Chapter 6

Cersei Lannister POV

I get a call on Monday as I'm sitting on the couch, it's from a number I don't recognize. "Hello?" I ask when I pick up.

"Hi there," the person on the other end says. "I'm calling to talk to Cersei."

"That's me," I say. "Who is this?"

"The restaurant manager," he says. "We interviewed with you a few days ago."

"Oh right," I say. "Sorry."

"No worries," he says. "We wanted to offer you and your friend Daenerys hostess positions at the restaurant, would you guys be interested in that?"

"I know she would," I say. "I think I would be, too."

"Well, I was hoping you could come in today or tomorrow to pick up paperwork and we can talk about when you both want to start," he says. "I would just want to know as soon as possible."

"Okay," I say. "I'll give Dany a call and then call back."

"Sounds good, I hope to hear from you soon."

As I'm hanging up, Jaime walks out of his room. "Who was that?" He asks me.

"It was the manager for the restaurant Dany and I interviewed at," I say. "He wanted to offer us both the job, but now I don't know if I want to take it."

Jaime sits down on the couch next to me. "Why not?" He asks.

"I'm not sure what the point of working is if I don't even need to," I say. "You're not working, and I can't see myself enjoying it."

"We've been over this," he says. "It would be good for you to focus on working and school, it would help you drink less and be more responsible."

"Yeah, you said that."

"I know, and I thought you had decided to take the job if you got it," he says. "I'm just saying the same points again, since you're unsure now."

"I just don't know," I say. "I didn't think I'd get it to begin with, so I didn't think I'd have to worry about it."

"Well, I think you should try it out," he says. "Just go in for a couple shifts and then decide."

I sigh. "Okay, I will," I say. "Let me call Dany."

I call Dany and she picks up after the first ring. "Hello?" She asks.

"Hey, it's me," I say. "I just got a call from the restaurant manager, he wanted to offer us both a job there."

"Really?" She asks. "I wonder why he didn't call me."

"He said he wanted me to let you know," I say. "I'm sure he would've called you eventually, though. He wants us to come by and get our paperwork today or tomorrow, do you want to come with me?"

"Sure, right now?"

"If you want to," I say. "I'm not doing anything."

"Okay," she says. "I'll meet you there in 30 minutes."

"Sounds good," I say. "See you soon."

I hang up, I'm not looking forward to this. "You got this," Jaime says. "Just give it a shot, I know you can do it."

"Thanks," I say. "But I'm quitting if I don't like it."

"Okay, deal."

I get ready to call the manager and then meet Dany. Maybe Jaime's right, maybe this will be good for me. I do agree that I should at least try it and see how it goes, and I can quit at any point. It won't be my permanent job, so it's not like I actually have to take it seriously.

Daenerys Targaryen POV

I'm a little upset that the manager asked Cersei to call me and let me know I got the job when working there was my idea in the first place. Granted, getting the job is obviously better than not getting the job. I'm also not really sure how this works, so maybe this is normal. The manager did say that he didn't have time to call both of us today.

I'm getting ready to go meet Cersei when Jon comes in from class. "Hey," he says, seeing that I'm about to leave. "Where are you going?"

"I'm meeting up with Cersei and we're going to the restaurant to pick up our paperwork," I say. "We both got the job."

"Oh that's awesome, congratulations."

"I'm not sure how to feel, honestly," I say. "He told Cersei to call me and tell me."

"That's kinda weird," Jon says. "But just go check it out anyway, I'm meeting with the student center people about the job there tomorrow."

"Awesome," I say. "Are you doing okay?" I've been trying to check on him a lot since everyrhing happened with his dad.

"I'm coping, I guess," he says. "I'm just trying not to think about everything."

"Have you talked to your dad?"

"No," he says. "I don't think I can right now."

"That might be best," I respond. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, let me know how it goes."

We kiss and hug goodbye and I head out. I walk to the restaurant and meet Cersei outside. She's waiting there when I get there, I almost expected her to not show up. I didn't expect her to even get the job, much less take it.

"Hey," I say when I walk up. "You ready?"

"Yep," she says. "As I'll ever be."

"You don't seem to excited," I say. "Is everything okay?"

"I told Jaime I didn't see the point in getting a job," she says. "But he thinks it would be good for me."

"I agree with him," I say. "I think it would be good for us to get more life experience."

"You both sound like you're trying to be my parents," Cersei says, laughing. "I'm mainly doing this because you are, let's go inside."

…

After talking with the manager and getting our paperwork to sign, we head out of the restaurant. As we're walking out, we see Bronn walking on the sidewalk nearby. It's not weird to run into people from school randomly around here, especially near campus.

"Hey guys," he says, walking up to us when he sees us. "What are you guys up to?"

"We're about to start working here," I say. "We just came to get our paperwork."

"Oh, that's awesome," he says. "When are you starting."

"This weekend, I think," Cersei says. "Should be a good time, hopefully."

"The food here is good," he says. "The drinks are strong also, so that's a plus. Maybe you guys can hook me up sometime." Cersei laughs. Great, I'm not looking forward to that.

"I don't know," I say. "We're not even 21 yet."

"You can find a way I'm sure," he says. "I know Cersei can."

"We should probably head back," I say, starting to walk away. "It was good to see you."

"Hey Cersei," Bronn says, stopping us. "Before you go, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Really?" Cersei asks. "What's up?"

"Do you want to go out sometime?" Bronn asks. "I know we've hung out in a group a lot, but I wanted to hang out by ourselves and get to know each other better. If you wanted to."

There's a pause, I can tell Cersei's unsure of what to say. This is awkward for me, I'm surprised he did this in front of me. I'm kinda hoping she says no, he isn't a good influence to her at all if past events are any indication.

"Sure," Cersei says. "That would be awesome."

"Cool," Bronn says. "I'll text you later, have a good night."

"Bye," she says. "You too." We start walking in the opposite direction as Bronn.

"What was that about?" I ask when Bronn is out of earshot.

"What do you mean?" Cersei asks.

"I didn't know you liked him," I say. "I thought you were just stringing him along, why did you agree to go out with him?"

"He's not so bad," she says. "He hasn't hooked me up with drugs in a while, so I don't really know what you're worried about."

"Do you like him?"

"Maybe," she says. "I've been thinking I might since we got back to campus. He's kinda cute, maybe there could be something there."

"Won't Jaime be upset?"

"I don't care," Cersei says. "He can't control who I date."

We keep walking until we get to Cersei's car, and I decide to walk home. I have a really bad feeling about this, I can't imagine her going out with Bronn to result in anything good. I know Jaime will be mad, and Cersei knows that too even though she will never admit that.

She would hate if Jaime went out with someone, that's probably why it didn't work out with him and Coach Tarth. The double standard she has with Jaime is so weird, and she's not even honest about it. I just know this isn't going to end well, and I'm scared to see the fallout.

Sansa Stark POV

Myrcella and I are hanging out after cheer one day, she had choir and we finished at about the same time. She wants to go have a snack so she doesn't have to go home yet. I feel really bad, it seems like things are getting worse for her and her family than they already were.

"Are you doing okay?" I ask her when we get into my car. "You seem a little down."

"I just hate being at home right now," she says. "It's gotten pretty bad."

"Can I ask what's been going on?" I ask. "I'm worried about you."

"Joffrey's just gotten worse," she says. "He won't stop making digs at my body, and it made me relapse. My dad couldn't care less."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Myrcella says. "I've tried to tell him, and he's made it clear that he doesn't want to hear it."

"Is that all that's been happening?" I ask.

"Well," I can tell Myrcella doesn't want to talk about it, but I feel like it's important that I get this out of her because I'm worried. "Tommen has started to be like Joffrey, too. He's learning from him. It's been really affecting me and Shireen. She's been stealing my makeup to try to cover up her scar."

That's so sad, it honestly breaks my heart because Shireen is so sweet. "And your dad hasn't been caring about any of this?"

"He used to get onto Joffrey about it sometimes," Myrcella says. "But he's over it now, I think. I think be believes Joffrey won't ever change, so for him there's no point in trying."

I finally start driving so we can go get a snack before it gets too late, but I want to drag this out so she doesn't have to go home.

"I'm so sorry, Myrcella," I say. "You know you can come over whenever you want."

"Can I come hang out after we eat?" She says. "My dad won't notice if I'm home by 10."

"Sure," I say. "My parents are probably still at work, so it's fine."

We go get smoothies and then head back to my place. While we're driving back, I'm trying to think of a way to help her more. I would offer for her to just stay with me, but I'm not sure that would work. We get back to my place and head up to my room. Arya's with Gendry, and everyone else in the house is gone so it's just me and Myrcella.

"Have you thought about moving out?" I ask Myrcella as we're sitting in my room.

"Would that even work?" She asks. "I honestly didn't see that as even being an option."

"I would offer to let you move here, but it's a bit crowded," I say. "But what about living with Podrick?"

"I'm only 16," she says. "Legally I have to stay with my dad."

"Would he even care if you wanted to leave?" I ask. "I know that sounds bad, but it doesn't seem like he really has eyes on you guys."

"He doesn't," Myrcella says. "But aside from that, I can't leave Shireen. I know that if I moved out, Joffrey would just make sure things were worse for her."

I totally get that. I can't imagine leaving Arya here if I knew she was being hurt by someone in the house. Shireen's so young, too. That must make it infinitely harder.

"I just really don't want to have to go back to treatment," Myrcella says. "My dad threatened that when I relapsed."

"Did it get that bad?" I hope that isn't too personal, but I didn't think her relapse was that severe.

"It almost did," she says. "I really wasn't eating enough, but I got it together more when my dad threatened to make me go back to treatment."

"I'm glad you were able to bring yourself back to a better place," I say. "I think that really shows how far you've come and how much progress you've made."

"It really was because of Pod," she says. "He's so helpful and kind, I feel like without him I definitely would be in a worse place now."

"Let me know if there's ever anything I can do to help," I say. "I want to help, I really mean that. You helped me a lot when we were in treatment together."

"Thanks," she says. "That means a lot, but you do help me. You've always been a good friend to me, I just meant that Podrick is my rock and my soulmate. That's obviously different from what you and I have."

I know what she means, but I don't believe I was a good friend to her for a while. I completely discredited her warnings about Joffrey because he was cute and I wanted to date someone, so I just pushed it aside. I feel really bad about that, even still.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you about Joffrey," I say after a long pause. "I shouldn't have discounted your experiences with him when I barely knew him and you grew up with him your entire life."

"I get why you didn't want to believe that he is the way he is, but I still appreciate you saying that."

Myrcella and I hang out until right before my parents are supposed to get home, I know my mom wouldn't want me having a friend over this late on a school night. Arya gets home around that time, too. My parents will just assume she was home since tech ended and not alone with Gendry.

I really hope Myrcella figures out how to be in a better situation. I feel like the best option would be for her to move in with Podrick since her dad wouldn't even care, but I understand how she feels like she can't leave Shireen. It really is an impossible, no-win situation and I feel bad for her. I wish I could help her more.