Chapter 5

Shaw 

       Sometimes, I really hated working at my job. The Gold Mine was a fantastic place to work, but the customers just made it unbearable at times. Especially when the customers were my boyfriend's parents who hated my guts.

       I was starting to think that the only reason they ate at this restaurant was to torment me and make my life absolutely miserable.

       "Shaw," the owner of the restaurant, Cedric, said. "Table four is in need of your service."

       I peered out of the kitchen to see who was sitting there. "Oh, come on," I said. "Can't someone else do it? I'm tired of waiting on them."

       "You can't pick and choose who you wait on," Cedric said. "You're going to separate your personal life from your work life."

       I sighed before heading out of the kitchen and to the table Lawrence and Tara were sitting at. "Can I start you two off with anything to drink?" I asked, trying hard to hide the venom in my voice.

       "Yeah, I would like a glass of 'please stay away from my son'," Lawrence said.

       "That isn't on the menu," I said. "The drinks we have are listen on the back."

       "I'm serious, Shaw," Lawrence said and I rolled my eyes, preparing for the shots that were going to come towards me. "He has his whole future ahead of him, and he's willing to risk it all just to date someone like you. He was even close to failing his classes last term."

       "Alright, if you want to bash me, I suggest doing it when I'm not working," I said. "You're wasting my time so again, can I start you two off with anything to drink?"

       Lawrence and Tara both told me what they wanted, and I headed back into the kitchen to get them their drinks. Holden was also working today, and he walked up to me. "You know, if you were to spit in the drinks, I wouldn't tell," he said.

       I smiled a tiny bit. "As much as I would love to do that, I'm trying to be professional. They make it really hard though."

       "I'll take over for you," Holden said.

       "Really?" I asked.

       "Yeah, nobody's sitting at my tables yet so it won't be that big of a deal if we switch for the day," Holden said.

       "You're willing to put up with your parents?" I asked.

       "If it gets them to stop bothering you, then yeah, I won't mind," Holden said.

       "You are amazing," I said, giving my boyfriend a quick kiss. "Alright, they both want a glass of water with a lemon wedge. And please, be professional and don't spit in it."

       "I would never," Holden said.

       He did.

       When I gave him a flat look, he just innocently said, "What? They won't know. All that matters is I will and that will make me feel a lot better."

       I didn't have much to do since my shift was ending soon, and the tables Holden normally covered didn't have anyone sitting at. Before I knew it, it was time for me to clock out and I couldn't wait to get home and not be in Lawrence and Tara's presence.

       "You're so luck you could leave now," Holden said. "I still have another two hours. Oh, which reminds me. I'll probably be late coming home because afterwards, I'm going to be showing Jane around the village."

       "Alright," I said before kissing his cheek. "I'll see you later."

       Lawrence and Tara were still eating, and they glared at me as I walked out of the kitchen. I ignored them and left The Gold Mine before heading home. I really didn't understand why they were so against me and Holden dating, and why they felt like they had to blame me on every single thing that went wrong in Holden's life.

       I was actually the one making sure Holden went to school on time and did his homework, and we hadn't been dating too long before the semester ended, so it wasn't like the short time we were dating caused him to fail.

       I really didn't want to bother with them anymore, but they were the ones always finding a way to squirm back into my life. Things would just be a lot easier if they either accepted it or ignored it all together.

       Too bad it that would be too good to be true.

       To make matters worse, I saw Jordan walking in my direction. I kept walking, hoping he would just ignore me and walk past me.

       He didn't.

       "Hey, Shaw," Jordan said right as I past him, so I sighed and turned around to face him. "About Holden..."

       "No," I said. "I already get enough crap from his parents. I don't want it from you as well."

       Jordan held up his hands in defense. "Whoa, don't worry, I'm not going to say anything about your relationship. I just want to talk solely about Holden."

       "About what exactly?" I asked, not sure if I should believe him.

       "This semester has only been a week long, and his grades are already as low as they could be," Jordan said. "And since he lives with you, I just want you to make sure he puts in as much effort as he could. I may not necessarily like your relationship, but I now have to put that aside since I'm his teacher."

       "Believe my, I try to get Holden to do the best he could," I said. "He just has a lot going on his plate, so don't expect him to be a straight A student."

       "Anything I should know about?" Jordan asked.

       "Just brain injuries," I said. "Short-term memory loss."

       "Oh, I didn't know," Jordan said. "Alright, I'll make sure I keep that in consideration. Just... Make sure he doesn't completely give up. I can already tell during class that it's what he wants to do."

       "I'll talk to him," I said. "Thanks. For putting our issues aside."

       Jordan shrugged before walking to wherever he was going in the first place. I turned back around and finished my walk to my house. Almost immediately after I stepped inside, my cell phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket to see Josh calling, so I answered. "Hello?"

       "Hey," Josh said. "I'm just calling to check up on Holden because of his latest injury. How has his memory been?"

       "Pretty much the same before it," I said. 

       "So nothing to severe?" Josh asked.

       "Not really, no," I said. "Why?"

       "I just had to make sure," Josh said. "This is his third injury to his brain, and his memory could have gotten a lot worse."

       There was a sudden knock on the door and when I answered it, I was greeted by someone standing there with a blood-splattered shirt. "I need your help."

       "Josh, I'm going to have to call you back," I said, hanging up the phone without waiting for a reply.

_________________

:O wHaT hApPeNeD?????? 

lol

i love this series. so much unexpectedness. 

AND GIFS TO COME MID-CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER WOOOOOOO. And I have a lot of gifs for my new favourite pair of best friends: Jane and Holden. I made a lot of gifs for them last night ahahahah