Antidote

Meeting

It had officially been a month since his almost wife had left him, and he was still struggling. Davey was on his way out of his house and locking up when he first heard the arguing from next door. "You stupid fucking bitch! The next time you bring me the damn beer, it better be open!" David tried his best to ignore the house, but a girl, absolutely fuming, came out of the door and slammed it shut. Her face and eyes were full of anger and tears. He wouldn't have said a word to her, but she met him at the mailboxes.

"D-did you hear that...?" How could anyone not have? Davey nodded slightly at her as he pulled his bundle of mail out. "I'm so very sorry you had to hear his loud mouth...Listen, if you ever stop by, please use this." the girl spoke as she pulled a small slip from the apron around her waist and passed it to him.

He glanced down at the paper and saw a coupon to his favorite coffee shop. "Oh wow, thank you. That's terribly sweet of you, my dear." She smiled at him, but something seemed off. It didn't reach her pretty blue eyes. "Just tell them it's from me." she smiled and turned and he watched her long violet hair sway as she took off to work.

That day he tirelessly worked with Jade. "Hey Dave, we've been working a while. Don't you want to get some coffee or anything?" Davey ran his hands over his face and stood up carefully. "Yeah, that sounds so good right now." He moved out to the car with Jade.

As he got in, he reached into his pocket to check for his pen and came into contact with it and a piece of paper. A paper he'd forlorn. He pulled out the coupon once again. Smiling softly, he put it back into his pocket. The young woman had seemed very nice and meekly.

Jade pulled up to the coffee shop and they both got out, holding the door politely for each other. As Davey walked in, he and Jade were happily greeted by a few of the waitresses. Then Davey's eyes finally landed on the female from this morning. She was busily cleaning tables and the counter. She didn't notice him until the men walked up to the counter.

"Hi! What can I get for you today?" Davey smiled at her. She seemed much more happier than she did this morning. Davey smiled as he and Jade ordered a coffee and scone. The girl happily smiled and went to work upon pouring the delicious coffee and making scones.

Another girl took the coffees from her gently and placed them on the counter. "Here's your coffee boys. Sally's working on your scones. They'll be done in a few minutes." That was when Davey glanced over and saw a dark mark underneath 'Sally's' collar. The other waitress at the counter must've caught onto him. Jade went to sit and the girl took the opportunity to voice her thoughts. "She's new...but I really really have the highest suspicion someone's been beating her or something...She always has a dark mark somewhere under her clothes, but when we ask she just brushes us off..."

She quieted as Sally came back to the counter with two scones in her hands, smiling brightly. "Here you g-Heeeeyyyy, I saw you this morning. I thought you looked familiar." Davey smiled as he took the scones from her, carefully passing Jade his. "Yeah, you seem much happier than you did this morning. It's nice to see you smiling." The girl's cheeks filled with blush, but she kept smiling. "Thank you, sir."

She allowed him to eat in peace, and he was glad. The scone was absolutely amazing. "Wow, that's a really good scone." Jade voiced the same thought as he examined his own in his hand. "I thought so too. They're especially spectacular though."

"Hey Dave, did you see that girl's bruise...?" Davey stared a Jade a moment. He hadn't realized his best friend had noticed. "Yes." Jade chewed his last bit of scone, and looked at Davey with his fists on the table. "Do you think...?"

"I don't know, for sure. Her co-workers seem to think that too." Jade made a face. "What Jade?" Davey watched him. "It just seems so wrong...I mean, it is wrong to begin with, but she seems like such a super sweet girl." Davey nodded. "She's a neighbor of mine. Her boyfriend, or whatever he was, was screaming at her and she was really upset. I was going to ask her, but she seemed like she didn't want to talk about it and just brushed it off."

Jade stared at him. "Well, maybe she just doesn't realize she needs help and to get out yet..." Davey started chewing on his nail, which repulsed him. It had taken him about two hours to get his nails perfectly done. "I'll try to talk to her, I guess."