Dinner With The Snakes
I hated nice, expensive restaurants. They always cheated you out for more money than need be and the food doesn't always taste that good. Yet, here I was, finding myself in the middle of a nice, expensive restaurant with Seth by my side, waiting for Richie and Santanico.
"I still don't see why we're doing this?" Seth said, a sigh leaving his lips as we sat.
As much as I agreed, I had to say something positive, otherwise we'd both get up and walk out. "Because, your uncle said that if we make amends with them and work together then he'll give us a good case. Now, you do want a good case, right?"
Seth sighed, glancing at me before looking at the empty table. "Yeah, but I'd like Snake one and Snake two to not be a part of it."
"One dinner. And if things go south then we can leave," I said, taking his hand in mine and giving it a small squeeze. Seth looked at our hands, giving me one small squeeze before nodding.
His eyes moved back to me, "You owe me."
"I'll pay you when we get back," I said with a smirk, making Seth's grumpy face turn into a smile. Then, Santanico and Richie walked in, wiping his smile away.
As Santanico approached us with Richie, my hand left Seth's and focused on Santanico who looked pissed to be here. "Santanico, long time no see."
"Katherine. Somehow it doesn't surprise me that you stuck around with Seth," She said, giving me a small forced smile before sitting down across from me. Richie took the seat next to her, sitting across from Seth.
Before any of us could open our mouths, the waiter walked over with a smile. "Evening guys, welcome to Char. I'm Todd. Uh, any questions on the menu so far?"
"Nope. I'm gonna have the ribeye. Medium rare. Beefsteak tomato and onion to start. Garlic mash on the side," Seth said, setting down his menu and then pointing to me. "She's gonna have the petit filet with the pear and manchego salad."
My head turned to Seth, "I can order for myself you know."
"Okay," Seth says, gesturing for me to order something else.
I bite my lip, turning to the waiter. It then hit me that what I would have ordered was that anyways. A small sigh left my lips, "What he said." I don't have to look behind me to know that he's nodding and probable trying not to smile a little.
The waiter nods, writing it down before moving to Santanico and Richie. "What for you guys?"
"We'll split the Porterhouse. Rare. And, uh Lyonnaise potatoes," Richie says, setting down the menu.
"Salad with that?"
"Wine," Santanico said, grabbing the waiter's attention. "Your oldest red."
Smiling, the waiter nodded, "Right on. I will be back with you in a second." Just like that, he turned and left.
Richie let out a sigh, "Okay. Let's get down to it. Jacknife Jed's. It's a truck stop. It is also a front for a very large, very old outfit run by Amancio Malvado, who is, for lack of a better word, the mark. Why are we all here talking about it? Because if we want to use Uncle Eddie's intel, we need to work together. It's the Gecko Brothers and him, or it's nobody. We still have plenty of recon to do, but it's a safe bet that Malvado's got his loot underground, in some sort of ancient stash."
Santanico shook her head, looking at Richie frustrated, "This is pointless. Why are we even discussing this with them?"
Seth lightly glared at Santanico, "Because Eddie said we had to eat about it, all right? It's a thing he picked up, back in the day, when he was a roadie with Los Lobos. Any time the band would get stuck on a song, couldn't write a hook, or figure out a lyric, they'd have a meal. They'd figure it out. We used to do the same before every job," Seth gestured towards his brother.
Richie shrugged, "It works."
"Not this time," Seth said, shaking his head. "That's two different jobs. You wanna kill the boss. We just wanna rob him, if we're even interested."
Gesturing towards his brother, Richie said, "Come on. A hit and a heist. Plays like a two-fer."
"Yeah," Seth scuffed, clearly not believing it.
"Makes sense to me," I said, making Seth quickly look at me. I looked at him, "Two birds, one stone."
Seth sighs, his shoulders slumping slightly as he looks at me before looking at Richie. He gestured to the building, "It's a nice place. Very uptown, huh? Switch your napkins out and everything, huh?"
Putting his arm around my chair, Seth looked over at me, using my nickname again. "You see, Kitty Kat, this is the kinda place you bring someone when you want to impress 'em." He looks back at Richie, his arm still around my chair. "Make 'em think you can run the game, when, in fact, the only score you've ever made has been a lay-up. You've been wearing Converse All-Stars your whole life and you're gonna lace up the Jordans now?"
"It's a Kentucky quinella. We've done it before," Richie said, clearly annoyed with how un-smoothly this was going.
Seth scuffed, "Yeah, and it was a shitty split."
"There is no split. You can have it all. This isn't about the money for us," Richie said, trying his best not to raise his voice.
Nodding but clearly not believing it, Seth mumbled, "Okay."
Richie shook his head at his brother, giving him a fake smile. "It's really not that hard, you know. Riding shotgun. I've been doin' it my whole life, brother. While also doing all the real work while you drive fast cars."
Seth bit his tongue, clearly angry and ready to leave.
My head looked between the two brothers, "So, this what you two are going to do? Go back and forth and hope someone gives in or some crap? Well, if there's anything I learned about you two, it's that no one gives in. So, we either find a compromise or-"
Santanico cut me off, glaring at me, then doing the same to Richie and Seth, "I don't need your help. As a matter of fact, I don't need anyone's help."
Raising an eyebrow and lowering his arm from my chair, "Really? Remind me what happens when you get hungry."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Richie snarled at his brother.
"You know what it means."
Richie pointed to Santanico, "If you got something to say to her, you can say it to me."
"I don't wanna either of us getting bit in the middle of a job," Seth said, gesturing to me and himself.
Throughout this back and forth conversation, I was quickly realizing that Seth and Richie weren't just going to join hands and fix things. This case was big for both brothers, but different in their reasoning's.
"It's fear," Santanico said, grabbing Seth and I's attention. "It's really funny how you all run around like little monkeys. I'm not afraid of Malvado. I know where he is. I just need to get there and kill him."
Richie looked at Santanico, clearly not agreeing with her words. "We can't just walk in. We need a play."
"We don't need your brother and his little side of the road, RV girlfriend."
My eyes rose, "Excuse me?" I asked, getting annoyed with this women.
Seth pointed at Santanico, clearly defensive and anger, "Hey, watch your mouth!"
I shook my head, leaning back in my chair. My arms crossed over my chest as I said, "Man, and just when I was warming up to you Snake servant."
Richie tried to coach Santanico into trusting all of us, and taking our help. "Look, they could be a good distraction."
"Ah. So that's what we are. A distraction," Seth said, the pieces finally coming together as he shakes his head. He looked over at me, clearly annoyed, "It going South enough yet?"
Eyeing Seth and I, Richie said angrily, "Oh, so you were planning on leaving this whole time?"
A sigh left my lips, annoyed with this whole situation. "I'm getting a drink," I said, scotching my chair back, standing up, and making my way over to the bar. These two brothers were getting on my nerves to the point I was ready to just leave and wait to hear from Seth what the plan was.
Hopefully a drink will help me make it through this night.
Sitting down at the bar, I ordered myself a shot and sat in silence. Well, silence that only lasted a minute because Santanico decided to show up. She stood next to me, laying her hand on the bar as she stared at me.
"I'm sorry for calling you a Street Side RV girl," She says, but her tone made it very clear that she wasn't meaning a word she said.
A scuff left my lips as I looked ahead, not even bothering to look at her. "I'm not sorry for calling you a Snake Servant." I didn't have to look to see her roll her eyes at me. But when I did look, her annoyed face told me that I was right.
Shaking my head, I said, "I don't get you. Back at the Twister you were all roots when it came to Seth and me. Now all of a sudden we're together and you're up my ass. You want to do this job alone, no one is stopping you."
The bar tender sat down my drink in front of me, walking away. I grabbed it, looking away from Santanico but directing my words towards her. "And if someone is then you'll push them out of your way."
I grabbed the shot glass, downing it as Santanico spoke. "You mean like you did with your dad?"
My hand slammed the shot glass down, shattering it on the table. A few pieces of glass cut my hand, making me curse under my breath and quickly stand. The bar tender rushed over to clean the mess while I pushed past Santanico and headed into the bathroom.
The water rushed in and around the cut on my hand, making it sting slightly. I shoved some paper cloths in my hand, hoping to stop the bleeding.
When the door opened, I saw Santanico's reflection through the mirror. "You shouldn't be in here. I'm not looking to get bit today... or any day for that matter."
Santanico staid near the door, pausing for a second before she spoke, "I'm jealous."
A scuff left my lips as I returned to the cut on my hand, "Of what?"
"Of you. Of Seth. What you both have. Even with Richie it's not all special and sweet. Unlike you two." As she talks, her heels carry her towards me, walking slowly around me until she's standing right next to me. "When I saw the way he looked at you, the way you stood up for him, it was no guess."
"What wasn't?" I asked, glancing up at her through the mirror.
"That you two weren't just two people passing by that happened to bump into each other. You two were Almas Gemelas." My hand stopped, my eyes looking at Santanico confused, not understanding her words. Seeing this, she said, "Soulmates."
A laugh left my lips as I switched off the water and added another paper cloth to my hand. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that Snake Servant."
I was suddenly grabbed by my neck, yanked away from the sink, and pinned to the wall. The sudden action made me gasp and look at Santanico as she lightly held my neck. Once again, my mouth got me in trouble.
"Stop calling me that."
"I just call it as I see it," I said, gasping when her hold got tighter. "You say you're jealous, but you're not jealous of shit. You're just trying to make me feel sorry for you so I can cover for you when you sneak off."
Suddenly, the door to the bathroom swung open, Seth and Richie entering. The second Seth saw the scene before him, he quickly grabbed Santanico and pushed her away from me. "Hey! Get away from her, you freak!"
Seth lightly grabs me, tugging me behind him as he glares at Santanico. His hand goes to my back and he pushes me out of the bathroom. Richie's voice is heard behind us, "Wait a second," but it doesn't stop Seth.
As Seth and I head for the entrance of the restaurant, Seth's words are heard behind me. He's clearly annoyed and slightly angry, "Next time, I say when we've hit South."
Sorry this was a short chapter, but I still hope you enjoyed! You got to learn more about Seth and Katherine's relationship. Let me know what you think.
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