Eye for an Eye

Chapter 15

Two weeks later and arielle was at her desk eating lunch with skylar, they just came from the fish house that was next door to Leviton. she got salmon with yellow rice and green beans and skylar got a catfish sandwich with french fries. they were currently chatting about the workload that skylar had from imani quitting and let's just say, she was extremely stressed out.

"now I see why she never did work! you gotta do everything in that fucking department" she exaggerated, dipping a french fry in her tartar sauce and shoving it into her mouth. arielle chuckled, eating a scoop of her rice and taking a sip from her water.

"yeah, it was hard finding someone to cover that department when we were looking for a permanent manager. they asked me too but I said fuck no, they weren't paying extra either so I definitely wasn't gonna do it" skylar bobbed her head to the side, agreeing with arielle and finished her sandwich, throwing the wrapper in the garbage. silence filled the room until arielle swallowed the green bean she put in her mouth and spoke up.

"what did you and simba talk about when he pulled you outside two weeks ago?" skylar instantly got tensed and she cleared her throat, getting uncomfortable.

"uh, y-you know, s-sister and brother shit. it was nothing." she said quickly, avoiding eye contact and arielle squinted her eyes at skylar, not quite convinced.

"you sure? you were crying.." she trailed and skylar nodded her head quickly, getting up from the chair and grabbing her stuff.

"yeah i'm sure, I gotta clock back in, i'll see you later." she started jogging towards the door and arielle shot up from her seat, running after her.

"wait, skylar!" she shouted and skylar paused, looking back at arielle with sadden eyes.

"I have a question." skylar let out a breath and nodded her head, giving the floor to her.

"is simba...actually never mind." skylar's eyes shot open and she let go of the door handle, fully turning her body towards arielle.

"do you know?" she whispered and arielle cocked her head to the side, her heart suddenly racing.

"do I know what?"

"um, nothing. i'll see you later" she twisted the door knob and took a step out but arielle grabbed her wrist, looking at her with worried eyes.

"skylar" she said in a strict tone and skylar frowned, pulling her wrist from her grasped.

"i'll see you later ari" she repeated and started walking towards her department, disappearing around the corner. arielle slammed her door closed and leaned her back against it, her heart still racing. she knew skylar was referring to her knowing if simba was trans. she couldn't bring herself to ask skylar if it was true; apart from her knowing the truth already, she honestly didn't want to hear it from her. she wanted it to come from simba.

she peeled herself off of the door and sat back at her desk, taking another bite of her food. she swallowed a piece of salmon and immediately felt sick to her stomach so she closed the lid and placed it on top of the fridge. she opened the cameras up and stared at them, her mind wandering back to the notebook.

in the last two weeks, arielle couldn't stop thinking about the notebook and what he wrote in it. she kept tossing and turning in bed, not getting a blink of sleep. has he been stalking her since she was born? the information he had on her was specific, too specific. it was so specific to the point where someone couldn't know any of that without them asking, and he never asked her any of that. she might've slipped up and told him a couple things but she would've definitely remembered telling him something like her half brother's name and age. she barely spoke to him herself and she honestly didn't even know his own age; but now she does, thanks to simba.