A/N Happy Valentine's Day!!! Y'all aren't ready for the story arc that's taking place over these next few chapters 😈 I made sure to space it out enough so the big finish would be on Chapter 50 😁 Anyway, enjoy!!!
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A few hours later and the restaurant was finally done with the all you can eat egg breakfast. The last customers left and the doors closed and locked behind them. With everyone gone, the workers could finally relax for a bit before they had to clean up.
"That was... something." Todrick said with a huff. "I can see why you guys needed help."
"Thanks again, for all your help today." Jake smiled, wiping his forehead. "We definitely would've been swamped without you all."
"Thirty-five... thirty-six... thirty-seven... four hundred and thirty-eight dollars!" Mitch counted, slapping the money on a table. "Beat that, Kirstin!"
Kirstie shrugged and started counting her own money. Avi chuckled as he came out of the kitchen, stretching his leg.
"Are they counting their tips?" He asked, leaning against a table next to Kevin and Scott.
"Yeah, and I'm honestly surprised they were able to make that much." Kevin answered, amused.
"Four nineteen... four twenty... four twenty-one... four twenty-two... four hundred and twenty-three dollars."
"HA! In your face!" Mitch teased.
"Oh, shut up. You only beat me by fifteen bucks." She argued with a smirk. "Besides, if I was able to make this much without using a 'special talent', I wonder what that says about you."
"Excuse me?!"
"Alright!" Jake's boss clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention. "Firstly, I'd like to applaud everyone for working so hard. This month's all you can eat egg breakfast was an astounding success. And, of course, we couldn't have done it without our helpers!"
The employees all clapped for the group helping them out.
"Now, as I'm sure you already know, everyone who helped out gets a free meal, and if you served tables, you get to keep your tips." Several people whispered a 'yes!' as he continued. "The restaurant will be closed for two hours, for clean up and so everyone has time for breaks. So put in your meal orders and enjoy your time off."
When the boss finished his announcement, a few people immediately went to put in their orders while others held back. A half hour later, everyone had gotten their food and sat down to relax and enjoy the time they had left.
"Got any plans for the rest of the day?" Jake asked, sitting down with the group.
"Not really. This was all I wanted us to do today." Kevin responded, pausing to eat a french fry. "I'd say it was an overall success. Everyone can be free to do whatever they want now."
"Well, I don't know about y'all, but I think I'll go window shopping." Kirstie said with a stretch. "I'll see what I can buy without actually buying anything."
"I might join you." Mitch cut in. "I don't have anything better to do, and I think a nice walk would do me some good."
"What happened to how you felt earlier?" Todrick asked. "A few hours ago you were repulsed at the idea of walking a block to get here, and now you actually want to walk around?"
"Hey, a few hours ago, I didn't have my Starbucks and was forced to wake up early. Now that I've had my coffee and've been awake for a while, I have more energy to do things."
Todrick looked at Kirstie to see what she thought.
"I don't mind the company." She shrugged. "We can go now if you'd like?"
"Eh, give me like five more minutes to finish my lemonade and rest my feet. I've been walking around a lot."
"Oh yeah, your feet'll hurt a lot if you're not used to it." Jake told them.
"No, I'm used to it. I'm just lazy." He admitted, and Kevin chuckled.
"So, Avi, Todrick, Scott. Any plans for today?"
"Umm... Oh, I know! Now would be a great time to look at my grandma's TV!" Todrick exclaimed. "I can see what's wrong with it and figure out what I need to do to fix it!"
"Hey, that's a great idea. I'll help you."
"Thanks, man."
"What about you, Avi?"
"Well, if Todrick'll let me, I'd like to take a stroll in a park. Enjoy the fresh air before it gets too hot, and then give my mom her daily call." He thought aloud.
"Todrick?" Kevin asked, gently nudging him.
Todrick sighed with an eyeroll. "Fine, but no running! You don't want your ankle to get worse."
"What exactly do you think a 'stroll' means?" Todrick opened his mouth, but Avi cut him off. "You know what? Nevermind. I'll make sure to keep it below a jog."
"How about you, Scott?" Kevin asked, turning to look at him. "Scott?"
Scott was currently distracted, staring at his phone with a worried look on his face. Without saying a word, Mitch slapped the table, making him jump.
"Ah! W-What?" He stammered, casting a glance at Mitch who was still sipping his lemonade. Mitch just pointed at Kevin, showing he was talking to him. "Uh, yes?"
"I just wanted to know if you had any plans for the rest of the day?" Kevin repeated.
"Oh, I don't know..." Scott admitted. "I wanna call my family, make sure everyone's okay. But after that, I'm not so sure."
"Scott, it was just an egg." He tried to reassure him, but Scott shook his head.
"I know but, it doesn't hurt to make sure."
"That's true..." Kevin put a hand on his back and gave him a friendly smile. "It'll be alright."
Scott hesitated before shyly returning it and looking back at his phone. He was about to call Lauren when everyone was interrupted by a loud, slurping sound. They all turned to see it was coming from Mitch.
He was finishing his lemonade and slurping the little bit left at the bottom, underneath the ice. A good fifteen seconds went by until he stopped. Before anyone could say anything, he held up a finger in a 'hold on' gesture to keep them quiet. Three seconds later, he let out a burp.
"Alright, let's go." He said, standing up.
"Seriously? You're not even gonna say 'excuse me'?" Avi asked, and Mitch thought about it.
"Hmm... yeah, you're right. That was pretty bad."
"Thank you."
"I mean, it was at least a three out of ten, and I know I can do better..." He trailed off and shrugged. "Ah bem! I can redeem myself another time. Come on, Kirstin. We gotta go!"
Mitch turned and walked towards the door, leaving Kirstie to grab her tips and follow behind.
"Bye guys! See you later!" She told them, and ran after Mitch.
"You never said 'excuse me'!" Avi called after them, annoyance clear in his voice.
"What'd he say?" Mitch asked when Kirstie joined him outside.
"Something like 'you're never gonna lose me' or something."
"Lose him? What, like he's after us?"
"I doubt it. Even if he was, Todrick won't let him run... not like he could anyway." Kirstie joked, and Mitch snickered.
"Yeah, we'd better get a head start before grandpa starts limping after us."
They chuckled and finally went to go window shopping. As they walked down the street, they saw lots of stores with cute clothes in their windows and made a few comments on them. After walking around for a bit, and hiding from the occasional police officer, the two sat down on a bench in the shade to cool off.
"How are you not sweating right now? Like not even a little?" Kirstie asked in disbelief, and Mitch let out a curt laugh.
"Oh please, this is nothing compared to the summers in Puerto Rico. Trust me, if you can survive that, you can handle almost anything." He explained. "Wanna keep going?"
"Yeah, yeah, just give me a second. I can not believe how many stores there are. And we aren't even in a mall!"
"That's the fabulous world we live in... Oh! You wanna know what I love about window shopping?"
"What?"
"You can always tell what a store is like by what kind of clothes they put on display."
"Uh... yeah, that's why they do it." She said, but Mitch shook his head.
"You're seeing it, but you're not understanding it."
"What do you mean?"
"Okay, olha. A store isn't gonna put all its best clothes on display to the public. If they did, then when customers go inside, expecting to find a bunch of similar clothes, they're gonna be disappointed. But the store's not gonna put their worst clothes on display, cause then no one would want to shop there. They gotta find an easy middle ground."
"So don't take things at face value?"
"Never take anything at face value. There's always something more under the surface. You just gotta look for it."
Kirstie narrowed her eyes as if trying to piece together a puzzle.
"So... don't take things at face value, huh?"
"Yep." He said, popping the 'p'.
"Does that include you?" She asked, and Mitch glanced at her.
"Well, I'll tell you this. People usually see what they want to see, even if it isn't there. So whoever you might think I am, or whatever you may think I do, I can guarantee that's not me."
"Oh really?"
"Alright, then tell me." He straightened up and faced her. "What do you see when you look at me? Be honest."
She was silent, looking him over and trying to put the pieces together.
"I see... a guy who's confident in himself and likes challenging people... a good person who likes to help out, but his short temper sometimes gets in the way of it... and is motivated by money and fashion."
Mitch raised an eyebrow. "Is that it?"
"Uh... yes?"
He was quiet for a moment before he burst out laughing.
"Meu Deus, I could've told you that! And you would've believed me!"
"Is that not who you are?"
"Like I said," He paused to take a breath and calm himself down. "Taking things at face value, and only seeing what you want to see, even if it isn't there."
"Oh, so you aren't any of those things?"
"What part of me makes you think I'm a good person or that I like helping out? I mean, really, we barely know each other. We met, like what, two days ago? And in that time frame I've: stolen food, stole car keys, I stole money that was stolen from a bank, which I did by breaking and entering someone's house, by the way, I've stolen multiple wallets, manipulated people to get what I want for free, I've been nothing but rude, shall I go on?"
Kirstie huffed and crossed her arms.
"Should I show you how it's done?"
"No thank you."
"Oh, so you can psychoanalyze me but I can't do the same to you? I mean, you failed but still."
Kirstie groaned but turned towards him. "Fine, go ahead."
"Hmm... I don't know if I should. I'm what some people call... uh, brutally honest when it comes to telling them about themselves."
"I'm sure I can take it. So go on, what do you see when you look at me?"
It only took Mitch a few seconds before he answered.
"When I look at you, I see a girl who's happy and enjoying all the things in life. Every corner you turn, every step you take, it's a new adventure just waiting to begin. You're excited to try something new, even if it scares you a little, and you always try to be there for the people you care about."
Kirstie smiled and raised an eyebrow.
"That's brutally honest?"
"Oh, no. That was just you at face value. I haven't even gotten to the brutally honest part."
"What do you mean? That's me, there is no face value."
"No, Kirstin, that's a front. Lots of people have one. I have one and you fell for it. But I know an easy way to bypass it."
"Bypass it?"
"Mhm. I mean, here you are, acting like a tourist. You're ready for anything, and are just having the time of your life. But that's not real, and this is where the brutally honest part comes in. In order to see who people really are, you just have to ask one simple question... Why?"
"Why?"
"Yep, why? You're so happy and energetic, you're like a bird flying out of a cage after having a broken wing. Ready for anything with more enthusiasm than one of those stupid motivational speakers at high schools. But why? Well, the obvious answer to that is... you're running from something."
A flash of panic crossed Kirstie's eyes, confirming his suspicion. She stayed quiet so Mitch continued.
"Whether it be a bad boyfriend, or maybe you just quit your job and are enjoying your newfound free time, who knows? It's not my problem." He turned and looked her in the eye. "But whatever it may be, it was holding you back, tying you down, and now that you're away from it, you're enjoying as much of life as you can before it comes back. And it will come back.
"No matter how fast you run, or how far you go, things like that always have a way of tracking you down. And just when you think you're safe and put your guard down, BAM!" He clapped his hands making her jump. "That's when it gets you."
"I... I don't know what you're talking about."
"You're a horrible liar, but whatever. You can't run forever, Kirstin. Trust me."
"Why should I? You're just trying to scare me."
"How could I possibly scare you with something that shouldn't be true?" Kirstie looked away and Mitch took that opportunity to stand up and stretch. "Remember, no matter how fast you run, or how far you go, things like that always have a way of tracking you down... Still think I'm a good person?"
Kirstie looked up at him with a frown on her face.
"But... you are a good person..." She muttered.
Mitch just snickered and turned away from her.
"No... I'm not."
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A/N 😈😈😈 I'm really excited for this!!! Hope you liked it! Let me know your thoughts in the comments and don't forget to boop that little vote button with your nose! BAIII!!!!~