Skyler's Chance

Impeccable Smokes

Darby paces around the living room of the red house as Billy sets up the second industrial fan they installed in the kitchen window. 2 black cars pull into the driveway, and the front doors open. Darby looks out the window to see 2 tall, muscular men standing next to the car, the driver opening the back passenger door, and out steps Zobelle. The 2nd car stays running, but no one gets out. Zobelle looks around, and says something quietly to the men before walking up to the house. Darby opens the door to let them in. As they enter the living room, Zobelle shakes hands with Darby, "Hello Ernest. This is Ule and this is Weston. We've come to see your new lab before we negotiate terms. Please, let us have a look around." Darby nods," Sure, we are putting the finishing touches on it, but I should be up and running next week." Zobelle hands him a box from his new cigar shop he is opening on Main Street in Charming, Impeccable Smokes. "These are on the house, as well as a coupon for my grand opening in 2 weeks. Hope you will stop in."

Darby nods as he sets the box down on table, "Thanks, I'll come check it out." Zobelle nods once then walks around the small house with Weston as Ule stands guard by the front door, keep an eye on Darby. Billy comes out of the kitchen and joins Darby in the living room. Leaning towards his boss, he whispers, "Is that Zobelle?" Darby nods, staring down the hallway waiting for Zobelle and Weston's return. After hearing some low voices, Zobelle walks back to meet with Him, "Looks like you have it all planned out. I'll have my men set up some security cameras inside and out. They can be here tomorrow." Darby nods slowly, "Ok, so do we have a deal ?" Zobelle adjusts his tie, clearing his voice, "Yes we do. I'll give you the $10,000, and you can start cooking right away. We split it 30/70, and I'll send one of my men to collect my 30% each week. But you do understand that I am a man of my word, and I expect you to be as well." Darby shakes his hand, "Yes I am. I'll walk you out."

Juice wakes up to Tara dusting the mantle in her living room. "Oh hey, you're awake. Jax is in the kitchen feeding Abel. He wanted me to check on you. You should know better than to mix drugs and drinking." She points to the Tylenol and water she set aside for him on the coffee table. Sitting up, he yawns, "Yea i do. And I won't do that again. Do you have anything for a sour stomach ?" She puts the duster down, "Yea, I'll go get it. Go out to the kitchen and have some toast and get something to drink from the fridge." As she leaves, He stands up, stretching, and checking his phone. Nothing from Skyler,not even a text. He screwed up big time and knew she was too smart to talk to him again. He walks into the kitchen, Grabbing some toast and a sports drink from the fridge, he sits down at the table as Jax is feeding Abel a bottle. "What kind of car is she driving?" Jax asks him, still pissed off but keeping his temper in check because of his son. "She didn't have a car. She has a bike, silver with a black cross on the tank, her helmet matches it. She didn't talk about herself too much, gave me the same information I knew from my research on her." Jax nods, "Well, we need to fix this. Darby is looking to expand into Charming. Opie and Tig caught one of his guys dealing outside of the Wells scrap yard, and He blabbed when Opie held a gun to his head, saying Darby had a new lab in a house somewhere but he didn't know the location. She may know."

Juice nods, and chews on his toast for a little bit. Tara comes into the kitchen, placing stomach medicine in front of Juice before taking Abel from Jax. "I have to work today at St. Thomas. I'll drop Abel off at daycare because your mom is busy." Jax pulls her hand gently so she can lean down to kiss him, " Alright, be safe. I love you." Tara smiles, "I love you, too. I'll call you when I go on break." After she leaves, Jax gets dressed as Juice cleans up the dishes he used. Checking his phone again, he figures he would try again. The worst thing she can do is ignore him. He knew this was for the club, but he liked her and still wanted to apologize for ruining their night. Hey, just wanted to say I'm truly sorry for being stupid, and I'm also sorry I wasn't up front with you about who I am. Please, if we could just talk, maybe you'll understand. If not, take care of yourself. Heading back into the living room, Juice looks at family photos on the mantle. He hopes someday he can have the same thing Jax has, a family and a supportive wife. Jax comes back out of the bedroom, dressed, and ready to go. "Gotta go brother, Clay called, you can explain to him what happened at church."

There's a knock on the door that woke Skyler out of a deep sleep. "HOUSEKEEPING." A female voice called out. Groaning and looking at the bedside clock, 12:30pm. Shit, she must've been really knocked out. Jumping out of bed and opening the door, she is met with a petite woman, in a uniform with a cart full of cleaning supplies next to the door. "Hey, I'm sorry, I missed the alarm. Can you come back in 15 minutes or so? I'll be out of your way." The woman nods, rolling her eyes, and pushes the cart down to the next room. Yawning and trying to get her thoughts together, Skyler splashed water on her face, gets dressed, and gathers her things. She places a $5 tip on the table for the housekeeper, and makes sure she didn't leave anything behind. Walking outside, she climbs onto her bike and after adjusting her helmet, she checks her phone. One message is  from her dad, asking if she could work tonight, and one from Juice, which she doesn't read or answer. But she doesn't delete it either.