RHYLIE
After my gossip session with Faith and Skylar this morning, it has been non-stop since then. It's now mid-afternoon. I'm just now coming up to the front to make myself a much-needed coffee. I seriously can't wait till I can go home and have that bath Lucas was talking about. My feet are killing me today. I had my interviews today and I was right, Isabella is going to be a perfect fit here. She even brought some of her baked goods in for me to sample and let me tell you they were amazing, so I'm giving her free rein to bake what she wants for the cafe. She's that good. She said she was going to go home and plan out what items she wants to bake and send me the list later on so I can make up a sign for our customers. She's such a sweetheart, you can tell all of us are going to get along great. Before she left I introduced her to Faith and Skylar and they welcomed her with open arms. I have a feeling she's going to be our fourth for when we have girls’ day which we are due to have. I'm thinking movie night with lots of junk food and lots of alcohol and to somehow get rid of the guys, maybe I can get Lucas to go hang out with Mason and the guys for the night. Liking this plan and hopefully, we can set something up for the weekend. I turn to Faith and Skylar.
“Hey guys, how do you feel about girls’ day this weekend? We can watch movies, order in and have lots of alcohol. What do you guys say? And maybe we can invite Isabella.”
Skylar jumps in first with “sounds good to me, I’ve got nothing going on just let me know the time and what I can bring and I’ll be there”
“Sure, I could use the time away from Mom’s creepy as hell nurse. I swear that guy follows me around the house when he should be looking after mom. I've tried to call in another nurse but they don't have one available yet. He just gives me bad vibes.”
“Next time call me, you know I'll be over real quick. I'll even bring Lucas and Mason with me so they can scare the guy into making him stop.”
“Thanks Ry, I might just do that”
Sensing she no longer wants to talk about this and making a mental note for Mason to look into this guy for her I change the subject. “Oh, I wanted to get your guys’ opinion on something. I was maybe thinking of selling some t-shirts with my favorite coffee quotes on them for our customers. I would only order a few to see how well they do so what do you guys think?”
“Oh, I love that idea. I think they would be a big hit with the customers. They already love the signs on the wall and I had one customer comment that they should be on a shirt. I can even create some graphics for it to garner how many people would be interested.”
Skylar is amazing at doing my graphics when I need them for the cafe. I needed one done one day because my promotional stuff never came in and she said she could create something quick and it was even better than the one I ordered. So she's offered to make them anytime I've needed them.
“Thank you, Skylar, that would be amazing. I'm gonna head back to my office and see if I can get some made up and hopefully have them here in a few weeks. Yell for me if you guys need help.”
“You better be making some for us as well you know how I am with my graphic shirts” Faith has an obsession with graphic t-shirts I swear that's all that girl wears.
“Yes, you weirdo I was going to order you guys a few as well. If you guys have a specific quote you want just let me know” walking away I head back to my office to get the rest of my work done I also have to submit my payroll as well. Once I'm back in my office I jump right on my laptop and get to work. I already have coffee quotes saved but my favorite saying is“Don’t touch my coffee unless you're about to refill it. And even then, no sudden moves or I can't guarantee your safety.”and my second favorite I’ll make is“Resting coffee face”. I'll see how those do first before I add any more quotes. I'll also be adding my logo to it as well. It doesn't take long for me to order some in every size they have plus a few extras for me and the girls to wear. I wonder if I can get the guys to wear one, meh probably not, it would have to be something badass for them to wear one for sure. Now that's done, it should take up to three weeks to get here so it should give Skylar time to create something for the front. I should also order a display case for them as well. Maybe I can also do some travel coffee mugs with our logo on them. I ordered twenty of them in different colors as well. Doing a quick order of a display case I jump right into doing the payroll and paying my bills. I can't wait until Christmas when Faith becomes my partner. She's always loved numbers so she will be able to handle this stuff. Me not so much but it comes with owning a business. Standing up and stretching I look at the clock and realize it's already five o’clock and that's when my stomach decides to make a grumble, reminding me I worked through lunch again. Faith pokes her head in the door
“Hey, just letting you know I sent Skylar home. We weren't busy and she wanted to get started on some graphics for you.”
“Shit, let me text her real quick. I also added some travel tumblers as well in different colors” Faith walks away laughing and shaking her head at me as she knows how I am. I can hear the front door open with the bell on top and just as I'm about to go upfront, I can hear Faith calling my name but she sounds off like something is wrong and boy am I right because standing in the middle of my cafe is someone with a gun!. Damn it, what the hell is happening and thank god no one else is in the cafe beside us at the moment. Whoever this person is walks to the door and locks it this can’t be good. Inching closer to the register where my brother had the panic button installed I slowly move my hands so he can’t see and push the button hoping beyond hope the police get here fast before something bad happens.
“Please don’t hurt us. Just take the money and go, we don’t want any trouble” I can see Faith out of the corner of my eye and she’s deathly pale and shaking. Please god, don’t let anything bad happen to us.
“You think I came here for your fucking money? Wrong bitch, I’m here because your father took my family away from me!” He’s screaming the last part, making us jump. I have no idea what he’s talking about clearly he's not all right in the head. He’s scratching at his arm, like he’s on something and that’s not a good combination. He whips his hood off and lifts his head sucking in a sharp breath because I know exactly who this is. The son of the man that killed my parents Frankie James. But I just don’t understand.
“Frankie,” I whisper. I can hear Faith suck in a breath because she knows exactly who this is.
“Ya bitch now you know why I’m here, your family ruined mine. Your dad took mine away from me and now I’m going to do the same, take everything away you ever loved starting with her”
He swings his gun towards Faith and I react fast-moving my body in front of her so he’s focused on me instead. “I don’t understand why you're doing this. Please just put the gun down and we can talk about this.” I’m hoping to stall him long enough for help to arrive. He’s so unstable at this point he’s moving back and forth and mumbling under his breath waving his gun around. He lifts his gun, points it at my coffee maker and fires a shot making us both scream. Help better get here quick or we might be next.
“ The next shot is for the bitch standing behind you. But You wanna talk, fine we will talk. All your father had to do was give my dad a warning and none of this would have happened but because he decided to take my dad in, he lost his job. He wouldn’t have gone to jail for murder and he would still be alive. Your family took everything away and now I’m here to finish the rest of you off. You're so stuck in your happy life you haven’t noticed I’ve been following you this whole time or the one who’s leaving the letters.”
Holy shit he’s dead, I’m at a loss here. And my brother's right I need to pay better attention to my surroundings. Faith grabs the back of my shirt when she hears this as well. I can hear something coming from the back. It's faint as if someone opened my back door. I hope to god it’s the police and so glad my brother has a set of keys to the Cafe so they can sneak in. Clearing my throat, I’m trying to keep him distracted enough so he doesn’t hear it as well. “Frankie, you have to know I didn’t want any of this to happen. I lost both my parents that night. None of this was fair. So I’m sorry you lost your father. I am because I know how it feels but you have to realize this isn’t my fault. Just put the gun down please, you don’t have to do this. You don’t look well Frankie, I can get you some help if you need it” that was the wrong thing to say because he grabs his hair pulling and screaming he turns around so his back is to us and at that point, I can see the guys out of the corner of my eye Lucas and Damon both rush to our side and bring us down while covering our bodies.
“Shh baby I’ve got you, keep quiet” Lucas whispers.
“Enough just stop, I don’t want your sorry, the time for being sorry is over” he turns around and realizes we are no longer there, that’s when Victor and Mason make themselves known.
“Drop your weapon Frankie, we have this place surrounded”
“No, no, no you bitch you called them somehow didn’t you? FUCK”
“Drop your weapon!, I won’t tell you again Frankie put the damn gun down and no one has to get hurt.”
Not being able to see but hearing how lost Frankie sounds, I’m not surprised by what happens next.
“Frankie don’t do that man, put the gun down we can talk about this we can get you the help you need”
“I won’t go in like my father. I won’t do it” Frankie says these last words before a gunshot rings out, making me jump in Lucas's arms and everything goes silent.
“Subject is down” I can hear Mason say and that’s when more police rush into the cafe.
