hey guys! I'm updating pretty dang fast lately xD even if the chapters are short which I know bothers a great many of you but please bare with me, I do shockingly have an outside life haha
Well we're already at 5k reads!!! Just the other day we were at just 1k and now here we are!! Thank you guys for reading! <3
Pic of cute little Henry to the side (:
As I walk into the library, Richard is in his usual spot, yet his dog is missing. I walk in, the book in my hand ready for return.
"Ah, Venus, good to see you dear," He chimes with a wrinkled smile that I return.
"Where's your dog?"
"Ah, poor old Henry isn't feeling too well lately so I've left him at the vets for a little. A few nights ago he ate something he shouldn't have," He explained, never once meeting my eye. I raised an eyebrow but left it be.
"I'm sorry about that," I told him. He seemed a bit more downtrodden than he was letting on, so I quickly changed the topic. "I was going to return this. It was very good," I said with a light smile. Richard's eyes traveled down to my hand where I clutched the book.
"My granddaughter loves that book. She must have read it at least 10 times," He said with a chuckle.
"Oh, I wasn't aware you had a granddaughter," I said with wide eyes. You'd think that after my years of living in this small town that I'd know about his family, especially since I make it a point to come here often - well as often I can what with my work schedule.
"She's visiting here actually and staying with a friend," He said with a grimace. Whoever the friend was, it was apparent he wasn't her number one fan.
"That's nice," Is all I can say.
"Yeah, her names Jess, she'll be working a bit in here while she stays with her friend Brooke and her father," He went deeper into the topic, but it seemed like he was more-so talking to himself. I looked around awkwardly, unsure of what to say. The name "Brooke" and "Jess" rang off bells in my head. How small was this world, or rather town getting? I shook my head.
"Anyways, enough of my old blabbering. I'll take that," He said, holding his frail hand out. I nodded, and handed him the dusty book. He grabbed it and tossed it into a bin that he later would sort through.
"Brooke's dad, he was the one that was here a while ago right?" I asked. Richard's face twisted into one of doubt. Perhaps he was doubting whether or not to tell me the truth about it all, or if he was wishing he didn't have to.
"Her father's name is Landon Silver, and he's a very manipulative man," He said as his eyes trailed off into the distance as if recalling a memory. I frowned.
"He seemed very angry the other day," I said quietly, hoping I wasn't crossing any boundaries. Then again when I had seen him at the diner he was much more reserved and put together. Which side of him was the real him? I had seen two completely sides of him yet a lot of people had a great many sides to themselves but it was up to us which side to act on.
"When he doesn't get what he wants he gets angry, as many foolish men do." Was all he said. I decided not to be nosy any more or else I'd be acting like Moira.
"I didn't mean to pry," I muttered.
"Oh it's alright, really. He's just about as strange as the Williams fellow, if not the same," He replied, turning his back to me. Williams? Now why did I seem to remember that name? I shook my head. I needed to stay out of other people's business anyway.
I forced myself to walk around his small little desk and around to the library. This time, I walked myself on over to the horror section. I wasn't sure if I should be in this section, but a part of me wanted and needed to experience a nightmare different that the ones that made regular visits in my slumber.
I examined the dusty spines of all the books I walked past, hoping to see a title that would catch my eye. I stopped at a thicker piece of work.
"The Beast and I". I frowned, picturing Belle and her Beast in a huge castle with singing spoons clocks. I shrugged and picked it up, despite the title. I read the back, and somehow found myself interested in the slightest. It was about a boy who was mentally unstable, and a girl who was a murderer. The two meet in the streets of London when she's about to drop a body down into a lake.
I sat cross legged and sat against the shelves, opening up the book. I filled my head with its contents, getting lost in a sea of blood, murder, and apparently really dirty sex. By the time I reached chapter 12, an hour had already flown by.
"I need to run by the store really fast to pick up some new library cards, are you okay to stay here by yourself for a while?" Richard called from his front desk.
"Yeah, no problem!" I called back.
"Thanks a bunch Venus!" He said, and left with the ring of his bell at the door. I smiled and got lost in my book again.
"How do you know any of what's good for me, you crazed psycho path?" Annie screamed, flailing her hands in the air. Jackson merely grinned, the grin that sent most people running for the hills, but not her. She embraced his lost smiles while others shook in their boots.
"Because."
Was that all he would say to her? Jackson closed his eyes for a brief second, wondering if maybe he'd hear the voices in his head tell him to do something; anything. Would they tell him to kill her? Choke her like last time maybe? Perhaps leave a few bruises on her neck? He waited, but nothing happened. He was left to be nothing but himself.
"That's a worthless fucking answer!" She rasped, balling up her bloody fists.
"You're a worthless person," He replied. She didn't seem fazed, just more annoyed.
"You're a terrible, terrible person," She grit through her teeth.
"That's why we work."
"We don't work. You're crazy," She seethed. He only laughed deep in his throat. "You say that, but I just watched you kill a man while stabbing him repeatedly with a screwdriver."
I took a deep breath, needing to take some air for myself while the book's trivial tension between the two crazy people continued.
I can't help but think about Demetri and me for some reason. Granted we were complete psychopaths, what were we exactly? I closed my eyes for a second and leaned against the wood shelves. The taste of his lips linger in my mind, and the way the tingles and butterflies fluttered around my stomach. Would it be like that when we kissed again? I shook my head. I was being ridiculous.
As I was about to get to the part where the two are about to commit another crime, I heard a book fall a few shelves over. I jumped a bit, and felt my heart freeze. That small jolt of adrenaline pierced through me like a hundred tiny needles pricking my skin. I set my book down.
"Anyone there?" I asked aloud. There was no reply. I took a deep breath, stood up, and peered around the corner. It was silent. Too silent. Then I heard it. The light tap of a foot across the room. I took a step forward and much to my dismay, heard nothing after.
"Come the fuck out, now!" I seethed.
"Jesus, calm the fuck down!" Another voice. It was familiar. From beneath the desk, a head of dark hair appeared. I mentally groaned and allowed myself to take a deep breath.
"What the hell, how did you get in?" I asked, putting my hand on my heart. The girl stood up and I realized it was Jess. Her daunting chocolate eyes glared into mine with anger.
"It's my grandpa's shop, I can get in however and whenever I want." Her snarky tone only provoked me further. This snotty teenager needs to dial it down before I dial it for her.
"Anyways," She added, "You shouldn't be here," She gave me a once over, curling her lip. I no longer tried to hide my anger, and instead I put all my emotion into my facial features.
"Richard let's me stay, so I stay," I replied, narrowing my eyes at her. If she wanted to play "Who Could Be the Bigger Bitch Game" then I'm about to win.
"Why would he want you here? You're just a -" She stopped short when the door opened to reveal Richard.
"Jess, what a surprise I thought you'd be with Brooke," He said as he closed the door behind him. Jess crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. Brat.
"They had some stuff to deal with, so they dumped me here," She added, coming out from behind the desk. She wore a flower crop top, some high-waisted denim jeans and some wedges. As cute as she dressed you would think her personality would match. My subconscious said, and I agreed.
"Jess, this is Venus. Venus this is my granddaughter," Richard ignored her rude comment, and introduced us. I had briefly met her at the diner when serving her and Brooke, who was now employed at our diner. I had a bad feeling I'd be seeing a lot more of this rude teenager.
-
After the unneeded introduction between Jess and I, Will called me into work saying he needed help. Moira was there too, so I could only wonder what the issue was. I left respectfully and ignored a rude comment from Jess.
I slipped on my uniform at my apartment and put my hair in a simple french side braid before leaving. As I left the door, it lightly jiggled, reminding me of the broken knob. Jesus, I really needed to get that fixed as soon as possible.
I began my trek to work. It was a windy day out here and had me wishing I'd have at least brought a sweater or something, but no I just had to rush out and not think about the weather. My cold legs endured the cold wrath of the winds.
I came to the familiar parking lot and opened up the door to let myself into the diner. I quickly clocked in and walked in to see Moira and Marge at each other's throats as usual, while Will and Brooke were engaged in conversation while wiping down tables.
Only a few customers sat at a couple tables. It didn't seem all that busy today, so why call me in? I walked to the back to find someone to explain. Hopefully Marge was over giving me the cold shoulder so she could shed some light on the situation.
"I told you, you make people uncomfortable with all the makeup you wear!" Marge hissed. Moira rolled her eyes and sucked on a lollipop. She took it out of her mouth and waved it in front of Marge's face.
"This is me, not caring. If they don't like it, they can leave. It's my face, not theirs," She boasted with a victorious smile.
I cleared my throat to gain their attention.
"Oh!" Marge turned to see me. "Sorry for calling you in so late notice but we're going to have a new investor later and they're going to bring a party of members along to see if anyone else wants to donate to our diner!"
"Wait . . . what? Who? How'd this come about?" I asked.
Moira rolled her eyes and sat on the counter.
"Landon Silver wants to invest and donate to our diner as long as we expand and add more to the country or state or wherever he deems," She spit with distaste. I didn't blame her. As great as it sounded it would be for business and such, it was nice that this diner was just here to be ours.
"At the same time," Marge continued, "I'm not sure I want to expand."
Moira and I shared looks and mentally high fived.
"Then why are they coming?" I asked. She smirked, her bright pink lips quirking to the side. "They're all wealthy businessmen, they should attract a crowd to come in. So tonight, Landon and some of his partners are looking for a deal to make. If we agree to expand, then we'll go under a different name, and it'll almost turn into a franchise with him as the head. Of course what they don't know is we're not making any deals."
"Why us? We're just a small diner?" I asked.
"He figures we're more friendly to the public since his business isn't. It would attract a bigger crowd."
My head was staring to hurt. I though he'd already donated once, so why again? All for what? The diner's loyalty to him? He really was ambitious.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Brooke giggling at Will as his face turned red. I sighed and let my thoughts wonder.
Mr. Silver, who are you?
Demetri's POV***
I pushed myself to run faster at the sight of my packmate being hovered over by one of the Silver's packmates. I growled, and pounced off my haunches. Our bodies collided as I pushed him off her, and together we tumbled. She sent me a silent thank you through our bond, but I ignored her and fought off another wolf.
He clawed my underbelly, so I bit his leg. He let out a wild whimper before releasing me and running off. I growled. Landon broke the treaty. He knew the price of his actions, so it only proved his reasons must have been vital.
This wouldn't go unseen by the Peacekeepers, yet I had doubts as to their methods of handling things. One of Landon's Silver Pack had attacked one of mine on sight. The penalty for such a thing was to be sent to court and the Peacekeepers would use whatever method they had to to make sure it wouldn't happen again.
Another small wolf came charging at me. I lowered my shoulders and prepared for the rookie. He pounced and came at me in the air, but I saw his mistake faster than he could. I reached up and bit down into his exposed neck, dragging him to the ground. His stray paw snagged above my right eye, pissing me off. He whined and whimpered before I let go and he too scrambled to get away.
A few of my wolves finally came for back up. I recognized Allistaire's honey and grey wolf race past me as he took another wolf head on with another at his side. Our reinforcements came within seconds, sending the Silver Pack running for the hills.
My wolves lifted their heads and howled out, celebrating the small victory. I on the other hand let out a loud and fierce growl, causing them to celebrate even more. His breach of the treaty was done, and so the whole treaty would slowly fall apart.
He was getting more and more cocky as he began to get closer to Venus and in doing so he thought he now had the power to step onto my land. He had just made a big mistake, for now he knew I was coming for him.
Venus's POV***
I gaped at how many began to pour into the diner, filling up the seats. It was almost comical watching all the business looking fancy and whatnot and then arriving at our greasy diner. Moira also felt the same as she joined me in watching them all gather at a table.
"It still baffles me that they want to donate or invest in our diner, of all places," I whispered to her. She scoffed.
"They're just a bunch of big whiz assholes who think they can buy anything because they wear fancy suits and ties."
"Ain't that the truth," I added, making us chuckle.
"Is the new girl ready for tonight? I mean, she's new and we have a lot of people."
"Including her dearest Daddy. Please, she can't get fired no matter how bad she can manage to fuck up," Moira said. Point taken. I kept quiet, and watched the men all assemble together. I caught the look of Landon, and he raised his eyebrows. I frowned and looked away. Moira stared at me, obviously seeing that, but didn't press further on the matter.
"You guys ready?" Will asked with Brooke at his side. She smiled and her blonde hair in a high pony tail. Her shy innocence only seemed to increase with the look. I smiled politely despite Moira scoffing.
"Yeah, you?" I asked. She lightly blushed, seeming nervous, and that was all the answer I needed.
"Don't worry, you'll be great," Will told her with a warm smile. She looked up at him and let out a toothy grin. Okay okay, she was a nice and cute girl. Better her working here than her grumpy teenager friend, Jess.
"Okay, Brooke and Moira, you two will be Table 1's servers. The party is 24, but 12 are seated in each table. Moira, take 1, Brooke take 2," Marge came out of nowhere and suddenly demanded of the two. Moira nodded with nonchalance while Brooke broke into a nervous laugh.
"Be nice, courteous and-"
"We get it, suck up to them, now let me get to my serving," Moira said with an attitude, but Marge ignored her and let her walk out of the back. Brooke looked back at Will for conformation and after he nodded with encouragement, she followed Moira suit.
"She's sweet, isn't she?" Will asked. I nodded, not really paying attention.
Marge and the two of us waited patiently behind the double doors for them to each return. First came Moira.
"They all want beer." She said with groan, making me snicker. The beers came in pints and Moira had to carry at least 12 without spilling on herself. "Have fun!" I chimed as she reached for the back door that held the liquor. She didn't hesitate to flip me off before disappearing. The three of us laughed. Soon, Brooke came walking in with a grim look on her pale face.
"What's wrong?" Will immediately asked. Her eyes were wide and trying to hide fear as she glanced at me. "N-nothing. Just some creeps."
She was lying, and we all knew. Will kept pressing on but she kept denying whatever it was that had set her off. She left with 6 waters, two sprites, and 4 beers.
"Will, just leave her be for a bit okay?" I told him, lightly grabbing his arm. He looked at me with worried eyes, then back at the door in which she left. I knew that if something was bothering me and I didn't feel the need to share it the second it happened, then it meant I needed time, so maybe she did too.
Yet the way her wary eyes met mine, it was like she knew something I didn't, but it was like I should've known. I shook my head, I had to focus on tonight, even though I wasn't sure what I was to be doing.
Marge's sigh broke me from my thoughts. "Venus, go help out Brooke. Will, help serve Moira's table," She ordered. We both nodded and though we didn't want to, went out to help.
I found Brooke with her small notepad in her hands writing down orders. I saw her hand tremble as she wrote things down. I frowned, noticing she was running out of room. I sighed, coming to her rescue.
"I'm I'm Venus, and I'll be helping serve you alongside Brooke," I introduced myself, and some of the men nodded, taking in my appearance. I ignored them. Brooke tensed up, but I wasn't sure why.
The last 4 who didn't get their order in told me while Brooke scurried off to the back, leaving me to deal with her customers, and my annoyance. I knew I was also serving that Landon's table, Brooke's father. I refused to look at him, knowing I'd be sending a silent message and I didn't want him knowing I'd been wandering about him.
"I'll have that out soon," I told the four of them that I had just helped. They nodded respectfully as I left. I went into the kitchen, the first thing I see is Brooke leaning into Will as he hugged her.
"What the hell?" I shouted. The two turned at me in confusion. Brooke looked like a deer in headlights.
"You can't just run off on your customers Brooke, it's not professional," I began to scold her. She looked down at her feet. "I apologize, it won't happen again."
"Make sure it doesn't because I'm not going to take the fall for you if something goes wrong," I snapped.
"Venus you're being harsh!" Will suddenly shouted. I balled up my fists and glared at him. I needed to keep my mouth shut. He was right, I was being harsh, but I didn't know why.
"Don't do it again. Next time make sure you don't write so damn big so you can fit their orders on your notepad," I said before turning my back and walking down the small hallway into the back where the dumpsters were. I walked out, the cold air slamming into me and reminded me of my mistake of not wearing anything more than this dress.
I sighed and leaned against the building. I don't know why I snapped at Brooke the way I did. Maybe I was just angry at the fact that she was here and seemed to have it so much easier. I wasn't sure. Maybe I was hormonal.
"You okay there?" Someone called, causing me to jump in shock. The familiar voice sent a tremor down my spine as I realized who was here.
"W-what are you doing here?" I panted, clutching my chest.
"I was in the area," Demetri said, stepping into the light. I saw his face a lot easier and he looked to have a cut above his right eye.
"Of course you were. What happened to your eye?" I asked, going closer to him. He looked down, as if forgetting it was there. His dark hair was in disarray, not that it looked bad on him. He was wearing a white dress shirt, where only a few buttons near his neck and upper chest were open. The sleeves wen to right below his elbows, which showed off his masculinity.
"It's nothing," he said with a shrug. I rolled my eyes and walked in front of him. I was so close I could see his breath infuse with the air and make small wisps, twirling upward towards the night sky before dissipating. I stopped short and brought my fingers up to his forehead. He lightly inhaled when I pressed near it. "Yeah, sure it's nothing," I said flatly. He rolled his eyes noticeably.
"Well, it doesn't look all that bad, but it's gonna bruise if you don't ice it," I told him very matter of factly. He lightly smiled, which looked nice on him rather than that constant frown or grumpy, brooding stare he held.
"Well thank you for your evaluation Dr. Skaarsgaurd," He rasped, his voice much deeper and huskier than before. My insides began to feel tingly and mushy.
"What were you doing in the area?" I asked, proud of myself for not quivering.
He put his hands in his pockets. "I was doing some shopping," He replied with that all too familiar blank stare. I looked up at his dark eyes that reminded me of obsidian. I found myself wandering what he was thinking about. What did he think about?
"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked. I gulped and stopped day dreaming about his eyes. God, I sound like a hormonal teenager.
"I-I'm not!" I defended.
He lightly chuckled. "Oh, um, thanks by the way, for the other day. I had a good time," I muttered, staring at my feet like they were the most interesting things in the world. Hopefully this isn't sounding stupid to him, though I have no doubts that it hasn't crossed his mind as coming off as pathetic.
"You're welcome, and I had a good time as well," He stepped closer to me, closer than before, causing our breaths to infuse with one another. The air seemed thicker than before. I backed up lightly, then a bit more when I noticed he wasn't letting me go anywhere. I took another step back, but the wall stopped me from moving anywhere else.
When I looked up into his eyes, I was extremely frazzled, that was a given. I knew that when our eyes met, something in the air changed. It was different, he knew that it too. I could tell by the way his eyes gazed into mine.
"What are you-"
"When you asked me to kiss you, do you regret it?" He suddenly asked. I opened my mouth but no words came out. I wasn't sure how to respond, we were in such an intimate situation!
His eyes wouldn't allow me to move. "No."
"Do you want me," He paused and leaned down to my neck, pressing a feather light kiss there. I shivered and leaned my head back when he applied more pressure.
"To kiss you again?" He murmured into my neck. I leaned my head back against the wall again and closed my eyes.
"Tell me Venus," He said again, nipping at the skin on my neck.
What would I say?
AHH DON'T HATE ME I KNOW
anyways, what did you think about the chapter??
WARNING
The next chapter will have a "shmexy schene" so I would like to know if any of you are uncomfortable with that because yes, it WILL be detailed.
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