𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 | 𝘖𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 3 ✔︎

Chapter II - Did You Miss Me?

"Hey, Ash," Clara greets her friend as the door ring to signal her arrival. Ash is behind the counter, wiping it down.

She smiles at her friend. "Hello, Clara,"

"Is Bill here?" Clara asks, curious to know what her friend thinks of the new helper.

"Yeah," Ash says, putting the cloth down as Clara comes up to lean on the counter. "He's in the back."

"So..." Clara asks, playfully raising her eyebrows, "What do you think of him?"

Ash rolls her eyes. "He's alright. Wiggy's funny, and it's just nice to have a partner." she says, raising her eyebrows as if to say, "so what?" and leaning on the counter.

She's hiding something. Clara thinks. Most likely it's that Ash really likes Bill, more than she'll tell. Also, Clara noticed she used Bill's nickname, which only his friends use. A smug look plays on her face.

"What?" Ash asks, narrowing her eyes at her friend.

"Oh, nothing," Clara smiles sweetly, secretly thinking they'd make a cute couple.

The console room door opens and Bill walks in, approaching the girls at the counter. "Ash," he says in his gravelly voice, "We don't have any of the blue one's left. Hello, Clara,"

"Hi, Bill," Clara smiles.

"Oh, really?" Ash complains stealing Bill's attention back to her. "Alright," she sighs. "Well, Wiggy and I best be off. We need to get more blue LED bulbs for the wall over there." Ash says, nodding towards the wall across from the counter. "I'm redecorating,"

"Why do I have to come?"Bill complains.

"Because you're my helper... And I need a second opinion." Ash says, walking out from behind the counter.

Sure... Clara thought, smirking.

"Clara?" Ash asks, "Would you mind taking care of the Diner while we're out? I know it's not your shift yet..."

"No, I don't mind," Clara insisted, "you two go. There isn't really anyone here anyway." she says, just noticing that the Diner was completely empty. She wasn't worried, though--that was perfectly normal.

"Thanks," Ash says, "Come on. Let's go,"

Bill smiled and nodded to Clara as they walked out. Clara watched them go, then went behind the counter to continue wiping it down.

Soon, the silence began to sink in and Clara found her thoughts wandering off to Sherlock. What was he doing now? Clara still couldn't believe they were actually dating. Her, and Sherlock Holmes. It was kind of insane, really. Who would've thought? If almost seemed too good to be true... though, she wouldn't have it any other way. Right now, dating Sherlock and working at the Diner, her life was right where she wanted it to be.

She was almost done with the counter when the TV across from the counter turned on. Clara jumped and her head snapped up at the sound of it buzzing alive. The TV was turned on to what looked like a security camera filming in an empty cement room. Clara's breaths came out quickly. She was on edge. How did that happen? It was probably a freak electrical surge, she told herself. Trying to steady her breaths, she tried to forget about it. It was probably nothing. It was probably going to turn off in a few minutes anyway.