Always the Opposites {Brollins}

[ Chapter 21 ]

The early rising sun filled the diner with its usual orange haze. Rebecca stood at the cash register staring at the little girl drawing pictures gingerly in the booth at the corner of the diner.

Rebecca brought Riley to the diner upon her request. After she found out Rebecca had fallen asleep at their place and seemed to like getting up at ungodly hours for fun, she begged a half-asleep Colby to go. Rebecca saw it as the perfect opportunity to run out of the apartment quickly in the morning to avoid confronting what she had done the prior night.

"Should I offer her coffee?" Mercedes looked over at the girl.

"Mercedes." Rebecca laughed, "She's four."

Mercedes paused, "Well, I don't know. I'm not good with smaller people."

"You mean kids?" Rebecca raised her eyebrows, keeping her voice low as she stifled a laugh.

She nodded, "Yeah, those germ-filled and grabby tiny humans."

They looked back over at Riley, and Mercedes shook her head. "I can't believe he never told me."

Rebecca nodded, knowing it was probably jarring, "I think he just wanted to keep her safe. He just didn't know how to balance out protecting her and letting her experience life."

"You know this is literally like the story of Rapunzel, right?" Mercedes drank some coffee, "Him locking her away from the rest of civilization."

"Okay, that's a bit of an overstatement." Rebecca fiddled with her pencil, "The intentions in that story aren't even close to him just wanting to keep his baby safe."

Mercedes rolled her eyes, "Well, he could've at least told me."

Mercedes felt Rebecca place her hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure he was going to. From what I hear, very few people know."

She paused, clenching her teeth together as her hangover headache made itself very apparent. The bright lights weren't helping, and she did her best to make sure she didn't look like a mess, but she was sure it was obvious that she was not her usual self.

"Take a pill. I think I have some in my bag." Mercedes gestured to the staff door.

"No, I uh can't." Rebecca shook her head, "I took something this morning. I can't mix medicine."

Rebecca watched Mercedes, seeing her eyebrows raise slightly in suspicion. "Okay... then go home and rest. What's got you feeling so out of it anyway? I thought you did well on your exam."

"I did. It's just, I..." Rebecca scrambled, trying to straighten her thoughts.

Mercedes stared at her intensely, watching Rebecca's eyes dart around. "Rebecca, what are you not telling me?"

"I just had a few drinks." She responded, trying not to seem flustered.

When the door's bell rang, and Colby walked through the door, Mercedes watched Rebecca's cheeks change colour as she looked straight down at the cash register.

Her eyes widened as her eyebrows furrowed, "Wait a goddamn minute-"

"I'm uh gonna go take my break in the back." Rebecca tried to walk past Mercedes, but she felt her grab her arm tightly.

Mercedes just smiled deviously, "No, I don't think you will."

Rebecca's eyes widened, "Mercedes-"

"Hey, girls." Colby walked up to the two, causing them to break their silent stare-off.

"Hey, Colby." Mercedes started, "Heard the game went well last night?"

He nodded, "Yup, it was smooth sailing."

"Was it now?" Mercedes smiled, and Rebecca pressed her lips together. "I hope you celebrated after."

"I did." Colby smiled, "It wouldn't feel right to win and not celebrate with some drinks."

"Interesting." Mercedes nodded with a knowing smile. "Anyone special celebrate with you?"

"Actually, yeah." Colby looked over at a clearly stressed Rebecca for a quick second, "But she's more of a private person."

"Is she now?" Mercedes looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Just like you and your secret daughter."

"I'm sorry about that, Mercedes." He sighed, "I wasn't thinking clearly, and I just needed to find someone to smarten me up."

"Well, would you look at that..." Rebecca clapped her hands together once. "You two clearly have a lot to talk about, so I'll just go and actually do my job."

"Not really." Mercedes lied, stopping her again, "I understand where Colby's coming from. It's water under the bridge."

Rebecca and Colby hadn't gotten the chance to discuss the past night, and neither of them fully recalled what had gone down. This was the first time she'd even seen him since. She may have passed out as his place, but when Riley showed interest in going to work with her, she grabbed Riley, her things, and bolted.

"Well, I mean, I'm sure there are customers that need to be served." She replied, looking around to find the diner uncharacteristically empty.

"Yeah... nobody's here." Mercedes responded with a laugh.

"Actually, there is someone here. Thank you very much." Rebecca smiled, walking past Mercedes quickly, and going to Riley, sighing in relief.

"What the hell, man?!" Mercedes whisper-yelled when she and Colby were left alone. "How many secrets are you gonna keep from me?"

Colby opened his mouth, but Mercedes cut him off. "You've kept your own daughter a secret for four years. And now, who knows how long you two have been lying to me."

Colby shook his head, "Mercedes-"

"No." She stared at him, "How long until you were going to tell me that you and Rebecca were fu-"

"We aren't!" He interjected, "We didn't. Well, I mean... I don't actually know exactly what we did..."

Shock filled her face, and he put his hands up. "No, okay, wait. I know for a fact that we didn't go that far."

He fought a smirk, "I think I'd remember if we did. It was just... we found out we passed, and we were drinking, and one thing led to another."

Colby smiled and looked down, starting to get flustered, reliving their actions. "It was innocent, and- I don't know, ask her! She's the one that kissed me first."