Fate Unchanged (Quinah & Norminah)

Chapter Thirty-One

~

DINAH

The last few customers of the day were gathering their things and leaving when Dinah felt a buzz in her pocket. She took out her phone and saw that it was Quincy.

Daddy💋

Hey baby girl!

Sorry I couldn't make it over to the bar today. Had a session that ran overtime.

But I can make it up to you later.

I'll pick you up from work once I'm done in the studio.

You, me, and Adeya are overdue for another movie date.

Dinah chuckled at the message before texting her reply. Of course, she wanted nothing more than to have a movie night with the two of them. It was exactly what she needed after the day she had. The clock struck six, and it was officially the end of her shift. She opened her connection with Normani before making a move to head upstairs.

"We're here," Normani said. "It's just me and Amala."

Dinah nodded before taking off her name pin and heading to Jackie's office. She passed by China as she was wiping down some tables in the back. The ebony mouthed 'good luck' to her with a smile, Dinah returning it before disappearing up the stairs. As soon as she was in the hallway, she felt Normani's presence along with Amala's. She didn't ask for them to reveal where exactly they were. If things went south, this needed to be executed in a way where no one would suspect a thing. She stood in front of Jackie's office door, taking a deep breath before knocking on it.

"Come in..."

It was faint and weak, but the sound of Jackie's voice being heard for the first time since her shift started put the brunette a little at ease. She opened the door hesitantly before stepping foot in the room. She wanted to cry just looking at how defeated the man seemed to be – especially when he looked up at her.

"Jackie..." Dinah started, "...is everything okay? Everyone is worried about you. Including me. You haven't been yourself this whole day."

Jackie let out a humorless laugh before slumping in his seat.

"Family issues can drain the life out of a person..." he said, his Chinese accent only accentuating the hopelessness in his tone, "...everything seemed so much brighter when she was with me...my dearest Joan..."

He picked up a necklace with a pendant that had his wife's full name engraved on it. He clutched it like it was a small child. Dinah approached his desk slowly before reaching for his hand. At first, he welcomed the gesture, but it wasn't too long after that he suddenly withdrew. His eyes left from looking at Dinah's after he saw them turn auburn. Dinah was hurt by the action but understood that he must've been so scared. Jackie was never one to hate any species that wasn't human. He embraced them. But after working for Daemon, Dinah could only assume that he was feeling like he had betrayed her trust – that he felt like he couldn't risk getting her hurt just by being in the same room as her.

"Jackie..." Dinah said softly, rounding his desk and kneeling in front of him, "...you've been my friend for five years. You can talk to me about anything. I won't judge you. If there's anything I could do to help, I'll do it with no hesitation...you know that. But I need you to talk to me. We're all worried about you."

She watched as the old man looked to her with so much anguish. She brought her hand to his cheek. As soon as there was contact, he began to weep. Dinah did everything she could to keep her tears from falling at the mere sight. She had never seen him so broken.