Consequences

Where We Are Now...

Seven Years Later...

The sound of the waves crashing against the shore line was the wonderful sound Rae enjoyed waking up to on a regular basis. It was so much better then an alarm clock, although her bladder did most of the “time to wake up” morning calls that made her arise. It had taken Rae and Avery a few years to finally be able to make a down payment on the beach side property. It had belonged to a friend of Rae's father. Instead of selling it, he initially rented to them, but then the girls talked about buying it. Rae and Avery did many of the repairs to the house, but Rae's boss Markus did the work on the major things.

Rae's door had started to creak open, and she felt the bed start to shake about as though she was in an earthquake. “Rae! Time to get up,” Avery's voice whispered in her ear. Rae grabbed the pillow and covered her head with it, shushing Avery to get out of the room. Rae just didn't have the energy to get out of bed. The restaurant was so busy last night, after everything was said and done it was early dawn when she got home. “Just leave me, please,” was all Rae was able to get out of her mouth. The persistent bouncing on her bed continued until Rae kicked Avery off of it and onto the floor. “Ouch!”, she yelled out. “Aren't you late getting to the dispensary?,” Rae had asked. Avery walked over to the window and opened the shade and windows even more, making sure there was no way that Rae could continue to lounge in bed. “I'm giving you ten minutes to meet me downstairs,” Avery threatened. “Or what?”, Rae inquired. Avery started to jump on the bed once again, but jumped off when she saw Rae starting to move her legs to knock her off again. “Damn it! Just meet me downstairs.”

After a quick shower Rae made her way down to the kitchen. She was surprised to find that Avery had bought some muffins, biscuits, and pastries. On top of one of the bags Avery brought in, there was the morning paper. Rae just skimmed the headline, “Brutal Attack”. “So, what is the reason for this kind of treatment?”, she asked as she watched Avery dance around the island in the kitchen. Avery walked towards Rae and put her hands on her shoulders, “I met someone.” Rae should have known, that this new found happiness meant that Avery had found her new flavor of the month. Avery's love life was a never ending revolving door of disaster. She did have the worst taste in men. Tending to sway towards men she would have to take care of, emotionally damaged and broken. She would coddle them and cater to their every need, until she lost interest and needed to move on, or they were tired of her s**t. “So who is the lucky man?” Avery took at seat at the stool next to Rae, “He is amazing. Tall, beautiful green eyes, dark haired, and hung like a damn horse. I met him at a party I was the bartender at a few weeks ago. I thought it was funny that he sat at the bar practically half of the night. Thinking that he was trying to get my attention because he didn't drink a damn thing. That's when he told me that he is a recovering alcoholic, and hasn't drank in years. We chatted the whole night. We've gone on a few dates, but he has such a busy schedule though. Being an actor and everything.” Avery continued to gush about the new man in her life, but Rae was used to every stage of Avery's relationships, she was currently in the “love everything about him” stage. Avery said that they had a date that night and she wanted to take him to Rae's restaurant, The Jade Court. “You know I'm not going to be able to see him, I'll be in the kitchen cooking,” she insisted. Rae had finally opened the paper and started reading the article of the attack that made front page news. “Did you see this?,” Rae pushed the paper towards Avery who was leaning over her shoulder. “I glanced at it. Shame too. I think it said something about it happening on the out skirts of town. I don't think the guy is in the hospital anymore.”

Avery tried distracting Rae by flashing her eyes and batting her lashes, which was a way Rae knew there was something that she wanted. “Well, I know that, but I wanted to see if maybe you could cook something here? So we could stay in for dinner. And you could meet him when you got home.” Rae just shook her head. “I bought all the food and it's in the fridge. So do you think you could do that for me?...Pleaseeeee?” Avery was on her knees begging. “I have to get to work, so I'll take that as a yes!” She jumped to her feet and gave Rae a kiss on her cheek before making her way to the door. “If he is staying the night, make sure I can get some sleep tonight!” She yelled out in hopes that Avery heard her before she heard the front close shut.

Not that it was Rae's intention to head over to the parlor, because she mainly wanted to sleep in most of that morning, Rae just couldn't pass up time to spend with Markus. He had been a family friend for decades. He stood up and tried to fill her father's shoes when he sadly passed away about twenty years ago. Markus was a voice of wisdom, a rock for comfort, and a no nonsense kind of guy who could always see through everyone's bullshit. Rae had always admired that about him, and strive to be like him one day. But, Rae wore her heart on her sleeve, and a very guarded person. True she had so many acquaintances in life, and so many people she could call her friends. In truth though, her close circle of friends could be counted on one hand only.

Rae got into her car, a classic 1970s Buick Wildcat. It was something that her grandfather gave her before his passing. She loved this car, it was fire red in color adorned with the coveted tri-shield on the the hood. The black leather interior solidified the fact that this was a “show room” kind of car. The chrome fascia textured grilles, the sporty “Wildcat” script on the chassis of the vehicle, the tight wheel frames, tight vinyl hood, polished rocker guards, and clean cornering lamps. It was her grandfather's pride and joy. Many a sunny days she would remember taking scenic drives with him along the coast, stopping for burgers and fries, watching the ocean waves beating against the California sands. Every time she turned on the car, she would smile when she heard the engine turn over, faintly hearing her grandfather's voice echo in her head, “She purrs like a cat!”

Rae was headed to Ink Kink, which was the tattoo shop she worked part time, aside of the chef thing. This was one of her first jobs that she had when she first moved to from McFarland. Her and Avery went in one day to get matching tattoos to celebrate the occasion of becoming adults and being on their own. And that's where Markus found out how fantastic of an artist she truly had become. He was completely in awe, and offered a job on the spot. His words of wisdom such as ,”Before s*x, you help each other get naked. After s*x, you only dress yourself. Moral of the story, in life no one helps you once you're f****d,” “If someone tells you to expect the unexpected, slap them in the face and then ask them , “You didn't expect that did you?”, and one of Rae's personal favorites, “When a woman says what, it's not because she didn't hear you, she's giving you a chance to change what you just said.” And since he was so straight forward, he made it quite obvious that he was not a fan of Avery. “Ah, so you made it in without your leach today?”, he hollered from his booth in the back of the shop. Markus was about 6'2”, burly biker, with silver gray hair, that was always slicked back, and gray facial hair, gauged lobes, and covered head to toe in tattoos. He glanced over his wire frame glasses with his sinister brown eyes, waiting to get a response from her. “She's euphoric right now. She has a new flavor of the month.” He laughed and then continued to etch an image into a clients arm. “May God have mercy on his soul,” she added quickly. She walked closer to Markus's booth and saw that it was one of her designs he was tattooing. The guy sitting in the chair was wincing in pain and agony, with his fingers clenched in fists, hearing the vibration of the coil and watching the color of the art being imprinted into his skin.

“I think you're ready for a break,” Markus said as he smacked the guy in the chair on the arm. The guy looked grateful for the offer. Rae quickly sat in the chair next to Markus, with her sketchbook in hand. “Okay, so this is for the “just turned 18 tramp stamp”, this is for the “I love the new man in my life and get his name tattooed on my body”, and this is for the “cancer survivor”. I still think it's a mess that you're having her pay for it. That should be charity work for you.” Markus laughed, calling her over to him and patting his lap. It's not what you think, he never thought that way about her. He treated her like the daughter he lost, in what he likes to refer to his “darker years”. Rae made her way over to him and sat in his lap. “And what about you?”, Markus interrogated. Rae scrunched her brows in confusion. “What about your flavor of the month?” Rae chuckled loudly, and started to move off of his lap. Markus had a tight hold on her, and wasn't budging until he got an answer, that he approved of. “I don't settle for the flavor of the month. Even the flavor of the year at this point. Fate will decide for me. I may have already met him and not even known it. He's out there somewhere, and one day our paths will cross...” she said.

He loosened his grip and released her from his lap, as he caught Rae looking at her phone. “You know, I looked at the paper this morning, and that attack s**t,” Markus looked at her with true concern in his eyes. “It scares me that you are out there alone some nights, leaving that restaurant,” he shook his head, but was afraid to let her go. “Markus, stop it. I'm a big girl. I have been able to take care of myself these days. And I proud myself on the dirty fighting that you've taught me for self defense. But, I have to get to work right now,” Rae started gathering her things together. “Really, do you ever take a vacation? Work, work, work...” Rae punched him in the shoulder, but hurt herself more than what she was trying to do to him. “Can't pay my bills with my looks you know. It's money these days that makes the world go round.” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before heading back to the Wildcat. The kitchen at The Jade Court, wasn't going to prep itself for the patrons dining that evening.