My Best Friend's Sister-In-Law

Chapter 19: Defending Sis

~ Kale's POV ~

"Happy birthday to you." We all finished and clapped as my mother blew out the single lit candle on her cake.

She smiled, "Thank you everyone for coming." She said and hugged my father and us. I continued to look around the house but no sight of Leen.

She cut the cake and served us all and opened the presents. It's now 7:30pm and I began to get concerned. I looked over to see mom talking to her friends. Wendy was outside in the front and I walked out to where she was. I wrapped an arm around her waist, giving her a kiss.

"Baby, have you seen Jayleen?" I asked Wendy.

"No, it's nearly seven-thirty." Wendy said, and I continued getting concerned.

"Hey, are you okay? You've been acting strange for a while." Dad said.

"Dad, Jayleen called us at 6:15pm and said she was on her way after getting out of work. She happened to run into mom at the restaurant. Mom gave her a hard time. She said she was going to stop by, but we haven't seen her." Wendy said.

"Maybe she did stop by and then left."

"That doesn't sound like her to just appear, then leave without telling us goodbye." I said.

"You're right." He said getting concerned.

"Chuck, honey? Is everything alright?" Mom asked, Wendy and I exchanged looks and my dad asked her.

"Have you seen Jayleen?" He asked.

She let out a light sound if anger, "She's working. Did you know she happened to be at the restaurant Suzy and Kim took me to?" She said.

He sighed and walked in the house as mom followed her. "I'm getting even more concerned." I said to Wendy.

"Want to go in the car, head to the restaurant and see if she's still working or stop by her place?" She suggested.

I nodded, and we went in and told dad about the plan, he just nodded, giving me his keys and let us leave without letting mom know. Hopping into the car, I turned on the engine and we drove to her work. Walking in, a man in a suit was standing at the host stand.

"How many?" He asked politely.

"May we speak with the manager?" I asked.

He smiled, "Standing right in front of you." He smiled.

"Hi, Kale White." I introduced myself.

"Call me William. Say, are you related to Jayleen White?" He asked me.

"Yeah, I'm her brother. Is she still here by the way?" I asked.

He shook her head. "She left at 6:00pm, after her struggling shift. Her mom gave her some struggle and ended up splashing water in her face after all of it. I feel sorry for her and tried to send her home early, but she refused and kept working. She left on time without that happy of a smile when she first walked in here today." He said, sadly.

I sighed, "Okay... thank you, William." I said, and he nodded before we walked out and drove to her apartment. Walking in as I unlocked the door, the lights were all off, no one was home. "Strange." I said.

"Maybe something happened."

"We should head back to the party." I said, and Wendy slowly nodded. As we drove down the road we began getting stuck in traffic.

"You have got to be kidding me." I groaned.

"It's okay, honey. Just calm down, maybe Leen is already there. She probably went home and took a shower before coming over since mom basically splashed drinks in her face." Wendy stated.