Chapter 2 Afternoon blues

Randy;

Standing at the bottom of the steep hill, Randy wondered how he let things get this bad, he had it all set and then with one mistake, everything he had was gone and he was left with options he wasn't sure should even apply to him, he thought he was invincible but now here he was, needing a room with girls he only heard of through his friend Shawn, according to Shawn, Raven had a spare room and the three girls that lived there had no interest in knowing the very juicy gossip. Randy let out a breath and started his way up the hill, it wasn't as bad as it looked but he did have to really get his legs working, clearly Raven and the girls weren't interested in visitors.

When he got to the top he just let the air back into his lungs before he knocked on the door, he was also trying to remember Raven from the brief meeting some time ago, but given everything that was on the Viper's mind, he excused himself from not remembering her. Randy knocked on the open door, the house seemed very quiet for having three people living there. So far from what he could see, it was just Raven at the large table with her laptop. She got up and welcomed him in, his icy gaze staring over her, taking in every inch of her.

Raven was a tiny girl, she barely came up to his chest but held herself in a confident manor which he liked, she had the most endearing smile, it lit up her round face and made her silver eyes look lighter. She was covered neck to toes in tattoos which went well with her straight black strands and silver ringlets. It suited the overall Goth vibe she had going on.

"Hey Randy, so this awkward huh?" She let out lightly making Randy feel a whole lot better about the whole situation. Raven didn't ask about the obvious reason as to why he was here, she just left it, if he wanted to tell her he would but in her experience she found men had always been more secretive than women.

"So would you like a tour?"

"Actually if it's ok I'd rather just lay down" Randy was just overtired, he only had one bag, all he had left in the world, and instead of explaining or having more contact than he wanted, all he wanted was a nap, maybe just maybe, things wouldn't be so bad when he woke up.

Raven just shrugged, "Ok follow me"

They climbed the stairs in silence, Randy didn't want to answer questions and Raven just wanted to go back to work, she was sure she was on the verge of a breakthrough.

Randy found himself on the second floor which was nothing more than a long corrider filled with doors. Thankfully for him, Raven had a sign on each door, he followed her to the last room which was void of a sign. It was for him to put a sign on it.

"If you're interested in a free meal we eat at six"

Randy didn't answer, he was too busy looking around the spacious room, Raven just left him to it, she was used to people being rude, Iziah being the number one cause of rudeness. As she made her way downstairs she couldn't help but wonder how Randy is gonna take Iziah. At least it would be entertaining.

When Raven was gone Randy shut the door and decided to explore the room a bit more, it was a standard room, complete with bedside drawers and a bigger chest of drawers for his clothes. In the middle was a king size bed with a very fluffy pink bedspread, Randy wasn't going to keep it, but since everything else in the room was black, the pink was a nice change.

Two more doors led to a closet and a private bathroom, clearly he could easily avoid the girls if he wanted. Randy put his one bag in the closet and sat on the pink bedspread, running tired hands over his face, as the thoughts collapsed in his head Randy took off his boots and shoved them in a corner, his tired body flopped onto the fluffy pink-ness and against his will his thoughts went back to her.

Adele. She had taken everything from him, she had slid into his life and before he knew it he was here and she was enjoying herself with all she had taken from him. And since he was now on the injured list he couldn't even do his job to start recovering what he had lost.

Randy knew it was more than that, he had actually let that bitch into places he thought he had long closed, he had tried twice with women and this one really bit him in the ass. This is why he stuck to one night stands in random hotels, he got what he wanted without losing anything. Against his will his eyes shut and for a moment, he had some peace in a world where nothing was fucked up.

Just after six he woke up feeling hungry, his stomach betrayed him, he knew it was safer to stay out of the girls path, but damnit that food smelt good. When he came down Raven was just serving up, a tall blonde sitting at the table, bouncing in her chair, chanting softly for her pasta.

"Hey Randy, take a seat and I'll get you a plate" Raven offered kindly as he took a seat opposite Jamie. "Randy this is Jamie, Jamie thats Randy"

The young girl beamed at him, her sparkly blue eyes lit up to the point where Randy thought they would burst out of her head. Shawn had warned him all about the girls, Jamie with the brain injury she had suffered when she was younger, she had twenty-four years of life on her but since her injury she now had the mentality of about thirteen, she was naive but a sweetheart, her fascination seemed to be bright colours and loud noises. It was her memory that failed her, it was like a seive now so Randy shouldn't be offended if she didn't remember his name.

Raven put a plate with cheesy pasta in front of him, it looked as good as it smelt, apparently the young girl was a bit strange at the best of times, but was a nice enough girl, her only interests seemed to be work and keeping her sisters on track.

A loud ear splitting singing burst into his head, it just made Raven and Jamie giggle.

"Iziah is singing again, she must be hella-stoned right now" Jamie laughed spilling cheese down her chin.

Randy found himself quite enjoying the meal, he didn't say much at least nothing that could come back to him. He just enjoyed having some company without any attachments.

He offered to help with the dishes but Raven said that was Jamie's job and she didn't like to share the bubbles. So Randy decided that perhaps it was best to have a shower and try to have some decent sleep.

Tomorrow was another day afterall.