My Path To Serenity

Chapter thirteen

"Where are we going to eat?" Charlotte asked as I backed the Jeep out of my drive way. "I was thinking Sunrise Diner. Jasper and I went there when we went Vegas and their food was pretty good." "You guys went to Vegas?" Charlotte asked surprised. "I had no idea." "Yeah," I laughed. "That's when I got the call you were pregnant." Charlotte's face turned red instantly of embarrassment. "I hope I didn't ruin your guys's time.." my mind traced back to flashbacks of the morning talk over breakfast, and the argument we got into at the hotel bar, but I tried to shake those memories out of my head in that moment. "Nah," I replied. "It's okay."

When we stepped in to Sunrise Diner, the atmosphere wasn't how I remembered it in Vegas. The people in Las Vegas were friendly, and the vibe was light and fun, but this one looked like a mad house. Granted, it was a Sunday morning and it was busy, but it's just that nothing about this place felt elegant. When we walked in, I was smacked in the face with a NOW HIRING sign right near the counter. My eyes shot at Charlotte, but she was already looking. "There's your opportunity," I encouraged her as the waitress walked us to our table. "I'm Louise," she greeted. "Hi, we'll take four coffees and an apple juice, please. " Louise jot it down in her note pad and smiled. "I actually have a question." Charlotte hesitated. "I uh, I seen your hiring sign as soon as I walked in and I wanted to know if I can fill out an application." I silently clapped for her in my head. Louise perked up bit and grinned. "When you can start?" We were all taken in by surprise at how fast she was accepted, considering she hadn't even had an interview or turned in an application for that matter. Charlotte's puzzled expression on her face told me she was also just in as much shock. "I- uh," she stumbled on her words. "How's Saturday sound? Say, 8 am?" Louise answered for her. Charlotte didn't say a word, just nodded. Louise grew a smile on her wrinkled, pale, face. "And your name?" "Charlotte," she answered. "I'm Charlotte Robinson." "Thanks, love. I'll be back with the coffee, and an apron." She winked at Charlotte then disappeared. "Hell yeah," I smiled as I gave her a high five. "Hired on the spot, you go girl!" Tristian put her arm around Charlotte, "good going darling. Now when Ollie and I start coming up here I expect free meals." "This is amazing," Jasper congratulated her. "They must think you'd be a great fit for the place." "Or just desperate," she scoffed. "But whatever the case may be, I just need to give back to Mom and Dad for supporting Ollie and I."

We were abruptly interrupted by Louise when she handed us our coffee mugs and poured us each a cup full of freshly brewed coffee. "Your food will be ready shortly." "Um, what about a uniform?" Charlotte looked up at Louise's messy brown hair clipped back in a bun with her eye make up smudged around her eyes. Louise looked at the jeans she was wearing and grey tee. "The clothes you're wearing is fine for now. Just something simple is all we ask. Nothing too excessive." She smiled and disappeared again. "I don't know if it's just me, but I'm weary about her," Charlotte confessed. "What are you talking about?" Tristian furrowed his eyebrows at her. "She just gave you a job off rip." Charlotte pierced her eyes at the back of Louise as she was serving another table. "Exactly my point." We all looked at each other confused. "Sure it's a little sudden and not how you expected, but it's clear they're just in need of employees. Be grateful you have a job, Char." We spent the remainder of our time eating and discussing something other than our family dilema, while Oliver colored a picture on the back of the kids paper menu. I have to say, talking about surface level stuff was refreshing for all of us. "Blueberry pancakes have always been a childhood favorite of mine." Jasper pointed out, taking his last bite. "Me too," Tristian agreed. "My father was a chef, so he cooked breakfast for me and my mom every morning when I was a kid. I woke up every morning and ran down those stairs so excited to see what he had planned for breakfast that day." "That's sweet," I told him as I chowed down on my last bite as well. "Yeah, until he upped and left our family when I was thirteen," he winced. "Hard to believe I haven't seen him in four years." Louise came back with a smile and our check, which was surprisingly cheaper than I anticipated. I looked closer to see she voided Charlotte's crapes and coffee, and I instantly asked her if it was some sort of mistake. Louise proceeded to tell us it was a part of her employee meal. "Employee meal?" Charlotte reiterated. "I haven't even started a shift yet." She just gave her a smile. "Oh, don't be silly. We're looking forward to seeing you tomorrow." She walked away and Charlotte eyed all three of us. "Like I said, desperate." "Or just kind," Jasper explained as he reached in his back pocket to pay the rest of the bill. He patted his front pockets and shirt pocket, then looked at me. "I must've left my wallet in the car. I'll be right back." He pecked my cheek and stepped outside.

"Hey Ollie, whatcha coloring?" Tristian asked him as he picked up a green crayon. "Mind if I color with you?" Only a few moments went by before Jasper came frantically storming back in the restaurant. "Honey!" he shouted, running his fingers through his hair. "Honey!" "Shhh," i hushed. "People are staring. what's going on?" "Come with me," He demanded. "Explain to me what the hell is-" he cut me off seeming ready to burst in anger. "Charlotte, Tristian, stay here. Allison, follow me." With no more questions asked, I jumped out out of my seat and followed Jasper's foot steps out of the entrance. "Wait up," I told him. He disregarded me as he started running to our Jeep. I ran over to it as well, to catch up to his pace. My jaw hit the floor as I seen the shattered glass spread across the parking lot. Our windows were busted open, and the inside of the car was ransacked. "We've been robbed," he lashed out in anger. "For fuck sake! We've been robbed!" He balled his fists up, ready to punch something, but there was nothing in sight. He unclenched his hands and through his arms on to me. "Who would do something like this to us?" Panicked, I went to open the driver side door, careful not to cut myself on chards of glass. "Don't touch any thing," Jasper advised. "Leave it be. I'll dial 911." Thank God I decided to leave my purse at home today. I felt sick to my stomach, and it was clear Jasper was too. I paced back and forth as my eyes scanned the disaster surrounding us. He looked at me and shook his head, "I'll tell you what we're gonna do. We're gonna go inside and demand to get a hold of those cameras. Those dumb asses will be thrown in jail in no time."

We stormed back in Sunrise Diner, and Charlotte got up from our table and ran over to us. "Is everything okay? What's going on?" "We've been robbed." I whispered, trying not to induce panic into the rest of the guests here. "What?!" She shouted in utter shock. "Shh," I quieted her. "Go back to the table and tell Tristian. We're gonna go talk to the manager, okay? Just.. stay calm." I was ordering her to do something I couldn't even get myself to fully do. "Where's the manager?" I demanded. An employee pointed to Louise, and when she over heard us she walked over with a coffee pot. "You're looking at her," she cracked a friendly smile. "Look, Louise, we can't pay you." She straightened her back and crossed her arms, dropping the smile on her face. "Excuse me? Is there an issue I can help you with?" "Yeah," Jasper stepped in front of me. "While we were in here, some asshole broke into our car and stole all of our money." She set the coffee pot down instantaneously and opened her eyes wide. "Oh my goodness," she through her hand over her mouth. "Is this a joke?"

She examined the damaged car in the parking lot as she stepped around the broken glass. I clung on to Jasper as we watched her concerned expression on her face. She looked up at us with sorrow. "I can't believe this." She looked back at the vandalized car in complete shock. "You can help fix this." Jasper told Louise. "You can take a look at the cameras and then help us find who did it. The proof is on the cameras." Louise buried her head in her hands. "I'll take a look. Don't worry about the bill, okay? It's on me." I shook my head in frustration. "Apparently those pieces of shit would rather steal to make money than walk in and grab an application. Pigs." We looked around the busy street with backed up traffic. Could've been any one of these fools.

When the police arrived, I was quick to explain the best I could. The police offer took his pen from his shirt pocket and jotted down our names. "Allison and Jasper Johnson?" He confirmed. I nodded, with Jasper's hand in mine. "The two of you see anything?" He looked at Charlotte. "No," she admitted as she swooped up Oliver in her arms, protecting him from the chaotic world. Louise showed the officer the surveillance cameras, and I couldn't do anything but wait to hear any evidence she may have gotten. My hand never let go from Jasper's, and I could feel his heart being fast with anger. "These cameras are pretty outdated, ma'am." He confronted as he jotted something down in his note pad. "However, I did get some information. A white man, about 6 foot, looking relevantly young, came up here at 8:13 am and vandalized your vehicle. He has blonde hair and face tattoos. Sound familiar?" We all looked at each other, but none of us made a connection. "No," Jasper informed the officer. "Well, we've been on the look out for this guy for quite some time now. He seems to do this a lot." "No ones caught him yet?" I asked, rather pissed off. The officer shook his head as he gave Jasper a card. "Not yet. My name's Kevin. Uh, give a call if you have any more questions. We'll keep an eye out for the guy." "Wait, what about the windows? Our money?" The cop shrugged. "Sorry. The money that was in your wallet can't be replaced unfortunately. You can take this to court if you'd like. Good luck, alright? Stay safe." He disappeared leaving us hopeless. "That officer didn't do shit." Jasper kicked the gravel in the parking lot. "This isn't even a bad neighborhood, I would've never expected this." "Bad things can happen anywhere, no matter the environment." Tristian answered him back as his eyes just stared at the broken glass. I sat on the curb, zoning out of the chatter around me so I can take a deep breath. Deep breaths seemed to be the only thing keeping me relaxed any more.