"One coffee black." Conner said to the tired barista.
"Coming right up.''
After getting his coffee, Conner decided to sit down. He looked around the aquarium. Man, he hasn't been here in years. Not since high school. He remembered the last time he been here. It was after he and Elizabeth broke up and he was attending rehab. He started dating his old flame Alanna Feldman. That relationship was a mistake. Both him and Tia, and even Angel butted heads over his relationship with Alanna, telling him he was making a mistake. Conner angrily told both off. Turns out they were both right. Alanna wasn't ready to leave rehab yet, and went back to rehab after high school. Conner had no clue how Alanna was now, but he hoped she cleaned up her act.
After he finishes his coffee, he decided to go for a walk. After what happened with Angela, he wasn't sure what to do. Poor girl woke up crying again. Conner made a decision. He was moving back to Sweet Valley. He needed to close to Angela and Tia. No way was he abandoning both again.
Grace yawned as she finished her paperwork. This was the boring part. She preferred the aquarium, it was awesome working with the fish, but ever since her promotion, she spent her time in the office doing the books. She needed a coffee. Walking down the hall she saw a cute guy. She shook her head. She was too busy to date, not with her two jobs.
"A green tea, low fat milk please."
"Coming right up. Grace, how's things?" Her friend Tonya asked.
"Busy. I may have to quit my job as a lifeguard soon, ever since I got this promotion I'm busier than ever."
"That's too bad. I know how much you loved being a lifeguard." Tonya said with sympathy. She knew how important the water was to Grace.
"That's okay. This is a good opportunity to change things around here, this place needs to be updated." Grace got another letter from the Environment Protection of Animals. They called the aquarium a prison, and demanded she shut it down. Grace immediate threw it in the shredder. She didn't disagree with them, but what they didn't know, how this place was also a rehab for sea animals. Places like this, people needed to see how the fish lived. Most of the fish and sea life were descended from the original fish from the fifties. Most would die if returned to sea. The dolphins and larger animals only stayed for a few months before getting returned, they were not meant to stay cooped up.
"Would you like anything else?"
"No thanks."
"See ya tomorrow."
"Bye." Grace waves goodbye. Since she was on break, she decided to go check out her phone.
She downloaded Lila's dating app, hopefully it found her true love, especially after she paid a small fortune for premium membership.
After her shift ended she went home. It was actually pleasant, especially after she matched with someone, a cute guy named Ben Mercer.
Hmm. According to his profile, he was divorced, no kids, a successful computer analyst living in Silicon Valley making six figures, and was a former lifeguard. Grace considered it fate. She messaged Ben back, trying to make plans for coffee this weekend, hopefully it worked out. Even if it didn't, she got another match, a guy named Sam Burgess.
Angela was terrified. She dreamed about the scary man again. This time she saw his face. He was the one who killed her dad. He took off his mask. Then he took that gun and shot a car driving by, causing it to crash.
Poor Tia was holding her daughter as she cried. Tia hoped whatever was bothering Angela was resolved soon, especially since Conner called and asked if he can stay with Tia indefinitely. Tia didn't hesitate, Angela needed help.