by Fay Walsh
Harmony would be blowing her top, if she found out. Chrys thought to herself as rushed around the corner, almost bumping into a man talking on the phone.
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” He shouted at her.
Chrys, while still running, turned back around and shouted back, “sorry, sir!”
Then, again she wouldn’t be too keen if she knew what it was I was doing to make me late.
For the past two years, after discovering that she came from a line of Hunters, humans that hunted down Shifters and supernatural creatures, she had taken up the family business – except she wasn’t hunting or killing them, but bringing rogues in for questioning.
Harmony rested on her hands and knees, taking long deep breaths. “T-Thank, goodness, I-I made it.” Her breathing was erratic, and her chest heaved up and down. She stood up and pushed open the glass door to the ice cream parlor. The cold rushed over her skin and she shivered, she knew she should have worn long sleeves.
There were already customers in line and they turned their attention to Chrys. Immediately heat began to rise off of her skin at being the center of attention and she saw her boss at the counter.
“Miss Ashur, late again, are we?”
Carl Webster pushed his wire-rimmed glasses on top of his straight nose. He had a sideways bob haircut and his dark brown eyes narrowed at her in disapprovement.
“Er, sorry, about that Carl,” Chrys mumbled. Some of the customers grumbled in frustration at having to wait. “I just slept through my alarm... Again.”
Carl Webster grunted.
“It’s your responsibility to be on time, I told you that. If you’re late one more time, you’re fired, now clock in and then assist these customers. Connie’s in the back organizing, I’m going to my office.”
Chrys sulked to herself and walked behind the counter and walked through the silver swinging doors that read ‘Employees only’. Once she made it to her locker she took her uniform black hat out, that read ‘Icee Freeze’ and sat it on her head. Then, she removed the black apron and wrapped it around her waist.
“I really hate this job, I should have taken the antique job Harmony had worked at,” Chrys mumbled. She approached the time slot machine against the wall by the door and put in her ID numbers to clock in.
“Time for work. I hope Connie gets done with inventory soon.”
When she left out of the backroom, Carl was finished making someone’s order, but when he turned around he handed the ice cream scooper to Chrys.
“Get to it.”
Chrys grabbed the scooper and Carl walked around the counter and to his office that was against the wall.
“Hello, and welcome to Icee Freeze, what kind of topping can I get you?”
***
After Chrys had dealt with the orders and the last customer left out of the store, the back doors swung open and the brush of air from the momentum brushed across her neck.
Chrys turned around and noticed a girl with medium length orange hair wearing the same uniform that she was wearing. She leaned against the counter by the cash register.
“So how was inventory?” Chrys grinned, knowing that no one liked going into the freezer to count over one hundred boxes of ice cream products.
Connie stuck up her middle finger, where Chrys could see she was still wearing gloves. She was also wearing a red long sleeved shirt under a black shirt.
“Anyway, I heard Carl yelling at you again. That was kind of brutal, but it isn’t like he’s not right,” Connie said looking at Chrys from the corner of her eye.
Her elbows leaned against the counter. “Why don’t you just get Kai or something to compel Carl so he can never get mad at you for being late? Didn’t he say one more time and you’re fired? Harmony is not going to like that you failed something else. She gave you the benefit of the doubt with flunking college.”
Chrys sighed and used the scooper to put chocolate ice cream into a small cup. “Yeah, thanks mom.” Chrys rolled her eyes. “And technically, I did not flunk, it just wasn’t my thing,” Chrys said as she at the small cup of ice cream with a small plastic spoon she grabbed from the counter.
Connie snorted. “Right. That’s pretty much the same thing.”
“Hey, then why aren’t you working at the diner anymore?”
“Because men are grabby and I was tired of the sexual harassment. They didn’t even pay me enough, I lived off of tips and that was not paying my rent or my subscriptions. You know I can’t live without my Netflix and HBO.”
Chrys playfully rolled her eyes and finished the last scoop of her ice cream. “Well, I don’t want to take advantage of Kai, Connie. This is on me, as my sister would say.”
Connie leaned her elbows off of the counter and rested her hip against it, crossing her arms over her chest. “Yeah, dating the Beta, who is crazy in love with you, would not do anything for you? Okay. I don’t think he would take that as taking advantage.”
The bell chimed on the door, announcing another customer had come into the building.
“I just need to be more on top of things if I’m going to continue Hunting,” Chrys whispered to her as a young woman wearing joggers pants and a tank approached the counter. “Hi, welcome Icee Freeze, what can I get you?”
“Yeah, can I have your Strawberry Sherbet?” She asked, taking out her ear plugs and letting them hang off her chest.
“Sure, cup or cone?”
“Cup, please, one scoop.”
Chrys grabbed a cup from the side and opened the freezer part of the ice cream drawer where she scooped out the tub of rainbow color ice cream.
“One scoop of Sherbet ice cream.”
She handed the cup to the lady and then she walked to Connie who was at the register.
“That’ll be $3.57, ma’am.”
Once the woman had handed Connie four dollars and received her change back, she left the ice cream parlor, so the two women could return back to their conversation.
“Alright, fine… So, that begs the question, are you, Jonah, and I going out Hunting tonight, then?”
The door to Carl’s office opened and he pushed his glasses up on his nose with his fingers, glaring at them.
“There shouldn’t be just talking, you two. What do you –”
“When there are no customers, you must clean, clean, clean,” Connie and Chrys simultaneously said.
Carl glared at them a moment longer, but closed the door.
Chrys and Connie burst out laughing at Carl’s reaction. Chrys looked at her and winked, indicating that they would be hunting, again.
***
When it was time for their break, they knocked on Carl’s door to let him know. Chrys and Connie went to the back room to change out of their work attire, but when they left the back room to leave out the store, Carl spoke,
“I hope you won’t sleep on your break, Chrysanthemum,” Carl Webster snidely said as he stood behind the counter.
Chrys gave her a wide smile and said, “Of course, not Carl. It won’t happen again.”
Carl glared at Chrys sensing that she was being sarcastic, but Connie grabbed her friend by the arm and pulled her out outside.
“Are you trying to get fired?”
But Connie was laughing as they walked down the street. There weren’t many people outside, especially in the morning.
“So, where’s the next group of rogues located?” Connie asked, bringing her voice to a whisper as they rounded the corner.
Ever since her sister mated with the Alpha of the newly named, Shadow Moon clan, and finding an enemy in Roan’s brother, a newly named rogue, there had been more rogue attacks and interventions in the last two years. Since Roan was indisposed at the time, the decision fell to his Beta, Kai.
“I did overhear when Kai was speaking with some of the Shadow Moon clan that rogues have been gathering around Sydney, specifically a bar there, that could be where they mainly hang out.”
They stopped at the corner and crossed the street whe
re a small outdoor eatery was located. They hurried and rushed across before a blue drove by.
“A bar, classy, definitely seems rogue-like.” They stop at the counter and ordered their food.
“Yeah, I’ll have your friendly dog special,” Connie said, pulling her wallet from her purse. “And what are you having?”
“Ooh, get me two corn dogs, with cinnamon on it.”
Connie made a face. “That is so disgusting, babe. You know that?”
Chrys stuck out her tongue. “So, what? Kai doesn’t think it’s weird.”
Connie rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, that’s not a good example. He eats your pussy, nothing will ever be weird to him. Matter of fact, I need someone that will eat my box now and then.”
Chrys’ face blushed a deep shade of red from embarrassment. “Connie, seriously?” Chrys exclaimed and darted her eyes over to the sixteen year old boy at the counter whose eyes were wide and his jaw went slack.
“Pl-please continue – that was really hot.”
Connie shook her head.
“You’ve got three years left, dude, before you can even hit this.” Chrys seductively batted her eyes at him. “Now you got two corn dogs?”
The young boy slowly nodded, still stunned by their conversation.
Chrys placed her hand onto her face and shook her head. Connie turned around and shrugged her shoulders.
“So, back to the rogues, and tonight’s plan, how do we apprehend them? Since it’s a bar, I could have Jonah play my boyfriend who acts really douchey, and they’ll come to “comfort me” but I’ll kick their ass when I get them cornered.”
Chrys shrugged her shoulders and nodded in approval. “That’s an excellent idea, rogues always have some kind of inferiority complex, and have to feel like the big man.”
Connie snorted. “Isn’t that why they went rogue anyway? They wanted dominance and power for themselves.”
The girls sat down at the nearest green table with a striped blue and white umbrella.
Connie continued, “The only thing I’m questioning about this is Jonah might not fit the role.”
Both girls laughed at this, and imagined their friend, though he was training under Kai, he had a shy exterior about him that wouldn’t seem threatening.
“They’ll probably think you started it,” Chrys said as they climbed the stairs.
“You know we could always ask Kai? He’s went on one or two missions with us and he could definitely pull of that look we need.”
“Hey!” Chrys laughed, hitting Connie playfully across the table, who grinned like a Cheshire cat. “But he’s probably busy anyway, training the Younglings, but we probably couldn’t argue on cue like that anyway.”
Connie wiggled her brows and casually spelled out love in a sing song way. Chrys blushed at the comment and the fiery feeling that grew in her chest when she thought or talked about Kai expanded throughout her body. She was so preoccupied by her feelings that she didn’t see the boy in front of them with the food in his hands.
“The, uh, dog special and two corn dogs. It comes with two value drinks too.”
“Thanks.” Connie exclaimed and squeezed a ketchup packet into her tray. The boy still stood near their table. Chrys stared up at the boy, but it was Connie, who spoke,
“Boy, you better not be pre-coming in your pants, get out of here!”
The boy jumped and scurried away from their table.
“Well, that was harsh, Connie.” Though Chrys couldn’t help but laugh as she ate.
“Picking on little kids? Well, that’s a new low for you.”
Chrys knew who that voice was automatically and she rolled her eyes.
“Really, Kathy? You’re still here? I thought you left after we graduated high school”
Kathy was the school’s head cheerleader, and two-timing running student body president. She still looked the same despite two years having passed, except her long straight brown hair was cut short making her look a little bit older, but she still carried herself like a primadonna.
Fortunately, unlike in high school, she no longer had her two cronies following behind her.
“I can say the same for you, Chrysanthemum. What, you have no accomplishments in life?” Kathy snapped at Chrys.
“I really don’t think you want to run this game with me,” Connie said. She stopped eating and stepped toward Kathy, she growled under her throat. “You don’t have your cronies now to stop me from knocking the bitch out of you.”
Kathy’s eyes widened and stepped back.
“Not worth it, Connie,” Chrys called back.
Chrys had wanted to kick Kathy’s ass all through their high school life. She got up from her seat and held her friend back with her arm. As much as she wanted to scare the piss out of Kathy, she couldn’t let the Shadow Moon clan be exposed this way.
Kathy, regaining her snooty mentality, laughed, seeing that Connie wasn’t going to attack.
“If you think you sending your body guard to fight your battles again like you did in high school will keep working, you’re sadly mistaken. My father will just get your ass fired from whatever rat ass job you’re working at and then whatever other job you choose in the future. Your life will be finished.”
Chrys smiled and winked at her, catching Kathy slightly off guard.
“And I don’t need anyone to help me kick your ass, I can do that just fine by myself. Now get out of here before you ruin your plastic surgery.”
Connie brought up her middle finger and stuck out her tongue. Chrys hooked her arm through Connie’s and dragged her back to their table. Kathy’s face turned red with anger and stomped away furiously back to her car.
“Gosh, what a bitch,” Connie mumbled under her breath as they kept going. “I have no idea why she’s even still here, I heard her father went bankrupt and now she can’t go to her little high priced college.”
Chrys chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe you should have said that, that would have shut her up.”
“Damn, right? And maybe she would have started crying. I could have taken pictures and posted it!”
Chrys’ phone vibrated in her pocket and she stopped moving to remove it. The text message was a picture of her sister and Roan at the beach, she had her arm around neck, and he kissed her as they both looked at the camera.
Chrys grinned at the photo, glad that her sister was having fun, but there was a pang in her chest, she missed her sister and after giving her such a hard time, after finding out the reason why she moved them around, made her want to be a better sister.
“Who’s that?” Connie said, she craned her neck over the table. “Is that Harmony and the Alpha? They look good, like they’re having fun.”
Chrys put her phone back in her pocket and looked up at the oak wood door of the classroom they stood in front.
“Yeah, they do, but it’ll be time to head back soon, let’s walk with our food?”
“Yeah, sure come on.”
The two girls grabbed their food and headed back to the ice cream parlor.
Chapter 2
They rounded the corner and headed back to the ice cream parlor, the line was pretty long, but Chrys automatically noticed a guy with spiky brown hair in the line. He was wearing a black leather jacket and had his face in a book.
“Can you take over at the register for a moment? I want to speak to Nathan real quick, I haven’t seen him since we graduated.”
Connie nodded and headed for the back.
Chrys slowly crept toward him and pounced on his back, but Nathan didn’t seem the least surprised as he turned around to face and looked at her with bright azure blue eyes, smiling down at her from his height.
“Chrys? I can’t believe you’re still here. How have you been?”
Chrys rolled her eyes and nudged his shoulder, but she was smiling wildly.
“I know it’s been so long, I haven’t seen you since our school year,” Chrys said. The line moved an inch. “I’m just wor
king here now, college wasn’t for me, but how have you been? Last time I heard, you said you were taking over the family business with your dad and brother?”