Chaos In a Nutshell: Fresh-ish Start

4. Near the end of the prologue

Flake lays on her side, staring at the wall

Rich lays asleep beside her

"I guess the sun's out" Flake slowly gets out of bed

She holds her back, quietly opening the door

Flake looks at Rich sleeping peacefully

"At least one of us could" She carefully shuts the door

Flake gets on her phone, ordering a pizza

Just then she gets a call

Flake clears her throat from any pain

"Hey, Clara, what's up?" She asks

"Where are you? We're waiting on you" Clara says on the other line

"Oh yeah, I just didn't feel good today, I'll try and come tomorrow" Flake says

"You've gotta come in today and get your paycheck, remember?" Clara asks

"I'll get it tomorrow, it'll be fine" Flake laughs

"Well, what's wrong with you?" Clara asks

"Back hurts, sore throat, just feel like s***" Flake tries laughing

"Sounds like you have a cold, but I don't know about the sore back, maybe you just slept in an uncomfortable position last night, you'll survive, come into the office" Clara repeats

"Why are you so deadset on me coming into the office today?" Flake asks

"To get your paycheck" Clara answers

"She's lying, we found some s*** and need you to see and doesn't trust to say what we found over the phone because she constantly thinks the FBI is watching he-" Metal takes the phone, sounding like he's running

"GET YOUR A** BACK HE-" Clara yells in the background

The call gets hung up

"...Such a functional family" Flake goes back to ordering a pizza

"So, when'd you get a job?" Rich seems to appear behind her

"UH-WELL-I-...I got it last night" Flake lies

"Well, if you feel bad, I'll go get that paycheck, where do I go?" Rich asks

"I can go get it, it's fine" Flake shakes her head

"Did I ask?" Rich asks

"N-No" Flake stares at him

"Right, so where's the address, you can make it up to me after last night" Rich explains

Flake sighs

"Go out of here and go down the road, take a left on Elm street and keep driving until you see a little village, that's where it is" Flake explains

"Thanks, babe" Rich kisses her, then walks outside

Flake starts calling Clara

"Hey, you change your mind?" Clara asks

"Yeah, Rich should be coming to get it" Flake explains

"Oh, that's grea-RICH?" Clara yells

"WHAT ABOUT RICH?" Jason and Metal yell

"Just...give him my paycheck, it'll be a win-win situation for everyone, right?" Flake conveys

"He'll share it, right?" Clara asks

"Yeah, of course" Flake crosses her fingers

"With his side chicks" Metal grumbles

"Does he know about us?" Jason asks

"Jason wanted to know if he knew about us" Clara states

"He knows Metal" Flake answers

"Oh you bet he knows me" Metral chuckles

"They fought a bit, it just ended in...that's in the past, just give Rich the paycheck, alright?" Flake asks

"No promises" Jason laighs

"How'd the fight end?" Clara asks

"I beat B*tch into the f*cking PAVEMENT" Metal yells

"Yeah..." Flake looks down

"Don't worry, we'll hold him back" Clara promises

"Maybe it'll be better if he doesn't even see Metal" Flake explains

"I'll greet B*tch then" Metal stares at the door

"Please, just give him an easy time and give him the paycheck, maybe it'll put him in a better mood" Flake says

"You earned that paycheck, there's no way we can give it to-" Jason starts to argue

"It'll be fine, I didn't work that hard for it anyway" Flake shakes her head

"THE HELL YOU DID-" Metal yells

"Alright, Flake, alright" Clara sighs

"REALLY?" Jason and Metal shout

"Yeah, what else can we do?" Clara asks

"Kill the f*cker" Metral crosses his arms

"Hey, also your cat came here" Clara says

"Oh she did?" Flake asks

"Yeah, she's just sitting in the corner...staring at the phone" Clara looks at Yami

"She's friendly, don't worry about her" Flake explains

"If you say so" Clara shrugs

"I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" Flake asks

"Yeah, fine" Clara sighs heavily

"Bye guys" Flake smiles

"SEE YOU TOMORROW" Jason and Metal yell

Clara hangs up

"You've got a plan, don't you?" Jason asks

"Yeah" Clara nods

"Good, what is it?" Metal asks, rubbing his hands together

"We give him the money" Clara hols an envelope in her hand

"That's funny, but what's really the plan?" Metal asks

"That's all, we give him the money, Flake says that he hasn't hurt her, so I've got to listen to her, even though I don't want to" Clara stands up

Yami coughs

"Excuse you" Jason and Metal say in unison

They look at each other suddenly

"I'm right here" Yami walks up to Metal

"...How high am I?" Metal asks

"How drunk am I?" Jason stares at Yami

"What was in that Pepsi?" Clara asks

"I'm a talking cat, yada yada, Flake's lying to save her boy's *ss" Yami jumps on Clara's lap

"About what?" Clara asks, still trying to comprehend what's going on

"With Rich not hurting her" Yami answers

"Why'd Flake say that he hasn't hurt her?" Clara asks

"I mean, did you really believe that?" Yami asks

"I still can't believe you're a talking cat" Clara stares

"I'm Yami, I take it you're Clara, nice to meet you, but do you really believe that?" Yami asks again

"Maybe?" Clara answers

"Do you believe that...I already like you" Yami stares at Metal

"...Are you a demon?" Metal asks

"Nope, I think I'm not at least" Yami answers

"Alright, but yeah, I think she's telling the truth" Metal seems to have the easiest time coming to terms with a talking cat

"Why does Yami sound so familiar?" Jason asks

"I know, right?" Clara kicks back in her chair

"...There like-god, I wish I had the memory of a normal computer" Metal stares at Yami

"What about you Red-Hood, what do you think?" Yami turns to Jason

"You like the mask?" Jason laughs

"Yeah, reminds me of one of my old friends" Yami looks down

Silence enters the room for an uncomfortable about of time

"ANYWAY, WHAT'S YOUR TAKE OF FLAKE TELLING THE TRUTH?" Yami asks

"I think she isn't lying" Jason answers

"All of you are wrong"  Yami explains

"Excuse me?" Metal stares at her

"God Troy's rubbing off on me-BUT-just last night, B*tch was kicking the sh*t out of her because she was a lazy fata** and dumba** for defending for me when I saw all the manipulation-" Yami starts to say

There's a knock on the door

Metal immediately opens the door

"Hey, I'm here for Flake's-" Rich stops and stares at Metal

They lock eyes, anger rushing through them both