“God damn it,” I muttered, shutting the closet door shut angrily, causing a loud band to echo throughout the room.

“Effie?” I heard Tony call as I made my way around the room, snagging a sweater off Tony’s side of the bed.

“What?” I snapped, buttoning my jeans.

“What’s wrong?” he asked confused as he walked into the room.

“Oh nothing, I just lost another sweater; I’m taking yours,” I mumbled and then sighed, slumping my shoulders as I glared at the bed. I had been in a sour mood ever since coming back from my visit with Cassie and I so was not looking forward to going to work tonight.

“Another one?” Tony asked incredulously. “You’re worse than a little kid.” He joked, chuckling slightly.

“Ha ha,” I muttered with a deadpanned expression as I adjusted my shirt before I started walking toward the door, brushing past Tony as I did so.

“Oh come on Effie, I was only joking,” Tony sighed from behind me as he followed me into the kitchen.

“Well sorry if I don’t find it amusing when all my shit keeps going missing.”

“Missing? What are you talking about?” he asked, giving me a confused look as he leaned against the counter.

“Come on Tone, you don’t find it just a little suspicious that I keep losing things or that I got a fake phone call from some girl telling me I didn’t need to go to Hope Services when they have never even heard of anyone by that name?” I huffed angrily.

“What are you trying to say?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

I took in a deep breath, setting Tony’s sweater down on the counter before I looked over at him, my nerves spiking slightly. “Mike told me about Laurel.” I admitted quietly.

He kept his face impassive. “What about Laurel?”

“He told me what happened and that she was put into a psyche ward, he also mentioned that she got out recently.”

“Well Mike should have kept his mouth shut, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Tony muttered, anger entering his tone.

I sighed. “This is why I didn’t say anything, I wasn’t going to because I know if you wanted to talk about her you would but this is just getting to be too much, I mean, there’s a chance I can do jail time if the courts think that I deliberately skipped my community service.” I said exasperatedly.

“So what Effie, you think Laurel is coming in here and stealing your things? Sabotaging your community service? Why would she do that?” he asked in a condescending tone and I winced slightly.

“I don’t know but how else can you explain what’s been happening?” I said, staring down at the counter.

“Maybe you’re just forgetful?” he offered with an annoyed laugh.

I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat. He didn’t believe me, but then again, why would he, I could barely believe it myself. After all this shit I went through with my parents, just when I thought things were going to be different, I get a crazy psycho ex thrown into the mess that is my life. I sighed, closing my eyes and shaking my head before I grabbed Tony’s sweater as I opened my eyes.

“Whatever, just forget I said anything,” I muttered and hoisted my bag up on my shoulder, grabbing my keys before I made my way to the door.

“Effie,” Tony sighed and I heard him start to follow me.

“I have to go to work,” I mumbled and then hurried out the door, slamming it behind me.

I made my way to my jeep and quickly climbed in, just wanting to get moving so the wind can blow through my hair and I can try to forget the fact that this was Tony and I’s first fight since I had come back to California. I sighed as I glared down at the steering wheel before I put my key into the ignition and turned it. Nothing, nothing happened. I swore under my breath as I tried again, and again to start my car but it wouldn’t even click.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

I sighed again and opened the door, popping the hood. I made my way up front and glanced around, trying to find something in the light of the setting sun. Just when I was about to give up I finally found the problem and I clenched my hands into fists as I slammed the hood shut and stomped up into the house again.

“I thought you had to go to work?” Tony muttered from the couch, his voice filled with annoyance as he scowled at the television.

“My car won’t start.” I said flatly, giving him a glare.

He sighed and looked at me. “What do you mean; we just had that thing in the shop?”

“Well it’s kind of hard to start when it’s missing a spark plug.” I said in annoyance.

“What?” he remarked, standing up and giving me a confused look before his mood soured again. “Let me guess, Laurel came and took that too?” he scoffed.

“Well it didn’t just grow legs and walk away now, did it?” I practically shouted.

“Effie,” he started to say, his voice raised but I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

“Don’t, okay, I don’t want to talk about it anymore just,” I sighed, trying to control my emotions. “Can you please just give me a ride to work? I’m going to be late.” I mumbled, sounding defeated.

He didn’t say anything but started walking toward the kitchen and when I heard the jingle of his keys I made my way back outside. I heard him close the door to the house as I climbed back into my jeep and grabbed my things. He got in his car and started it and I had barely gotten the door closed when he started to back out of the driveway. The ride to Lucky’s was awkward and tense and I wanted to speak up – I didn’t like the feeling of Tony being mad at me – but I was positive that Laurel was behind everything that was happening and Tony didn’t want to hear any of that so I kept my mouth shut as I stared out the window, watching the sun settle in the horizon.

He pulled up to Lucky’s and stalled at the curb and I grabbed my things and just as I put my hand on the door handle he spoke up.

“Effie, wait,” he said with a sigh and I looked toward him.

“What?” I mumbled.

He sighed again. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? Laurel is just a sore subject for me and I don’t like talking about her, but, if you really feel that strongly about this than I’ll look into it, okay?”

“Okay,” I said with a shrug as I popped the door open.

I got out and closed the door, not even say bye to him and made my way inside. It wasn’t that I was mad at him, I mean, not really, I was more mad at myself. I hated feeling like I was annoying him and I hated that I was bringing up Laurel when he obviously didn’t want to be reminded of her but I had no choice. I couldn’t go to jail, if I did, I knew I would lose Tony and I couldn’t bare the thought of that.

Despite my glum mood I threw myself into my job, which was a good thing too because we were pretty busy. I barely had time to breathe as people crowded the bar, shouting their orders at me. I was thankful for the rush though, it kept my mind off everything and it’s not like I couldn’t handle it; I actually thrived on a busy night like this because it made the time fly by. The bar was finally slowing down a bit and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw a familiar face.

“Hey,” Mike said as he leaned over the counter top, grinning at me.

“Hi!” I grinned back. “What are you doing here?” I asked, glancing around the crowded place, wondering if the other guys were here.

“It’s just me,” Mike said with a chuckle, reading my mind. “I’m here with some friends from high school, catching up.”

“Oh,” I said and then smiled. “Let me guess, Jack Daniels?” I asked then, raising my eyebrows.

“You know me so well,” he teased, giving me a goofy grin.

I laughed before I reached down and grabbed the bottle, setting up the shot glasses.

“Hey, so there was actually something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” I said as I poured.

“What’s that?” he questioned, his eyes following the slight show I was putting on as I filled his glasses.

“Do you have a picture of Laurel?” I asked hesitantly, setting the bottle down.

He gave me a quizzical look. “I might, I’ll have to dig around though, why do you ask? Is something going on?” he asked, a hint of concern echoing in his voice.

“I don’t know,” I sighed, debating whether or not I wanted to tell him considering what happened when I told Tony but I decided to anyway, I wanted someone to tell me I wasn’t going crazy here. “Some weird stuff has been happening, like I keep losing things when I know exactly where I put them and I’ve been having trouble with my car, and then someone called me and told me they worked for Hope Services and said I didn’t have to show up yesterday for my hours but when my probation officer called them today, they said no one even worked there by the name she gave me, oh and I swear, sometimes I feel like someone’s watching me.” I said in a rush.

Mike gave me a look, raising his eyebrows. “Gee, is that all?” he muttered sarcastically. “Fuck Effie, what does Tony think?” he asked then.

I sighed, looking down at the counter and thankfully Mike seemed to understand what I was saying without me having to actually say it.

He sighed too. “Look, Eff, don’t take it too hard, okay? This whole thing really messed Tony up and he felt really bad with how everything went down, you know? I mean, no one wants to admit that they have a psycho ex, especially when that ex is literally psycho. Plus, Tony always wants to see the good in people and he wants to believe that Laurel got better. Give me a little bit and I’ll try and find a picture for you, okay?” he said, giving me a small smile and I nodded, glancing back at the bar.

“Yeah, I should probably get back over there anyway,” I said, gesturing to the new crowd that was forming.

He nodded and gave me another smile before he grabbed his shots and headed back out into the crowd. It was a little while later when I was just finishing making a cocktail when I felt my phone buzzing in my back pocket. I took it out, keeping my hand under the counter – Lucky didn’t care too much about us having our phones but I liked to stay professional – and I noticed I had two missed calls and three text messages from Tony. I opened the last message and read it and he asked me to call him when I got a chance.

Just as I was slipping my phone back in my pocket I looked up to see Lucky ducking under the counter and coming toward me.

“Hey, pretty busy tonight, you ready for a break?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Yes please,” I said giving him a grin.

“Get out of here,” he said giving me a playful shove and I laughed before I made my way outside.

I leaned back against the brick wall of the building as I looked out into the night, enjoying the way the cool breeze nipped at my damp skin. I pulled my phone out again and sighed as I called Tony.

“Effie?” he answered on the second ring.

“Hey,” I said in a small voice.

“Are you off work?” he asked.

I sighed. “No, it’s a busy night, Lucky gave me a little break but I don’t have much time, what’s up?”

He sighed over the line. “I’m sorry, about earlier. I don’t want to fight with you.” He said and I could hear the emotion in his voice.

“I don’t want to fight with you either.” I said quietly.

“Well, I was thinking, that maybe we can go to the diner after I pick you up tonight? We haven’t been there in a while and we can just talk, you know, like we used to?” he asked, a hopeful tone in his voice.

I smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Alright, I’ll be there at four?”

“Um, actually, I’ll just meet you at the diner, Mike’s here, he can give me a ride, just in case Lucky lets me off early.”

“Okay, just let me know if you get off early, or if Mike can’t take you.”

“I will.”

“I love you Effie,” he said and I could just picture the way his eyes would light up when he spoke.

“I love you too Tony.” I responded with another smile.

We hung up and I made my way back inside and things were finally calming down at the bar. It was a little while later when Mike came running up to the bar and there was something about the look on his face that caused a surge of nerves to travel through me, making the hair on the back on my neck rise.

“Effie, what did that girl want?” he asked quickly.

“What girl?” I exasperated.

“The one that was just up here,” he said, his tone sounding slightly annoyed as he glanced around us in a nervous way.

“Mike, do you know how many girls I have served tonight, I can’t even remember the last drink I made, let alone what the person who ordered it looked like.” I said in a huff.

“She looked like this,” he said pointedly and then shoved his phone in my face.

I had to take a step back so I could see his phone clearer and I noticed that he was showing me a picture of someone. She was a very pretty woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. I could see she had her nose pierced and her full pink lips were curved up in a smile in the candid shot and the longer I stared at it, the more I realized that I had seen her before. My stomach dropped when I realized just how much I had seen her. She had been in Lucky’s almost every night this week and I mentally kicked myself for not noticing it sooner. Mike was right too, I had just given her a drink and now that I thought back to it, I couldn’t help but remember the way she had been staring at me, not the drink I was making – which was a normal thing to do – but she had been staring right at me.

I gulped as Mike took the phone away. “Is that…?” I questioned, letting my sentence trail.

He nodded slowly. “That’s Laurel.”

My stomach dropped as I looked around the bar.

---

“Now, are you sure Tony’s coming, like it wasn’t some sketchy text message you got?” Mike asked as he pulled into the parking lot of the diner.

“I swear he’s coming, I actually spoke to him on the phone, I just texted him and he said he’s on his way, you can call him if you want, besides, what is she going to do at the diner, in a public place?” I said, unsure if I was trying to reassure him or myself.

“Effie, she doesn’t need to do anything, she already has,” he said seriously, turning to look at me.

“What do you mean?” I asked, giving him a confused look.

“Effie, you said she’s been stealing your stuff, messing with your car, following you around, now tell me, how many times have you thought that you were going crazy, that you were being paranoid” he asked and when I didn’t respond he took that as my answer. “Exactly. Effie, she’s getting in your head, making you question yourself and if this keeps up, it won’t be long before you start to think that you truly are crazy.”

I sighed quietly as I looked up at the diner and nodded silently, not sure if I could even find my voice as I realized he was right. I saw a light and turned to see him with his phone in his hand and I was surprised when I noticed him putting it up to his ear and I realized he was actually calling Tony. To say I was touched would be an understatement because in that moment I realized that Mike did care for me and wanted to look out for me and after everything that had happened in my life, the fact that another person cared so much about me was such an amazing feeling, one that I was still trying to get used to.

“Hey…yeah, we’re at the diner now I just wanted to make sure you’re coming before I leave her…alright, yeah, no problem…okay, and hey, Tone, listen to her man…yeah, alright later.” Mike hung up and looked over at me, giving me a reassuring smile. “He said he’ll be here in about ten minutes.

“Thanks Mike, for everything,” I said with sincerity.

He smiled. “No problem Effie, you’re a part of the family now.” he said with a shrug.

I wasn’t sure what came over me but I leaned over and grabbed Mike in a hug and after a moment of shock, he hugged me back, chuckling in my ear. I leaned back and laughed awkwardly before I shook my head and grinned at him as I grabbed my bag off the floor at my feet.

“Thank you again,” I said as I opened the door and began to climb out.

“Really Effie, it’s fine,” he said with another chuckle. “Now call me if anything happens okay, I mean it.” He said, his tone taking a serious note.

“I will.” I responded before I closed the door and made my inside.

He waited for me to get inside before he took off and I made my way over to mine and Tony’s booth. I sat down and Darlene immediately came up to me with a huge grin. I ordered my usual, and told her to add Tony’s as well and I tried to ignore the suggestive look she gave me before she sauntered off with a laugh; I swear she thinks she is responsible for Tony and I getting together. I smiled and turned my attention outside and I had barely been sitting there for five minutes when I heard the booth squeak across from me and I turned my attention away from the window but the smile I had been wearing quickly faded as I realized it wasn’t Tony sitting at the table with me.

I’m not going to lie, my instinct to run kicked into overdrive when I saw the blonde hair, blue eyed woman sitting across from me but I stayed put, holding my ground and keeping my demeanor calm and collected. I was tired of running and if Laurel thinks that I’m going to run away from her, or from Tony, then this bitch would be in for a surprise.

Notes

I finally updated!! Ha ha, sorry it took a bit longer than usual I've had a pretty hectic schedule these past few days and I kept getting distracted when trying to write this chapter so hopefully it's not too bad and I hope I left @Lost in Neverland enough to lead off from, if not, I'm sorry, I tried!!

Leave us your comments and predictions!! Any guesses on what Laurel is going to say to Effie?????

As always, thank you for reading and leaving us your feedback!!

P.S. can someone buy me a cheeseburger, I'm starving. :(