Bottom Dollar 2: Homecoming

6| War of the diners

My talk with my father had opened my eyes to a few things. I wasn't going to sit around and mope any longer; I couldn't change the things that happened while I was away, but I could certainly change things now.

I spent the morning before my shift trying to get to know Dave. Sure, he wasn't exactly the kind of guy I'd envisioned for my mother, but he was better than my her previous conquests. He was good for her, too. I'd never seen her smile so much, and not a single wine bottle could be found in the house–not even in the trash.

The pair were cooking pancakes in their spanking new kitchen while I sat at the breakfast table. She had had never been this way with my father, though it wasn't surprising. The times my father had stuck around, he was never the nicest, and all my parents did was argue. I'd listen through the cracks in my door; raised voices, clanking pans, wondering if this was what it meant to be loved: a never ending cycle of pain and heartbreak.

Dave told one of his dorky jokes and my mother smiled, wiping a layer of flour from his face. It reminded me of the time Nate and I baked cupcakes together for my cheerleading squad. How he'd looked at me in the seconds before my phone rang like I was the most wonderful person in the world.

Funny how things turned out.

The house phone rang, and my mother quickly broke away from Dave's embrace to answer it. I looked at Dave as he dished up my pancakes, needing to get some answers.

"So, Dave," I said, tucking into my stack, "how did you and my mom meet?"

Dave smiled a little. "I work at a solicitors just outside of Pinewood and popped into Bob's Bargains for some snacks. Your mother spent ages with me comparing different things and making sure I left with what I wanted. What she didn't know was that I was just trying to gather the courage to ask her out."

I smiled a little as I pictured him following my mother around the store. "She seems to be doing a lot better these days," I said lightly. "I guess you have something to do with that."

Dave smiled wistfully. "Your mother had some...demons when I met her, and she was very upset about you being gone."

I raised my eyebrows. "She was?" I hadn't talked to my mother much during my time away; we'd sent the odd text here or there, but she was never the type to get sentimental about it. Neither was I.

"Yep," Dave said. "She was lonely, I guess, and she missed you. It took a while to wean her off the alcohol, and there were a few relapses, but all it took was being there for her. She did the rest herself."

My chest tightened at hearing this, because if Dave could swoop in and fix my mother, why couldn't I?Maybe if I had been more supportive, maybe if I had been there for her, she'd have quit a long time ago.

"Thank you," I said quietly, suddenly feeling full. "For being there for her."

Dave just smiled, and then my mother came back in and kissed him on the cheek, resuming their pancake making.

For once in my life, I was happy to start a shift. It was too much being around my mother and Dave, especially when my own love life was in such a dire state. But more importantly, being around my mother and seeing her so happy filled me with immeasurable guilt. I should have been Dave. I should have been the one to bring her back.

I spent the rest of the afternoon wearing my brightest smile, all the while suppressing how I felt inside. I'd perfected the art back in high school; it was easy to fall back into old routines.

During my break, I spent a little time talking with Carol before gathering the courage to make my way to Barney's. Now more than ever I was determined to repair my broken relationships, starting with Lacy.

I scanned the diner, searching for her familiar mop of blonde hair. She stood in the corner talking to Meg 2.0, for once, a smile on her face. When she spotted me I sauntered over, refusing to feel afraid. This was Lacy for crying out loud, one of my oldest and dearest friends. What was I so scared about?

"Hey," I said, smiling slightly. "Can we talk?"

For a second, it looked as though she were going to say no, but then she glanced in the direction of Roy's office before nodding her head at the back door.

I followed her out back, taking in the same old overflowing trash cans in the distance. It had been a long time since I'd stood in this smoking area; apparently not long enough.

"So," Lacy said, taking a seat on the step. "What's up?"

I took a seat, too, turning inward to face her. There were. A million things I wanted to say, a million things I wanted her to say, but I decided to start with the easiest. "Lacy, I miss you."

Her eyes softened. Just a tiny bit. Just enough. "I miss y–" Her eyes quickly fell on my uniform, her sentence trailing off. "Are you working at Taylor's now?"

I glanced at my uniform, forgetting for a second that I was wearing it. I looked up again, and from the look on Lacy's face, admitting to working at Taylor's wasn't going to win me any favors. "Uh–"

She shook her head, our heart to heart officially over. "Do you realize that Taylor's has been trying to shut Barney's down for months? That boss is a piece of work, Meg. He's slandered us, he's lied to people, he's tried to buy us out. He'll do anything to get ahead, even if it means leaving a bunch of us without our livelihoods. Though, I guess you wouldn't have known any of that. You haven't been here."

That last sentence felt like a slap in the face. Like an accusation. You haven't been here, as though I'd just got up and abandoned the people I loved.

"You're the one who told me Roy wasn't hiring," I said. "I needed a job, Lacy. I came to you, and you turned your back on me."

Lacy's eyes narrowed. "So, it's my fault you're working for the enemy?"

"Enemy?" I raised my eyebrows. "This isn't turf wars, Lacy. We're not in some competition here."

She got to her feet until she was towering over me. For someone with such a baby face, she sure was intimidating. "If you're working for that criminal then you are our competition," she said, "but now that Roy's handing his diner over to a new owner, we're the ones who are going to win. You can tell that boss of yours we won't be bought out, and we won't be backing down."

She stormed through the back door, leaving me sat wondering what the hell had just happened.

A/N
Hey readers! Hope you enjoyed this chapter ❤️