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KITTY WAS STILL STANDING BESIDE Richie in the kitchen whilst more people clocked into work. Ted was working on the light with Neil standing at the bottom of the ladder, ready to pass his brother any tools he might need from the side, whilst also glancing around awkwardly, still unsure of the vibe in the room.
Richie and Carmy continued to argue. With Richie being surprisingly level-headed whilst Carmy constantly kept blowing up. It was obvious that being locked in that walk-in and ruining his own life clearly made a number on him, but it wasn't an excuse to take it out on everyone around him. Especially when it was his own fault that Claire had left and now didn't pick up his calls or respond to his texts. There was no one to blame but Carmy himself, and he was way too proud to do so.
"Morning, all," Tina greeted as she entered the kitchen, a warm smile on her face.
Kitty looked over her shoulder at the older woman, smiling warmly at her, "Morning, T."
Carmy nodded but didn't bother glancing her way, "T."
"Hey, what's up, T," Richie grinned, nodding at the Latina.
"Hey," She smiled, bringing Kitty into a hug before reaching over and placing a kiss on Richie's cheek and then walking to stand on his other side at the table, looking confused as to what everyone was doing gathered around it, "Morning, Chef," She nodded at Sydney.
"Morning," Sydney smiled back. But her eyes were unfocused.
"What's this?" Tina asked, gesturing to the piece of paper on the table.
Kitty groaned internally.
"Nonnegotiables," Richie and Sydney chorused.
Then Richie continued to prove his point. Reminding Carmy of the voicemail he had left him the night before, that he seemingly must have forgotten he left with how he was acting and speaking towards the older man.
"That's not what I said, okay?" Carmy scoffed, "I was just trying to be honest."
"You ran away from it."
"I didn't know how to respond to all the crazy shit you were saying!"
"Richie's crazy shit? Did you not hear yourself?" Kitty scoffed, folding her arms across her chest and rolling her eyes.
Richie's palm was pressed against Kitty's back and he softly moved it around.
"I think as someone as obsessed with nonnegotiables, you need to do some negotiating with yourself," Richie said, his tone a hell of a lot calmer than Carmy's and even Kitty's.
