I don't own Home Alone

Enjoy!

It was strange how quiet the diner was for a Monday. Christmas was only four days away and Marv assumed that everyone was probably busy getting their shopping done until the day came. With the diner being so idle, he was able to catch up on some of his duties and thought that he could use the rest of the hours to relax a little bit before there was the late lunch rush...if it ever came to it. He walked over to the front of the diner and saw that the only person sitting at one of the booths was Amy, who was busy writing a couple of Christmas cards. On Sunday when he helped her clean the apartment, she had been ecstatic to have found a box of Christmas cards that she had kept to use on a 'Christmas Day' as she had said. He had chuckled at that new phrase that she had used and it seemed that the time had come to put those cards into good use.

Since it was only the two of them, he didn't take into consideration where Natalie, Anne, or Tom had disappeared off to. Marv headed to the back of the kitchen and poured two hot mugs of coffee before heading over to the booth and setting one of the mugs in front of Amy. "You look like you can use this," he said.

Amy slowly looked up from the card and smiled when she saw Marv towering over her. "How did you read my mind?" she said as she took the mug and sipped onto the hot liquid. "Nothing like that good caffeine kick." She set down the pen and focused her eyes on Marv. "And how are you doing?"

"Fine...tired but fine," he answered her. "The kitchen is spotless, dishes are done, and inventory is all set for the month. I thought I'd take advantage of the time since we're so busy."

A laugh was shared between them. Amy agreed that some free time at work was relaxing. Before Natalie and Anne decided to head outside for their lunch hour, the three of them were busy cleaning not only the tables but every single section of the restaurant where they weren't able to clean due to the busy hours. She hoped that Tom would be satisfied with their work and not be so much on their case about having the floors so dirty. This wasn't an upscale restaurant that upper Manhattan that had to be spotless but this was not only a business but also Tom's reputation.

"Wow," Marv said as she looked down at the floor. "Wasn't there a stain on this part of the floor that was impossible to clean?"

"You can thank Anne for that," Amy said, "the woman was scrubbing away like it was graffiti on the floor."

"If I try to thank her I think she'll throw a ladle at my head," Marv said and took a sip of his coffee.

"Her way of showing her love," Amy teased as she finished writing the last sentience on the card before placing it inside the envelope. "I never thought writing so many cards of the same phrases would give me a headache...and carpal tunnel," she joked as she rubbed her wrist with her other free hand.

"You're working too hard," Marv pointed out to her. "You gotta look after yourself Amy."

A light smile passed over her lips. "I try," she said to him. "I think I've managed just fine for the last couple of years of being alone."

"How was it adjusting to it?" Marv asked her.

"It was hard," she answered without hesitation, "finding an apartment was harder than I thought it was going to be. I'm glad that my sister was able to let me stay with her for a while until I got adjusted. Finding this job was hard too. Tom wasn't hiring when I was looking for a job. It was the only workplace I had close to where I live that I practically begged for this position. It wasn't that easy. I had been used to looking after people that I didn't know how to look after myself. It was nice to do it for once and I never felt any happier."

"Look at how it turned out," Marv said, "now you're stuck looking after me."

"To be honest," Amy began, "that was something that I missed. The more I looked after myself, the more happy I was. But once you have filled that part of yourself with happiness, you start to miss the other part of yourself. I went from being happy to feeling lonely."

"Seems like it wasn't what you expected," Marv said.

"Of course not," Amy agreed with him, "I was just happy to be away from the craziness, but being in solitude is frightening. One day you're young and the next you're going to wish you had someone next to you that you spent your life with." She took a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I guess such is life. We make mistakes and hope that time is forgiving."

On that melancholic note, Marv's eyes looked over to the door as Tom walked inside. The man always had an air of competence as he walked and enough to make Marv feel nervous. "Tom's here," he whispered to Amy as she turned around and slowly got to her feet.

"Afternoon Tom," she greeted him with a smile.

Tom stopped in front of her as if sizing her up. "How're you so chipper every day you come in here?" he asked as he twirled the toothpick that he always held between his teeth.

"This place is like a second home," Amy said, "and I'm always thankful of the that I was hired to work here."

"Quit buttering me up kid, it ain't going to work," he said but couldn't help and smile at her words. "I got an early Christmas gift for the both of youse." He reached inside the pocket of his jacket and pulled out two checks and handed them to Amy and Marv.

Marv took the check in his hands and his eyes widened at the sum of money that was written on the check. It wasn't much but it was a decent bonus that made Marv smile with delight.

"Whoa," Amy exclaimed and looked over at Tom, "looks like someone is going to be on Santa's nice list this year."

Tom rolled his eyes at Amy's lightheartedness before shaking his head. "If I didn't like you, you'd be outta here." He was glad that she could take his jokes, unlike Natalie whom he had joked with and it caused the young girl to break down in tears. Thank God he had Anne to smooth things over before he got into big trouble himself. He then looked over at Marv and motioned to him. "I gotta talk to you for a second Marv. Follow me to the kitchen."

Marv carefully folded the check and placed it inside the pocket of his pants. With that sum of money, he thought about what he was going to do with it especially with the Christmas coming close. He followed Tom into the kitchen and the first thing he noticed was how the man surveyed the cleanliness of the room. The ex-bandit felt a bit proud that he had made someone satisfied with his honest work.

Tom nodded his head after surveying the room before his turned his attention to Marv with a serious look upon his face.

"Did I miss a spot?" Marv asked him.

"No," Tom answered him, "as a matter of fact, you did a good job back here. But why'd you take Anne's tips?"

Damn it! Marv thought as his eyes widened upon Tom's accusations. Wait, how would he knew about this? And why would he come to me now when it happened days ago? "I don't know what you're talking about," Marv said, trying his best to make it seem like Tom was mistaking him for someone else.

"Just cut it out," Tom said with a wave of his hand, "I was a little suspicious about you from the beginning. I wasn't surprised to find out you were jailed for stealing."

"Who told you that?" Marv asked him.

"Ever heard of a background check?" Tom fired back at him. "I took you on because I needed someone back here to take care of the work and I trust Amy. You started off doing good until I saw the cameras and saw you taking the tips from Anne. You had some stealth in you when you did it, until you dropped that fork on the ground when taking the cash, which led me to do a little research. Now be frank with me, how much did you take?"

"$15.46," Marv answered him. It was better to be honest than risk losing this job and Amy's trust.

"It was less that I thought," Tom muttered to himself before letting out a sigh. He looked over at Marv and there was that look of seriousness upon his eyes. "I'll take care of it but if I see this happening again you're gonna be dumped just like last night's garbage. Now get outta here!"

The man didn't have to say it twice. Marv had became very nervous that he was glad to march out of the kitchen and into the dining room. Amy looked up when he appeared into the room and then over at Tom.

"We ain't gonna have any business for the rest of the afternoon," Tom said as he turned over the sign to 'Closed' on the door. "You two can head on home early."

"Oh," Amy said, surprised at Tom's decision to close early, but she didn't hesitate as she gathered the cards and placed them inside her purse. "I can get some Christmas shopping done with this little bonus check. Unless you're too tied to go shopping today, Marv."

Marv was glad that Tom allowed them to get out early. He didn't think he would be able to face the rest of the shift with Tom knowing about his past and the misdeed that he had done. "You can go," Marv said to Amy with a nod of his head. "I think I'll head on home. I need to..." why did he feel Tom's glare onto him? He couldn't find the courage to face the man. "I need to rest." As he was about to head out the door, he looked down when Amy grabbed him by the sleeve.

"Marv," she had a look of concern upon her eyes, "are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah," Marv said, "I just need to lie down."

Once she let go of him, Marv was glad to be out into the open air and away from the diner. He couldn't believe that he had fallen into the temptation of stealing and he had been caught! This was worse that being arrested. He didn't think he would ever forget Tom's judgmental eyes when he discovered what had happened to those tips. How would he be able to face work again? Before he had stolen those tips, a part of him had screamed not to do it but the temptation had pushed to the point where he had done it...and now he would be paying for it.

Amy watched as Marv's figure disappeared into the distance before she turned her attention towards Tom. "What happened?" she asked. "Is everything alright?"

Tom looked from Marv and then over at Amy. He knew that he could be a tough man to his subordinates but this was a serious crime that Marv had committed. He wondered if Amy was aware of Marv's past, but she had spoken about him like she had known him for a long time. Either the man was good at hiding his past or Amy hadn't bothered to warn Tom about who Marv really was. However, through the past couple of days that Marv had worked, his work ethic had improved and the place had been in a better shape than it was before.

"Tom?" Amy said as the man broke away from his thoughts, "what happened in there?"

Upon her question, it seemed like she didn't know about what Marv had done and there was no way Tom was going to tell her about that. If Marv wanted to be honest, he was going to let him do that. There was no way he was going to get involved between them. "All's well Amy," Tom said as he gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Try to look after him. He's a good kid. Now get outta here and get some rest. Both of youse deserve it."

Amy stepped down from the perimeter of the diner and headed down the street. She hoped that when she returned home, Marv would be there and feeling a bit better than before he left.