Post by Jen on Apr 26, 2009 21:30:59 GMT -5
Chapter 1
January 1996
“So? What do you think?” Harley’s friend Shannon asked her as she pushed the folder over in front of her.
“I don’t know Shannon…moving? Opening a restaurant?” Harley said cautiously. “You know I can’t cook.”
“I can! I’ll do all the food stuff and you can handle the finances. You said yourself you didn’t know how much longer you could stay in Miami with all your memories of Mallet. This is your chance – our chance – for a fresh start. New city, new jobs, new friends. Come on, will you think about it at least?” Shannon asked, almost pleading.
“Why do you want to leave so badly?” Harley asked.
“I don’t like to stay in one place too long, you know that. I’ve been in Miami for four years, Harley. Too long. Time for some new scenery.”
“New men, you mean,” Harley teased.
“A fringe benefit,” Shannon smirked and tossed her long, red, curly hair behind her shoulder. Harley had been friends with Shannon since they met almost two and a half years earlier when Harley was investigating a break-in in Shannon’s apartment complex. The two instantly hit it off and Harley knows that if it weren’t for Shannon, she wouldn’t have even gotten out of bed most days since Mallet died five months ago.
“I’ll think about it, okay?” Harley promised and Shannon let out a squeal of happiness before she gave Harley a quick hug and bounced out of the house. “I’ll call you later, I have a date!”
Harley shook her head with a smile after her friend. Shannon was gorgeous and never lacked for male attention. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Shannon literally dated all of the men left in Miami and needed to move to meet anyone new.
“Washington, D.C…certainly a change of scenery from the beaches of Miami,” Harley mumbled as she reclined back on the couch and flipped through the ideas Shannon had contained in the folder she left for her. Shannon was right, memories of her time with Mallet in Miami haunted her every day. She had quit the force a few weeks after Mallet’s death and had been paying the bills by doing odd jobs for the older ladies that lived in her neighborhood. She got a decent pension from the state since Mallet was killed in the line of duty, and that, in addition to the life insurance policy he set up after they got married, she had more than enough to fund half of this restaurant idea of Shannon’s. Harley hated the idea of using money she got from Mallet’s death on herself, but she didn’t know what else she would do with it and she figured Mallet would approve of this funding if it was something she really wanted.
“Do I want it?” she asked herself out loud as she laid the folder back on the table and closed her eyes against the memories of Mallet running through her mind.
April, 1996
“Frank? Hey it’s me! Guess where I’m calling from?” Harley asked when Frank picked up the phone at the diner. “From our brand new, well, new to us, very…ummm…well, it needs some TLC, but it’s ours! It’s our restaurant and it’s great!” she exclaimed while Shannon walked around the empty space thinking of decorating ideas.
“So you made it to Washington, huh?” Frank asked.
“We did. You know, I’ve been sort of wary of this whole business thing, but now that I’m here, now that it’s real, I’m excited you know? It’s time to start a new part of my life and this is good,” Harley insisted.
“Sis, as long as you’re happy, you know we support you.”
“I know Frank, and that means so much to me. I know you would rather that I came back to Springfield, but I just can’t…I left Miami because of the memories of Mallet and I have just as many from Springfield. I’m just not ready to face that yet.”
“Yes, we wish you were here, but we understand. We do,” Frank assured her. “Are you okay? I mean for money and everything until things get started?”
“I’m fine, big brother. We’re planning on opening in September and I’ve enrolled in some business classes, so I’ll be keeping busy. I’m fine, really,” she answered with a genuine smile on her face.
“Good. Give us a call if you need anything, okay? We can come down some weekend and help out if you want.”
“I will, thanks Frank. I have to go, we have a city inspector coming in a few minutes. I’ll call you later, okay? I love you,” she said before she hung up.
“So what do you think?” Shannon asked.
“I think…this is going to be great,” Harley smiled and Shannon squealed before she ran over and hugged her.
[
August, 1996
“Now, I remember why I quit high school,” Harley sighed as she fell onto the couch at Shannon’s apartment, exhausted. “I was up all night studying for this test.”
“How did it go?” Shannon asked as she passed Harley the pizza box and a beer.
“Alright, I think. I don’t know. I guess we’ll see,” she shrugged. “How do those resumes look?”
“Some promising applicants. This is so cool, I feel so grown up and important. These are going to be our employees, Harley! We’re the bosses!” Shannon exclaimed.
“I don’t really feel like a boss,” Harley grumbled.
“You have to have a positive outlook. You have to be confident! Come on, what aren’t they teaching you in those business classes?”
“I must have missed the day they told us nothing would be hard, everything would come easily and perfectly,” Harley teased.
“Well, of course it’s not going to come easily, but we can do this. Right?” Shannon asked.
“Yes, absolutely we can do this. You’re right, we can do it,” Harley nodded and grabbed another piece of pizza.
“Speaking of doing…I have another date with Mark tomorrow night,” Shannon segued.
“Oh yeah, that’s going well, huh?”
“Yeah, really well, he’s nice. His uh, brother just moved to town though and he doesn’t know many people. Mark wants him to come out with us tomorrow night.”
“Third wheel?” Harley asked.
“Third of hopefully four…” Shannon replied cautiously, looking at Harley.
“What? No. Shannon, no,” Harley said firmly.
“Harley, you haven’t been on a date since Mallet died. This doesn’t have to be anything serious, it’s just dinner and maybe a movie. Come on, I don’t want Mark’s brother hanging around during my date, but it would be so much better if you would come too,” Shannon practically begged.
“Shannon, I don’t…I’m not ready to…date,” Harley gulped.
“One date, Harley. That’s all. And you gotta eat dinner tomorrow night, right? So come eat with me,” Shannon shrugged.
“You owe me. And you better make sure he doesn’t think he’s getting more than dinner with me,” Harley warned and Shannon sat back, victorious.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“So what do you guys think? Want to see a movie?” Mark asked the next night after dinner.
“Sure!” Shannon replied quickly and Harley shot her a look. “Harley, we’ve been wanting to see that movie with Matthew McConaughey, what’s it called?”
“A Time to Kill?” Mark’s brother Tim asked.
“Yes! That’s it. Let’s go see that!” Shannon replied and looked pleadingly at Harley.
“Are you up for it, Harley?” Tim asked hopefully.
“Why not?” Harley finally replied and Shannon grinned as they all got up from the table.
“Have you seen it?” Harley asked Tim as they walked out of the restaurant.
“No, but I’ve been wanting to,” he replied, placing his hand on the small of her back maneuvering her around a small crowd standing outside the restaurant.
Harley smiled politely at him and tried to step out of his reach and she silently cursed Shannon in her head.
January 1996
“So? What do you think?” Harley’s friend Shannon asked her as she pushed the folder over in front of her.
“I don’t know Shannon…moving? Opening a restaurant?” Harley said cautiously. “You know I can’t cook.”
“I can! I’ll do all the food stuff and you can handle the finances. You said yourself you didn’t know how much longer you could stay in Miami with all your memories of Mallet. This is your chance – our chance – for a fresh start. New city, new jobs, new friends. Come on, will you think about it at least?” Shannon asked, almost pleading.
“Why do you want to leave so badly?” Harley asked.
“I don’t like to stay in one place too long, you know that. I’ve been in Miami for four years, Harley. Too long. Time for some new scenery.”
“New men, you mean,” Harley teased.
“A fringe benefit,” Shannon smirked and tossed her long, red, curly hair behind her shoulder. Harley had been friends with Shannon since they met almost two and a half years earlier when Harley was investigating a break-in in Shannon’s apartment complex. The two instantly hit it off and Harley knows that if it weren’t for Shannon, she wouldn’t have even gotten out of bed most days since Mallet died five months ago.
“I’ll think about it, okay?” Harley promised and Shannon let out a squeal of happiness before she gave Harley a quick hug and bounced out of the house. “I’ll call you later, I have a date!”
Harley shook her head with a smile after her friend. Shannon was gorgeous and never lacked for male attention. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Shannon literally dated all of the men left in Miami and needed to move to meet anyone new.
“Washington, D.C…certainly a change of scenery from the beaches of Miami,” Harley mumbled as she reclined back on the couch and flipped through the ideas Shannon had contained in the folder she left for her. Shannon was right, memories of her time with Mallet in Miami haunted her every day. She had quit the force a few weeks after Mallet’s death and had been paying the bills by doing odd jobs for the older ladies that lived in her neighborhood. She got a decent pension from the state since Mallet was killed in the line of duty, and that, in addition to the life insurance policy he set up after they got married, she had more than enough to fund half of this restaurant idea of Shannon’s. Harley hated the idea of using money she got from Mallet’s death on herself, but she didn’t know what else she would do with it and she figured Mallet would approve of this funding if it was something she really wanted.
“Do I want it?” she asked herself out loud as she laid the folder back on the table and closed her eyes against the memories of Mallet running through her mind.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
April, 1996
“Frank? Hey it’s me! Guess where I’m calling from?” Harley asked when Frank picked up the phone at the diner. “From our brand new, well, new to us, very…ummm…well, it needs some TLC, but it’s ours! It’s our restaurant and it’s great!” she exclaimed while Shannon walked around the empty space thinking of decorating ideas.
“So you made it to Washington, huh?” Frank asked.
“We did. You know, I’ve been sort of wary of this whole business thing, but now that I’m here, now that it’s real, I’m excited you know? It’s time to start a new part of my life and this is good,” Harley insisted.
“Sis, as long as you’re happy, you know we support you.”
“I know Frank, and that means so much to me. I know you would rather that I came back to Springfield, but I just can’t…I left Miami because of the memories of Mallet and I have just as many from Springfield. I’m just not ready to face that yet.”
“Yes, we wish you were here, but we understand. We do,” Frank assured her. “Are you okay? I mean for money and everything until things get started?”
“I’m fine, big brother. We’re planning on opening in September and I’ve enrolled in some business classes, so I’ll be keeping busy. I’m fine, really,” she answered with a genuine smile on her face.
“Good. Give us a call if you need anything, okay? We can come down some weekend and help out if you want.”
“I will, thanks Frank. I have to go, we have a city inspector coming in a few minutes. I’ll call you later, okay? I love you,” she said before she hung up.
“So what do you think?” Shannon asked.
“I think…this is going to be great,” Harley smiled and Shannon squealed before she ran over and hugged her.
[
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
August, 1996
“Now, I remember why I quit high school,” Harley sighed as she fell onto the couch at Shannon’s apartment, exhausted. “I was up all night studying for this test.”
“How did it go?” Shannon asked as she passed Harley the pizza box and a beer.
“Alright, I think. I don’t know. I guess we’ll see,” she shrugged. “How do those resumes look?”
“Some promising applicants. This is so cool, I feel so grown up and important. These are going to be our employees, Harley! We’re the bosses!” Shannon exclaimed.
“I don’t really feel like a boss,” Harley grumbled.
“You have to have a positive outlook. You have to be confident! Come on, what aren’t they teaching you in those business classes?”
“I must have missed the day they told us nothing would be hard, everything would come easily and perfectly,” Harley teased.
“Well, of course it’s not going to come easily, but we can do this. Right?” Shannon asked.
“Yes, absolutely we can do this. You’re right, we can do it,” Harley nodded and grabbed another piece of pizza.
“Speaking of doing…I have another date with Mark tomorrow night,” Shannon segued.
“Oh yeah, that’s going well, huh?”
“Yeah, really well, he’s nice. His uh, brother just moved to town though and he doesn’t know many people. Mark wants him to come out with us tomorrow night.”
“Third wheel?” Harley asked.
“Third of hopefully four…” Shannon replied cautiously, looking at Harley.
“What? No. Shannon, no,” Harley said firmly.
“Harley, you haven’t been on a date since Mallet died. This doesn’t have to be anything serious, it’s just dinner and maybe a movie. Come on, I don’t want Mark’s brother hanging around during my date, but it would be so much better if you would come too,” Shannon practically begged.
“Shannon, I don’t…I’m not ready to…date,” Harley gulped.
“One date, Harley. That’s all. And you gotta eat dinner tomorrow night, right? So come eat with me,” Shannon shrugged.
“You owe me. And you better make sure he doesn’t think he’s getting more than dinner with me,” Harley warned and Shannon sat back, victorious.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“So what do you guys think? Want to see a movie?” Mark asked the next night after dinner.
“Sure!” Shannon replied quickly and Harley shot her a look. “Harley, we’ve been wanting to see that movie with Matthew McConaughey, what’s it called?”
“A Time to Kill?” Mark’s brother Tim asked.
“Yes! That’s it. Let’s go see that!” Shannon replied and looked pleadingly at Harley.
“Are you up for it, Harley?” Tim asked hopefully.
“Why not?” Harley finally replied and Shannon grinned as they all got up from the table.
“Have you seen it?” Harley asked Tim as they walked out of the restaurant.
“No, but I’ve been wanting to,” he replied, placing his hand on the small of her back maneuvering her around a small crowd standing outside the restaurant.
Harley smiled politely at him and tried to step out of his reach and she silently cursed Shannon in her head.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~