Business Deals (Riverdale Fan-Fiction)

Chapter one - About offices and accidents

Sweetpea passed the counter of the diner, not expecting to be stopped by the beautiful Pop's-owner Tabitha. "Sweetpea, hey! Can I ask you something real quick?", she said while looking around the counter area. "What do you want?", the serpent asked slightly harsh. "I need you to break into someone's office!", she whispered. "I'm not doing it!", the serpent shook his head. "Well, you don't have any other chance. I need that contract, or otherwise, this diner and the white wyrm are over!", she followed him downstairs. "Wait! We are talking about Hiram Lodge's office?", he turned around. "Exactly! I need you to bring me the papers, so we can save this business!", she set down on a bar chair next to Cheryl. "You found what you searched?", she looked at the redhead. "I am close...", the young lady turned around to leave. "I don't think I'll find it today, toodles!", she smiled friendly and blew an air kiss to Tabitha, before leaving. "Are you done cheating on our conversation?", Sweet Pea asked her. "Oh, yes sorry...", she turned to him with a slightly faked smile. "I will get you those papers... But I have to make sure, that Lodge's little hand puppet isn't around first!", he looked straight at her. "Let me take care of that. Reggie is usually meeting some guys at Pop's around nine... You got 40 minutes to go!", she stood up and walked back upstairs, followed by her serpent friend. Said hand puppet was sitting at the counter, not with his friends, all alone... "30 minutes!", Tabitha corrected herself and looked at Sweet Pea, then back at Reggie. "Wish me luck!", the serpent said and left the diner. "Reggie, all alone on this beautiful evening?", the waitress said and walked up to him, slightly leaning over the counter. "Well yes... I am actually here to talk with you!", he said drily. "With me? How come?", she frowned and set down next to him. She didn't expect anything else than pure business talking, but deep inside she hoped for an emotional, personal conversation. "It's just some stuff about the diner... and the dirty gang members you keep down there!", he sounded rude, even judging. "Don't talk about them like this, you neither know them nor have the right to judge their lives! If you came here to change this diner and the white wyrm, so it fits your boss's ideal, then fuck off!", the words were coming straight from her heart, which was also hurting, for talking to him like that. "This town isn't what it used to be. Hiram's ideas are the only way to make this lost, little town...", she stopped him. "Didn't you listen to me?", she snapped. Before she could even continue to yell at the handler, the sound of her phone got louder. She picked up, hearing a familiar voice on the other side. "Hey what's-", this time she was stopped, by a panicking voice. "Tabitha! You gotta come out, now!", she looked outside, only to see Sweet Pea... and a man laying on the ground. "On my way, I'm there in a sec...", she put her phone down and ran outside. "What happened?", the parking lot was painted deep black by the night, so she didn't notice that it was her boyfriend, laying there in front of her. "I hit him with the car.... it was an accident I swear!", the young man panicked. The blood on his hands was tripping, and the waitress's look at the ground was clearly enough to tell, that this night would have consequences. "Oh my god!", she kneed down to the floor and held up her boyfriend's head with her hands. "What happened?", a voice appeared from behind. Tabitha didn't react, her eyes were only at the man lying in front of her. "I found him like this and called Tabitha, so-", he started. "So what?", the voice came closer. "She deserves to be there when the ambulance arrives!", the serpent grabbed his phone and called 911. Two warm hands were touching the young woman's skin, pulling her up from the ground. She didn't turn around, didn't see who was behind her. She just looked at him, Jughead Jones, lying in all this blood. "Come on, let's get you inside while you're...friend calls an ambulance!", the person lead her back inside. She looked up and right into his eyes. "Reggie?", she asked quietly, still shook. "You ran out and I saw this...situation, so I decided to help", he brought her downstairs so the people wouldn't start staring at the blood on her uniform. "You should sit down", he said politely. "What happened?", Toni noticed the two entering her bar. "Can you take good care of her, while I get the serpent?", Reggie ordered. "Of course!", Toni took the woman's hands and brought her to a chair. "I need something strong!", she said. "I am supposed to take good care of you...", Toni answered softly while pushing Tabitha's hair out of her face. "It is good care, please just do me that one favor, will you?", she said and looked up with watery eyes. So Toni did and brought her a glass and a bottle of her grandmother's liquor. A few drinks later, the two men appeared at the staircase of the bar, one walking up to Toni, one to Tabitha. "Let me take you home!", Reggie offered her. "I can drive myself, I need no man to do that!", she stood up, wobbling of all the alcohol. "Yeah, doesn't seem so sweetie!", he giggled and took her arm, and she smiled at the name he called her. "I actually like you! I don't even know why I yelled at such a handsome, young man!", she smiled at him. "I can't tell if you actually mean it, or say that because you're drunk!", he giggled and brought her to his car, when she stopped halfway. "I actually mean it... Seeing him on the floor...I felt like a best friend, not like a girlfriend!", she seemed serious. "I just wish I could tell him...", she looked down. "Well, if it makes it any better, even if just for now, I think you are very beautiful!", he smiled down at her. She looked up and smiled too. "I'm still not gonna let you cheat on him cutie!", her smiled faded. "If he's better again, you can talk to him!", he laid his around her shoulders to hug her. "It's all my fault that he's in a coma... he'll hate me after that!", he was confused why she would have any fault. Tabitha could see the question marks around his head, so she explained everything, from the very beginning. "It's okay, no one could have expected that to happen! You didn't mean this to happen!", he held her closer, his coat soaking up her tears. "You're not mad at me, for the thing with breaking into your boss's office?", he looked down. "No!", and kept hugging her. "You notice, you're hugging me, right?", she giggled. "Yeah, is that okay?", he looked down at her. "Yes,...", she said and laid her head on his chest.