Losing Bella

Chapter 3

This chapter's a little longer than the first two, so bear with me here guys.

***

THE LAST customer had left just five minutes ago, officially ending her second shift. It was just past midnight, right on time for them to close up.

"Kill me now."

Leila smirked, counting the cash in the register as Darcy sat down at one of the tables, rubbing her feet.

Working two shifts today had not been as bad as she thought. Besides the occasional angry, unsatisfied customer, service had gone quite smoothly. The waiters had even got more tips than usual which was always a good sign.

Darcy, being Darcy, had tried to sneak out the back door an hour into work, unable to handle the slew of orders coming in. Leila had to drag her back and get the busboy to keep a close eye on her.

He was a big man, so there were no further escape attempts.

"Time to go home. Get off your butt or I will lock you in here." Leila threatened, grabbing the keys to the door and her bag.

Her friend groaned, reluctantly slipping her feet back into her heels before dragging herself out the door. 

As Leila locked up, she heard a 'ping'. Darcy pulled out her phone and Leila watched as she all but threw it to the ground in what she assumed was rage.

"I cannot believe this! That arse! He said he can't pick me up because he has to take his mother to the hospital!" Darcy glared at the message on her phone, as though it would have some effect on her boyfriend's decision.

"Well if his mother isn't feeling well then of course-" Leila started, only to be cut off with a scoff.

"His mother doesn't even live in London, Leila! She lives in Berlin! We met her during Operation Deflower Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome!" The woman added, matter-of-factly, continuing her slew of vulgarities.

Leila patiently listened to everything as she locked the door, checking her phone to see the time and smiling at her lock-screen wallpaper. It was a picture of Bella, covered in cake and icing, on her first birthday just a few weeks ago.

"How am I going to get home now? The trains would have stopped running by now, and it'll take hours by bus! Unless..."

Her ears perked up at that and she caught Darcy's sly gaze. Leila knew where this conversation was about to go and frankly, she herself was too tired to argue right now. She just waved her hand in what she knew Darcy would understand as approval, and the other woman's excited squeal all but confirmed it.

The pair walked home. Well at least, Leila walked home. Her home that Darcy was about to invade. Of course, she was perfectly fine with her staying over, she had done it many times before, but Darcy was just so Darcy. Leila knew the minute they got home, she would unceremoniously park her butt on the sofa and switch on the television with every snack in the kitchen laid out before her.

She would not have been a good roommate and Leila shuddered at the thought of the poor soul who had the ill-luck of finding out that little detail in university.

On the walk home, she learnt all about Darcy's boyfriend, Hunter, who was apparently a Greek god with the intelligence of a goldfish. He was so daft that he thought storks delivered babies, despite being very skilled in the actual baby-making process himself.

Leila drew the line there and decided to just drown out Darcy for a while, taking out her phone to call Scott and inform him that she was on the way home with an unexpected guest.