The Wonder Of You -:- Fifth Harmony Kidfic

chapter 4 ~ no safe place

The next morning Dinah and Normani did something they rarely do. They closed their diner for the day.

This only happened on select holidays and five different occasions since their initial opening ten years ago.

They contemplated allowing the chef to open and designating Kendra, the first waitress to work for them, as the overseer of all the happenings in the diner, but ended up ditching the idea as it was far too complicated. They didn't have anymore energy to spend as it was, and having to make those calls and coordinate everything was far more work than they wanted to do today.

Instead, after making their way to their pent house apartment, Normani and Dinah collapsed onto their bed and just stared out at the dark LA city as it slowly but surely regained life as the 4am workers started to rise.

They made no effort to talk to one another as they were far too immersed in their own thoughts.

For Dinah, she was thinking over the available options they had so they could file a complaint against Juliana without getting arrested for interfering with the police work earlier.

As for Normani, she was thinking about Lauren's sobs. Her heartbreaking, stomach-churning sobs that made the whole world come second just so she could take away the girl's pain.

"We should have done more." They both thought.

Neither bothered to even make a sound.

~.~.~

Two weeks had gone by with little word from Ally. The social worker had been relatively silent about Lauren's case, though she had good reason.

Juliana was hiding something, and whatever it was she was doing a great job at keeping it covered as CPS had been unable to figure it out. Ally was determined to uncover it, however, especially after she learned that Lauren was sent to one of the poorest group homes in the city.

The group home was underfunded, which made it the place that a majority of the supposed 'disposable' kids were sent. The lost causes, if you will. They were the ones without a chance of ever getting placed, and many had behavioural issues, a good chunk of those kids acting out in violent manners that brought harm unto the workers and the other kids.

Ally opted to not inform Normani and Dinah of that part. All she told them was that Lauren was in a group home and that she didn't think it was a good fit, which is why she was working so hard to get the girl's file transferred to her.

It was a regular day at the diner for Dinah and Normani. LA was warm and the fall air had a nice crisp smell to it, allowing the women to keep the diner's door wide open.

Families came and went, stopping in for a snack or meal before venturing back out to enjoy their Sunday's.

Sunday was when all their staff got their day off, leaving the two women to run the front and back of the diner. To make things easier, they had their original menu, as it was the one that they knew all the recipes off of by heart. They swapped back every two hours, one taking over the kitchen while the other took care of the customers.

It was nearing 5pm, around the time that they closed on Sunday's, when Ally walked through the open door with a pensive look on her face.

"Hey, Al," Dinah greeted as she finished wiping off a table and grabbing the tips placed on the edge.

"Is Normani here?" Ally asked, not returning the greeting.

"In the back," Dinah said, tilting her head in confusion. "Is everything alright?"

"Not really. I need to talk to the both of you privately."

"We're kind of busy," Dinah said as she went to grab the notepad by the register so she could take the order of a person sitting in the back. "Can you hang out for another hour?"