Golden Threads

Chapter 4: Video Store Max

Micheal had offered to ride with Mallory in the past on his bike. Once or twice.

She only took him up on that offer once... and then decided she didn't like it, not trusting her brother enough to not mess with her in the future. Not that he'd willingly put her in danger. No, he was an utter ass and a fool who lacked foresight. But he loved his family.

Still, Mallory didn't like riding bitch she decided, her already crazy curls now wind blown, her cheeks red not just from the abuse they suffered from the Surfer Nazi's, her clothes now even more disheveled.

When they pulled up, Mallory had to take a second to fix her appearance. And attempted to tame her curls with a scrunchie she'd possessed.

She curses when she catches a glimpse of herself in David's.... No that was the Blond - motorcycle mirror. "Oh no..."

Her mournful sigh drew Daniel... no, Dwayne, this one was Dwayne, drew Dwayne's attention. He tilted his head curiously at her.

She point at her cheek with a tight lipped smile. "My mom is gonna freak."

He gives her a bit of a nod. As if to convey both his understanding and his agreement.

"Don't worry Fancy Face." The rocker said... shoot his name started with a P. He gave her a guileless smile as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The motion so smooth that she didn't think to push him off of her. "You still look gorgeous."

She laughed and hit his chest halfheartedly. "As much as I appreciate the compliment, that's the least of my worries right now." Mallory walked out of his hold then when she saw her mother talking with a small boy.

Deciding she'd wait for her inside, Mallory walked into the video store. The boys flanked her while Rocker kept flirting with her. Mallory decided he was funny and the flirting was innocent enough, so she indulged him.

She paused only when the tall brunette man behind the front desk glanced up to look at her. His stare causing her to stutter in her steps before she corrected herself and he looked away, only to glance at the boys behind her with a glare. His eyes following them as they moved around her.

Confusion filled her chest as she watched his reaction to them. And her reaction to him.... What was that? Why did she stumble? His gaze had been intensely observant, but that made sense, he was behind the counter... and why did he glare at them? Surely they weren't that bad right? If they were, then surely Mallory would've saw something... anything.

"Excuse me," Her mother's soft voice bounced off the walls, gently announcing her entrance into the bustling store. "I was wondering if you could help us. This little boy is lost and we were wondering if his mother might be in here?"

Mallory, almost without a thought, hid behind an aisle lined with movies, moving her hair and popping up her collar in a sad attempt to cover the side of her face, kinda scared of how her mother would react to her cheek even as she watched the older woman hold the little boys hand with such maternal care.

She was vaguely aware of the bikers she rode in with observing the situation as well, though they made no move to intervene or speak up for her, for which she was grateful.

The tall man behind the counter gave her mother his full attention. "Well I'm not sure!" He said in full customer service politeness.

She saw her mother begin to try and convince him to call for her over the speaker using his phone but was interrupted when the Boys mother found them first, reclaiming her son with all the maternal relief, sternness, worry and abated fear warranted at the retrieval of a previously lost child.