You'll Be Okay

Chapter 9

By the time October came around, the chilly mornings made it harder to wake up early in the morning for community service.

It was 6 AM on Saturday and I made my way downstairs into the kitchen. The cereal bowl I had discarded last night was still in the sink and the fridge was as empty as ever, so I decided to grab breakfast at the cafe. Just as I was about to leave, the landline shrilled loudly.

Frowning, I picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"I – uh, Marina?"

It was a male voice and I tried to figure out why the caller sounded so familiar. It could've been one of Mom's coworkers – but they never called this number.

"Sorry," I said apologetically. "She's not here at the moment."

"Oh, okay." The man on the other side of the line sounded nervous. "Can you ask her to give me a call back when she has the time?"

"Sure, can I get a name?"

"Oh, Chris Stevens."

Chris.

All of a sudden, I remembered the man who came into café weeks ago. With everything going on, I must've forgotten about him. Craning my neck to look out the window, I was relieved to see the street empty but an uneasy feeling settled into the pit of my stomach.

"Absolutely," I continued brightly into the phone. "I'll let her know when she gets home."

"Thank you." Chris paused and before I could hang up, he spoke again. "This is Lex, right? I don't know if you remember me, but we met at that café you work at."

I hung up at that, grabbing my keys and heading out the door. Once I was inside my car, I quickly locked the doors. It was like any other bleak Saturday morning and nobody seemed to be hiding in the bushes. After taking a moment to calm my nerves, I started the engine.

When I arrived at The Coast café, I spotted Olivia at a table in the back. I did a double-take when I saw that she was eating pancakes with Kade Castellan and a boy around her age.

Olivia looked up when I approached, giving me a toothy smile as she doused her pancakes with syrup. "Lex! Are you working today?"

"Just here for breakfast," I looked over at her company. "Who's your friend?"

The young boy beside Olivia smiled, biting into a dinosaur cookie that he pulled out from a paper bag on his lap. Green food dye stained his fingers, dark hair flopping over his eyes.

"This is my boyfriend, Will." Olivia patted his hand. "And his brother, Kade."

My eyebrows rose in intrigue. "Boyfriend?"

Olivia blushed but Will grinned and immediately, I saw the familiar Castellan charm. It seemed to cultivate at as young as eight-years-old and as if sensing my amusement, Kade finally looked up from To Kill a Mockingbird, bookmarking his page.

"Hello, Lex." Kade offered me an easy smile. "I didn't know you work here. Olivia and Will have a play date and I'm babysitting."

Only a year and a half younger than Reid, Kade was remarkable different to his brother. He was a bit of a loner, awkward certainly but he was comfortable to be around. Observing him and Will now, babysitting was likely to be the bulk of Kade's responsibilities compared to Reid's balancing of Demetrius Castellan's expectations. It made me feel a tad more sympathetic but then again, Reid had his father's full attention - something Kade might never obtain.

"Speaking of which..." Kade smiled hopefully at me. "I won't object if you gave us a lift."

I knew that he was only joking, but figured that I could probably squeeze it in. "Uh, sure."