Take Me Back To A Place

by MxLovelyRose94

Summary:

Violet is down on her luck after losing her job and apartment. She moves back in with her parents for a second chance at life, and ends up meeting a bar owner that's also down on her luck, but for different reasons..

Notes:

This story takes inspiration from Coyote Ugly, Roadhouse, and a bunch of various Rom-Com movies that came out during the 2010s. I haven't really done a "Slice of Life" style of story in a long time, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless.

Chapter 1: I Want My Soul..

Piltover, a city that’s “Always innovating.” whether it’s the changes to the environment, the people, or the overall culture of the city. Something’s always changing. It’s not always for the best, but there’s more hits than misses all things considered.
Something that was done to benefit Piltover, was having more dedicated environments for various generalized lifestyles. Progress is what Piltover always strives for, its wealth is within the culture that the citizens try to express.
It’s early in the morning, just around 5 o’ clock. Various people are clocking out of their jobs for the day to go home, while other people are waking up for the morning shift.
For Vi, she was already awake prior to the 5AM alarm, she got a light workout done before she had to devote her day to her job. Vi was very time focused, she had a routine down almost to a microsecond. Her showers never exceeded 15 minutes, and her skincare consisted of pharmacy store facial masks that only needed a couple minutes to set.
Vi had her suits laid out on her bed, ready for her to put on when she got out of the shower. She put the clothes on, making sure every inch of material was smooth to the touch. Afterwards she approached her dresser, grabbed her keys, wallet, phone, and picked up the picture of her girlfriend. Vi placed a kiss on the picture for good luck, then sat it back on the dresser.

Vi worked in IT department of Hexcorp as the lead security consultant, a job that she took seriously. She was normally the first in her department to make it to work, and the last as far as the whole company to leave.
On this day, Vi decided to make a quick stop at a local dine-in gas station to pick up some breakfast for her and her team. It wasn’t long before Vi had the food in hand, and was able to leave to head to work.
For a good portion of the day, Vi had it pretty easy. She talked with some of the higher ups about the changes in defense technology, brought up her ideas for enhanced surveillance equipment, and ran some drills with her team as far as what to do during an active threat situation.

A pretty normal day it was.

Until…

“Violet?” a deep voice called out in the room that Vi was working in.

Vi stood up from the spot she was working at, glancing at the person that called for her. “Yes, sir?” she asked.

“You’re needed in the boss’s office, it’s important.” The man said.

“Sure thing.” Vi made her leave from the room, walked down the hall to the elevator, entered it, and typed the code to be lifted to the boss’s office. “It is always nice to see you, says the man behind the counter to the woman who has come in..” she was quietly singing along to the song that was playing on the elevator speaker. Eventually the elevator stopped at the floor that Vi had requested, she then stepped out of the elevator and walked to the door to the office. She knocked on the door a couple times before she cracked it open. “Hello?” Vi called out.

“Violet, come in.” A feminine voice responded.

Vi walked into the office, then she made her way to the desk, sitting on the opposite side.

The woman behind the voice turned in her chair to look at Vi, she kept a calm gaze upon the pink haired woman. “How are you today, Violet?” she asked.

“Not too shabby, Ms. Medarda.” Vi answers.

“Ms. Medarda is my mother.” The woman says with a soft chuckle. “Call me Mel.” She insists.

Vi smiled and gave the woman a slight bow. “Not too shabby, Mel.” She corrected herself. “I went over some active threat plans with my team, and was in the middle of typing up exercises for the company before I was called up.” She explained.

Mel nodded a few times before reaching for the folder that sat on her desk. “That’s good.” She said while flipping a page within the folder. “You’ve put in some hours for the amount of time you’ve been with the company.” She pointed out. “How have you enjoyed your time here so far?” Mel asked.

“Uhm…” Vi starts off. “It was a little rocky jumping into a corporate environment, but it’s nothing I wasn’t able to adjust to.” She answers. “I also didn’t expect to move up as quick as I did, but I do feel that I have exceeded in my position so far.”

“I agree.” Mel glances at Vi, smirks at her before looking back at the woman’s file. “In fact, you’ve become a massive benefit to the company since you’ve donned the consultant role.” She compliments as she places the folder back onto the desk. “How would you like to move up in the company?” she asks.

The question took Vi by surprise, she kept her focus on Mel, making sure she’s being serious. “I mean…” she gulped. “I would love to move up, I feel like I could do more for the company if I had some more pull.”

Mel held to her smile as she slid a piece of paper over towards Vi. “I love that answer.” She spoke. “Now, you probably know about how far technology has come in the multiple years we’ve been in this Tech Age.” She started off. “Many companies have been relying on the use of a certain type of tech, that many would deem unethical.” She continued. “If we wanna stay ahead of the curve, we’re gonna have to move to utilize this tech…”

“Y-You don’t mean…”

“Artificial Intelligence.” Mel said. “I want you, and your team to start work on an AI that’ll be every bit as secure as you guys are.” She continued. “It’d be your baby, 100%.”

Vi reached for the piece of paper, holding it up. “So, this isn’t a promotion?” she asked while reading the paper.

Mel stood up, walked around the desk, placed her hands on Vi’s shoulders and leans in some. “It’s bigger than a promotion.” She said. “It’s progress.” Mel whispered into Vi’s ear before she moved back to her chair. “It’s a guaranteed spot with me, as we bring Hexcorp into the modern age, hell, as we bring it to the future.”

“I get saved…” Vi starts off as she sets the paper down. “What about my team, what happens to them if we get this done?” she asks.

“Well…” Mel let out a sigh as she leaned back in her chair. “Unfortunately, the company won’t need them anymore, so we’d let them go.” She admits.

Vi started to feel a little insulted by Mel’s answer. “So, you’re telling me, you’re gonna use me and my team to future proof this company, but you won’t keep them on?”

The look Mel gave Vi was that of shock, and also a slight amount of hurt. “Ms. Violet, it’s not using you in the slightest.” She said. “Especially when it’s part of your job to provide the company with security.”

Vi slowly shook her head.

“Look, whether your team does it or not, we’re moving forward with this project.” Mel starts off. “I want to give your crew a chance to hold onto their jobs a little longer, and give you a chance to be part of my team.”

The pink haired woman raised a brow at Mel’s words. “Those are people’s lives, Mel..”

Mel shrugged as she took the piece of paper, stuffed it back in the folder. “Yeah, people’s lives that…” she sighed as she put the folder back in her desk drawer. “You could’ve given one more chance to.”

“What the..”

“Collect your things, Ms. Violet.” Mel demands. “Your services will no longer be needed with the company.” She continues. “Before you leave, return all assets to the secretary, and any other assets that the company paid for will be repossessed from your inventory.”

Vi stared at Mel for a few seconds, scoffing at her words before she got up. “I’ll be the bigger person.” She said as she ripped her badge off her blazer, she then tossed it on Mel’s desk as she turned to leave the room.

When Vi left, Mel pressed a button on her phone. “Security, make sure you escort Ms. Violet and the remaining IT Security Team off the premises, please.” She said.

---

And just like that, Vi was fired from her job for questioning the CEO’s morals. Did Vi feel bad about it? No. She wanted to stand up for her crew, especially with how hard they work every day to keep things secure for the company. Still, she wished that things turned out differently, maybe even keeping half of her crew as a compromise.
Vi was driving home when she got a call from one of her dads, she answered it to hear Silco on the other end. Silco was talking about some random health recipe that he found online that he wanted to make for Vi, and was curious if what he read about the ingredients were correct. Vi assured him that they were, and even suggested some of her favorite brands to incorporate to what Silco was planning.
The conversation was slowly changing to what Vander was up to when Vi pulled into the parking lot of her apartment. She noticed the moving vans, and the rather fit men moving stuff out of her apartment, into those vans. Vi told Silco that she’d call him back, hung up, and got out of the car to approach one of the men.

“Hey.” Vi called out. “What the hell is going on here?” she asked.

The moving guy looked over at Vi. “The complex is paid for by Hexcorp, and you don’t work for Hexcorp as far as we knew.” He answered.

“I thought I had a week, though?”

“I’m just doing my job, my boss is in the apartment though, you could ask ‘im.”

Vi sighed as she stormed from the parking lot, up the flight of steps, and into her now old apartment. She noticed a tall man holding a clipboard and approached him. “Hey, I get I don’t work for the company anymore, but I was under the impression that I had a week before I had to move.”

“Uh..” The man with the clipboard flipped a couple pages, glancing at what was written on the paper. “According to my document here, that policy expired a few months back, as a cost cutting measure.” He explained. “Do you have a location where I can send this stuff to?” he asked.

“My folks’ house.” Vi answered as she pursed her lips. “It’s safe to assume that I’m not allowed to pack anything, or move anything to my car?”

“You can take anything that’s perishable.”

Vi nodded and walked to her fridge, only spotting a single can of soda. “I guess it’s good that I didn’t go shopping today…” she mumbled to herself as she grabbed the can. “Keep up the good work.” She raised the can towards the guy before leaving the apartment to go to her car.
She got into her car, leaning back in the driver’s seat. “Where am I gonna go?” she thought to herself. “I could go to Cait’s, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind since we’ve been talking about moving in together…” Vi opened her soda, then took a sip from it. “But, I know she wanted wait until we got a house… I could see if my dads would let me move in…” Vi pulled out her phone, tapped the screen a few times, and then placed the phone to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Dad.. It’s me again..” Vi said.

“Hey dear, what’s going on?” Silco was on the other end, asking with a concerned tone of voice.

“I um…” Vi started, pursing her lips for a few seconds. “I need a place to stay for a little while.” She admitted.

“You know you got a place with us, Violet.” Silco assured his daughter.

A couple tears fell down Vi’s face as she nodded. “I’ll… I’ll explain what’s going on when I get there, let’s just say, it sucks a lot.”

“You sound very sad, take your time getting here, I don’t want you to get into an accident… Okay?”

“Okay…”

“Love you.”

“Love you too, dad… See you soon.” Vi said before hanging up, she brushed her eyes of any tears as she put on her seatbelt. She let herself gain some composure before she started the car, and then pulled out of the parking lot to her former apartment complex.

---

Like her dad suggested, Vi took her time driving to her dads’ house. She made a few stops on her way, mostly to pick up some food, drinks, and snacks. Vi wasn’t in a healthy mood, and wanted to indulge a little bit. She eventually made it to her dads’ house, it wasn’t the biggest house, but she would never complain about going back home. Vi saw both her dads sitting on the swinging bench that was built when she was a kid, it took her back to when she would come home from school.

As she got out of her car, bags in hand, she hears “Violet, welcome home!” from Vander, whom still had his more muscular build even at his age. Vi with bags in hand ran towards the porch, Vander met her half way with a tight hug. “We missed ya, kid..” Vander whispered in his daughter’s ear.

“Missed you too, pop…” Vi allowed herself to melt into her dad’s arms, feeling secure for the first time that day.

Silco walked from the porch to where his husband and kid were, carefully grabbing the bags from Vi. “Come, I made some tea.” He said as he gave Vi a gentle pat on her shoulder.

The three walked inside the house, made it to the kitchen, Vi and Vander sat at the kitchen table while Silco put away Vi’s food.

“So, you’re staying with us for awhile?” Vander asked.

Vi nodded a few times. “I got fired from my job today, and because my job paid for my apartment…”

Vander made a face at the last part of Vi’s sentence. “I didn’t realize you worked for one of those kinds of companies.” He said.

“Yeah, I did.” Vi sighed.

“How did that even happen, Violet?” Silco asked as he poured the tea into three different cups. “Last we knew, things were going swimmingly, like.. You were in the running for a promotion, no?”

Vi leaned back to look over at Silco. “Well dad, I was in the running.” She started off. “I actually got the Lead Consultant gig, and today I was potentially going to be a board member.”

“Board member?” Vander asked. “That would’ve been huge for you.”

Vi gave Vander a look that told him “No shit.”, which Vander saw and shrugged. “Ms. Medarda… I mean, Mel… Wanted my team and I to work on an AI to aid in security research.” She pursed her lips for a few seconds. “But upon completion, my team would’ve gotten laid off, while I take the credit for their work as part of Mel’s team.”

Silco walked to the table with the three cups, making sure Vi and Vander got their cups respectively. “It’s safe to assume that you refused to play ball, which is why you got fired?” he asked as he finally sat down.

Vi nodded.

“That’s the Penderghast blood in ya.” Vander said with some pride in his voice. “We always take care of our own, always.”

Silco rolled his eyes. “Anything to take credit, right?” he quipped at his husband before focusing on Vi. “We’re proud of you for sticking to your morals.” He said calmly. “And you’re welcome to stay with us as long as you need, we could use the company.”

“Thanks, dad..” Vi smiled at Silco before taking a sip of her drink. “Is uhm… Is my room still in-tact or do I have to sleep on the workout bench in the garage?” she asked.

“Actually, your room was a mess.” Silco started off. “The movers did a number on your room when they showed up, I was scared that they would track mud all over the house.” He continued. “Luckily, your father did what the kids say… Locked in… And worked on your room while they moved things in.”

“Damn skippy, I did.” Vander boasted. “And you’ll never have to sleep on the workout bench, not while I’m kicking.” He added.

Hearing that her room was properly taken care of, eased Vi’s mind. She took another sip of her tea before she stood up. “Then I’m gonna go ahead and retire to the room, I had an emotionally taxing day.” She announced. “Maybe get a shower in, so that way I can clear my head.”

“Are you gonna need a night cap, dear?” Silco asked.

Vi shook her head. “No, I’ll be okay..”

“Alright, well..” Silco stood up, walked to Vi to give her a hug. “Just let us know if you need anything, okay?”

“Love ya, kid.” Vander joined Silco on hugging their daughter.

“Love you both..” Vi said with a slight smile. “Good night.” She said before breaking from the hug to go to her room.

Chapter 2: The Trade

Summary:

After a weekend of putting in applications, Vi decides to go to some kind of trade fair in hopes to get some kind of work.

Notes:

Sorry about the delay, still doing some world building with this story, but I'm enjoying the foundation I'm laying so far. Hope you are as well!

A couple days passed since Vi got fired from her job, and was forced to move back in with her parents. In those two days, Vi organized her room to her liking, helped Vander on doing some yard work, and put in some applications for work. At some point, she was able to talk to her girlfriend, tell her about the situation, which she seemed fine with it over the phone.
Vi was the first one in the house to be awake, she spent the time putting in more applications before taking a shower to freshen up for the day. After her shower, she decided to put together some breakfast for her parents. It wasn’t much, just some pancakes, eggs, sausage, a typical Americana-style breakfast. Plus, it was Vi’s cheat meal day so she wanted to enjoy something for the soul.

Silco woke up to the scent of breakfast, walked from his room to the kitchen to see his daughter portioning the food onto three different plates. “Well, good morning, dearie.” He greeted.

Vi glanced at Silco with a slight smile. “Morning, dad.” She said before washing her hands. “Ya hungry?” Vi asked.

“I could eat.” Silco responds as he sits at the table. “How are you holding up, without a job and all?” he asks.

“Eh..” Vi shrugs while putting away Vander’s plate. “Holding up as well as I can, thankfully I don’t have a lot of bills, but I’m not used to not doing much.” She admits as she grabs her and Silco’s plates, bringing them to the table. “If I wasn’t hungry, I probably would be in Pop’s game room doing whatever finishing touches that it needed.” She adds with a chuckle.

Silco laughs with his daughter while taking his plate. “Well do me a favor, leave his game room alone so he can finish one of his projects. Please.”

Vi kept a slight smirk on her face before taking a bite of the food. “If I can’t get a tech job, I could start up a diner.”  She says with some confidence. “I’m that damn good.”

“If only you went to culinary school, like I suggested.” Silco took a bite of the food, glanced at Vi, then followed up with a nod. “When you’re right, you’re right.” He complimented. “So, have you thought of other ventures when it comes to a career?” he asked. “I know you have that degree and all, but there’s not a whole lot of places within the city that needs the skills that your diploma offers.”

“I mean…” Vi took another bite of her food. “I thought about maybe trying my hand at being a secretary, I’m comfortable with sitting at a desk, doing things for people that won’t remember my name.” she said. “I was used to that at my last job.”

“What about something that’s not corporate?” Silco asked.

Vi looked at Silco for a few seconds, then back at her food, shaking her head. “Not really, no.” she said quietly.

Silco gave Vi a blank look before taking another bite of his food. “C’mon, dearie.” He started off. “You gotta expand your horizons a little bit, even if it’s for a little bit.” Silco reached his hand towards Vi’s, grazed it gently. “Then, who knows… Maybe a big company will pick you up, and have you cast a shield around their business.”

Before Vi responds, Vander comes galloping to the kitchen with a smile on his face. “Good morning to two of my favorite people.” He says before placing a big kiss on Silco’s cheek. “How’s everyone’s morning?”

“When the hell did you wake up?” Vi asked with a raised brow.

“About 10 minutes ago.” Vander answers and walks over to Vi. “Also watch that mouth of yours, young lady.” He says and playfully puts Vi in a headlock. “You’re not too old for me to kick your butt.”

Vi rolled her eyes. “Shame you’re too old for me to hit you with my German Suplex, Pop.” She said as she nudged Vander’s gut, which caused him to let go.

“Before you two turn my kitchen into the Royal Rumble, how about I get an answer to why you’re in such a good mood, sweetie?” Silco stood up with his plate. “Especially for being up for 10 minutes.”

“I just had a nice little chat with a young lady.” Vander answered.

Vi raised her brows. “Oh hell no..”

Silco was unfazed by Vander’s quip. “Oh really?” he asked in a monotone voice. “Elaborate while I pour my cup of coffee.”

“Aye, you’re no fun.” Vander says then looks over at Vi. “I was talking to your sister, actually.” He folds his arms, keeping a smile on his face. “She graduated college, and is coming home.”

Silco immediately turned around, shocked expression and all. “That’s great news, hon.” He said. “When should we be expecting her?”

“This Friday, she’s bringing her boyfriend with her.” Vander says. “Figured we’d celebrate by going out to dinner either when they get back, or Saturday night, what say you, Violet?” he asks.

Vi was as shocked as Silco was when she heard the news. Her and Powder would talk from time to time, not enough to where they’d be as close as they were when they were kids, though. “I mean, yeah, I’d love that.” She said with some excitement in her voice. “I’ll talk to Cait and see if she wants to tag along.”

Vander nodded a few times before looking at Silco. “Remind me today, to tidy up Powder’s room.” He said. “We don’t know if she has a place to stay when her and her boyfriend get here, so I wanna make sure it looks nice.”

“Should we allow a boy to sleep in Powder’s room?” Silco asks with a slight smirk. “We know how they are.”

Vi shook her head at Silco’s comment. “How come you never had that question when I was a kid, going out?” she asked as she stood up to walk to the sink. “Is it a lesbian thing?”

“Well, my child, we didn’t have to worry about you having anyone in your room.” Vander started off. “Because you were the child that other parents had to worry about for their daughters.” He said which made Silco laugh, and Vi flustered. “So, it was a little bit of a lesbian thing, as in nasty voicemails from other parents.”

“Okay, you made your point.” Vi’s face was as bright as her hair. “I still was able to keep my grades above most of the schools, so it wasn’t that big of a deal..” she pouted while she washed her dish.

“Hey, Penderghast! I dunno what kind of crazy house you’re raising, but I just caught your kid doing things with mine!” Vander started in a mocking tone. “Now I have to explain to my daughter why what she did was wrong, I’d suggest you do the same, or burn in hell.” He continued.

Vi’s eyes widened from Vander quoting one of the voice mails. “You suck..” she mumbled. “It’s pathetic that I remember her.”

“Enough, Vander.” Silco walked over to his husband, giving him a playful smack on his chest. “Violet made you breakfast, eat it, and get ready for those errands you said you’d run for me.” He demanded before placing a kiss on Vander’s cheek. “I’ll be on the patio checking on my garden.” Silco said as he made his leave.

“Violet, don’t get married.” Vander joked as he walked to the fridge, grabbed his plate and set it on the counter. “I overheard a little bit of your conversation with your dad.” He said and glanced at his daughter. “You know, that van is still in the garage, maybe you could start cleaning pools again.” He suggested before he took a bite of the food.

Vi turned her body slightly to face Vander and leaned on the counter. “Pop, I’m 30 and in a relationship, don’t you think it’d be weird for me to drive around cleaning pools all day?” she asked.

Vander shrugged. “I don’t see an issue with it.” He said. “I mean, if you don’t wanna do that, maybe you can convert the van into one of those Geek Squad type vehicles and offer to fix people’s computers.”

“Maybe…” Vi said. “There are a lot of old people in the city, and I could charge less than retail to fix up their electronics.”

“Get your bag, baby.” Vander said with his mouth full of food.

Vi rolled her eyes at her dad’s attempt at sounding young. “I’ll think about it, okay?” she asked, Vander nodded. “In the meantime, I’m gonna try to place more apps in and maybe look into some daily trade work.”

“You know you don’t have to get a job, right?” Vander points out before sliding his plate to the sink. “Like, your father and I have a handle on the bills, so there’s no stress in helping out around here.”

“You know that’s not how you raised me.” Vi said with a small hint of pride.

“Aye..” Vander walks to Vi, leaning down to place a kiss on top of her head. “We’re too much alike, and it annoys the shite outta your father.” He says with a chuckle.

Vi nodded a few times. “Yeah..” she started off. “One of you was enough for him, then I came around.” She said as she smacked her dad’s stomach, causing him to cough. “I’m gonna start on those apps, and then head out.” Vi walked past her dad. “Love ya!” she said.

Vander scoffs and rubs his stomach. “Kids..”

---

Vi spent the next hour putting in some more applications, then she got dressed for some work. She found a Trade Fair that wasn’t far from the house, so she threw the directions on her phone, got in her car, and drove over to where the it was.
Vi had a chance to talk with various people about potential employment, and scheduled some interviews for later in the week. Eventually she found some trade work that fit her needs, and filled out some paperwork. It was handling calls, and doing some sorting for a construction company, so there wasn’t a lot of heavy lifting involved. She drove from the Trade Fair, to the job site, and met with the owner of the construction company. The owner gave Vi the details on everything that needed to be sorted out, and let her into the office.
Vi spent most of her day doing system updates, as it hasn’t been touched in almost a year. While the computers were updating, Vi sorted through the physical documents, figuring out what needed to be saved, and what could be tossed out. She made sure to log most of the documents, even the ones she tossed out just to be safe. After the computers were updated, Vi uploaded all the scans into the system, which took longer than she was used to. Vi made some comments to herself about how much she missed the luxury of a dedicated server room.
Once Vi was satisfied with her work, she walked out of the office that she was working in, and went to the office of the owner.

“Mr. Hermes?” Vi called out.

“Violet, come in.” the owner said with a smile. “All finished for the day?” he asked.

Vi nods, placing a couple flash drives on his desk. “I was able to get everything backed up to these two drives, 512 gigs in total, which for a company is very small.” She points out. “I updated the security for your servers and storage.” Vi set a folder down. “I also got you a great deal on some security software, the kind that big tech companies use.” She explains. “The receipts are in the folder.”

The owner raised a brow and leaned back in his chair. “I’ll be damned, you’re pretty efficient at your job.” He complimented.

“I take pride in my work, sir.” Vi says with a slight smile. “Is uhm… Is there anything you need from me before I ask for my pay?” she asks.

“No, I think we’re good here.” Mr. Hermes says as he pulls out a check, writes down the pay and hands it to Vi. “I think that’ll suffice, thank you for your time, Violet.” He gives Vi a slight nod. “You have yourself a wonderful evening.”

Vi takes the check, gives the man a bow before leaving the office. As she walks, she takes a look at the check to see how much she got. “Yeesh… $125?” she says with a slight whine. “Well, I can’t complain too much..” she mumbles as she approaches her car. “I guess I’ll go see what Cait’s up to..” Vi puts her seatbelt on and starts her car.

The drive from the jobsite, to Caitlyn’s apartment wasn’t as short of a drive as Vi would like, but she wasn’t going to complain since she was looking forward to seeing her anyways. Vi eventually pulled into a parking lot of a very luxurious apartment complex. It reminded Vi of her former complex, with how green the grass was and all. She got out of her car, walked into the building, and made her way to Caitlyn’s apartment number.

Tap-tap-tap!

“Just a moment!”

Vi stood for a few seconds, feeling a tad excited to see her girlfriend.

The door opens to a tall, dark blue haired woman wearing a loose tanktop and a pair of pajama joggers. “Violet, hello.”

“Cupcake.” Vi smiled and leaned to hug Caitlyn.

Caitlyn returned the hug, slowly pulling Vi into her apartment. “How’s the job hunting, love?” she asked before shutting the door.

“Eh..” Vi answered with a shrug. “I went to a trade fair, met with people and scheduled some interviews.” She added on. “Was also able to do some security work, but didn’t make much..”

Caitlyn sat down on the couch in her living room, signaling Vi to come and join her. “Well.. I guess it’s better than nothing.” She said.

As Vi sat down, she leaned against Caitlyn and let out a groan. “I’m not used to not doing anything, I spent my weekend helping my pop do house work.”

Caitlyn ran her hand against Vi’s shoulder. “I’m sure something big will come up..” she said quietly. “But, what are you going to do in the meantime, Violet?”

“I guess I’ll keep doing daily temp work.” Vi answered. “Or maybe bring back my pool cleaning business.” She said with a slight hint of confidence. “I was able to pay my way through college.” Vi looked up at Caitlyn.

“I remember that.” Caitlyn chuckled. “But don’t you think that’d be a little..” she looked up for a few seconds to think of the right words. “Desperate?” she asked. “I mean you’re 30, that type of work sounds so low-class.”

Vi sat up some and turned her body to face Caitlyn. “It’s work, and guaranteed money.” She said and furrowed her brows. “I mean, it’s either that or I do some kind of computer repair service.”

Caitlyn huffs for a second. “I know.” She mumbles. “I just think you could do so much better, classier even.”

“I know, Cait… I know.” Vi sighs.

“I mean, when I told my friends, they were questioning how reliable you were.” Caitlyn looked at Vi with sad eyes. “I defended you like crazy, but I won’t lie and say I haven’t thought about that as well.”

“Cait, I’m just jobless, I’m not broke, or in a ditch somewhere.” Vi said with a defensive tone. “Plus, none of your friends ever worked a day in their lives, so who are they to judge?”

Cait reached for Vi’s lap. “Let’s not make this about them.”

“Cupcake, I don’t appreciate them talking down about me, and filling your head with lies.” Vi said. “Making it seem like I’m not good enough for you…”

Caitlyn kept quiet as she slowly crawled on top of Vi’s lap, she placed a few kisses on Vi’s jaw. “You’re more than good enough for me, Violet.” She whispered while she unbuttoned Vi’s shirt to reveal the woman’s bra underneath. “You’re perfect…”

Vi bites her lip from Caitlyn’s actions, instinctively placing her hands against the woman’s back. “I try my best, Cait..” she says quietly. “I really do.”

“You do, baby..” Caitlyn nods a few times as she caresses Vi’s abs. “You’re strong, both physically and emotionally.” She continues. “I apologize for being selfish when it comes to your situation…”

“It’s okay, Cupcake..” Vi says. “I know you meant well.”

Caitlyn moved her hands to pull off Vi’s shirt, then she hooked her arms around the woman’s neck. “Lemme take care of you, you deserve to feel better.”

Vi’s face lit up as she gazed into Caitlyn’s eyes, she nodded a few times. “I would love that..” she whispered.

“Then adjust yourself, so that way you can be as comfortable as possible..” Caitlyn coos before slowly moving off of Vi.

Vi lowered herself just enough to rest her head against the back cushion.

While Vi was getting comfortable, Caitlyn had slid out of both her tanktop, and joggers to reveal her toned, naked body. She slowly crawled back onto Vi, placing soft kisses on the woman’s defined abs. Caitlyn took her time with returning to Vi’s lips as she wanted to savor the sensation of her girlfriend’s body.

“F-Fuck..” Vi moaned out as her body moved on its own.

A low chuckle comes from Caitlyn when she’s finally face to face with Vi. “Pardon my obsession…” she says before pushing her lips against Vi’s, only tilting her head a slight amount.

Vi took a deep breath when Caitlyn started the kiss, she opened her mouth some to allow their tongues to dance with each other.
Her hands scale the frame of Caitlyn, keeping one hand on her upper back with the other hand sliding towards Caitlyn’s ass. Vi gives Caitlyn’s ass a gentle smack which causes the other woman to moan and press against Vi’s muscular body.
They part from the kiss to catch their breath. “God you’re sexy..” Vi licks her lips.

“Shut it, you.” Caitlyn smirks before licking Vi’s lips.

Chapter 3: Going Through Changes..

Summary:

Vi is still down on her luck going into the return of her sister, Powder, and she doesn't wanna give up... But that is the easiest thing for her to do right now.

“You have 1 new message…”

“Hello, Ms. Penderghast it’s Ashley from TRICELL Inc. I regret to inform you that we will not be moving forward with the hiring process. While your resume is impressive, we aren’t looking for a security consultant at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused, and wish you the best of luck.”

“Fuck..” Vi mumbled as she shoved her phone in her pocket. That was the third call within the week that gave her the news of whatever company she applied for, not in the market for someone of her skills.
Vi was still at home, applying at a few places while waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. As she was doing that, she also kept tabs on her sister’s flight, making sure she had a good idea on when to leave for the airport.

Silco entered the kitchen, and took notice of the expression on his daughter’s face. He walked past her to go to the fridge, grabbed one of his tea bottles, and then he leaned on the counter. “Another rejection, my dear?” he asked.

Vi nodded a few times. “I thought I had something with one place, but they said that they didn’t want to insult me by paying me less than my asking price.” She shrugged. “I said I’d be willing to work for less, but no dice.”

“Hmm..” Silco took a sip of his tea. “Have you thought about going for some thing different, like.. Quality Assurance work?” he asked.

“I did apply for a couple of companies, but most of the QA work is Indie games.” Vi started off as she grabbed a cup from the cupboard. “They don’t pay the best, and the gaming industry as a whole isn’t the best for a long-term career with all the layoffs.”

Silco nodded. “Well, I’m sure something will come up soon.” He said in an assuring tone of voice.

“Yeah..”

“So..” Silco gave Vi a smile. “Excited for tonight?” he asked.

Vi shrugged. “I’m excited to see Pow-Pow, but dreading the dinner.” She admitted. “It might sound a little selfish, but she’s gonna talk about her accomplishments in college, and all I have to bring to the table is… Me getting fired.”

Silco moved closer and wrapped an arm around Vi. “That’s not entirely selfish, Violet.” He said. “Look, you have a roof over your head, two parents and a sister that love you unconditionally.” Silco started off, grazing Vi’s shoulder for a few seconds. “While your situation could be better, it most certainly could be worse.”

“Thanks..” Vi said with a pout.

“Violet, things are going to be okay, it’s just a minor speedbump in the road.” Silco says calmly. “Trust in your… Younger father.”

Vi bit the inside of her lip, glancing at Silco with a smirk on her face. “Are you saying that I have three dads?” she asked quietly.

Silco rolled his eyes. “Piss off, you.” He laughed. “Speaking of that dinner, is your partner joining us?”

“No, Cait said that she’s gonna be working tonight.” Vi answers with a slight frown. “Must be nice.” She says. “I did get some odd jobs lined up next week, so I’ll be making something here and there.”

“See, there’s something positive for you.” Silco pats Vi on the shoulder before leaving the kitchen.

Vi let out a soft sigh. “Yeah..” she whispers to herself.

---

After a couple hours, Vi had left the house to drive over to the airport. The distance wasn’t a long one, and she was able to find an optimal parking spot in case Powder and her boyfriend were too jetlagged from the flight. When Vi walked inside the airport, she made haste to go to the correct airline’s baggage claim.
Vi was pacing back and forth as she saw a bunch of people come and go from the baggage claim area. Worried that she arrived too early, she looked at her phone to check the itinerary, she was on time. But as she decided to dial Powder’s number…

“Violet?” a voice called out.

Vi looked up from her phone to see a bright blue-haired woman, standing next to a young man with vibrant white dreaded hair.
“Pow-Pow?”

Powder immediately ran to Vi, jumping into her arms when she’s close enough. “It’s so good to see you again!” she lets out.

Vi hooked her arms tight around Powder’s waist, holding her up and nuzzling into her embrace. “Fuckin’ missed ya, kiddo.” She muffled against Powder’s shoulder. Vi leaned back just enough to look up at her sister with a smile on her face. “You look great.” She compliments before glancing over at the man that was approaching them. “Is that the mystery man you’ve told dad about?”

“Yip!” Powder answered. “That’s my mans, his name is Ekko.” She said before biting the corner of her lip. Her gaze shifts to her boyfriend. “Babe, this is Violet.”

Ekko gave a bow to Vi. “Nice to meet you.” He said with a soft tone in his voice as he rose up.

Vi carefully set Powder down, then walked closer to Ekko, reaching one arm over his shoulder to pull him in for a hug. “Hey, you’re someone my sister is nuts for.” She started off. “No need to act formal.”

“Oh, okay.” Ekko let out a nervous laugh. “I-I just wanted to be respectful, is all.” He explained before adjusting his bag.

“I’d get over that real quick, babe.” Powder said before walking over to grab her bags from the conveyer. “Both dad, and pop will eat you alive if you aren’t a wee bit lively.” She explained while mimicking Vander’s voice towards the end.

Vi walked over to Powder, grabbed her bags, hoisting one over her shoulder. “I can carry your stuff Pow-Pow.” She said with some confidence. “Ekko, do you have any bags that are coming through?”

Ekko shook his head. “No, what I have on me is what I have.” He answered.

“His dorm was the only one on campus that looked better than it did when he moved in.” Powder joked which made Ekko feel flustered.

“Impressive.” Vi said. “So, y’all in a rush to go home or do you wanna stop somewhere?”

Powder glanced at Ekko, he shrugged and followed it up with a yawn. “I think maybe we should head home first, Ekko pulled an all-nighter taking inventory of our belongings.” The blue-haired woman explained.

Vi shrugs “Fair enough.” She says and begins walking. “Besides, dad wants to take us all out tonight to dinner, so it’s probably better that you two get some rest.” Vi suggests.

“Wait, we’re going out for dinner?” Powder asks with some excitement.

Ekko raised a brow as he walks with the other two women. “Is the restaurant vegan?”

“I think I was supposed to keep that to myself.” Vi answered Powder, and then followed it up with a shrug. “And as far as the restaurant’s concerned, I think there’s some vegan options there.”

---

The trio eventually came home, with Powder and Ekko getting all the attention from Vander and Silco. Vi kept to herself, admiring the fact that her sister’s home, and that she seems happy with her partner. Both dads offered to reschedule the reservations when they heard that Powder and Ekko barely slept prior to the flight, but young couple insisted that they go out for dinner.
As everyone else was either catching up, or getting to know each other, Vi was in her room checking her voice messages in hopes of landing a job. To her luck, a tech firm had called her and expressed interest in hiring her. Part time, but it was more than something for her to hold onto until something better comes along.

Eventually the evening hit, and everyone was getting ready to go to the family dinner. Ekko was struggling a bit due to the fact that he didn’t have much clothes outside of what he fit in his bag. Thankfully, Silco had offered some of his clothes to Ekko since the two were of similar build. Vander of course, was being the dad that was time sensitive to everything going on. He wanted everyone to be ready at the same time, in the car at the same time, and at the restaurant at the same time.

It was decided while everyone was getting dressed that the guys would take one car, and the girls would take the other. Not that Vi really minded, she wanted to catch up with Powder anyways. But she was a little worried about Ekko, mostly due to how talkative Vander could be.
After the chaos, everyone left the house. Vander, Silco, and Ekko had a bit of a headstart in leaving, this was because Vi and Powder were doing some touch ups for each other’s makeup... Well, primarily Vi’s makeup needed a touch up, since she rarely does it.
Soon, the girls left the house and began the drive to the restaurant. To their surprise, there was a bit of a traffic jam heading into the city.

“Well, this sucks..” Vi said quietly before glancing over at Powder. “How’re you holding up, kid?” she asked.

Powder was looking at her phone, giggling at the texts that she’s getting from Ekko. “Remind me to beat up dad when we get home.” She joked.

Vi chuckled. “Lemme guess, they’re talking about the dating life from like, a million years ago?”

“God, if only.” Powder responds. “Dad and Pop are bickering about renovating the living room, and can’t decide on the style they should go for.” She starts off. “Ekko is being dragged in the middle of the conversation, and he’s unsure how to answer either of them without upsetting the other.”

“Poor guy.” Vi shifted her focus back to the road.

Powder sent Ekko one more text before putting her phone in her bag. “Say, Violet?”

“Hm?”

“Don’t you find it kinda… Weird that your girlfriend isn’t coming to the dinner with us?” Powder asked. “I mean, I get needing to work and such, but I feel like she could’ve taken an early shift or somethin’.”

The older woman shrugged at the question. “Her line of work requires her to be on call about 80% of her life, so I kinda expected this to happen.” She answered. “Cait’s good people though, and I know she’ll make it up when she has time off.”

Powder stared at Vi for a few seconds, having her own thoughts about the whole situation, but she doesn’t wanna harsh Vi’s happy demeanor. “What does she do for work, by the way?” she asked.

“She’s a medical engineer.” Vi starts off. “She works with various hospitals to help maintain their equipment and stuff.” She continues with a smile on her face.

“Ah..” Powder looked out the window, casually running her index finger on the dashboard. “Did you two meet in college as well?”

“Sure did.”

Silence filled the car for a few more minutes as traffic finally let up. Powder shifted in her seat slightly to look at her sister again. “Say, Violet?” she called out again.

“Pow-Pow?”

“I’m glad we’re home, together, again.” Powder confesses. “It would’ve sucked not having you around the house, you know?”

Vi felt some warmness in her chest from Powder’s confession. “Thanks, kiddo.” She said. “Although I feel the same way, there’s no way I would’ve made you two stay with our parents by yourselves.” She joked. “If I had my apartment, I would’ve given you the spare room.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course!” Vi said with pride as they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant.

---

The family gathered at one of the bigger booths in the restaurant, having lighthearted conversations about home life, careers, and aspects of school they all enjoyed. Ekko was able to feel comfortable enough to open up about his goals in life. He talked about his degree in fashion and design, and the fact that he already got some opportunities lined up for a paid internship.
Powder mentioned how she didn’t wanna go for any internships with her trade in Robotics, she wanted to try her hand being an entrepreneur and sharing her designs online, in an open-source environment.
That prompted Vi to offer up her services in designing a site for Powder should she need it, and gave her the confidence to bring up the good news of her finding a security job.
Overall, the dinner went off without a hitch, and things were starting to feel like it was changing for the better. At least for Vi, it was feeling that way. As everyone was getting ready to leave, Vander and Silco left to pay for the food. Vi, Powder, and Ekko stood in the waiting area and continued talking about various topics.

“… Anyways, that’s pretty much why I don’t mess with energy drinks anymore.” Ekko was telling Vi and Powder about a terrible all-nighter he had to do for a project, it involved too many energy drinks, and a crash during presentation that almost flunked his project.

Vi couldn’t help but laugh at the story. “See, that’s why you need to balance that out.” She started off. “Energy drink, then a few bottles of water, then coffee like… Four hours later, then when you’re at the tail end of your binger, one more energy drink.” She explained. “That’s how I got through mine without a crash.”

“Yeah, but you’re kinda a freak, sis.” Powder interjected. “Your energy drinks are the big-ass cans that are the size of your melon.” She joked while casually patting Vi’s head. “Ekko is a precious man, and doesn’t need the toxic additives that those energy drinks give.”

Ekko scratched the back of his head, laughing at Powder’s comment. “I mean, to each their own, I just didn’t pace myself that well.”

As Vi was about to respond, she glanced over at the bar, seeing a familiar woman with dark blue hair, sitting suspiciously close to another woman with strawberry blonde hair. She pursed her lips for a few seconds before shifting her attention back to Powder and Ekko. “Hey, you guys go ahead without me.” She suggested.

Powder raised a brow. “Everything okay?”

Vi slowly shook her head. “I’ll see you guys at home, okay?”

Powder and Ekko glanced at each other, nodding slowly before walking to where Silco and Vander were at.

When Vi knew for sure that her family had left, she walked to the bar where the dark blue haired woman was sitting at. The closer she got, the more her heart broke. “Cait..?” she called out when she approached the table.

The two women looked up, one with a curious expression, the other with an embarrassed expression. “Violet..”

“I thought you had work…”

Caitlyn looked over at the person she was with, then back at Vi. “I did, I got off somewhat early, and decided to go out with a friend to let loose.”

Vi gritted her teeth, letting out some deep breaths. “Friend?” she asked.

The other woman gave Vi a head bob. “Sup, I’m Maddie.” She introduced herself.

“Violet, this is Maddie.” Caitlyn said with a nervous chuckle.

Vi didn’t respond, not with words at least. She shook her head at the situation playing out before her.

“Babe, are all your exes like this, because that’s gonna be a deal breaker for me.” Maddie asked.

Caitlyn’s eyes widened at the question. “Madison..” she said in a sharp, quiet voice.

“Babe? Exes?” Vi raised a brow, her eyes began to water. “You know what, sorry for disturbing you, Caitlyn.” She said.

“Violet, wait.”

Vi shakes her head and walks away with tears streaming down her face. She tries to hide her face from the rest of the patrons at the restaurant as she storms out, carefully pacing herself to her car.

Caitlyn followed Vi close enough to catch her before she got into her car, but not to close to crowd the clearly distraught woman. “Violet, let me explain.”

“Let you explain what!?” Vi barked at Caitlyn. “Wh-What more needs to be explained, Cupcake?” she asked whilst fighting a sob.

“I.. I didn’t want us to turn out like this…” Caitlyn started off quietly. “I just…” she sighed. “I haven’t been happy with us in a little while, and as much as I wanted to work things out…”

Vi shook her head slowly, still doing her best to fight a sob, but the amount of tears were giving it away that she was broken.

“With the stress of my work, I just didn’t know how it could be possible to work anything out on my end.” Caitlyn confessed. “I promise, it had nothing to do with you, it had everything to do with how I’ve been feeling.”

“How long…”

Caitlyn bit her bottom lip. “A few months now.” She answered.

“So, you couldn’t have told me sooner that you were feeling this way?” Vi asked. “You strung me along, made me believe that things were fine, and that we were good?”

“Just thought it’d be easier to believe that nothing was wrong, that no one would get hurt…” Caitlyn walks closer to Vi, still leaving some space between them. “I thought that maybe whatever my deal was, would get fixed, and we’d never have to worry about this.”

“You and… Madison…” Vi gulps and lets out a shaky breath. “How long has that happened?”

“There was nothing that happened, but…” Caitlyn sighed. “I’ve been talking with her for a couple weeks..”

Vi looked down, no longer hiding her sobs as her body shook from the crying.

Caitlyn wanted so badly to reach over to Vi, embrace her as tight as she could, beg the woman for forgiveness. But she’d only be hurting Vi even more if she did that. “I meant to tell you, honestly…” she said. “Just… With the things going on with my job, the timing of you losing yours, and life getting ahead of me….” Caitlyn was trying to make an attempt to soften the blow, but she started to realize that it was counter-productive to her intentions. “I’m sorry, Violet… I’m just sorry.”

Vi slowly looked at Caitlyn, and shook her head slowly. “You don’t get to call me Violet anymore…” she said quietly. “In fact…” Vi reached into her pocket, pulled out her set of keys, undid one specific one and handed it to Caitlyn. “You don’t get to call me at all, anymore…”

Caitlyn took the key and nodded. “That’s fair, and you’re valid in your feelings, Vio..” she sighed. “Vi.” She corrected herself before she took a few steps away from Vi’s car. “I do hope that things change, and that you find it in your heart to forgive… Even though I don’t deserve it.” Caitlyn turned away to walk back inside the restaurant.

Vi slowly got in the car, taking a few deep and shaky breaths. “F-Fuck!” she screamed out before sobbing into her steering wheel. “Why me…” she continued her sob. Vi felt that she had gotten her life back for once, and was excited to take on the world up until she saw Caitlyn with another woman.

Notes:

Sorry about how long this took!
Like Vi, I've also been going through it with trying to find a job, recently found one and have been sticking through this job to the best of my abilities!

Chapter 4: Finding Yourself

Summary:

Vi's back in a bit of an emotional rut after her breakup with Caitlyn, now it's up to Powder and family to try to at least help Vi out of her funk.

It’s been a few days since Vi and Caitlyn had their breakup, and to say that Vi was taking it hard would be the understatement of the century. With few exceptions like going to her part-time job, Vi pretty much stayed in her room listening to sad music the whole time. Whenever anyone would ask how she is, Vi would shrug and give them partial answers that really didn’t answer much of anything.
At some point throughout the few days, Powder got fed up. She decided that she was going to drag Vi out of the house, and take her with to go to an interview. So she got dressed up professionally, then immediately walked to Vi’s room, knocking loudly on her door.

….

…

Vi eventually answers the door, wearing a loose tanktop, a pair of pajama pants, and a bag of chips resting in her free arm. “What’s up, Pow?” she asked.

Powder gave Vi’s look a once over before furrowing her brows. “First off, you look like hell.” She says before pushing her way through to walk into Vi’s room, seeing clothes strung out everywhere, and Vi’s desk covered in snack bags. “Okay, we’re getting you out of the house.” Powder said. “And no, I’m not giving you an option.”

Vi rolled her eyes and walked to her bed, plopping herself down on the corner. “I’m not going anywhere that I don’t have to.” She said. “And no, I’m not budging on that.”

“Is this what you want for yourself, Violet?” Powder looked at Vi for a few seconds, then back at Vi’s desk. “To work for a couple days, then come home to destroy yourself?” she asked. “I mean, what happened to the crap we said in the car the other day, does that not mean anything?”

“It does…”

Powder turned to fully face Vi. “Then what is it?” she asked.

“How can I go out in the world, when I feel like I’m alone in this world?” Vi asks. “I trusted Caitlyn, and she went behind my back..” she looks to the floor, feeling like how she did when found Caitlyn hugged up with that Maddie person. “I…” she sniffles. “I can’t go out there and feel vulnerable again, Pow-Pow.”

Powder can hear the pain in Vi’s voice, which makes her wanna find Caitlyn and do unimaginable things to the woman. But, she needs to be here for Vi, so she walks to the spot next to Vi, sits down, and gently caresses the woman’s leg. “I can’t imagine the turmoil you’re going through, Violet.” She starts off. “Remember when… That one kid trashed my science project?”

“Are you comparing my trust being broken, to your homework?” Vi asked with a soft chuckle.

“It’s the closest thing I got.” Powder says. “Now shut up.” She playfully shoves her big sister. “Remember what you did for me to get me over that?” Powder asks as she bites the corner of her lip.

Vi looked at the ceiling for a few seconds. “I think I made out with his big sister in his room.” She said.

Powder let out a cough. “That’s not where I was going with the story, but did you actually?” she asked with a raised brow.

“I’m not gonna say that I didn’t.”

Powder blinked a few times then shook her head. “I was talking about how you went out of your way to rebuild my project, and improved on what I did.” She explained. “You gave me an important piece of advice that honestly got me through college, and my degree.”

Vi looked at Powder as she explained everything. She vaguely remembered what was said, though it was somewhat hazy.

“You said that life is gonna have bumps in the road, and the most important thing to remember is not the fact that the bumps exist…” Powder leans her head on Vi’s shoulder, keeping her eyes on her big sister.

“… But how you’re going to make it to the otherside.” Vi finishes what Powder was saying as she wraps Powder in an embrace. “And if I still have a pulse in my body, you’ll always look better on the other end than when you started…”

Powder nodded as she hooks her arms around Vi’s waist. “That’s what this is, Violet.” She said. “A bump in the road, on your way to something, or someone better.” She smiled at her sister. “So, I’m gonna do what I can to get you to your destination.”

Hearing that made Vi feel warm inside, which was a feeling she missed quite dearly. “Thanks, Pow-Pow..”

Powder stood up from the bed, stretching her back slightly. “You’re welcome, now get cleaned up.” She demanded. “You’re gonna drive me to my interview, and socialize.” Powder explained. “Then when we get home, you’re cleaning your fuckin’ room because it’s a mess and I hate it.”

“You know, you have such a way with words.” Vi said sarcastically.

---

Vi and Powder eventually left the house, took a short drive into town to a small café. The two sisters walked in to see a lively dining area, various people that looked to be closer to Powder’s age, drinking coffee and enjoying the company they’re with. Vi and Powder approached the front counter, and Powder had the pre-interview jitters when it came to this place.

“Uhm, excuse me.” Powder calls to the barista behind the counter. “I got an interview with Jayce Talis, is he here today?” she asked.

Vi raised a brow at the name. “Jayce?” she asked.

“He’s not, but his partner is here, I’ll go get him.” The barista walked to the back.

“Jayce Talis owns this place?” Vi asked.

Powder looked at Vi with a weirded-out expression. “Why are you fixated on that?”

Before Vi could answer, a man with long brown hair walked out, with a clipboard in one hand, and a cane in the other. “Powder?” he called out. “I’m Viktor, I’ll be interviewing you in my husband’s place.” He said.

Vi’s jaw almost dropped to the floor when she saw the man walk out. “Holy shit.” She exclaimed.

Viktor glanced over at the pink-haired woman, blank expression on his face. “Is there problem, Miss?”

“You don’t remember me?” Vi asked, Viktor shook his head. “We were co-captains of the Piltover Pride Academics Team.” She explained. “Me, you, Jayce were the only gay kids on the team so we always had study sessions on our own.”

Viktor’s expression went from blank, to a calm smile. “Okay, I remember now.” He said. “It’s good to see you again, Violet.” Viktor gave her a slight bow.

Powder raised a brow at the interaction, then sighed. “Me being related to her isn’t gonna dock my chances at getting hired, is it?” she asked.

“No, if anything it helps a little.” Viktor jokes before walking to one of the empty tables.

“Wish me luck.” Powder says then walks over to the table that Viktor’s sitting at.

Vi shrugged and decided to look around at the décor of the place, enjoying how it looks just enough like a regular coffee house, but also like someone’s home. To Vi, it was a good blend of inviting to visit, but not to stay for a long time. As she turned around, she accidentally bumps into another patron.

“Are you okay?” the other patron asked.

Vi shook her head a couple times to get the cobwebs out. “Y-Yeah, sorry about that..” she looks up slowly to see a taller woman, brown skin, with black hair that looks like it would be flowing if it wasn’t properly slicked back. “Wow..” she thought to herself.

The taller woman smiled some. “No need to apologize, I’m tall and clumsy.” She explained. “I should’ve watched where I was going.” She said.

“I.. I get it.” Vi said and scratched the back of her head.

“Would you like me to buy you a coffe?” The woman asked. “It’s the least I could do.”

Vi shook her head again. “I was just about to head out for some fresh air, but thank you.” She said before walking past the taller woman.

“Good morning, Ms. Sevika” the barista called out. “The usual today?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Sevika…” Vi thought to herself as she walked to the outside of the café.

“How are you, today?” Sevika asked the barista as she leaned on the counter.

“Not too bad, just started my day so I’m sure it’ll change once it gets busy.”

Sevika let out a soft chuckle as she glanced towards the outside of the café, seeing the pink-haired woman casually leaning against what looked to be her car. “I’m sure you’ll be just fine, darling.” She said. “Is uhm, is Jayce here today, or did he take the day off?”

“Jayce had some family thing he needed to take care of, so Viktor is watching over the shop today.”

Sevika noticed Viktor talking to a blue-haired woman, and from the look on her face, it seemed like there was good news to be had. “Looks like you’re getting a co-worker.”

---

Powder indeed got the job at the café, which she was ecstatic for. She told Vi the good news, and told her about the fact that she’s gonna get some decent hours since it was summer, and they need people. Vi of course congratulated her sister, and decided to take her out to eat since it was still early enough. While they ate, Vi gave Powder the story of how she got to know Viktor and Jayce in high school, and how she was shocked that the two got together since Jayce was always more of the jock type when it came to the social status at the time.
Once they finished with their meal, the sisters drove home with Powder immediately going to Ekko to tell him the good news. Vi on the other hand went to her room and cleaned up, like she promised her sister. It didn’t take too long, and she was able to organize everything while doing so. After that, she took her trash to the bins in the garage, and noticed the old van that had her messy looking logo slapped on it.

Vi walked to the van, looked inside it to see the keys casually sitting on the dash, so she opened the door, sat in the driver’s seat and made an attempt to start it. But, it wouldn’t turn over. She made a second attempt, same result.
So Vi popped the hood, got out of the car and lifted it up to take a look at what was wrong with it. At first it looked like nothing, but then she noticed some wires that were loose. “Figures..” she thought as she walked over to the workbench on the other side of the garage, and scavenged for a soldering iron of some sorts. Unfortunately, there wasn’t one. But she did find some wires, and some twist caps which sparked an idea.

Back by the van, Ekko had walked into the garage to throw away some trash when he noticed Vi rummaging through the toolbox. “Whatcha doin’ Vi?” he asked.

Vi leaned back to see where the voice came from. “Well, I am gonna attempt to get my old van up and running.” She explained. “Wanna help out?”

Ekko shrugged. “What do you need me to do?”

Vi walked back to the van with the wires and caps in her hand. “Sit in the driver’s seat, and when I do some kind of rhythmic knocking on the hood, start the car.” She said.

“Sounds simple enough.” Ekko says as he slides into the van. “What was this thing used for, anyways?”

“Well, believe it or not, it was my first car.” Vi says as she starts working on twisting some of the loose wires together. “I used to run a pool cleaning business in high school.”

Ekko looked over at Vi from the cab of the van. “Pool cleaning?” he asked. “Why though?”

Vi chuckled. “At the time it was either work fast food, which I had gotten fired from most of the joints in town, or do a paper route, which paid less than dick.” She explained. “I needed money for college, so I pulled together 90% of the money I had, Pop paid the remaining 10%, we bought this van, and I decided to start a business to raise money.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you had the hindsight to paint this van black.” Ekko says.

“Right?” Vi continued to twist some of the wires, then screwed the cap on. “When I was younger, I got around a bit, which meant I got to see a lot of pools that I might have had some fun in the night before.” She joked, partially. “And some I had fun in after I was done.”

Ekko leaned out of the van, raising a brow towards Vi. “What was your tip percentage?”

Vi gave the wires a gentle tug to make sure everything was secure. “About the same as your GPA.” She stood up and gave the hood a few knocks. “Start her up.”

Ekko nodded and turned the key, at first it didn’t turn over.

“Give it some juice.”

Ekko tried once more, this time hitting the gas pedal a couple times which did the trick and the van started. “Hey, it worked!” he said with some excitement.

Vi closed the hood and then walked over to the driver side. “It sure did, kiddo.” She said before giving Ekko a fist bump. “Thanks for your help, and the conversation.”

“Hey, what’s goin’ on in here?” a deep voice called out. It was just Vander walking into the garage to see his daughter, and his future in-law getting along. “Aye, you finally got this running, eh, Violet?”

“With some help from Pow-Pow’s man.” Vi gave Ekko a wink which made the young man hide his face.

Vander couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey son, don’t feel embarrassed.”

“I-I’m gonna go back inside.” Ekko said before getting out of the van, running past the two to go inside the house.

Vi reached into the van to shut off the car. “I gotta get the wiring done at a shop, there’s just twist caps keeping everything together.” She explained to her dad as she closed the door.

“S’what made you wanna mess with this old thing?” Vander asked.

“I was just taking the trash out of my room, saw this, and it brought back memories.” Vi answered honestly. “Plus, I thought more about what you, and Dad suggested.” She added on. “I’m considering doing that on days I don’t work, just to get some extra income my way.”

Vander scratched his head for a few seconds. “The pool cleanin’ or the computer thing?” he asked.

“I’d rather do the computer thing, but chances are, I’m gonna be cleaning pools again.” Vi answers. “It’ll get me out of the house, and focused on something that’ll actually require some physical work, you know?”

“That’s good, dearie.” Vander gave Vi’s shoulder a gentle pat. “It’s also good to see you moving around, and genuinely interacting with everyone again.” He said with some pride. “How’re you holding up?”

Vi looked up at her dad for a few seconds. “I’m hurting.” She answered. “Like, every part of me would rather be in my room, lamenting over the fact that I spent a good chunk of my life with someone that fell out of it with me, and couldn’t even tell me.” Vi added on before she turns to lean against the van. “But, Pow and I had a little talk..” she gulped. “Brought up the time that her project got wrecked by some random kid, and told me something I hadn’t heard since I was a kid..”

“The speed bump speech?”

Vi nodded.

Vander couldn’t help but smirk at the answer. “Well, it’s true.” He said. “You have a strong support system in myself, your dad, your sister, and her boyfriend.” Vander lowers himself some to be at eye level to his daughter. “You got yourself a job, and you’re gonna do some work to keep your mind distracted..” he added on. “You’re gonna be just fine, kid.”

“You think so?” Vi asks.

“Aye.” Vander gave Vi a playful bop to the shoulder. “You’re not just my blood, you’re also your dad’s kid..” he stood up fully. “I gave you my physical strength, he gave you the emotional strength.”

Vi smiled a bit at her father’s words, nodding in agreement to what he was saying. “I guess so.” She finally spoke. “Thanks, pop.” Vi hooked her arms around Vander’s waist, nuzzling into his chest. “I needed to hear that…”

Vander placed one hand on the back of Vi’s head, caressing it gently. “Of course, Violet.” He whispered. “I’m always gonna be here for ya, thick and thin, you hear?”

Notes:

I'll be honest, I had this chapter written shortly after the last one, but I wanted to hold off on updating while I worked on my Catwoman story. I also have ANOTHER chapter pretty much ready to go, but I'm gonna space everything out so people can read, react, all that awesome stuff. I hope you enjoy!
Love,
Rose/Di~

Chapter 5: A Clean Awakening

Summary:

Violet decided it was time to bring back her pool business, and she bumps into a very familiar client...

Over the course of the week, Vi was fully able to get her work van fixed up. The timing of that couldn’t have been better, as it was the first day of summer, and Vi had advertised the fact that she was reopening her pool service business. To her luck, she was getting a lot of bookings in the nicer areas of Piltover. In another life, she probably would’ve kept this business going, and made it an actual thing.
In the week that she was getting the van fixed, she made sure to get all the cleaning supplies that she needed, and grabbed any kind of gear that would be required since times have changed since she was in high school, and safety was at the forefront.
Vi was getting her stuff together to take off to her first client, she told her dads that she would be out all day, and that she’ll probably be getting herself dinner on her way home. They both wished her luck as she walked out of the house, and into her van.

Vi got her seatbelt on, and took a look inside the console to see a few CD cases sitting inside. “Holy shit..” she let out with a soft chuckle as she pulled out one of the cases. “My mixes…” nostalgia hit her like a truck upon looking at the blank CD with scratchy writing on it.
Vi takes the CD out of the case, puts the CD in the stereo, and waits with a lot of anticipation. The blast of horns, and martial arts dialog gives Vi an even bigger wave of nostalgia as she bobs her head to the music. “Gang Starr, I’ve missed ya.” She says as she starts her drive.

The drive to the first client’s house wasn’t too long, she was able to make it there in around 20 minutes. The job itself was simply getting the debris out, flushing, and then refilling the pool with the proper chemicals that should last the rest of the summer.
The next client had issues with the water heater for their jacuzzi. Vi had to explain the fact that she’s not a pool technician, so she can’t promise any fixes that are permanent. Luckily for her, it was a wiring issue, which she knows how to handle thanks to her background in security requiring her to handle wiring. She mounted some board to the heater, routed the wires to said board, and checked voltages to make sure they were correct. Before Vi left this client, she made sure to hand them a card to a reliable tech that could actually fix the water heater, or even replace it.
Vi had time to do one more client before she breaks for her lunch, so she drove out to an even nicer part of Piltover, which she didn’t even know existed until now. Eventually she made it to the client’s house, and was impressed by the size of the whole thing. From the lengthy stone driveway, to the well-kept bushes that surrounded the property, it was a luxury to even step foot here. As she parks her van, Vi noticed a woman wearing a loose robe, dark grey hair with white bangs, sunglasses, and a straw hat to complete her outfit, waving towards the van. Vi thought the woman looked familiar, and when she got a closer look, it was apparent.

“Oh fuck…” Vi mumbles to herself as she steps out of the van. “Cassie K?” she called out.

The woman took notice of Vi, her happy exterior went away. “Oh my god, Violet…” she said.

Vi slowly nods as she takes a few steps closer. “It’s nice to see you, Cassandra… Mrs. K…” she says quietly.

“I’m…” Cassandra took her sunglasses off and hung them on her bikini top. “I didn’t know that you worked for this company, or I would’ve requested someone else.”

“It’s my company, and I’m the only person working it unfortunately.” Vi retorts before pulling out a small notepad.

Cassandra saw the expression on Vi’s face, immediately felt guilty for hiring her. “I can go to someone else, I don’t want you to feel like you have any obligation..” she says. “Especially after what happened, you deserve to have a better client…”

Vi gave Cassandra a soft smile. “Look, I’m a professional first.” She explains. “I already spent the gas to come out here, and I don’t see you as my ex’s mother, I see you as my client.” She continues before opening her note pad. “Now, what needs to be done for your pool, Mrs. Kiramman?”

“Uhm…” Cassandra bit the corner of her lip. “The pool is drained, and it needs a thorough cleaning before it can get filled.” She answered. “There’s no rush in getting it done, by the way.”

Vi jotted down Cassandra’s request. “Do you have all the chemicals for the refill or no?”

Cassandra shook her head.

“Well, normally I charge for using my chemicals, but I’m gonna make a very special exception for you.” Vi says with another smile on her face.

“Violet, you don’t need to do me any favors, money’s no object for me.” Cassandra protests.

“I can tell.” Vi jokes. “I’m gonna grab my cleaning stuff, and get started on your pool.”

Cassandra nodded slowly and walked back inside her house.

The next hour consisted of Vi getting her equipment ready, and doing her detailed cleaning of the pool. Cassandra was watching Vi closely as she worked, occasionally offering a drink or some kind of nourishment, but Vi was okay for the most part. At some point during Vi’s progress, Cassandra had invited a few people with the intention of having drinks. After everyone arrived, Cassandra offered them drinks, some snacks, and had some conversations about their week so far. During the conversations, one of the women happened to look over at Vi as she undid her top, allowing it to drop down but hang off her sides.

“Woah, who is that?” the woman asked.

Cassandra glanced over to see Vi’s muscular torso, only being covered by a black sports bra. “That is… My pool cleaner.” She said while shifting her attention back to her friend. “You calm yourself, Grayson.”

“I’m calm, Cassandra.” Grayson chuckled. “If I were younger, I wouldn’t be, I’d probably dirty up that pool of yours.”

“She’s old enough to be your kid, knock that off.” Renni said from behind Grayson as she took a sip from her drink.

Grayson leaned against the counter, smirk on her face. “Well, it’s a good thing I don’t have any kids, or attachments that would make me flirting with her morally wrong.” She says which gets a playful smack to the arm from Renni.

Outside, Vi was grabbing her equipment with the intention of putting everything away. The pool was more than clean enough, all that was left was to start the filling process. Vi made haste to get everything put away, then she goes back to the reservoir to activate the filling process. Once she’s done with that, she walks inside the house with the intention of letting Cassandra know that the job is done. Unexpectedly, she bumps into not only Cassandra, but also her friends.
“I didn’t know you were gonna have company, Mrs. K.” Vi said with a nervous chuckle. “Otherwise, I would’ve made sure to cover back up.”

Cassandra shook her head. “It’s okay, dear.” She said in a gentle tone. “It’s hot out there, and you were working hard.”

Both Grayson and Renni were observing the way Vi’s abs would flex, and Vi herself wasn’t even trying to flex. “She has the body of a Marvel hero, holy shit.” Grayson whispered to Renni.

Vi happened to notice the other two women looking at her rather closely. “Uh, hi!” she bites the corner of her lip. “I’m Vi, or Violet.. Pool service person, and also security tech wizard if you need your security systems maintained.”

“If you’re into maintenance..” Grayson started.

Cassandra immediately took Vi’s hand, and lead her away from the kitchen. The two walked into a nice-looking room, probably the master bedroom given the size. The older woman shut the door behind them. “Apologies about that, Violet.” She said. “They had a couple drink in their system.”

Vi shrugged. “It’s alright, Mrs. K.” she looked around the room for a few seconds. “Any reason why we came in here, as opposed to like.. The living room, or something?”

“So, I can get my wallet to pay you for your service, of course.” Cassandra explained.

“Ah.”

Cassandra walked over to one of the dressers, opened a drawer, and pulled her wallet out. “What do I owe you, Violet?” she asked.

“Well, I did a full clean, even added a coat protection in case the weather gets nasty.” Vi started off. “I then did some calibrations on the reservoir to make sure it was running well, added the chlorine to it, and then set it on a timer to fill the pool up.” She continued. “You guys have sensors installed in your pool, so it’ll stop automatically regardless of the timer, but I like to be safe.”

Cassandra pulled out a small stack of money and handed it to Vi. “That’s about $1500, Violet.” She said. “That should cover everything.”

Vi’s eyes widened some. “Woah, Mrs. K I can’t..”

“Cassandra.” The older woman interrupted. “You’re allowed to call me Cassandra, Violet.”

Vi kept quiet as she looked at the money in Cassandra’s hand, she shook her head. “I can’t take that much, I was thinking maybe $350, $400 tops for the work.” She said shyly.

Cassandra tossed her wallet on the bed, then she moved closer to Vi. “Consider the rest a tip, Violet.” She bit the corner of her lip as she placed the money in the muscular woman’s hand.

“A-Are you sure?” Vi asked, Cassandra nodded. “Thank you…” she said as she puts the money in pocket.

Cassandra got a close look at how Vi’s body moved, she was amazed that a woman like Vi could even exist, let alone date her daughter at one point. “You know, Violet..” she started off, casually resting one hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “It’s unfortunate that you and Caitlyn didn’t work out..”

Vi slowly nods. “Believe me, I know.” She sighs.

“How’re you holding up?”

“With duct tape, glue, and a bundle of popsicle sticks.” Vi joked. “But, I’m doing a lot better now, than I was before.” She admitted. “It doesn’t sting as bad, you know?”

Cassandra nodded a few times. “I do know how you feel, why do you think I’m always inviting my friends over for drinks?” she said with a soft chuckle. “It gets lonely having to pretend things are fine, though…”

“Hey..” Vi pursed her lips for a few seconds. “It’ll get better eventually, it always does.”

“Unfortunately, I’m low on eventuallys.” Cassandra says and shrugs. “I’ve been down this road for a long time, and I’m not getting any younger, so…”

“Is she trying to get me to do a little somethin-somethin?” Vi thinks to herself for a few seconds, but she doesn’t wanna remain cynical over Cassandra’s intentions. “Well, just because you’ve been down the road for a while, doesn’t mean you’re at the end of said road.” She says and leans against the wall. “It just means you’re still going, and whatever’s at the end will be worth it and then some.”

Cassandra’s face lit up from Vi’s comment, not expecting her to give her a bit of encouragement in the slightest. “Thank you, Violet.”

The two locked eyes for a few seconds, Vi noticed the way Cassandra’s hand slowly traveled from her shoulders to her abs. She wasn’t sure how to feel about her ex’s mom being handsy with her, but she also wasn’t against the idea either as Cassandra was a very beautiful woman.
Soon enough, they closed whatever gap was between them, with Cassandra hooking her arms around Vi to pull her in for a deep kiss. At first, Vi didn’t know how to react, but something about this woman, the natural lighting in the room, the emotions the two were sharing.. It was enough for Vi to respond with her hand on the back of Cassandra’s neck, pushing her own tongue in the other woman’s mouth.
Cassandra carefully guided them both to the bed, she broke the kiss long enough to climb while facing Vi. She bit her lip as she slowly parted her legs, signaling Vi to move in to do more.
Vi slowly crawled on the bed, leaning to lock lips with Cassandra once more, with one hand caressing the woman’s thigh.

“F-Fuck me, Violet…” Cassandra whispers when she’s able to catch her breath. “Please…”

As Vi was working her way from Cassandra’s outer thigh, to her folds that could damn near fill her pool with how much it was soaked… She started to tear up. “I can’t…” Vi whispered as her tears started to fall.

Cassandra’s lustful high went away the second she saw the tears stream from Vi’s face. “Oh my god, Violet..” she hooks her arms around the woman’s neck once more, this time to just simply embrace her. “It was too soon, wasn’t it?”

Vi nods in Cassandra’s embrace, feeling ultimately defeated. “I’m sorry…”

“No, dear, I’m the one that should be sorry…” Cassandra pulls back enough to cup Vi’s face. “I was completely inconsiderate to your feelings, and was only focused on my own satisfaction..” she explains.

Vi couldn’t look at Cassandra, her emotions were at a low from her thinking that she was ready to do anything like this. “Fuck…”

Cassandra furrowed her eyebrows for a couple seconds. “Hey…” she called out. “It’s okay to not be ready, especially considering the circumstances…” Cassandra pursed her lips. “It wouldn’t have been right in the long run, should we have continued what we were doing.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.” Vi pouted.

“I’m just speaking the truth, my dear.” Cassandra casually brushed her thumb against Vi’s pouty lip. “It’s a damn shame, though.”

Vi’s eyes finally met Cassandra’s. “What?”

“Because if the stars aligned better, I’d be wanting to marry you.” The older woman joked. “With how worked up you got me, I would not let you leave this room.” Cassandra started laughing a bit, which got Vi to smile somewhat. “You’re very gorgeous, Violet.” She complimented.

“Well…” Vi slowly pulled back to stand up. “You’re quite beautiful yourself, Cassandra.” She said before rubbing her eyes. “More than that, if anything..”

Cassandra got off the bed, keeping her eyes on Vi. “Thank you, Violet.” She says. “I take it you probably have to get going, no?”

“Yeah.. I gotta get lunch, then maybe a few more clients before I can head home for the day.” Vi says.

“Well…” Cassandra walked back to her dresser to get her phone, unlocked it, went to the Contacts app, and then walked back over to Vi. “Would you be willing to put your number in my phone?” she asked. “In case I need more pool services, of course.”

Vi raised a brow at the request. “Yeah, sure.” She said with a chuckle. “Here..” Vi started putting in her information on the contact screen. “Make sure you let me know who you are when you text me, that way I can save you on my phone.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “Obviously you’ll know it’s me.” She said.

“Well, you have a great rest of your day, and… Thank you for everything today..” Vi said and turned to walk out of the room.

Before Vi could get to the door, Cassandra gently grabbed Vi’s hand, turned her around, and took the muscular woman’s lips in her own. The two kept the kiss going for a little bit before eventually breaking it. “Sorry.. I quite enjoy your lips.” Cassandra winked.

Vi couldn’t help but bite her lower lip as she walked out of the room. She made her way from the hall, to the living area, to the outside to get to her van. When she finally sat down in her car seat, she let out a deep breath. “Holy fuck..”

---

Vi drove from Cassandra’s house, to the part of town that she was the most familiar with. On the way back to town, Vi decided that it was time to pay her sister a visit at her new job. When Vi arrived at the café, she quickly moved to the back of her van, getting out of her cleaning attire, and into a pair of baggy cargos, and a crop top before getting out of her van. Vi made sure to lock up, then she walked into the café to see her sister hard at work.

The pink haired woman took her time walking up to the counter, and then cleared her throat loudly once she arrived. “Excuse me, ma’am.” Vi said obnoxiously. “I would like to order now.”

Powder quickly turned with the intent of apologizing, but saw it was Vi and gave her a glare. “We’re closed, Violet.” She said.

Vi scoffs.

“Listen, could you give me a few minutes so I can get someone to cover my lunch?” Powder asks.

Vi folded her arms and gave her sister a dirty look. “Lady, I’m trying to cover my lunch right now.”

Powder gave Vi a pleading face. “I’ll make it up to you, Violet..”

“You suck.” Vi sighed and walked away from the counter to sit down at a booth.

A few minutes later, Powder came out the back with a tray that had two sandwiches, a bottle of juice, and a can of soda. She walked the tray over to where Vi was sitting, set it down, then set herself down opposite of her sister. “So, how’s the pool cleanin’ business treating ya?”

“Shit..” Vi leaned back in her seat, letting out an exaggerated whine. “I forgot that job was physically draining.” She started off. “I swear, I spent most of my time fixing everyone’s electrical issues that came with their pools, hot tubs, or both.”

Powder nodded as she unwrapped one of the sandwiches, and then took a bite from it. “Yeah, that sounds like it sucks.” She said.

“That’s not even the worst of it.” Vi reaches for the other sandwich. “My last client, was Cassandra Kiramman.” She says while unwrapping her sandwich.

“Oof…” Powder looks at Vi with a worried expression. “That couldn’t have gone well, Violet.” She takes another bite. “Did you go through with the gig, or did you tell her you couldn’t due to her daughter being a..” Powder looks around to make sure no one was paying attention to the conversation. “A C. U. Next Tuesday?” she whispers.

“C. U Next… Oh…” Vi shook her head. “No, I didn’t tell her that I couldn’t.” she answered. “I went ahead and did the gig anyways, thoroughly..”

“Well, how did that go?” Powder asks while reaching for the can of soda. “Smooth sailing?” she assumes before opening the soda.

“You could say that.” Vi rests her head on her palm. “Something kinda happened after Cassandra paid me, which she paid way too much, but insisted I keep the money.”

Powder raised a brow. “Oh yea?” she started taking a sip of her soda.

Vi bit the inside of her lip for a couple seconds. “We kinda…” she gulped. “We might have made out for a little bit.”

Powder swallowed her drink before her body was ready, causing the blue haired woman to choke on her drink. She immediately patted her chest a couple times to clear her throat, her face was about as red as the juice on the table. “You did what!?”

“Yeah…” Vi wasn’t too proud of what her and Cassandra did, but she also didn’t hate what they did either. It was a bit of a guilty pleasure for her. “We were just talking about the breakup, and how lonely it felt, then one thing led to another..”

“Remind me to kick your ass when I get home.” Powder says with a stern tone.

Vi took some bites from her sandwich, brushing off what Powder was saying. “So, how was your day so far?”

Powder growled at her sister. “My day was fine, I guess…” she answered. “There’s this tall woman that comes in every day, I think you bumped into her during my interview.” Powder took another sip of her drink. “She usually orders the same thing, and she left a business card for me and some of the other workers.”

“Business card?”

Powder nods. “I guess she’s either opening up a bar in town, or recently opened a bar in town and wants to get people to check it out.” She says. “I was thinking about going this weekend since I have Saturday off… Wanna tag along?”

After the day she had, Vi was unsure if she wanted to go to a bar. But the alternative was her doing a 4-hour shift at her part time, then sit in her room for the rest of the weekend catching up on whatever game she’s been playing. “I mean…” Vi pursed her lips. “I guess, it’d be nice to get me out of the house for something other than work.”

“Who knows, ya might bump into someone that’s not only your age, but also tickle your fancy..” Powder suddenly realized what she had said, and made a disgusted face. “Yeah, no tickling your fancy when we go out, okay?”

“Shut up.” Vi chuckled.

The bell above the door jingled, in came the woman that Powder was talking about. “There she is.” She whispered.

Vi leaned over to see that it indeed was the same woman that Powder was talking about. “I wonder why she comes in every day.” She says.

Powder shrugs. “I get paid either way.”

The taller woman glanced over at Powder, gave her a gentle wave before walking to the counter. “Excuse me, could you let Jayce know that I’m here to pick up a box of napkins?” she asked the lady behind the counter.

“Sure thing, Ms. Sevika.” The young lady ran to the back to do what Sevika had asked.

Moments later, a man around Vi’s age walked out with a big box in his hands, he sets it on the counter once he gets close. “Hey, Vika.” He greeted the woman.

“Talis.” Sevika gave him a kind nod. “How’s business here?” she asked.

“Not too bad, how about yours?”

Sevika shrugged. “Not terrible, but no one is gonna have a great first year.” She said as she reached for the box. “What do I owe you for the napkins?” she asked.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure I’ll bother you for some supplies in the next few months.” Jayce shrugged. “Though you could ease up on advertising your bar in my café, that’d be nice.” He joked.

“No promises.” Sevika said while picking up the box with one arm. “Thanks again, Jayce, I do appreciate the help.”

Jayce waved his hands. “Anytime, Sevika.”

Sevika gave him a slight bow before walking out of the café.

Powder observed the interaction, raised a brow then raised a hand. “Hey bossman, what’s the history with She-Hulk?”

Jayce gave Powder a glare. “Are you on the clock, or on your lunch?” he asked.

“Technically both, I’m having lunch with my sister, but I just got back on the clock.” Powder said with an innocent smile.

Jayce shook his head as he walked from behind the counter over to the table that Powder and Vi were sitting at. “Sevika and I go back, not as far as Vi and I go back, but enough to where I kept in contact with her.”

Vi turned a bit to glare at Jayce. “So, what was I, chopped liver?”

“Hush.” Jayce said with a smirk. “Sevika and I went to business college, and had this crazy idea to partner up to bring a bar/café to this town, but she got married and didn’t wanna leave the city, I wanted to come home and bring some decent coffee to this town.”

“It’s damn good, too.” Vi complimented.

Jayce chuckled. “I think so, too.” He said in agreement. “Only recently did Sevika move out here, dunno why she decided all of a sudden, but she seems happy.”

“Ya know what that means, Violet?” Powder asks.

“What?”

“It means we gotta give her a nice, warm, welcome to our town.” Powder says while nodding. “So, your I guess, is a definite yes.” She adds with a demanding tone. “No ifs, ands, or butts.”

Vi just rolls her eyes as a response and goes back to eating the rest of her sandwich.

---

It’s later in the day, and a relatively nice black car pulls into the back of a small building. The person that got out of the car was Sevika, she was finished running errands to get any last-minute supplies and was ready to start the prep for the night.
She walks from the car, to the back door, unlocks it, and then steps into turn on the lights for the bar. After that, she walks to her office to check her messages.

You have 2 new messages…. New Message..

“Hey Ms. Sevika, it’s Ashe, I’m not able to make it in tonight because of family bullshit going on.. I sent you a text about the specifics, but didn’t get a response.. I SHOULD be able to come in on my next shift, but I’ll let you know for sure in advance… I apologize for any inconvenience.”

Sevika sighed. “Well, shit.” She said and hit the button to play the next message.

“Sevika, it’s Mel, I’m surprised you’re not at your phone!”

Hearing Mel’s voice made Sevika groan and cover her face.

“Listen, I was thinking about coming out to your bar and.. See how my money is being spent. I’m sure you don’t mind, do ya?”

“Yes..” muffled Sevika.

“Doesn’t matter, I’ll be there at some point this week. You better make some time for me by the way, I don’t want you to rush your end of the bargain.”

You have no new messages.

Sevika ends the call, then she walks over to where the schedule is at. “Alright, who do I got tonight since Ashe called out..” she mumbles to herself while crossing Ashe’s name off the schedule for the day. “It’s gonna be a rough night…”

From the outside of the office, a tall, fit black woman stood at the door frame. “Hey boss, sorry I’m late.” She greeted.

Sevika glanced over at the woman, smiled and shook her head. “Hey Gert, you’re just on time.” She said as she walked from the back of her office, to where Gert was standing. “Ashe called off, so I’m gonna need you to do double duty.” She explained.

Gert sighed. “Do I at least get double pay, tonight?” she asked as she turned to the set of lockers that were outside of the office. “This is the 3^rd time in the past week that she’s called off, you know.” Gert said while removing her hat to reveal her golden-brown dreads.

“I’m aware, I’m gonna have a talk with her next time she shows up.” Sevika says while leaning against the frame.

Gert slid out of her shirt and tossed it in her locker. “I don’t mind covering the front, boss.” She started off. “I just wish we had more help either up front, or in the kitchen so I don’t have to stretch myself thin.” She grabbed her work shirt from the locker, put it on, then she closed the locker.

Sevika nods a few times. “I’ll jump in and help where I can, okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, okay..” Gert says as she turns to head to the kitchen.

“By the way, I noticed you’re getting an 8-pack, should I start compensating for my age now?” Sevika joked as she followed Gert.

The other woman laughed. “You should’ve started compensating 10 years ago, grandma.” Gert said as she started turning on the various stove lights. “Did our food come in, or did it get sent somewhere else again?”

“We got food, don’t worry.” Sevika answers while turning on the rest of the lights needed for the kitchen. “Take it easy on the pork though, there’s apparently a shortage going around again.” She says.

“Heard.” Gert walks to the sink and grabs the utensils. “So, what’s new in the life of Sevika?” she asks while placing the various utensils at their stations.

“Other than Ashe calling out?” Sevika raised a brow. “Mel’s coming out here to visit, which…” she rolled her eyes. “That’s a fucking can of worms right there.”

“God forbid, a gorgeous woman wants to have something to do with you.” Gert said in a dramatic tone. “Whatever shall you do!?”

Sevika casually flips Gert off as she walks past her to check the walk-in cooler. “I just wanna focus on making this the best night spot in town, Gertrude.” She says. “Without the worry of my ex-wife keeping tabs on me.

Gert was about to bark at her boss for full-naming her, but lets it go because she knows the situation is rather touchy. “I don’t get it, why don’t you tell her that you’re busy or some shit like that?”

“Ever been married?” Sevika asks as she shuts the cooler.

“Considering I’m 23, and haven’t existed since the dinosaurs, no.” Gert responds.

“Well, word of advice if you decide to get married…” Sevika walks over to Gert, leaning on the counter. “Don’t.” she says. “Also, if you keep calling me old, I’ll make sure you don’t get the chance to consider marriage.” Sevika smirks as she playfully smacks Gert’s arm.

Notes:

Full transparency, I've had the BIGGEST urge to write a Cass/Vi scene for a little while, and thought that it would work so well here. I have no regrets in doing so, and to answer a potential question.. No, Cass/Vi won't be a thing in the story outside this chapter, BUT I might include Cassandra in later chapters if the vibes are right.

Chapter 6: New Opportunities

Summary:

Sevika gets a special visitor just before her bar opens to a wild night.
Powder finally gets Vi out of the house to come to Sevika's bar, in hopes that Vi gets out of her shell.

The weekend hits Piltover, and for Sevika, it’s one of her biggest weekends since opening her bar. It’s the first weekend of the summer, which means she’s going to have a ton of college kids swarm in, which will generate a decent amount of profit for her and her employees. She’s just worried that people will either not show up, leave early, or somehow manage to do both.
To prevent anyone from leaving or throw a fit, Sevika made it a point to order enough product to overfill her coolers. She also posted on her bar’s social media page that there is a “Take A Load Off” special, in which students that show their school ID will get a discount on drinks.
It's just a couple hours until the bar opens, Sevika is taking inventory just to be sure that everything is where it should be. After she finishes up with inventory, she checks her messages to see if there’s any call offs, there isn’t, thank God..
Just as Sevika was going to relax, a woman walked into her office, wearing a striking black and gold dress that revealed her thighs. This woman’s figure was something that could be seen in magazines, ebony skin without imperfections, golden-green eyes, long, flowing, curly hair, and she happened to be Sevika’s ex-wife, Mel Medarda.

“Well, it’s good to see my money is being spent well.” Mel says with a smirk on her face. “Hello, Sevika.”

Sevika took notice of Mel, feeling a mixture of stressed, confused, yet also calm. It was a weird mix of feelings that always conflicted inside her whenever Mel showed up. “Mel.” She simply says.

Mel took some steps closer to the desk, casually sat down on top of the desk so Sevika could get a closer look. “Now don’t be so formal, you could say hello back, or something equally welcoming.”

“I would if I wanted you here.” Sevika stood up, folding her arms. “Is there something you need?” she asked. “Because I got a big night tonight, and I still have some prep work that needs to be done beforehand.”

Mel slowly ran her fingers from Sevika’s muscular shoulders, up to her cheek. “I think you know what I need, and I told you I was gonna come by for it.” She answered in a low, seductive tone. “Why else would I be wearing this dress?”

There are goosebumps from Mel’s touch, even though she should be used to it, Sevika can’t help but have thoughts of their life before. “And it needs to be right now?” she asks. “It…” Sevika sighs. “It can’t be when the bar closes?”

“Afraid not, I have a date tonight.” Mel says as she hooks her legs around Sevika’s waist to pull her close. “C’mon, baby…” she bites her lip. “There’s more than enough time for the both of us to get something out of this..”

“If you have a date tonight, why not fuck them?” Sevika raised a brow as she moved closer to Mel.

Mel smirked as she gently nipped at Sevika’s lip. “That’s for me to know, and you to never find out..” she whispered.

“… Fine.”

Sevika meshes her lips with Mel’s, causing the other woman to let out a moan. Mel’s hands ran from Sevika’s shoulders down to her waist, casually pulling up her tank top enough to graze the well-defined abs of Sevika. The two shared a deep kiss, followed with caressing for a few minutes before Mel pulled back.

“Y-You know what I want, S’vika…” Mel says with a shortness of breath. “And… No marks this time…”

“Yeah, yeah..” Sevika gets on her knees, and starts kissing at Mel’s exposed thigh. She then lifts Mel’s skirt up, exposing the woman’s flesh. Sevika looks up at Mel, whom was already preparing herself to lay back. She sighs then moves in running her tongue against the entrance.

“Oh, fuck..” Mel moans out. “Don’t tease me..”

Sevika rolls her eyes and then pushes her tongue inside, causing the other woman to moan out louder. The familiar taste, the scent, it takes her back to whenever they would make love.
Her tongue moves slow, because she wants to savor it, only if for a few seconds..

“Yes.. Yesss…” Mel lays on Sevika’s desk, moving her hips against her tongue. “Just like that, baby..”

Sevika continues using her tongue for a little bit longer, then switches to push a couple fingers inside. Before Mel could fully react, Sevika leaned to lash at Mel’s clit with her tongue.

“Shit!” Mel gasps then bites her bottom lip.

A soft chuckle comes from Sevika as she continues with the motion of her fingers and tongue, which makes Mel’s body move even more.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, like that, please…” Mel’s hands reach down to Sevika’s hair, getting gripping it as her hips continue to move. “Sev..” she starts to breath heavily, her body begins to shake, Mel is losing it.

Sevika moves her fingers out, then she brushes her tongue through Mel’s flesh, back to her clit and moves her tongue as fast as she could against it.

Mel’s eyes open wide as her climax hits. Her body continues to shake for a few moments before eventually going limp, she breathes heavily. “God…” she says quietly.

Sevika slowly stood up, crawling over top of Mel to rest her forehead against the other woman’s. She’s not quite sure why she did this action, maybe it’s instinct, or she’s hoping that there’s still some spark from the past.

Mel continues breathing heavily as her eyes met Sevika’s, she rests her hand on the crook of her neck. “Fuck…” she whispers.

“Are you okay…?” Sevika asks.

“Yeah..” Mel nods slowly, feeling her chest get somewhat heavy from how Sevika still nurtures her. “It’s a damn good thing you didn’t tire me out, otherwise there’d be hell to pay.” She says to break some of the tension.

Sevika chuckles from the comment. “I mean, if you want, you could always stay here and relax while I work.” She suggests.

Mel chuckled as she gently pushed Sevika back so she could get off the desk. “Unfortunately, dear, I’m running late.” She says before placing a kiss on her cheek. “But good work as always.” Mel walks around the desk and leaves Sevika’s office.

Just like that, Sevika stood alone in her office, feeling the way she always felt whenever her and Mel would have their occasional sex. She felt used and alone, with a huge helping of guilt. “Well… Back to work…” Sevika said to herself.

---

Sevika had gone through a gameplan with her girls about what to expect for the night, that it was more than likely going to be rowdy, and that they need to keep their wits about them no matter what.
Night time hits, and the bar opens up to a crowd of various students, and other adults. Loud contemporary pop music plays throughout as people make their way inside. As the bar fills up, a line gets posted outside with two bouncers letting people in, or out depending on the need.
At some point during the night, both Vi and Powder had arrived to the bar and immediately took notice of how much it looked like an old pub, yet also modern. Neither of them could place exactly what it reminded them of, but they did like what they saw.
Sevika took notice of Powder, the bright blue hair was a dead giveaway, and she called out for them to come over to her.

“Welcome to my bar, you two.” Sevika says with a welcoming smile. “Wasn’t too hard to spot, was it?” she asks.

“No, we just followed the trail of girls into this place.” Powder says as she hooks her arm around Vi’s shoulder. “Hope you don’t mind, I brought my big sis, figured she needed some time away from the house.”

Sevika shook her head. “Of course I don’t mind.” She answered. “So, what are you thirsty for? She asked then gazed over at Vi. “And obviously, that extends to you, dear.”

“I want something that’s kinda chocolatey, and fruity.” Powder answered.

Vi raised a brow at Powder’s request then looked at Sevika. “I’ll just take a water for now.” She said.

“Comin’ up.” Sevika says as she walks over to the tabletop cooler, pulls out a bottle of water and slides it over to Vi.

“Ms. Sevika, it’s my sister’s first time out of the house since she delt with her break up.” Powder leans over the counter to tell Sevika. “When she’s ready, I want her to have something that’ll make her feel at home.”

Sevika chuckles at Powder’s request. “You tell Violet that her drinks are on the house tonight, okay?” she says while finishing up Powder’s drink.

“What about my drink?” Powder gasped.

Sevika set Powder’s drink on the counter. “Mmm…” she pursed her lips for a couple seconds. “Alright, you get this one drink, because you treat me good at the café.”

Powder lets out a cheer before taking a drink. “Oh, yum.” She says with a smile. “Hey Violet, you doing okay?” she asks.

Vi was observing everything, which was something she did whenever she goes to a new place. It took her a couple seconds to acknowledge Powder. “Yeah, I’m okay.” She said as she takes a sip of her water. “I just haven’t been to a bar in a while, so…”

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Powder nods a few times. “This was a usual sight for me in college, even after I met Ekko.” She takes another drink, then let out a sigh. “I do like this bar is not just female owned, but also female employed.” She points out. “Something about that makes me feel good, like I don’t need to worry about much.”

“That is pretty cool, actually” Vi agrees. “I can tell that Sevika put a lot of thought into this, with the staffing, the music, the overall environment…” she turns to the counter, observing some of the bartenders that were working. Vi notices one of them sliding a few bills into their pockets as they serve drinks. “But with how frequent she works the front, how much does she notice?” she asks.

It's a couple hours later, and while it’s not as hectic as it once was, the bar was still busy. Powder ended up getting a few more drinks, and Vi kept with her water and the occasional coffee. The two stayed close to one another, though Powder wanted to dance, Vi convinced her to take it easy.
Eventually, Powder left the bar to go to the bathroom, which left Vi alone to continue her observations. Vi noticed a few people getting somewhat grabby towards the bartenders, which caused the security to pull the problematic people out. As Vi was about to ask about getting one more cup of coffee, Powder quickly found Vi and held onto her.

“You okay, Pow-Pow?” Vi asked, seeing the worried expression on her face. “What happened?”

Powder gulped and hid her head into Vi’s shoulder. “I saw someone in the bathroom, that looked unwell, like.. Mean unwell.” She explained. “Maybe I’m a little tipsy, and I can’t read faces well, but I think I’m ready to go home.” Powder requested while her fingers grip into Vi’s shirt. “Please.”

Vi nods. “Of course, let’s go pay for our drinks, and I’ll take you home.” She says as she walks with Powder over to the register that Sevika happens to be at. “What’s the total, Ms. Sevika?” she asks.

Sevika looked at Powder for a couple seconds, seeing the worried expression that plagued the pale woman. “Is she okay?” she asked.

“She got a bit of a scare in the bathroom, so I’m gonna take her home so she can get some sleep.” Vi explains. “Tab?”

As Sevika was typing away at the screen, she heard some breaking where the bathroom was. “The fuck?” she raised a brow. “I’ll be right back.” Sevika took her apron off and ran towards the bathroom, to see her employee being cornered by a random woman. “What’s going on in here?” she asked.

“Stay out of this, lady.” The mysterious woman blurted out. “This is between me, and frosty here.”

Sevika glanced over at the other woman. “Ashe, did she hurt you?” she asked.

Ashe shook her head. “No, she’s just scaring the fuck outta me.”

“You took m’family away from me, my husband wants a divorce because of you.”

Sevika moved in slowly. “Listen, I think you have the wrong person, ma’am.” She said in a calm tone of voice. “Why don’t you come with me to my office, I’ll get you a water, some coffee, whatever you need to relax, then I’ll hail you a cab.” She suggested.

“Fuck off!” the lady spat at Sevika then directed her attention back to Ashe. “You know Richter, don’t you.. That’s why you told him about us…” she said.

Ashe let out an annoyed sigh. “I don’t know who you’re talking about, lady.” She barked. “I work, I go home, I take care of my family, then rinse and fuckin’ repeat.” She continued. “Whomever you decided to cheat with, they said something, not me.”

The woman leaned closer to Ashe, trying to see if she’s telling the truth. “I don’t believe you.” She said while swaying.

“You’re clearly drunk, let’s go.” Sevika gently grabbed the woman, guided her out of the bathroom. “Ashe, go home.” She told her before completely exiting. “Now, I tried giving you the benefit of the doubt, but you wouldn’t cooperate with me.” Sevika said as she continued to guide the woman. “Samira, I want you to check the logs for this woman, put her on the blacklist for attempting to assault Ashe.”

“Tsss…” The woman tried to move out of Sevika’s grip. “Tsss… Said FUCK OFF!” she ran her elbow into Sevika’s stomach, then quickly pulled out a knife. “I’m gettin’ even for that bitch ruining my life…”

Sevika was caught off guard by the elbow to the stomach, but now she was more concerned about the other patrons. “Let’s take this conversation outside, ma’am.” She suggested. “No need for anyone to get hurt, now…”

“Fuck you!” the woman barked then looked towards the counter, she saw Ashe getting her till to go home. She then ran past Sevika with the full intent of attacking Ashe, unaware that Vi and Powder were standing close to Ashe’s register.

Vi moved from Powder to catch the woman with one arm, immediately thrusting into her to slam her down to the ground. This action caused the music to stop and the patrons to part away to look at what happened.

The woman let out a whine from being slammed as hard as she was. “You broke me, you bitch…” she had tears going down her face.

Vi didn’t care, she was gonna protect her sister by any means necessary. “Be happy I didn’t do worse.” She said with some anger in her voice. “You even so much as look towards my sister with ill-intent, I’ll turn you into fuckin’ dust.”

The bouncers immediately grabbed the drunk woman, and escorted her out of the bar.

Sevika saw the anger in Vi’s eyes, the terrified expressions of both Ashe and Powder. She felt guilty for anything like this happening. “Are you three okay?” she asked as she walked over to the counter.

“I’m… I’m fine, boss.” Ashe answered. “I’m gonna count my till, then head out…” she said before adverting her attention to Vi. “Thank you…” she whispered and placed a soft kiss on Vi’s cheek as she continued to leave the bar to go to the office.

Powder gulped, nodded a few times then held onto Vi. “I’m okay, Sev..” she said. “A little shaken up, but I’ll be fine.”

Sevika let out a sigh of relief from hearing Powder, but she was concerned about Vi in this equation. “Violet?” she asked.

Vi glares at Sevika. “You invited my sister here.” She starts off. “You not only allowed your employee to get assaulted, but you allowed my sister to get hurt…” Vi hugs Powder as tightly as she can. “Thank your stars that she didn’t get attacked by that drunk, or else I’d break you, too.” She threatens as she makes her leave with Powder, shoving Sevika out of the way with her shoulder as they exit the bar.

---

For Sevika, the rest of the night went off without many hitches, just the occasional drunk, but nothing to the extent of what transpired earlier. She definitely carried Vi’s words throughout the shift, and even when she closed down the bar and went home. Sevika invited them, and didn’t anticipate that something like that would happen since it never did prior.
For the Penderghast sisters, it was a calm night when they got home. Vi made sure to treat Powder to some food at a local gas station, just because she felt so terrible about what had happened. Powder swore to Vi that it was unnecessary, that if anything she needed to make it up to Vi. But at the very least, the two were happy to be out of the bar, and could relax for the night.

The next morning, Vi woke up somewhat early to get a quick workout done. She had Ekko tag along with her, since she felt he needed to gain some more muscle. In Vi’s eyes, she took it easy on Ekko, but Ekko was fighting for his life with how hard Vi was hitting the weights in the garage.
Powder came to the garage somewhat hungover from the night before, she stumbled over to where Vi was spotting Ekko.

“Lookin’ good, baby..” Powder mumbled to Ekko.

Ekko passed the bar to Vi so she could put it back on the rack, he then sat up on the bench. “Your sister is a freak, Powder.” He said with a heavy breath. “How’re you feeling?”

Powder shrugged. “Tired, hungry.. I want food.” She explained. “But I can’t find my wallet anywhere, otherwise I’d Dash us some breakfast.”

“I don’t think it’s in my car, either.” Vi mentions as she walks to the workbench, grabs a couple towels, tosses one to Ekko, then wipes her forehead with her towel. “Where do you remember having it?” she asks.

“I dunno..” Powder held her head for a couple seconds. “Last I remember, I was in the bathroom and…” she let out a sigh, giving Vi a pout. “I think I left it at the bar.”

Ekko raised his brow. “Well shit, is it even open right now?” he asked.

Vi shook her head as she grabbed her keys. “Not at all, but I’m certain that I can get her wallet back.” She says.

“Ey…” Powder called out. “Don’t ya think you should put on a shirt or something?” she asked.

Vi raised her middle finger towards her sister. “Wear this, Pow-Pow.” She quipped back.

Powder blew her a kiss with a soft chuckle to follow it.

Vi walked out of the garage to get into her car, she made sure she had everything she needed before she started it and pulled out of the driveway.

---

About 15 minutes later, Vi arrived into the parking area of the bar, noticing how different it looked during the day. She got out of her car and walked over to the front door, she then pulled the door a couple times, but it was locked. Vi decided to walk to the back of the bar in hopes that someone is there, and to her luck, she saw a white van parked next to a black car.
Vi approaches the back door slowly, not to be alarming to anyone that might be there. The back door is open, so she takes a couple steps in, walks down a small hallway to see two rooms, one looks to be a kitchen, the other an office. Vi decides to walk to the office, since if anyone is here, they’ll likely be in the office. Vi walks to the frame of the door to see Sevika sitting at her desk, writing on some documents.
“Uhm, excuse me?” Vi calls out.

Sevika jumped a bit, looked up to see Vi standing at her office. “Violet. Hi.” She greeted. “To… To what do I owe this pleasure?” she asked as she got up from her chair.

“My sister might have left her wallet in the bathroom here, so I figured I’d come by and look.” Vi explained. “Would that be okay, or should I wait until the place opens up?”

“We have a lost and found bin over there.” Sevika points to the bin that sits at the corner of the room. “I trust you’ll only grab what belongs to you, or your sister.”

Vi nods and walks over to the bin. “What do I have to gain by stealing?” she asks.

Sevika observes Vi’s expression, it’s much different than the night before. It’s calm, more loose, and welcoming. “Would you like something to drink? Water, coffee?”

“Uh..” Vi purses her lips. “I’ll take a cup of joe.” She answers.

Sevika nods and walks out of the office to grab some coffee for Vi, and one for herself since she’s in there. It takes a few minutes, but Sevika is able to return to the office with two hot cups of coffee, light cream, and two sugars.

In the time that Sevika was making the coffee, Vi was able to find Powder’s wallet. She stood up to see the coffees on the desk, so she walked to the desk and sat down. “Thank you, Ms. Sevika.” She said.

“Just call me Sevika, please.” Sevika says with a smile on her face. “It’s the least I could do after last night.”

Vi gave Sevika a cold look before taking a sip of the coffee. “You definitely know how to make a drink, Sevika.”

A smirk forms on the older woman’s face. “That’s what I do, dear.” Sevika says then takes a sip as well. “I am sorry that last night turned out the way it did, I assume Powder is doing okay now?”

“A little hungover, but yeah.” Vi answers. “I’m sorry too, I should’ve had a better handle on my anger.”

“Your anger was justified.” Sevika assured Vi. “I would’ve been just as pissed off as you if it were me.” She said with some confidence. “We normally never have issues like that, so no one was prepared for that to happen.” She explained. “Not an excuse, obviously..”

Vi took another sip of her coffee, then she leaned back in her seat. “Well, what are you gonna do to prevent last night from happening again?” she asked.

Sevika noticed how easily Vi made herself comfortable, no hesitation, no questions in regards to if she could make herself at home. It was impressive. “Well Violet-“

“Just Vi.”

“Okay.” Sevika chuckles. “Well, Vi…” she bites her lip slightly. “Do you happen to believe in fate?” she asks. “Like, that everything happens for a reason.”

Vi shrugs. “I guess.”

Sevika leaned in some to get a closer look at Vi. “Well, as horrible as this pitch is, I gotta at least try.” She said. “What’s your experience in working at a bar?” Sevika asked.

Vi raised a brow then shook her head. “I got no experience with working at a bar.” She answered. “Most of my work experience is being a security consultant, and doing some light bounce work for some security companies during college.”

“Security consultant?” Sevika folded her arms. “Where at?”

“Hexcorp.” Vi answers quickly. “Not only was I in charge of the infrastructure there, I even redesigned it.” She adds. “From the ground up, using my own code.”

“No shit?” Sevika had an impressed look on her face. “So, out of sheer curiosity, are you looking for a job right now?”

Vi thought about it for a couple of seconds, she’s definitely in the market for another job, one with full-time hours, but doesn’t know if working at a bar would be her cup of tea. “Yeah, sorta.”

Sevika nods. “How would you like to be hired by me, as my security consultant?” she asks.

“What would that entail?”

“You’d be in charge of reporting any bullshit that I miss during the shifts, maybe even teach my bouncers a couple tricks that you may or may not know.” Sevika says. “If you have any suggestions, I’ll welcome them with open arms.”

“Not even 12 hours ago I was ready to throw hands at this woman, now I’m considering working for her?” Vi thought to herself as she took another sip of her coffee. “Let’s say for a second that I consider your offer..” she started off. “I have various demands in relation to the job that I would need your word on, in order for me to do it correctly.”

“Name them.”

Vi nods. “Okay, for one, I would need constant access to the bar, so I can do the precautions needed to keep the establishment safe.” She starts off. “Two, I would like to install a better security system here, because having a couple cameras and a PVM isn’t enough to do anything.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with that?” Sevika asked.

“Oh nothing, it’s just that convenient stores that make less money than you have better equipment.” Vi answers. “You want this place to be safe, I’m gonna need a day to do that.” She says firmly.

“Alright..”

“Third, I require coffee, at all times.” Vi says. “On the house.”

Sevika rolled her eyes and followed it up with a nod. “Anything else?” she asked.

Vi shrugged. “I’ll let you know throughout my first day.” She said.

“I’ll have you start next week, that should give me enough time to get everything set up for you.” Sevika reaches her hand out for Vi to shake it. “Welcome to the team.”

Vi shook Sevika’s hand. “Thank you.” She said before she stood up. “I’ll see ya next week.”

“Likewise.”

Notes:

I'll be honest, I've been enjoying writing this, and I am probably gonna write more of this once I'm done uploading this chapter.
I hope y'all are enjoying as well!