Here. [ st ]

Aftermath

It has been three months since Starcourt.

A few days after Rae woke up, the Byers family, Max and Robin had gathered to pay their last respects, a proper funeral held by the people who truly cared and loved him. Rene continued to visit him every day with a bouquet of his favorite flowers.

A mix of daisies and sunflowers.

Larry Kline was finally arrested, satisfying Joyce.

Rene wore a green vest and sat by the front desk of the store. A familiar car pulled up in the parking lot. Out came Robin and Steve. "You put your mom down as a reference?" The blonde asked. The brunette closed the door. "Yeah, why not? She's like super well respected." He opened the door for her as she threw, "You're such a dingus."

They walked inside. "Hey, Rae!" Robin greeted with a big fond smile. "Hey, Rob. Hey, dingus." She snickered as Steve squinted his eyes at her. "Hey."

"So, we thought it'd be great to bring food for you. Take out from your favorite spot." Robin set the bag down in front of her. Rene gave wide eyes, "You shouldn't have."

"You need the strength!" She gestures to Byers' swollen belly. "You're waiting for a pup." Rene gave her a defeated smile, giving in. "Fine. Thank you."

Keith came to the duo who stood by the desk. They spoke to each other. Rene had worked there since mid-July and became good friends with the young man who basically was her boss. She ate (devoured) the burger as she listened.

As he read their resumes, Rob chimed. "Uh, just to be clear, we weren't fired, you know. The mall burned down and like killed a bunch of people." Keith set the papers down. Sarcasm in his voice. "Thanks for sharing. Didn't know." He snapped his fingers. "Three favorite movies. Go."

The blonde started listing. "Uh, The Apartment, Hidden Fortress, Children of Paradise."

"You. Go." He directed at Steve.

"Favorite movies?"
"Did I stutter?"

The brunette was thinking. "Uh.. Animal House, for sure. Um.." Keith snapped his fingers as he told him to keep his eyes on him. "Yeah, uh.. Star Wars."

"A New Hope?" Rene interrogated. The young man was confused. "A new what now?"
"Which Star Wars?"

"The one with the teady bears. Duh." He impersonated lightsabers and Ewok. Robin grimaced. Rae took some final gulps of her cup of water after the food, watching in amusement. "Uh, the one that just came out. The movie that just came out. The one with the DeLorean and Alex P. Keaton, and he's trying to bang his mom." Keith gave a face of disgust from the description. "The time.. Yeah, those are my top three. Classics."

Keith gestured at Robin. "You start Monday." He turned to Steve. "You start never." Harrington was left speechless. The females interfered, telling him to give them a moment.

"Why?"
"Steve."

Steve glared at Keith as he returned with an expression of go away. The young man yanked his resume as he walked elsewhere. Buckely spoke, "All right, you have to understand, Keith, I know his taste is a bit pedestrian. But dingus has other qualities."

"He's a douchebag of the highest order, Robin." Rene tapped him on the shoudler to let him know that he's changed. Robin continues. "He remains a total chick magnet."
"Yeah, okay, and this is relevant to me how?" The blonde was trying to be obvious here. "Uh, Earth to Keith. The ladies will come in just to see him. They'll come in droves. Droves, Keith. We sold so much ice cream, they had to get a second shipment in from Michigan. Goddamn Michigan, Keith."

He looked over at the brunette female for any sign that what she was saying was true. Rene raised her eyebrows and nodded.

"And these ladies are hot. They're so very hot. And there are too many of them for little Steve. He needs assistance. He needs your assistance, Keith." He ate a fry from Rae's take out. Keith questioned, "What's in it for you? You got a thing for him or something?"