Regona City: The Creed (BK1)

A Sky with no Limit

The morning at Drake's Café went by without much incident. Arden and Reagan had all but taken over the kitchen. At first, Jack watched their every move. At some point, however, he had let out a satisfied grunt and let them be. Arden did most of the cooking. Reagan would come out now and then to help out elsewhere. To the great delight of the guests, he would sometimes juggle glasses. Jack wasn't too happy at first, but after realizing that his guests were enjoying it, he didn't say much.

Alegra and Sahara took orders. As usual, Alegra was trying her hardest not to just about murder every guy who hit on her. She also received IHMs written on napkins from guys who hoped she would contact them. To Sahara's amusement, she noticed that Alegra had developed a system where she would accept the numbers with a smile. However, when the next guy gave her his IHM, she would give him the previous guy's one in return. The guys would be delighted, thinking that were getting her number. It would be enough for them to leave her alone.

"As long as you don't chase the customers away," Jack had muttered when he noticed what was going on.

"Oh, they'll be back," Alegra assured him.

Jack paused by Sahara. "Just why are they all hanging around you?" he asked.

Sahara looked up in surprise.

"First that boy who brought you here, then her," Jack nodded at Alegra, "and now those two," he jerked a thumb towards the kitchen from which an awful lot of clanging was coming at the moment. "You...you aren't involved in a boarder crew, are you?"

Sahara didn't reply. She tried to keep the guilty look from her face.

Jack shook his head. "I just hope you know what you're getting into," he told her seriously. "Despite what you may think, the racing world ain't so pretty." He leaned back. "It's not uncommon for some to lose their lives...and even though the Creed is there....well this city is still a pretty lawless one. And some of the crews..." he shook his head. To Sahara's surprise, his hand landed on her shoulder. "Just look out for yourself, you hear?"

Sahara nodded.

With a satisfied grunt, Jack went back to the kitchen, probably to check out what all the clanging was about.

It was around noon when the doorbell chimed and Naomi flew through the door.

"Alegra!" she cheerfully ran up to her.

"Hey there," Alegra smiled at her as Naomi hugged her legs. "You here for lunch?"

Naomi nodded eagerly.

Sahara saw Terrell come through the door. He looked exhausted and completely out of it as he dragged his feet across the floor and sat down at the bar across from Sahara. He dropped his head into his hands.

"Oh, so you're still alive?" Alegra asked.

"Look, look!" Naomi eagerly pointed at the necklace around her neck. "Terrell got me this."

Alegra raised an eyebrow.

"She just never shuts up," Terrell said as he raised his head. He looked in shock.

"Who? Naomi?" Sahara looked at the little girl. She hadn't found her to be that talkative.

"It means she likes you," Alegra informed him.

Terrell looked mortified at the thought.

"You here to order?" Jack asked as he walked by.

Terrell shook his head. "Actually," he pointed a finger right at Sahara, "I came here for her."

"Work's not over," Jack informed him.

"Flexible hours," Terrell replied.

Jack grunted.