A Shelter in Complacency

Chapter 5

Present day.

"Wow. That's a lot of people, Mommy."

Mindy and Kaylee stood looking out the big front window of the shop. The top part of the window was slightly obstructed by the large "GRAND RE-OPENING" banner hanging from the front of the building, but there was still plenty of room to see the large crowd that was forming outside. The newly paved parking lot was completely full, to the point that the traffic directors were having people park along the side of the drive up as a means of overflow parking. The sun was shining, the forest was green, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Mindy wore a business-casual outfit with a blazer and a blouse, then dark jeans and some flats. She'd picked out a random silver necklace and earrings to make herself look more put together, and she'd put Kaylee in a simple purple T-shirt and jeans, figuring Kaylee would probably be running around all day and not wanting to put her in a dress.

Mindy was barely processing the beautiful day as she looked out at the crowd of people, wondering what they all were thinking of her right now. The store had only been closed for a couple of weeks, and she'd only made a few small changes to it, so Mindy feared that the reason why there were so many people here today was so that they could get some intel on her. She snaps out of her thoughts though in hearing Kaylee's remark, then manages a small smile.

"I know, right? Think we can handle it?"

"Yes!" Kaylee jumps up as she exclaims it.

"That's what I like to hear." Mindy takes a breath, then turns to face her employees, "Okay, everyone."

A couple of the employees had left when Barry passed away, but the majority of them had stayed. So there were a couple of new hires, but most of the people here knew what they were doing. It was all hands on deck today, and it was Mindy's first official day as their boss.

"Thank you all so much for being with me for this," Mindy says, "I hope I can be at least half the boss I know my dad was. Today's gonna be a busy day, but I believe in us. We ready?"

Everyone nods, smiling. Mindy had been good to them so far, ensuring that all of the employees who stayed on still got paychecks in the time that the store was closed so that they could get by even when they couldn't work, which they all appreciated. It was sort of an unspoken rule to not ask Mindy a lot about her personal life - where she'd been, why she suddenly came back, etc. However, she was clearly willing to take good care of them, so they were content with not asking a lot of questions.

Mindy opens the front door and lets her employees walk out first, then she and Kaylee walk out to the applause from the crowd. A photographer from the local newspaper starts snapping pictures - did people even still read newspaper? Mindy keeps smiling though as she's handed a microphone. There was a large ribbon in front of the building that would be cut after Mindy gave a small speech, but Mindy was never really great with those.

She looks out into the crowd nervously, but smiles when she looks into the back of the crowd and sees a pair of sunglasses she'd recognize anywhere. Chris was wearing a jacket and had the hood up too despite it being eighty degrees outside. He'd said that the Motionless guys would probably stop by in increments rather than all at once, not wanting to draw attention away from Mindy, which was clearly what Chris was trying to do now. While Mindy insisted this wasn't necessary, Chris was clearly doing everything he could to keep the attention away from him and on her. He notices when she spots him though and smiles, and this gives Mindy the confidence boost that she needed in order to begin speaking.

"Hi, everyone," Mindy says, "My name is Mindy Forino, and this is my assistant, Kaylee."

Mindy lowers the microphone to Kaylee, who wildly waves to the crowd, "Hi, everybody!"