Chapter 4: Seeing Old Frenemies
1703 Words
Blythe's P.O.V.
*******************************************************
"I can't believe all of that just happened," Mary said as we walked out of the back door of the diner.
She still has that dazed look on her face. I don't blame her. I think we both thought she was about to be fired. I was already forming a speech about how I would quit if Jason really fired Mary. I knew he wouldn't take Abby over the two of us. He can always hire another bimbo willing to spread her legs for him.
Jason was going to argue with Mary for a hot minute, until he saw the intimidating biker watching the scene. Abby tried to play the victim, but Biker Guy wasn't having it. He made it very clear that the diner would be on The Devils MC's sh.it list if he fired Mary or kept Abby working there.
Abby threw a huge fit when Jason told her to leave. It was actually hilarious. Until Biker Guy had to take Abby outside himself so she'd chill out. Mary wasn't too thrilled about that, but she didn't say anything.
Thankfully, the biker came right back in after sending Abby on her way. He said he was staying with his small group of friends and asked Mary to be their server. After they left, she came rushing up to me to tell me that he had asked for her number and apparently wanted to take her on a date.
"Do you really think he's going to go get checked tomorrow?" She asked as we walked down the street.
It's such a nice fall night out. Not too hot or cold. The sky is clear, and the stars are out. It reminded me of the days that I used to lay on the roof of my home and pick out the constellations with Kylian. He knew every constellation. It was impressive for an 11-year-old.
"I hope so," I replied.
"Really?" She asked nervously. "You don't think this is... Well, silly?"
"Silly?" I asked, scrunching my face up.
"Well, I mean, he just caught his girlfriend cheating," she said. "The girl that we hate and know spreads her legs for everyone. Is it crazy that I'd be willing to date him after all that?"
I shrugged as we kept walking.
"Dunno," I replied honestly. "I don't think it's fair to call it crazy. If it feels right, then go for it. It was a crazy situation, but... clearly the person he thought Abby was... was you."
"I mean... it's kind of nerve-racking," she admitted.
"Take things slow then," I offered. "Being involved with someone in an MC can get kind of wild too, so you should think about that. About if you can handle it and want in that life. Some of these MCs are nuts. They don't treat women well. Your guy seemed different, but just be careful."
Mary was silent for a moment.
"You say that like you know from experience," she commented.
I only shrugged.
"That what you're running from?" she asked.
I stopped dead in my tracks. Mary took a couple of steps before stopping and turning to face me. She had her hands in the pockets of her jacket as she watched me with a small smile.
"You don't have to tell me anything," she said softly.
"I..." I trailed off, unsure of what else to say.
"Hey, it's okay. I shouldn't have pried." Mary said, waving me off before coming over to loop her arm through mine. "Let's go get those drinks!"
Mary chatted my ear off the whole way to the bar. It was almost a 20-minute walk for us after just working the busy shift of our lives. I was thankful that Mary kept the conversation going though. I was too drained to.
By the time we reached the bar, it was pretty packed. There was still room around the bar to sit though. Mary and I took two seats and shrugged our jackets off. I glanced around, taking in the scene.
It's a hole-in-the-wall kind of place. My favorite. It reminds me a little of the demon's clubhouse.
"So, I can't believe I talked you into coming out," Mary said.
"Sorry, I'm a bit of a loner," I replied with a half smile.
The bartender slid us our drinks. After a little while, I started to loosen up. Maybe it was the couple of drinks, or maybe I was just letting go.
I leaned back in my chair and pulled the hair tie from my hair. My long, thick, black waves cascaded around me, falling down past my waist. Mary gasped as her eyes went wide.
"Holy sh.it, I didn't know you had all that hair!" She exclaimed.
I shrugged, but Mary wanted to go on and on about it.
Honestly, I hated it. That was why I always wore it in a messy bun on the top of my head. I thought about cutting it so many times over the years, but there were two voices arguing in my head about it, stopping me from ever making a decision.
"I love your hair. Never cut it. It's so beautiful and long. Promise me you'll never change it."
"You'd look better if you cut your hair to your shoulders. You know that's the trend these days. It'll be easier to handle too. I think you'd look hot. Think about it."
Mary's loud gasp pulled me from my thoughts. I looked at her to see she was looking down at her phone. She looked up at me with a face-splitting grin.
"Look! He already texted me!" She squealed before shoving her phone in my face.
"Good for you," I replied. "I hope he turns out to be everything you want."
And I truly meant that.
*******************************************
"Blythe, I need you to do this!"
"Blythe, take out the trash!"
"Blythe, we need more coffee made!"
"Blythe, I need you to help cook in between tables!"
"Blythe, table three needs more coffee!"
"Blythe, I need-"
"Jason!" I snapped before biting my tongue and trying again. "Jason, I am only one person. I can't do everything."
Jason's eyes narrowed at me.
"No, but you can bust your a.ss and try," he said. "Considering it was your fault that I had to fire Abby."
"My fault?!" I asked incredulously.
"Yours and Mary's," he replied, nodding.
The audacity!
"Maybe if you stopped fu.cking your employees, or trying to, you'd be able to hold onto more of them, and we wouldn't have this problem in the first place!" I hissed at him. "Firing Abby was your own fault. You shouldn't sh.it where you eat to start off with, and blaming two women because you were too afraid to stand up to the big, bad biker makes you look even more like a pansy. Regardless, that girl never worked anyway. Firing her was a blessing in disguise, and unless you want to be running this show all on your own, I suggest you cut me some fu.cking slack. And if you're still hellbent on blaming someone, I just cleaned the mirror in the men's bathroom."
With that, I picked up the coffee pot and made my rounds. I've never talked back like that to Jason in the almost two years that I've worked here, but damn. I had a headache from drinking last night. I barely got any sleep, and Jason is driving me up a wall! I deserve to snap every now and then.
Thankfully, the morning flew by after that. The diner calmed down enough that being on my own wasn't bad. Just before our lunch rush, Mary came in for her shift. I was making more coffee and getting set up when she came to join me. We heard the bell ding, signaling that someone had just walked in.
"Oof, they sat at your table, but Shadow is with them," Mary mumbled. "What's with all the bikers lately? Is there a convention?"
I smiled at her joke. It's probably more of her boyfriend's friends. I saw the look in his eyes last night. Mary is officially his, and bikers take that sh.it seriously.
"I'll take them some coffee," I said as I picked up the half-full pot.
I spun around and walked around the counter. I hadn't made it that far when I had finally looked up. I froze mid-step.
I recognize a couple of those faces. I recognize those cuts. I recognize that logo; the black demon with blood-red wings surrounded by flames, riding a motorcycle.
My heart started beating wildly in my chest. I needed to calm down, and think this through.
Okay, I recognize them, but they're nobody I was close to. Just older kids who I had seen in passing. Ones that knew my friends, but didn't really know me. It'll be fine. I'll just have Mary take their table. They won't even notice me. She'll be happy about it.
I spun around on my heels just as the bell on the door dinged again. Either I have unfortunate timing, or the universe hates me, because what I came face-to-face with had me trembling with nerves. The urge to run was nearly unbearable, but my feet felt nailed to the floor.
We were staring at each other. He sees me. His green eyes are on me. My god, he looks the same, but different. More muscles, stronger jaw, crooked nose. His dark brown hair is still short and styled like he ran his hands through it and called it good. He looks like the last time I saw him, but aged. Aged in the best way.
Kylian Clyde MacQuoid.
I held my breath. My knuckles went white with how hard I was gripping the coffee pot. I had no idea what to do. It's been so long since I've seen them.
Is he here because he was looking for me? Is he going to take me back? Are they working with my father and husband?
Just when I thought I was going to pass out... Kylian walked right past me. Like he didn't recognize me. Like he didn't know who I was at all.
And that hurt worse than I expected it to.
- Writer
