The Beginning Of The End

Chapter 29

The moment she spoke, I knew who it was. I hadn't recognized her with her hair all pulled back from her face in a tight ponytail; I was used to it flowing down around her shoulders like liquid gold.

"Oh my gosh, Candy!" I squealed in delight and threw my arms around her. I felt her hesitation, then she hugged me back, and when she pulled apart we were both grinning.

"You've already been caught doing this once, why are you doing it again?" She asked, shaking her head disapprovingly but I could see the laughter in her eyes.

"I thought it would be fun," I said with a shrug. "Hey, we should totally hang out later!"

"Sure, but you need to get rid of the apron before you and," she looked down at the name tag I was wearing. "Helga, get in trouble. You too," she added, looking pointedly at Fake Taylor and Jaylon.

"Gladly," Jaylon said, yanking the apron off and practically throwing it at her. I did the same, more reluctantly, placing it over her waiting arm.

"What about Taylor? Will he get in trouble for not working?" Fake Taylor asked, nervously fiddling with the strap of his apron.

"I'll cover for him," Candy said. "The manager and boss both love me, he should have just asked me in the first place."

"Thanks," Fake Taylor said gratefully, pulling off his apron and handing it to her. We followed her back over to the hooks and watched as she hung them back up, putting the name tags back in their box too. Then she took the food I had taken out to the cash register and took out her own credit card.

"Candy, you don't have to-"

"I get an employees discount," she said, cutting me off. "Besides, do you have any money on you?" I shook my head and she smiled smugly, completing the transaction and handing me the food.

"I get off in ten minutes," she said after a quick glance at her watch. "I'll meet you at our booth then, okay?"

"Okay," I smiled and reached out to squeeze her hand in a silent thanks. She smiled back, then nodded in the direction of the booth she was talking about.

"So," Jaylon said after we were seated back in the booth we had been in before. "Who was that? I don't remember... While I was, uh, inspecting how your life was so I could, you know, judge if it would be okay to take you away, I never saw her around."

"Yeah, that's Candy. Or Candace," I said, smiling. "She's Adam's twin sister. She visited a lot and was living with us at one point. Then she got her own place and started working here and all that. She wasn't around for a couple of months before you, well, took me. Their dad was really sick so she went home for a while. Adam didn't, he never got along with his dad."

"Oh." Jaylon nodded.

"Okay, I have no idea what you guys are talking about..." Fake Taylor said, laughing nervously. I had forgotten he was still with us, sitting just across the table from Jaylon and me.

"Well, it's probably not all that important," I said, trying to brush it off like it was nothing. It probably wasn't such a good idea telling everyone my boyfriend kidnapped me before we met. "Hey, I can't keep calling you 'Fake Taylor'. What's your real name?"

"That would be Finn," He said with a grin, and I breathed a sigh of relief as he didn't mention anything more about Jaylon or I. "Finn Aldo."

"Nice to meet you, Finn," I said.

"What is he still doing here?" Jaylon asked.

"Jaylon!" I slapped his arm, then turned back to Finn. "Ignore him. He was, uh, homeschooled and never hung out with other kids. He has no people skills."

"No, it's fine. I don't even know you guys, I should probably go." Finn started to get up, but I lunged across the table, surprising everyone including myself, and grabbed his arm to stop him leaving.

"Stay," I said, adding my best smile. "I'd like to get to know you."

"Would you now," Jaylon muttered, grabbing a paper bag and pulling out a pink lamington. "What the hell is this?"

"A pink thing."

"Really, Louisa?" Jaylon sighed, shaking his head at me.

"What?" I asked. "Don't 'Really, Louisa' me!"

"Really, Louisa?" He repeated, louder this time and clearly angry.

"Jaylon, shut up!" I snapped, grabbing the lamington off him and taking a bite out of it.

"That's mine!" He exclaimed, his voice now raised to almost a shout. He lunged at me, his hand snatching for the cal but I pulled it out of his reach. He'd clearly never had to fight over food before, and I had the definite advantage here. But, before I could even react, the lamington had flown out of my hand and was in Jaylons.

"Not fair!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms over my chest and pouring like a little kid.

Jaylon, who had been looking awfully smug for a minute, suddenly looked worried.

"We may have a bit of a problem," he murmured, and I followed his line of sight to Finn, sitting across from us with his mouth hanging open.

"Your fault," I hissed.

"How is this-" Jaylon started but was cut off as a figure appeared, looming over us.

"Hey there!" Candy said cheerfully, looking like an angel standing over us, with her tall, slender body and hair like liquid gold. She noticed our facial expressions and care free, happy expression dropped off her face. "Everything okay here?"

"Yeah, fine," I said, going for a light tone but missing by a long shot.

"Okay," she said, drawing out the word. She dropped into the seat across from me and placed a cup of coffee down in front of her. She had abandoned her apron and let her hair out, and she looked absolutely gorgeous like always. I could see Jaylon and Finn noticing this as we all stared at her.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Finn mumbled, getting to his feet and squeezing past Candy out of the booth before walking across the cafe to the bathroom.

"So," Candy started, turning her attention to me. Though she seemed happy to see me, I could sense the anger and annoyance there. "What've you been up to since you disappeared off the face of the earth?"

"Candy-"

"Excuse me." Jaylon pushed past me to get out of the booth and I watched him with a frown as he took the same route Finn had.

"Louisa?"

I turned back to my friend, the girl I thought of as a sister, and sighed.

"I found Jaylon," I said. "Or more like, he found me. And I've been discovering all this new stuff about myself, I'm not who you thought I was. I'm not even who I thought I was." Candy was silent for a moment, then she gave me a little smile and shook her head.

"You're still my little Lou-Lou though, right?" She murmured. I cracked a smile, nodding and starting to lean across the table for a much-needed hug when we heard a yell come from across the cafe.

I was on my feet in a heartbeat, somehow knowing something was up. I sprinted across the room, knocking over a chair and dodging around a little old lady who was holding the hand of a little girl. I could hear Candy's shouts coming from behind me but they didn't register in my mind as I pushed through the door into the men's room right as someone was running out of it.