Sugar • Hiram Lodge

Revenge Plan

We're nothing more than friends

You're not my lover, more like a brother

   "Get in the harness now," Mira demanded, looking Biscuit in the eye who pretended like he'd never even seen the harness before, despite having gone on hundreds of walks in the darn thing. "Look, all you have to do is step into the individual holes and we can go on the walk," she reasoned, only to receive a tail wag. Mira sighed and rolled up her sleeves, "Guess we're going to have to do this the hard way."

   After wrestling with her dog and finally getting him in the harness, she proceeded outside and down the sidewalk. It had been a pretty bad day for her. After waking up with a hangover, she had forced herself to go to school and take the history test she'd been cramming for all weekend. But thanks to a night of drinking, she was sure she had failed it. When lunch rolled around she thought food could ease her pain, but sadly the taste of the food had been overpowered by the constant bickering between Archie and Veronica. Then, on the way home from school her car's battery died, so she had to call a tow truck and walk home. She almost broke out into a crying fit upon entering her house, until she saw Biscuit who looked even sadder than she did from being home alone all day. Feeling bad for him, she decided to take him on a walk. 

   As they made their way down the street together, Mira heard shouting in the distance. Someone was arguing, and the arguing only seemed to grow louder as she approached a house with a black railed fence. Suddenly, the front door of the house swung open and Reggie stormed out before the door could slam shut. With his red face and heavy breathing, it was clear he had been on one side of that argument. He looked like he was about to punch something until he saw Mira passing his house. The two locked eyes and he approached her. 

   "Are you okay?" Mira asked, stopping to speak with him. Biscuit immediately began sniffing every inch of Reggie he could reach before deciding he wasn't a threat and could live. 

   "It's nothing," Reggie dismissed. "Can I walk with you?"

   "Sure," she said, continuing down the street. She could see that whatever the argument had been about had deeply upset Reggie, but didn't ask him about it. He didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it yet. 

   "How did you get home last night?" He asked.

   "Veronica's dad picked us up," Mira recalled last night's events, how he had sexually frustrated her to the point of death. 

   "Well, I'm glad I didn't go with you. That man looks like he wants to kill anyone who comes near him or Veronica."

   "He's not so bad," she smiled. 

   "You're new, you haven't heard the stories about him." 

   "What stories?" she looked at him to go on. 

   "Where do I even start?" Reggie sighed. "Embezzlement, fraud, drugs, rumors of him being in the mafia."

   "The mafia?" Was this guy from a Wattpad book or something? Surely these had to be rumors, small-town talk, and suspicions. It seemed highly unlikely that any of these things were actually true. Still, she had to wonder where all his money came from. What the hell did Lodge Industries even do? 

   "Yeah, one thing's for sure though, he was in jail for a few years before he came here to Riverdale. Then out of nowhere, he's buying all the properties on the South Side and Veronica's mom's skipping town."

   "Weird," was all she said, but her mind raced with questions and suspicions of her own. She wanted to ask him about these rumors, but their relationship was already complicated enough. 

   They soon came across a small park and decided to sit on a bench together while Biscuit ran laps. "Did you go home naked?" Reggie suddenly asked, making Mira laugh.

   "No, I borrowed Veronica's clothes. I have no idea where my stuff went."

   "I'll ask Munroe for you," he said. They sat in silence for a while watching Biscuit sprint until he collapsed on the grass. "About what you heard earlier..."

   "Was that your dad you were arguing with?"

   "Yeah, it was," Reggie sighed. "He can get a little intense sometimes, especially when it comes to football. I'm trying for a football scholarship, but he doesn't think I'm good enough."

   "Not good enough? You're the best player on the team," she assured. 

   "Thanks, but that's not enough for him. I know I'm good, but he just gets in my head and I let him convince me I'm never going to make it."

   "Reggie, if anyone's going to get that scholarship it's you. I don't know much about football, but based on what I've seen you're incredible. The entire town thinks you're incredible. If he gets inside your head, just know you can talk to me whenever you need to. I'm here," she said, reassuring him with a smile. 

   "Thanks, Mira. I'm here if you need me too."

   They sat for a bit before deciding to head back. Out of all the people she had met in Riverdale, Reggie was the one she was most comfortable with emotionally. Although they hadn't known each other for too long, she knew their new friendship would blossom into one that would last a lifetime. 

   When Mira got home, she barely got one foot through the door before her phone rang and started blasting Seven Rings, the ringtone she had set up for Veronica's phone number. 

   "Hello?" she answered, letting Biscuit off his leash to run into the house. 

   "Girl, you're coming over now," Veronica said. 

   "What, why?"

   "Archie and I are on a break and I need my girls right now. I already called the masseuse and booked pedicures for five, don't you dare say no."

   "I don't have a car," Mira said. "My battery's dead."

   "Betty's on her way over, I'll get here to pick you up. See you soon." With that, the line went dead. After the day she'd been having, a massage and pedicure sounded like heaven. However, Betty and her in a car alone? Not so great. Still, maybe her visit to Veronica's could be the perfect way to enact revenge on Hiram. After what he had done last night, he deserved it. Jealousy was his weakness and she planned on using it against him.

***

   Short chapter, I know. 

   Just building Mira and Reggie's relationship.