Mark woke up to the sunlight coming in through the windows. He rolled around in bed a couple of times before blinking his eyes open. It just hit him that he wasn't back at his motel room. He felt his stomach drop while he sat up in bed to see his surroundings. Just as he feared, he saw Heidi was lying next to him, fast asleep. Mark wasn't sure what to do. If he should just get dressed and leave without a word, wake her up, or just pretend to still be asleep and lay back down. He immediately had a strike of guilt wash over him about what happened last night. He thought about Ellie and how he was going to tell her what happened. His mind was so busy racing that he didn't even realize that Heidi just woke up.
She immediately locked eyes with him and smiled. She was on her stomach and propped her head up with her right hand. "Good morning, babe. How ya doing?"
"Ummm... fine, I guess." He raked his fingers through his hair. He hated this and the guilt inside him just worsened when Heidi spoke up. All he wanted to do now was get out of there as fast as possible.
Heidi scooted over so she was closer to him. She laid back down on her stomach and laid her head on his chest to listen to his heartbeat. "Last night was fun, yeah?" She whispered. "...listen, I know we just met and everything, but you're a real sweet guy." There was a pause. "I love you, Mar."
Okay that was the last straw for Mark to leave. He quickly got out of bed and started putting his clothes back on. "Nope nope I'm sorry I can't do this." He couldn't even look Heidi in the eyes anymore. Mark's clothes looked a little disheveled on him but it was good enough for him to leave. He slammed the bedroom door behind him and opened the GPS on his phone to see where he was and how to get back to the motel. Luckily he still had his hoverboard with him and Heidi's place wasn't too far away from Margaritaville. He rode back still trying to piece together everything that happened and how he was going to break the news to Ellie.
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Gyro and Boyd walked down a sidewalk hand in hand.
"Man, I had no idea you liked Chuck E Cheese so much."
Boyd looked up at him and laughed. "Well, I didn't at first. Funzo's Funzone is wayyyyyy better. But there aren't many things for me to do in Tampa. All the other kids were really nice yesterday there too."
Gyro shrugged. "Alright, but if there is anything else you'd rather do like build sand castles, or go to the park or a museum, I'll go with you."
"Can we do all of those things tomorrow?"
Gyro was about to say no because he had no idea when they were leaving Tampa, but by the way things were going, they probably would be there for a bit longer. They didn't have a car, and none of them had a credit card on them in order to buy one.
Maybe Jimmy Buffett could help them out?
"Of course we can." It came out as a sigh although Gyro didn't mean it to. "We're going to be here for a while so we can do everything you want."
Before Boyd could ask what was wrong, the Chuck E Cheese doors opened for both Gyro and Boyd before either one could open it for themselves.
Two employees walked out.
One of the girls turned to Gyro frantically. "Are you Mr. Gearloose?! We have been trying to get in contact with you for quite some time."
Gyro took a step back. "What do you mean?" His heart started to beat faster. His mind automatically went to Boyd had done something yesterday at the establishment, but that wouldn't have made sense. Boyd was very adamant on following rules.
"Your son has been acting very inappropriately the past few hours. We're keeping him in the jail cell in the back. We didn't want to call the authorities so he gave us your number."
"My son has been acting inappropriately for the past few hours?" He gestured to Boyd. "He's been with me for the past few hours."
The other girl shook her head. "No no. You're other son. The duck."
"...what?"
"He's a bit older..."
"...oh my god. Are you fu-" He almost swore. "Freaking serious?!"
The two girls nodded, waving for him to follow.
Him and Boyd did so to the back and just as you may have guessed, Glomgold was in the jail cell wearing very tight children's clothing, swimming shoes, and eating a slice of Chuck E Cheese pizza.
His eyes lit up when he saw Gyro. "DADDEH?!"
Gyro let go of Boyd's hand and stepped toward the cell. "Why did you try to give them my number of all people!? Why not Ellie's?!" He didn't even acknowledge Glomgold had just called him "daddeh". If he did, it would haunt him.
"MIND YOUR BUSINESS AND GET MEH OUTTA HERE SO YOOH CAN BUY MEH GOLDFISH!" Glomgold attempted to strangle Gyro through the bars, but he was too short and his arms were too stubby.
Gyro pinched in between his eyes. "...tell me why you got arrested in a children's establishment?"
Glomgold scottishly grunted and started angrily cockroach crawling around the cell. "MIND YOUR BUSINESS!"
"Sir," One employee stepped forward. "He started stealing pizza from children and when he was confronted by parents, he would bite every member of the family. Eventually he moved on to attacking Chuck E Cheese."
The other employee added "He also peed in the ballpit."
"ALL OF THE BATHROOM STALLS WERE FULL!"
Boyd cringed. He definitely didn't want to go to Chuck E Cheese anymore. Or ever again.
Gyro took a deep breath. "Look," He turned to the two young women. "He is not my son, just some old man who is not related to me in any manner but for some reason can't leave me alone. You can keep him and have the police take him away."
Glomgold threw his head back. "BUT DADDEH!!!"
"Don't call me that! EVER!"
Boyd tugged on Gyro's hand. "Dr. Dad... we should probably take him with us. It would be easier for the employees. They only get paid minimum wage, afterall."
Damn. Boyd had a point. Minimum wage workers did not deserve to deal with Glomgold.
Gyro grit his teeth together before sighing. "Alright, fine. We'll take him with us."
"CAN WE GO TO MCDONALD'S AFTER?!" Glomgold started shaking the bars so fast his arms and the bars looked like they were simply vibrating rather than going back and forth.
"No!" Gyro snapped.
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"... and apparently Gyro was able to tell from my data that Mark had done it on purpose." Ellie sighed.
Both her and Gloria were sitting in Margaritaville, Margaritas in hand. Ellie got one just so she could appear a bit normal. Plus everyone else had one so she started to think it was mandatory too.
They had been invited out for lunch by Heidi and they were waiting for her to show up. She was going to eat with them until her shift started.
"Shit, Ellie. That is so fucked up. I'm sorry." It didn't really surprise her that Mark would do something horrible and shady. It was a given at this point but still.
Ellie shook her head. "Do not apologize. I was very angry at first, but I just cannot be. I came to the conclusion he did so because he has a lot of issues of his own, especially because of his past. I now know it was intentional, but I still do not believe it was malicious." She admitted. "That does not mean I am any less upset, however."
Gloria wasn't really aware or up to date about what "his past" statement meant. She still thought that everything Mark did was somewhat shady but she was going to give Ellie the benefit of the doubt and not fight her on that. As long as Ellie wasn't upset with him, there was really no reason for her to be. "I getcha. I would be upset, too. I guess the best thing you can do is try to talk to him about it. Does Mark know that you talked to Gyro about this?" She was already done with her margarita. She didn't hesitate to grab Ellie's untouched margarita and start drinking that one too. The margaritas were still weak so it was almost like drinking a slushie for Gloria.
"No, he does not. To be honest I am just avoiding him at the moment. My programming wants me to be around him, but I am just scared to be. A part of me believes if he finds out he may just reprogram me again. I know that conflicts with my previous statement of claiming there is no malicious intent, but I am sure you can understand my doubts. All of my thoughts are just scrambled, I suppose. My opinions are not exactly clear yet." She decided to change the subject. Talking about Mark for too long made her uncomfortable. "Has Gyro reached out to you yet?"
She shook her head. She was stirring her new margarita with the straw. "No he hasn't... What sucks the most is that it wouldn't make sense for me to text him first, ya know? He broke things off with me. I can't be the one to ask him if he wants to get back together. That may sound childish but do you know what I mean?"
Ellie smiled in an attempt to reassure her, "I know he plans on talking to you. When I called him to ask about Boyd's well being at the rave, he asked me how you were doing before requesting I tell you something for him. I cut him off there and told him he should tell you himself. He will. Like I said before, it will just take him time."
"Wait, he did?" That didn't need answering so she continued "I don't know what's taking him so long." She laughed at her own joke but she was also seriously wondering that.
"I do not know either... perhaps he is just scared."
"Hey, Glo! Hey, El! Sorry, it took me so long to show. There was a lot of traffic." Heidi laughed, dropping her purse in the chair next to Ellie before sitting beside Gloria. "What's up with you guys?"
"Nothing really. We've just been hanging out." Gloria smiled but she still couldn't help but feel a little awkward around her after what happened the last time they hung out.
"Same with me. But last night was crazy and, lemme tell ya, I need some coffee." One of Heidi's coworkers, and a friend of hers, already knew and gave her a coffee just the way she liked it as if waiting on cue. "It was wild sex."
Ellie gave Gloria a look that read 'I am very uncomfortable'. She wasn't one for explicit conversations.
Gloria noticed and she was feeling the same way. In an effort to save the two of them from that conversation, she changed the subject. She laughed awkwardly. "Well, Ellie and I were thinking about heading over to the beach boardwalk later on today if you would like to join us." She didn't think that spending more time with Heidi would be the best idea, but it was the first thing she could think about saying that diverted the conversation away.
"Well, I have a short shift today so I would love to join you after dinner if you two are fine with that." She was fiddling with her mug. The coffee was too hot for her to drink yet. "Okay. I know my personality is a bit harsh but I think you guys are really cool and I want to get to know you more. I mean it. I'm just bad at the whole 'friend' business, so, just forgive me if I gave off a bad first impression. Or bad few impressions rather. The past week has been a bit complicated. The same for you, I'm sure." Her smile is sweet and it showed she was starting to feel awkward as well.
Ellie still wasn't sure how to feel but she smiled in return. "It is alright, Heidi. Gloria and I had a rough start to our friendship as well. You seem to be faring better." Her laugh sounded fake, something that was very unintentional. She was trying to lighten the mood. "It would be wonderful for you to join us for a walk on the beach after your shift."
"Alright, cool! Thanks for letting me tag along. If you guys want, I could bring leftover food with me to the beach after my shift."
"Free food? I'm down." Gloria was starting to relax a bit more. Heidi didn't seem to be making any more moves on her. Heidi also wasn't bringing up what happened at the restaurant either which was a huge relief. Gloria felt bad for walking out but she didn't know what else to do. She was thankful that Heidi had a very chill personality and is able to have water under the bridge. She smiled and took another sip of Ellie's margarita.
"You guys know how long you'll be down here?"
Ellie shook her head "Sadly, no. It is something that we should have spoken of sooner but we just have matters to be handled before finding a mode of transportation." That was as vague as she could manage to make it.
"Okay. I know Tampa sucks but I'll tell you where to go if you're bored so you're never just stuck doing nothing, kay? Plus, my biker pals would love to see you again, Glo." She finally was able to start sipping on her coffee. "Anyway, I should say you guys are rocking the shitty Jimmy outfits really well. Looking good."
Gloria looked down at her outfit and then back up at Heidi. "Oh, thank you. I kind of like it, ya know? I feel like a middle aged dad on vacation." She continued after taking a sip from her margarita. "All of Florida seems like a vacation. It's actually really nice here and I'm kind of glad that we aren't leaving Florida just yet."
Heidi made clear eye contact with Gloria. "Yeah, I'm glad you aren't leaving either." She gave a shy smile.
Gloria started to feel awkward again. She hated being a broken record and repeating what she did back at the restaurant but at least this time she was able to create an excuse. Gloria got up from the table and grabbed her two margarita glasses. "Okay I'm going to see if I can get a quick refill. I'll be right back." She went around the corner towards the bar which was still very closeby to where they were sitting.
Heidi kept the smile on her face as she watched Gloria leave. When she was out of sight, her smile turned to a glare. She looked back at Ellie. "Now listen here, bitch. I know that it's in your programming to love Mark but you need to back off if you know what's good for you. Oh yeah. I know you're a robot. I know more about you than you think. I also know a lot about Mark." She gave an evil smirk. "We hung out last night and he told me about your one night stand offer you gave him... He hasn't come by to see you today, has he? Hmmm... he must be tired. We had a pretty long night together." She laughed "After last night I can't blame you for being obsessed with him." She took another sip of her coffee before finishing what she wanted to say. "Mark deserves a real woman. Not some machine who can't even understand a joke. Make yourself useful for once and stay away from him. Especially if you want what's best for him."
Ellie stared at Heidi in complete shock. It took her a moment to gather a response, though her voice was weak and shaking. "P-pardon? You and Mark... but... I thought..." Ellie was sure Mark was going to take up her offer but the fact it actually happened hit hard. And with Heidi?
She sniffled and wiped her eyes, although there were no tears that could be shed. "How do you know all this? What do you have against me? I just met you..."
She shrugged nonchalantly before propping her arm over Gloria's chair. "Nothing personal, El..." She took another sip of her coffee. "Oh, and you better keep your fucking mouth shut about this conversation."
It didn't take Gloria long to get a refill on margaritas. She was about to turn the corner to sit back down with Ellie and Heidi until she overheard Heidi speaking. She didn't catch all of her speech but she heard enough. She waited to make her presence known until Heidi finished talking. She put on a fake smile and sat down next to Heidi. "Hey guys, sorry it took a minute to come back."
Ellie was looking at her lap and quivering until she finally just broke. "S-sorry. I- I should be going now." She stood up, avoiding looking at the two of them as best as she could as if that would be enough to hide the fact she was sobbing. Then she just quickly fled the Margaritaville to God knows where. She didn't know where she was going either.
Gloria set her margarita down on the table and ran after Ellie, leaving Heidi sitting at the table by herself. Now she was pissed. She didn't want to confront Heidi just yet because she needed to check on Ellie and she also concluded that if she started fighting her now, things would only get uglier and now wasn't the time.
Ellie hadn't even left the property, she was just sitting at one of the outside tables crying her eyes out. Gloria sat across from her.
"Hey, I overheard what Heidi just said to you. She's a HOE. Not only has she been flirting with me, but Mark!? And, god, probably Gyro too!" Gloria wasn't sure what else to say about that. She was still trying to process what just happened. "Listen. This bitch is going down! Alright?! We're going to warn the boys about her hoe ways and get them to help us out. Whatever plan she has next, we'll be ready for." She took out her phone and texted in the Anti Gyro Groupchat. Gloria texted "Something happened. Meet me and Ellie at my motel room ASAP!" She didn't care how vague her text sounded and figured that the more ominous the text was, it would most likely freak Mark and Gyro and get them to show up sooner. She tucked her phone back in her pocket and turned her attention back to Ellie. Gloria sat up from the outside table and stood next to Ellie, placing her hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Ellie, c'mon. We are going to my room to figure out how we are bringing Heidi down!"
Ellie shook her head. "You should warn Gyro, Gloria. But Heidi was right. I should stay away from her and Mark's relationship. Mark and I have enough issues as is, I mean, I just found out about the reprogramming and..." She continued to cry. "If he wants to move on then I'll let him. Whether I have an 'obsession' or not."
Gloria shook her head as well. "Ellie, Mark and Heidi aren't in a relationship. I'm not sure what exactly happened with Mark but I do know that we shouldn't trust her. For all we know, everything she had ever told us was a lie. That's why we need to head back to the motel and figure this out. Alright?"
Ellie sighed and nodded, though it was reluctant. "Alright..."
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