "Oh, sorry," she muttered embarrassed.
"It's not your fault, I shouldn't have been standing so close to the door," it was Randy who spoke. She looked up surprised. Of course, he had left the kitchen to check on Tiffany and he was probably waiting for her to come out of the bathroom.
"It's okay," Kelly said and tried to hurry off. She knew she had kept Torrie waiting for too long now which she didn't think it was such a bad idea since she was probably texting or calling Carlito trying to explain things.
"Wait, you look so familiar. Have we met before?" Randy called out to her. Oh no! Kelly thought he remembers me from the park.
Kelly shook her head not knowing what to say. Why did she have to act so strange around this guy she hardly knew. Maybe because he was intimidatingly gorgeous?
"Hmm, how weird. I honestly feel like I've seen you before. Either way, I'm Randy. Randy Orton," he said and held his out to Kelly. Kelly looked at it and not wanting to be rude stepped forward and took it.
"Kelly Blank. Nice to meet you," she said and smiled hesitantly.
Randy nodded and smiled that same crooked smile he had when Kelly had passed him back the ball at the park. She really had to get away now.
"Well, I'm on my way out. My sister is waiting for me in the car," she said to him.
"Oh yes, go ahead. Sorry to keep you," he said and laughed. "Have a nice rest of your day Kelly."
She only nodded a thank you and headed towards the front desk. As she did she heard the bathroom door open behind her and then Randy's voice.
"Hey! You look better," he said to Tiffany as if he knew she was going to be instead of worrying about her. He probably did it so as to not make her feel bad about herself or maybe that was just the way he was?
"Yeah, I'm ready to get back to work. Thanks Randy, you always save me. You're like a hero," she said and even though she couldn't see them Kelly could just picture him taking her into his arms for a gentle hug and laughing. She then realized why her jealousy had hit before when she'd seen Randy take a breathless Tiffany away.
It wasn't because she wanted to be with Randy even though he was so good looking but she realized it was because she wanted what Tiffany had. Randy reminded her of Adam, Adam who had always been there to help her. Adam who looked tough on the outside but was the most gentle person on the inside.
She was jealous of Tiffany for having someone to save her since Kelly didn't have her hero anymore.
I had planned to write another segment but my brain is dead tired from thinking so much! I hope you all enjoyed it and please review! Let me know what you liked and what you didn't. I like hearing it all! I will work hard to give you Chapter 4 soon!
