Junie - JJ Maybank

23

"I need one chef salad with turkey instead of ham, and a veggie burger, no ketchup." I tell the cooks before walking back into the restaurant.

It is my first shift at The Wreck and I think I am doing pretty good.

I meet Kiara at the window that connects the kitchen and the restaurant. One of the cooks slides two baskets of fries on the window and we each grab one of them.

We then walk over to the booth that the Pogues are sitting in.

"Thank you," Pope tells us.

"Thanks cuties," Sarah tells us.

"Thank you sister and Kie." John B tells us.

"You're doing great, babe," JJ tells me and I send him a smile.

"Thanks Jay." I tell him before pulling out my notepad and walking to another table to take an order.

The bell dings meaning that someone walked into the restaurant. I don't turn around because I am taking an order so I say to whoever came in, "welcome in, take a seat wherever and I will be with you in a second."

When I am walking back to the kitchen to put in my order, JJ passes me.

"What are you doing?" I ask him.

He doesn't say anything, he just keeps walking. I look ahead of him and see Topper, Kielce, and Rafe walking into the restaurant.

The sight of Rafe immediately makes me freeze. He sees me looking at him and a smirk comes onto his face as he nods at me.

I jump when I feel hands on my shoulders. I turn around to see John B standing there.

"Come with me," he tells me and he leads me through the back.

"Hey! What are you doing back here?" Mike asks us.

He looks at me and his annoyed face turns to sympathetic.

"Follow me," he tells us and we do.

We walk into him and Anna's office and as soon as the door closes, I break down.

I started breathing heavily and tears start pouring down my cheeks and my heart is beating faster than it every has.

I try to say something, but I can't form any words.

John B pulls me into a hug, "it's gonna be okay, Emery."

I hear the door open and I hear the voices of Kiara, Sarah, JJ, and Pope as they walk into the office.

"Is he gone?" John B asks them.

They all answer yes at the same time and I peak my head over John B's shoulder to see them all standing behind him.

I make eye contact with JJ and he sends me a smile but I can easily tell that he is worried.

I move from John B's arms into JJ's. He hugs me and runs his hand through my hair. He tells me its okay and I don't have to worry about anything, but I have a hard time believing him.

I feel JJ turn around to look at everyone, "could you guys give us a minute?" He asks them.

They all say yes and Pope tells him that they'll be in their booth.

When they leave the room, I wait a few seconds then I pull myself from JJ's arms and sit down in the desk chair.

He pulls the other desk chair in front of me and sits in it. He puts his hands on my knees and looks at me.
"Are you okay?" He asks after a second.

I shrug and wipe some tears off my face, "I will be."

"I'm sorry about what happened. Rafe doesn't deserve to live if he is gonna do that to girls... especially you."

I sigh, "please don't do anything to him."

"What do you mean?" He asks me.

"Don't go beat Rafe's ass," I see his sympathetic look turn to a little frustrated, "the kooks won't take your side."

He lets out a frustrated sigh, "you should want to get revenge on Rafe after what he did to you."

I shake my head, "JJ, as much as I would like to, we both know that it will end with the kooks winning."

He sighs, "okay."

"Promise?"

He nods, "promise."

I lean in and kiss JJ, then when we pull away I speak, "I should get back to work."

He nods, "okay... are you okay?"

"Yes."

He cups my cheeks and kisses me again then he wipes off the tears on my cheeks.

I stand up and grab his hand then the two of us make our way out of the office. I see Mike and Anna standing a few feet away from the door.

I look at JJ and nod towards the restaurant, "you go out there."

He says okay and squeezes my hand before making his way out of the kitchen.

I go over to Kiara's parents and immediately start apologizing but they quickly stop me.

"It's okay, Emmy," Anna tells me, "Kiara told us what Rafe did."

"You are safe here and you don't need to worry about him anymore," Mike tells me.

"Thank you," I tell them before grabbing my notepad again and I go to walk out the kitchen but Anna stops me.

"You can clock out, honey." She tells me.

I shake my head, "I can keep working."

Mike holds his hands out, "you should go spend the day with your friends... we'll let Kiara off in a minute too."

I start taking my apron off, "thank you."

They both say you're welcome as I hang up my apron then walk out of the kitchen. I go over to the booth where the Pogues are at and I sit next to Sarah.

"What are you doing?" John B asks me confused.

"Mr. and Mrs. Carrera let me go early."

They all say okay then we start talking for a little bit until Kiara comes out. When she is here, we all finish our fries and leave to go surfing.