The Retribution

Chapter 5

~ Kaden ~

I sat comfortably at the Pine Bar & Grill waiting for my friends to come. I texted them to meet me here this morning. I intentionally went ahead of time so I could spend the rest of my time relieving stress.

When the food is good, it could help release stress easily.

"You have lasagna here, don't you?" I asked the waitress when she approached my table.

She smiled at me, "You always ask that when you dine here."

"Oh, do I?" I creased my brows, trying to recall what I had ordered the last time I ate here.

"You do when you're stressed," she said confidently. "You're quite obvious when you're bothersome. Anyway, is that all?"

"A glass of milkshake, please."

"Just what I thought," she chuckled. "I'm the same waitress that served you last time and the one before that. You probably don't remember."

I squinted my eyes at her, "You're the redhead girl who gave me an orange. Well, except you're not redheaded anymore."

That was over a week ago- the awful day we saw Cushy hanging by a tree. I remembered ordering lasagna that time but I was too nauseated to eat. The meat covered in red sauce in between the flat strips of pasta made my stomach churn. The redhead, now brunette, gave me an orange, instead.

"Yeah, that was me," she nodded and started scribbling on her notepad. "If that is all, then I better get going."

"Oh, wait-" I stopped her before she could leave. I looked at her name plate, "--Cristina. I just remembered, have you found a singer? I noticed the ad wasn't posted anymore."

She smiled warmly, "Oh, that. The manager hired someone the other day but he never came back. I guess he found a better job."

My eyes gleamed instantly, "Can someone still apply for that?"

"I guess so," she shrugged. "But why didn't you apply right away?"

"It's not me. My friend needs a job. I told her to apply here," I explained. Cristina said she'd tell the manager and Eleanor could audition right away.

When she had left, worry once again covered me. My eyes fixed on the stack of flyers in front of me. One of my friends was missing and my brother could be thrown in jail. I hope not.

I had finished my food when Cloud arrived. I didn't expect him to come this early. He wasn't really punctual. But hey, this was about Iona.

Cloud's expression was even darker than his eyes. I've never seen that in ages. The first time I saw that was when Hunter and Iona started dating.

"I hope your brother won't come," he mumbled as he sat on the seat across mine.

"Don't worry. He won't," I assured him. I told Hunter to stay away since he wasn't really in good terms with almost everyone.