Fate Unchanged (Quinah & Norminah)

Chapter Thirty

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DINAH

The rest of the night was spent with Dinah having dinner with Normani, Kehlani, Victoria, Solàna, Megan, and Amala out back. Kehlani alerted everyone that the rest of the team would be arriving tomorrow, which Dinah was actually thankful for. It gave her time to really think about what's been revealed to her and Normani. There was a lot more at stake than just her and Normani now. But that fueled her desire to execute this plan as perfect as possible. She took advantage of having to start a late shift the next day by staying up with Normani, though, if they really wanted to, they could function just fine without any ounce of sleep.

When the next day came, her and Victoria bid their farewells to everyone before heading back to their apartment. Victoria was off, but she decided to go see her mother and tell her about her and Kehlani's reunion. After the ebony left, Dinah got herself ready for work. She got there fifteen minutes before her shift officially started, giving her time to make sure her workstation was customer ready. The first face she saw was China's. The woman was making sure that all their bills were accounted for in the register in case anyone needed exact change for what they bought.

"Morning," Dinah greeted.

"Hey," China smiled. "How was Cali?"

"Amazing! Remind to give you details later."

"For sure. But, hey...have you seen Jackie since you got here?"

"No. Why? Is he alright?"

"I don't know. He seems really drained...like his life is being sucked out of him. Demi noticed it when she bumped into him back at the unloading station. And he looks like a zombie."

Dinah grew concerned before hearing slow footsteps coming down the stairs. Jackie appeared from the bottom of the stairwell, making his way to the kitchen without so much as a 'good morning'. It struck the brunette as odd. Jackie was a happy, old man – always smiling, and always the first one to wish anyone a good day. But China was right. The man seemed like a total zombie. Not only were the circles under his eyes darker than usual, but his usually porcelain skin had a sickly hinge of yellow to it that made it seem like he was actually ill. Dinah wanted to dismiss it as him having the flu or something, but even when he would get sick, he'd still be chipper and bright. Something had to have been going on.

"I've never seen him look that bad before," Dinah said as she kept her eyes on his movements. "And he's never moved so sluggish before."

"Did he tell you why he decided to open up the bar in the middle of the day?" China asked.

"Vic told me he said he had some kind of family business to take care. That he couldn't ignore it," Dinah answered.

Demi approached the bar, laying a box of new inventory on the counter before looking at Jackie.

"You guys worried, too?" the Latina asked.

"Very," China said.

"He's been like this the entire time you've been here?" Dinah asked.

"Yeah," Demi answered. "He hasn't said a word for the past two hours. I tried to talk to him...start a conversation...but he just keeps looking at me with such sad eyes. Like his morning was absolute hell."

"Maybe you should talk to him, D," China suggested. "You're one of his favorite employees. You might be able to get through to him."

"I can try my best," Dinah said. "We're only working half a day anyway. I'll talk to him after my shift is over."

The girls nodded before spending the last few minutes getting the place ready. Once 12 noon came, one of the other employees plugged in the welcome sign and unlocked the front door. TVs were turned on and programmed to every sports channel, soft music began playing, and every room, table, booth, and station became operational. It didn't take long at all for customers to start rolling in. This time of day was filled with people who were mostly middle aged and older. There weren't many people who ordered a drink in the middle of the day, so that's when Dinah would usually help out the waitresses and serve tables with them.