Quinn
Great, Evan has gone out to run some errands and left me here alone with Stella. She keeps staring at me and giving me daggers every so often when she thinks I am not paying attention but I see it. I haven't had a lot to do with Stella up until today, she has always been dragged around by Evan. I don't think I have seen her even bus a tray yet. Blue eyes hasn't come in yet but it is still early, plenty of time for him to drop by, or not.
I try to make small talk with Stella while out total of 5 customers eat and chatter amongst themselves quietly but all I get back are one syllable answers and a couple of grunts so I give up. Soon the morning "rush" was now ready to leave so are lined up at the counter to pay, I encourage Stella to take the opportunity, while Evan was out, to get some real skills in and have some fun. She stood up to the register and spoke politely to the first customer, ringing up their order and taking their cash with ease and grace, she was certainly a people person. I let her handle the rest of the customers while I started to clear the tables and wipe them down, taking the empty dishes to be washed when Joe comes in.
Once I have finished stacking the dishes for Joe, I wander back out to the floor to check on Stella and there is no-one around, no customers and no Stella. I walk out the back and still no sign of Stella, I search the whole shop but she is nowhere to be found. I panic as I hear the familiar tinkling on the bell on the front door, I quickly scamper back through to the front of the shop, just in time to see Stella sneaking back in and hurriedly putting her Aprons back on and tying it securely around her slim waist. She notices me standing just by the door to the back and she smiles at me innocently as if nothing happened " where did you go?" I asked calmly, despite feeling anything but calm. She rolls her eyes as she responds " I haven't been anywhere but out here, waiting for more customers to come in, bored out of my brains while you slack off out the back and leave me to do all the work" she snarls, normally I wouldn't let something like this get to me but the nasty looks and mutters as she passes me have built up and annoyed the shit out of me, I haven't done anything to her to deserve this, as she starts to walk towards me to exit to the back behind me, I hold my hand out to motion to her to stop but she ignores me and continues right passed me, knocking my shoulder roughly as she passes. I snap! I grab her hair and pull her back towards me, a loud scream escapes her lips as she stumbles backwards " Get back here!" I snarl at her, gripping the section of hair I had hold of tighter, so tight I am sure I was close to ripping it out of her little head. She looks up at me and I notice a flicker of fear flash in her eyes before she steels her posture and retorts " You don't get to tell me what to do Quinn! I have no idea how you even have a job here, you suck at everything and you're a damn murderer. No way in hell you should even he walking the streets let alone be allowed to work in a public place, eft alone with cash and such. If I had my way, you would be either 6 foot under or in a jail cell where you belong" . This catches me off guard for a few seconds but as soon as I snap back, I grab her head and push her to the floor, jumping on her and start letting my arm fly, punching and slapping anywhere I can, she tries to scramble from under me but I place my full weight on her as I continue to assault her before I feel string hands pulling me backwards and throwing me across the room, I land hard on my butt. Evan stands over Stella in a protective manner as he help her up off the floor, blood dripping from her nose and small cut above her eye. He tells her to sit while he finds the Fist Aid kit to tend to her cuts, he motions for me to follow him, standing between us as a barrier, ensuring I don't try to tackle her again, I trudge past him, my eyes not leaving Stella, her face twisted into a scowl as she stares right back at me.
Evan follows me out to the storage room and shuts the door " What the heck just happened out there Quinn? I can't tolerate violence amongst my staff. You may be a senior employee but that does not give you the right to attack another staff member. Now what the hell happened?" he asks me through gritted teeth. I take a deep breath, running my hand through my wavy hair I reply " I was sticking up for myself, she started it! She left the shop unattended and then lied about it and called me a murderer!" I mutter in my own defence. I look into Evan's eyes and I see a glimpse of remorse but it disappears as quick as it appeared and gain replaced by anger "I don't care what she did or didn't say, you should be able to handle a situation better than that. I know the last couple of years have been hard on you but its not excuse for your shitty behaviour today. Go home Quinn, I don't want to see you right now and I need t tend to Stella" he says quickly as he locates the First Aid kit and stalks off towards Stella.
I huff in annoyance, grab my stuff and head out the back door, slamming it as hard as I can on the way.
Marching down the street I play the whole scenario back in my head, yes I could have handled that better but she has been goading me for weeks. And what was that stuff about calling me a murderer? What the hell? The only other person whom has said that to me is Ace's Dad. He blames me for what happened that night that stole his precious son from him. I know it was my idea to sneak out that night but it wasn't my fault how it played out not the end result.
Why did that get to me so much though?
As I reach my apartment and fumble around in my bad for my keys, I feel like I am being watched. I finally locate my keys and rush to unlock the door, stepping inside I take a quick glance behind me and find no one around at all. I brush it off and close the door, locking it securely and throwing the keys on the table. I sit down on the couch and lay my head in my hands and think over the morning events. What was Stella even doing and why was she so secretive about it? It bothers me that Evan didn't even stop to ask my side of the story, he didn't even react to me telling him she left the store unattended. I groan and flop back onto the cushions and close my eyes and breath slowly, a technique I learnt from my therapist after…well, when my life turned to shit!
I must have fallen asleep as a loud banging on my door wakes me with a jolt. I look around gathering my bearings before getting up and opening the door. Evan stands there, hands in pockets and his hat covering his eyes. I move to the side and motion for him to enter, he does slowly and removes his hat, setting it down on my table before sitting down himself. He takes a deep breath " I don't want to have to let you go Quinn but.. " I cut him off before he can finish his sentence " What?! Seriously? How is this all my fault? She started it. She left the store without telling me so I could watch the floor, then she lied about it and got nasty. I was defending myself, I hope you are sacking her too?!" I spit out at him, my lips quivering slightly. Evan puts his head down and says nothing for a few minutes but then " Quinn, I am not firing you. I am giving you a warning. I cannot have that kind of violence and behaviour in my establishment. I know you Quinn, I have never seen you once bat your eyelids at an irate customer who didn't like the way their coffee was made or their bacon was overcooked but somehow Stella ….What triggered such a dramatic reaction?" he asks softly, trying to understand what went down. I explained how it played out and it seems he got a totally different story from Stella, which he knew there was very little truth too but had to accept it, at keast until he got my side. After we talked it out, it was decided that I need to cut back a little bit and take some me time, also Evan wants to train Stella properly and he thinks that if he takes her under his wing, he can sort her out so we wont be rostered together, which I am happy for. The only problem now is a have to work with …Mandy! Oh god!