Coffee Times Ten - Han Lue

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖗𝖊𝖊𝖙𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊

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"To be honest I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe, maybe a wallet, pocket change or something, but not whole bags, out of an airport!" 

To this nothing was said and they were just sitting in silence until someone pulled out a deck of cards. "Let's poker." 

Han and Becca teamed up against Roman and Tej while Mia and Gisele were chatting on the couch. 

They teamed up because she didn't know how to play but he didn't want her to sit by just silently and if he was completely honest, Han liked her company. 

The game was going really well for the two of them when they heard roaring engines. In front of them now stood two cars, one black, one neon blue. Becca didn't know anything about the cars so that's the best description she could've given you. 

"Oh! Really? Where'd you get that from? Papa Smurf?" 

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After all of this, they pretty much decided that the day was done for and headed to their rooms before dinner. Gisele watched Becca pull out the wallets that she had stolen previously. 

"How much did you make?" 

"Enough to cover the trip." 

"Can I ask you some questions?" 

"Sure, I won't stop you." 

"Why do you steal?" 

"Well, the streets of France aren't prettier than the ones in America." 

"You grew up on the streets?" 

"Well, my parents were drunks, and even if it sounds weird, they worked all the time." 

"To fund their liquor?" 

"Yeah. I am the middle child. My brother is three years older and my other brother is two years younger, so we had to get food." As a nervous habit, Becca bit her fingers again, trying to make her brain understand that she could trust the woman in front of her. 

"We stole to get the money, but our parents didn't like it. We got caught many times but every time made us better. At some point, my older brother had gotten a job, but we kept doing it because one student job can't feed five people. Both of them found a stable family now, but I can't stop." 

"You like it?" 

"No I don't but if I see something shiny I feel the need to take it. I don't always do it but sometimes I cave in."

"Do you have a job?" 

"I am a nurse, but I work for a little clinic with not-so-legal actions, so they just call when they need me. Theoretically, I don't need to work, but it stops me from steeling in those hours. Also makes me feel better." 

With a knock, Han stood in the open door. "Dinner's ready".

Becca put the wallets back into her suitcase, covering the tin she tried to forget so desperately. 

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At the table, she sat between the other two women on the team, but she kept quiet. Becca couldn't shake the feeling that she had shared too much with Gisele, someone who could easily figure out the rest of her. 

Mia volunteered to say grace, Becca didn't really know what she should believe in, so she kept quiet and lowered her head. 

She admired that the others had found something that made them believe, and she respected their religion, so she just waited. 

Something that annoyed Becca greatly about herself was the fact that she was a picky eater, not even being poor, and eating what was possible for them changed that. But she always finds something that she ate when she was out with friends or if one of them cooked. 

She didn't eat a lot portion-wise either, so Becca was the first one done and waited for the others to finish, quietly. 

None of them knew Becca as good as Mia did but everyone knew that something was off, she wasn't even trying to hide it. 

"Becca, you good?" Her head snapped up and she looked Tej in the eyes. "Yeah. Why?" 

"You're shakin'." 

"Yeah and your forehead is sweaty, maybe you are sick." 

"Yeah, that will be it. May I be excused." She expectantly looked over to Dom who looked deep in thought but nodded eventually. And with that, the brunette was gone. 

Everything felt stuffy and hot. Only in her underwear, Becca was laying on her blanket, holding her pillow close to her chest, desperately trying to get her breathing and shaking under control. 

She stumbled to the bathroom where her reflection showed what she felt, desperation, anxiety, anger. 

The water was cold on her face, but she forced herself to hold her head under for just a little longer to number her thoughts. 

The brown, normally straight hair was now completely soaked on her naked back and bra that Becca wore. 

Completely done with her life she collapsed back on her bed. It must have been around two hours later when she shot up in her bed, soaked in a cold sweat. Not able to just do nothing, Becca got dressed in tight jeans and a hoodie before heading out. 

Her feet took her to the city of Rio, even if it was quite a walk, she had a lot of time to kill. Aimlessly wandering around didn't make her feel better though, so she decided to get a tattoo. 

It was an impulsive decision, but it fit her and her life and the pain let her forget. Temporarily at least.  

The woman in the shop was nice and helped her to come up with an idea for her new body art. 

After a few hours an outline of a woman, holding her head was now forever on the inside of her right arm. 

The mind of the person was scrambled, everything was connected but nothing seemed to make sense. She tipped the artist greatly, having an easy money source, and headed back to the old factory building she was temporarily calling "home".