Bound

Chapter 5

-Inconvenience-

You dragged yourself through the doors of the cafe. This week just wasn't working for you at all. When you discovered the mark on your ankle you were at a loss. What exactly were you supposed to do? Go to the police? They'd just send you to the hospital, and you've already seen the end of that outcome. You really didn't want to worry Amy about it. She's already done so much for you, and it took her so long to become less paranoid when you were staying over at her place.

Now this doesn't mean you weren't going to tell her, she was as much a victim of that night as you were, and she has the right to know. It was just hard to get her in a situation where you could explain it to her calmly.

Over the week you'd try and get her to step aside with you, but then a customer would inconveniently need assistance while Aamon was busy. You'd try and get her on her way to the break room, but then orders would suddenly pile up so you'd need to help Volken in the kitchen. You tried to ask her straight up before your shift started to talk to her after work, but then Shelby asked her to work overtime and when she was finally done, she was so drained I couldn't tell her. I tried leaving notes, but they were all never mentioned by Amy, like she never got them in the first place. You even tried to just call or text her, but oh no, even though you paid your bill they still turned off your service. The mark didn't even show in photos. Finally, you tried asking Amy during work to meet you at a library that Saturday, she agreed but later that day Shelby had you work the first half of Saturday, and Amy the other half. We both objected, since it was our day off, but to no avail. Even worse, she offered for us to all go to some expensive restaurant to 'celebrate the new employees' on Sunday. You were one hundred percent sure she just wanted an excuse to doll up in front of them.

It was all too conveniently inconvenient. You knew whoever those figures were who marked you that night didn't want you two exchanging information. It scared you that they had the power to change such small details in your life. That didn't mean you would stop trying though.

You were once again greeted by the smiling face of the woman you so desperately wanted to talk to. "Hey~! How's it going? Did you sleep well, you look... off."

Screw it. You no longer cared if the delivery wasn't as soft as you wanted it to be.

"Look Amy, there's a-"

"No time to chit-chat. I don't pay you to talk," Shleby chimed in seemingly out of nowhere.

If it weren't seriously frowned upon, you would have strangled her into silence on the spot. "I just walked in." "And you better walk your sorry ass to the kitchen."

You were reconsidering how much your common reputation really meant to you.

You were seriously pissed off, nothing was going your way and there was nothing you could do about it. It was starting to affect your work performance. "Hey, this is sloppy, like the other two." Volken said, holding a dish in front of him. He was right. Everything on there seemed like they were carelessly thrown on the plate. You groaned and took the plate from him, getting ready to redo the dish yet again.

"What's... with you lately?" Volken's deep voice interrupted your scrambling thoughts. It wouldn't be too bad to vent to him slightly, right? You turned to meet his eyes with an irritating expression. "Have you ever tried to do something so simple, but it feels like the universe itself wills it not to happen"

His eyes wander a bit, seemingly thinking of a response before giving a small nod. I go back to remaking the dish, time won't stop for your conversation. "Well imagine that all day everyday. It's been happening to me for the past week." Your cooking gets more aggressive as you speak, but you make sure to be extra careful.

"All I want to do is talk to Amy one on one, but noooo~." You glance back in Volken's direction. He too has gotten back to his task, but it's clear he's still giving you his attention.

"It's just-" you sigh, "really exhausting you know?" Silence filled the room. "I'm... not that good at this, but uh," Volken spoke up. "I'm sure this situation won't last long. I've uhh.. heard that luck rolls in waves, so maybe you'll get your chance later."

In reality, Volken knew that chance would never come. You sighed for what felt like the 100th time that day. "A later chance huh..." You pondered at the thought for a moment then an idea popped in your head. It was embarrassing and a bit reckless, but you felt what little amount of sanity you had left could take the blow.

That sunday, you were busy preparing for what shitshow Shelby had prepared for her 'dear' employees. She had the habit of putting down subordinates to make herself look better, and you had a feeling that night would be no different. You wore a really fancy blouse that complemented your eye color, and black bell bottom dress pants. Walking towards your door you grabbed your wallet that had everything you would need that night and shoved it in your front pocket.

The experience was exactly like you predicted, unbearable. Luckily, you had gotten a seat next to Amy, so you knew you'd survive. Aamon was absentmindedly picking at whatever he had ordered, the few other colleagues that were invited were happily chatting with each other, and across the table from you were Shelby and Volken. Shelby was talking a mile a minute, going on about things you couldn't care less about, though you could recognise a few insults directed at the others here. She was grinning like an idiot and was incredibly close to Volken, close enough for anyone to feel uncomfortable yet far enough to not be legally defined as harassment. At first glance it would have seemed as if he didn't mind, but you with the trained eyes of being in a lot of uncomfortable situations could tell that he was indeed, not enjoying this in the slightest.

You decided while everyone was occupied you could try again with Amy. "Amy there's something-"

"(Name)~ Yoohoo" you heard Aamons voice a bit away from you. You decided to just blatantly ignore him.

"It's really impor-"

"Heyyy, did you not hear me?"

Amy raised a brow at me.

"It sh-"

"Don't ignore me!"

You have had enough. Frustrated you banged your fist at the table, gaining the attention of the people around you. You stood up abruptly and stomped your foot on the seat you were in previously. Even though this moment would surely replay for you late at night, at the moment it was completely necessary. "AMY, LOOK!" You yelled with more volume then needed. Then, you yanked the cuffs of your bell bottom pants up.

Before anyone had a chance to even glance at what you were se desperately attempting to show Amy, a couple of small children ran past and inconveniently spilled soy sauce on your ankle. Where did they come from? You really didn't care as you were prepared. You quickly reached and pulled off the bandages that you used to cover the mark earlier that day.

Even then, a waitress tripped and spilled some red substance on your ankle before anyone could see. You quickly grabbed your wallet and pulled out cleaning wipes you had stashed and gave one quick swipe at your ankle. From the corner of your eye, you could see what seemed to be a manager with another spillable substance in their hands heading your direction, but it was too late.

Amy let out a gasp of surprise as she finally laid eyes on the strange mark on your ankle. You felt your shoulders relax as you let out a breath of air you'd been holding in all week. She took your arm and dragged you away from the group. You had no idea where you were going, but you were too relieved to care.

The remaining people at the table sat in silence processing what had just occurred. "So unprofessional am I right~?" Shelby continued her antics. Soon everyone followed. While Shelby continued ranting to Volken. Volken glanced at his brother with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Aamon just shrugged and went back to picking at his food.

"Amusing, how amusing," Aamon giggled to himself.