The Bet

Chapter 31

James's POV

I walked down the large staircase and to the kitchen. As usual, everyone was already in there.

"James, your coach called. Practice is cancelled today." Mom tells.

"Alright." I say groggily, taking a seat at the table.

"So James, care to explain why you came home so late?" Dad pipes up. I glare at my little brother.

"You told them?" I hiss at him.

"You never gave me my twenty bucks to keep quiet, smart one!" He spat out. I sigh, turning back to my parents who were still expecting an answer.

"Well, after I left Riley's house, I went to West's and than I came home later than I intended to, okay?" I explain.

"Okay. But don't make it a habit!" Mom scolds.

"Okay." I mumble under my breath.

"You should bring Riley over sometime." Dad comments, drinking his morning black coffee.

"I told him the same thing." Mom sighs.

"Well, she got a life too you know." I say defensively.

"I'm sure can make room to meet your family." Mom says.

"Yeah, it's not like she has a job." Dad chuckles. Mom laughs along too.

"I'm sure you don't have to worry about James getting involved with scum like that, right James?" Mom says, eyeing me.

"Right." I reply slowly.

~~~~~

Riley's POV

Even though it was Sunday, I still had to work a small shift at the cafe.

Skipping breakfast again, I head down to the cafe. By now, it's around eleven o'clock and it's still not very busy.

I lazily swept the hardly dirty floors, until I heard the little bell on the door go off.

Looking up, I see a lady, probaly in her mid thirties walk in, her blonde hair in a French roll. She wore a crisp white sleeveless dress and white heels. Several other ladies follow behind her, dressed in the same type manner. They take a seat at a table in the far corner.

"Riley, can you go tend to those ladies over there?" My co-worker asks me

"Yeah, of course." I sigh. I quickly walked over to the table where the women sat.

"Hello, what can I get you all?" I ask politely.

"I'll have a steeped tea, two sugar, two cream, and a drop of honey." The blonde women says.

"Alright, is that all?" I ask as I scribble down her order.

"Yes, thank you." She replies. I carry on to get everyone else's orders and than go back to the kitchen.

~~~~~

I carry the tray of drinks out the the table where the ladies were, carefully balancing it in my hand. I hand them each what they ordered.

"Anything else I can get you?" I ask. They blonde woman shrivels up her face as she sipped her tea.

"This is defiantly not what I had ordered." She snaps at me.

"Steeped tea, two sugar, two cream and a drop of honey, right?" I inquire. She scowls at me.

"Yes, but this is defiantly not it." She growls.

"I'll get you another one." I say, reaching for the mug. She pulls it away from my reach.

"Don't bother." She hisses. "That will be all."

"Alright than." I sigh, walking away from the table.

"She won't be getting a tip out of me, that's for sure!" I hear the lady say.

~~~~~

James's POV

I lounged on the dark brown leather couched housed in the 'main' living room. I had just began to take a nap when I heard the clicking of my mom's white high heels. She comes into the room, moments later, looking quite agitated.

"Hey mom." I say causally. Her lips are pursed as she stands infront of one of the mirrors, fixing her blonde hair. She let's out a huff, and takes a seat on one of the chairs, straightening out her white dress and crossing her legs.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"There's a new girl working down at the cafe." She tells me. "She's absolutely useless!"

New girl? God, I hope she's not talking about Riley...

"How so?" I ask.

"Well, ordered a steeped tea, two sugar, two cream and a drop of honey. She claims that it was the right order that she brought me, but I know better than to believe that!" She grumbles.

"What did she look like?" I ask slowly. She pauses to think.

"Kind of short. Brown eyes, and fairly long brown hair." She tells me. I gulp.

Oh no...