A man in his mid thirties all dressed in black looked up at the sky trying to figure out just what all the hype was about. So this place was warm and it probably had several things to offer, but he couldn’t understand why she wanted to come back here. Florida was not what she had made it out to be.

Blue skies? Well yeah, but didn’t every place in the world have those?

The ice cream shop she had described several times was a few feet away from him. Taking off his sunglasses, his green eyes were revealed. His short brown hair was ruffled and curly. He looked at the tiny shop across the street and couldn’t see why she had made a fuss about it.

It had been her childhood hangout. For the last four years he hadn’t known much about her. Being only an employer of hers, Richard hadn’t pried into her life. Though the question of why she had come to Detroit in the first place was something he had always wanted to know. Three weeks ago he had gotten the answer to it.

Layne stepped out of the black limo with assistance from another chauffeur. Richard was her main chauffeur, but now he was more of a friend than anything else. She let him live with her. He was sort of like a housekeeper for her now.

Layne looked around, taking in her surroundings. She hadn’t stepped on Florida’s grass for six years. The air still smelled the same, but everything else seemed to be different. The ice cream shop that she had spent most of her afternoons working as a counter girl had moved a little down the main street. The cozy little shop made her feel happy to be back. But all the other stores surrounding it were all different.

It felt so good to be back, she thought.

Richard walked to her side. “This is what you’ve been making a fuss about?”

Layne was dressed in white pants and a dark blue low cut shirt because she knew how Florida weather worked in all the seasons. The stormy weather in July had always been her favorite. She was looking forward to experiencing them all over again.

She ignored his little comment. It didn’t matter what he thought. This was her hometown and would always be, no matter what anybody thought of her here. Everybody in this town she was positive would not believe what she had turned into.

Six years ago she had left being viewed in a way that she wasn’t back in Detroit. Growing up, Layne had been abandoned by her parents and left to fend for herself. Getting into mischief had been her way of release. No one here would believe that now she was a successful business woman about to open her third restaurant right here in the very same neighbourhood where she used to steal candy and wreck havoc on the possessions of some of the residents.

Richard had been a good friend and employer for more than a few years now since she had built up her first restaurant. She had never been a big fan of mansions, so she had a contractor build her the house she wanted. A country home with a porch in the front and a porch in the back, a balcony off her bedroom and many other features that she had always wanted in her own home. Never in a million years would she have imagined having all this money. Everyone had always said she would be a nothing, that she would never accomplish anything. She was sure showing them.

“I grew up here, Richard.” Layne slipped out of her black sandals and walked barefoot over to an old oak tree. She sat down and leaned against the bark. “Though there were a lot of bad times…” She reflected on the few good memories she had. The ones with Chris had been the only good ones. God, she had loved him so much. “The good ones were worth all of them,” she murmured.

“I picked up the local paper from the airport,” Richard said. They had flown from Detroit to Florida this morning. A few early flight. He tossed the paper at her. “They mention you.”

Layne’s eyes scanned over the black and white print. She wasn’t surprised at the attention her return was getting. “They’re expecting me to run away again,” Layne said once she had finished scanning the article. She threw the paper down before she could rip it like she wanted to. “Don’t they know people change?”

Richard sat beside her and rubbed her bare knees. “The Layne I have grown to know doesn’t run from anything.”

“I’m going to show them,” she told him. “I am. I’m going to show them all that I’m not the person that ran off six years ago.”

“Of course you are.”

Richard had every faith in her that she would. Eventually. The restaurant wasn’t set to open for another three weeks. Until opening night, no one would believe that she could pull it off.

Layne saw him then. He was across the street at the café. He was sitting at one of the tables outside that was surrounded by a white fence. He had his back to her as he talked to the group of three guys that were joining him. But she would have known it was him without seeing his face.

She had heard and read about his recent success in the music business. Chris was a well known man now, and everywhere he went people went crazy just wanting a glimpse of him.

“Whose that?” Richard asked, following her gaze. He wasn’t really sure who she was staring at, but there was only a few people that she could be looking at.

The café was empty outside. The only people there were four guys sitting at a table drinking coffee and laughing.

Layne quickly looked away. “No one.”

“And pigs fly,” he retorted.

She didn’t want anyone, especially Richard, prying into her past. She didn’t want anyone to know what her life had really been like here, and how she had hurt the man she had never gotten over. The man across the street. And from the looks of him, he had completely forgotten her. After the way she had treated him the last few months before she disappeared, she didn’t blame him.

And from what she had heard, Chris was happily dating a younger woman he had met on the set of the groups newest video.

As hard as she tried to be happy for him, she couldn’t help the twinge of jealousy she felt whenever she saw them on TV together. Holly was her name and she had long brown hair and light eyes, and her and Chris looked to be very happy together.

“Just an old friend,” Layne said. Who I’m still in love with, she would have added but that secret would never slip through her lips again. No one would ever know what she and Chris had really meant to each other. And she doubted he ever told anyone, either.

“Just an old friend?” Richard nudged her shoulder. “So, who are we looking at here? That blonde with the earring?”

Layne didn’t even know who the young man with the short blonde hair with the silver earring hanging from his ear was. “No,” she said.

Richard went from the blonde to looking over at the brown haired guy beside the blonde sipping some coffee. This guy wasn’t paying much to the conversation going on around him.

“How about him?” he asked. “Look at that guy. He’s just sitting there drinking his coffee. He reminds me of me when I was younger.”

“How so?”

Richard had shared his past with her. She knew all about his childhood and teenage years, how his parents died when he was fourteen, how his grandparents took care of him after the boat accident that had taken his parents away. Richard had been a lonely teen after that, keeping to himself mostly. He had been married twice, both marriages very unsuccessful from the start. Richard was happy now living with Layne and sharing in her success. Even though she was nine years younger than he was, their conversation and the things they did together didn’t show it. They had a blast whatever they were doing together.

“He looks like he’s trying to find himself,” Richard said finally.

“He knows who he is,” Layne said.

Richard caught her. “So you do know him. Who is this guy?” He really wanted to know anything that could give him just a tiny bit of insight into her old life here.

“Like I told you,” she said. “He’s just an old friend.”

“Were you lovers?”

“I’m not answering that.” Layne picked at the grass under her feet. She couldn’t look at Chris anymore. It hurt too much.

“I hope not you weren’t,” Richard said.

“Why’s that?”

When Layne looked back, she knew why. Holly had arrived and was now sitting on Chris’ lap. And he looked happy again. He wasn’t just sitting there, a sad expression on his face. He was laughing with his friends and every so often he would kiss Holly on the cheek.

“You were lovers.” It didn’t take a genius to realize that by the blank expression Layne was now wearing.

Layne glared at him, wishing he’d just drop the subject. “Do you want to be unemployed?” she asked sweetly.

He quickly dropped the subject. Besides, they had wasted almost an hour sitting down on the grass. They still had things to accomplish today.

“The house is waiting,” Richard said.

Layne nodded and got up, wanting to leave anyway. She told herself that she was over Chris and that he had nothing to do with her being back in town. She wasn’t even sure if he still lived here.

She was here to find a killer. She would not get side tracked. But just looking at Chris had brought back so many feelings…Feelings that she had told herself no longer existed.

Getting back into the limo, Layne didn’t realize that he had noticed her.

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Sprinkle Of Intimidation - Chapter Two
World Of Our Own Fiction