Nyctophobia

Chapter 2: The Protector

So far, so good. Charlie exhaled as she scoped the restaurant from her spot by the main stage. In that moment, it felt as though nothing had changed. She was simply keeping an eye on things while her father took care of inventory in his office. He'd come out soon and ask her how things were going.

"Hey." John sidled up to her, plastic token cup in hand.

"Hey." Her voice was subdued; if she spoke any louder she was certain she would cry.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She lied, putting a smile on to sell it.

"No you're not. I know that look." John returned the smile despite its fake nature.

"I feel like dad's still here. That's all." Charlie looked down at the token cup. "Are you going to play some games?"

"I'm collecting tokens that fell on the floor so we can put them back into circulation." Her ex boyfriend explained, "I figured it might save you some money. Somehow."

"Probably." Her eyes remained fixated on the cup. It was hard to look at him, much less talk to him. They were broken up. People who were broken up usually stayed away from each other, at least for a while. But their situation was different. She needed him as an ally, no matter how painful it was to be around him right now. He cleared his throat.

"Did you want to eat soon? It's almost noon."

"Yeah, sure." Charlie tore her eyes away from the token cup at last, but they didn't venture to him. They ventured to Mr. Hippo's stage. "...But there's something I have to do first."

"Okay. I'll put in an order. Pepperoni and sausage, right? And extra breadsticks?"

"Yeah." She said absentmindedly. She was already thinking about what fixing Mr. Hippo might entail. They parted ways, him going to the kitchen and her heading to the back room. She exhaled as she entered and switched on the light. The sounds of the pizzeria were muffled and she was able to relax. Besides the office, the back room had always been a sanctuary for her and her father when things got stressful. She meandered to her father's toolbox and then ran her hand over the smooth metal lid, pondering her intentions. Touching his tools, and the animatronics, seemed wrong. After all, he'd always forbidden it.

But it was her restaurant now, the animatronics were hers. She could do whatever she wanted. She lifted the heavy lid and scanned the screwdrivers, trying to remember which one her father used to tune the robots. It was possible Mr. Hippo just needed a tune up. After selecting what she was pretty sure was the right one, she turned on her heels, only to collide with Vanessa. She let out a surprised yelp and dropped the tool.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Vanessa threw her arms up.

"When did- when did you get here?!" Charlie couldn't hide her exasperation.

"Just a second ago. John said you were in here. I wanted to talk to you." Vanessa's tone was annoyingly chipper.

"I actually... I need to talk to you, too." Charlie muttered, momentarily distracted by the rainbow streaks in the girl's hair.

"Can I go first?"

"Um-"

"I just wanted to say that I can crosstrain. If you want me to wait tables or something, I'll do it. I really, really want to help out around here, especially since... you're alone now." Vanessa spoke at a million miles per hour.

"What?"

"Sorry. I worded that all wrong. When I get excited, I just blurt things out. What I mean is, I want to help you in any way I can. I know things have probably been hard for you, especially running the restaurant without your dad."