Westedge

Chapter 15: Bargaining

Chapter 15

"Pain. That's what always hits me first, huh."

Leo Valdez & Alexander Zona

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Leo V.

"Night shift? Oh alright Mr. Abate, whatever floats your boat."

"That'a boy Valdez! I'll see ya in a few." My boss exclaims and hangs up on me making me sigh. Why me? Why not some other poor waiter?

"At least I don't have plans with Ray tonight.." I think to myself as I get my uniform out of my cluttered closet. Ironically enough, ever since that Sherlock night, the two of us have been closer then ever, and we've even been spending so much time together friend wise. I finally pushed aside my feelings and embraced the friend zone, and that saved me from the depression Alex fell into so long ago.

I put on my surprisingly fashionable uniform, made myself a quick cup of coffee to gulp down, then headed out to the diner that I had to do a sudden night shift with. As I drove by, I notice the store Roundabout that has two girls standing out there, only one of them familiar.

Amerah, from what Sam told me, has gotten fired for some unknown reason, and now who knows where she is anymore.

"There is a new girl though. Her name is Bianca who is just like me, and even though she looks depressed and emo, she actually is a really joyful and nice person. And before you say anything, no I don't look emo Leo, I just look like a punk. Total difference." She said to me months before, her words that still make me chuckle now and then when I think of the situation.

As I walked into Tony's, I signaled to Mr. Abate, making him smile and wave back. As usual, he continued with his job, I continued with mine. I walked over and stood in the front, right near our new flat screen TV that isn't the biggest, but now we don't have to squint at the TV to see what's actually happening.

"Excuse me sir? Can you change the channel to the news?" An elderly man asks politely, having me smile and nod, then go find the remote to go to the news. Even though it's only 8 pm, there might actually be something going on that isn't quite peaceful.

As I change the channel to channel 5 news, I quickly notice a red heading: "Breaking News: Up roaring Accident in the City."

And before I knew it, my mind once again went through the same period of time as of what happened of Ruby's tragedy, except this time it's about somebody else I care deeply about:

"Oh Tom, this is almost as bad as the shooting incident months ago. Young driver Alexander Zona with companion Melanie Lowe got into a bad crash with a truck driver that stopped right in front of them, making the crash happen. Luckily for Lowe, her scratches and injuries weren't severe, but as for Zona, he wasn't as lucky. The two are now being cared for in Mt. Sinai hospital, having Zona now paralyzed..."

The man must've seen my terrified expression, because as soon as I looked over, he examined me with pity. "Whoever was close to you, the man or woman, go after them. Screw your job, your friends are much more important. Go after them and see whats going on boy." He said to me and I nodded, my eyes still widened and scared.

It was a living hell going through the same experience with another friend, another person I loved.

Then as I stood frozen, my thoughts did the opposite, running marathon after marathon, not even taking a break. Without thinking clearly at all, I ran to my boss who was in his office, and the minute I ran in there, his surprised expression turned questioning.