Our Story: Harvey's Life

Teamwork makes the Dream Team

"Wow, you've gone through a lot," Tony sat opposite Tess in the diner. "I've been so busy with school work that I had to quit my job here and I didn't even get your number."

"You could have asked my mom," she sipped her coffee.
"Your mom? I've never seen her before, does she come here frequently?"

"There she is," Tess pointed at Barb who was walking to the back of the diner.
"That's the boss, how is she your mom?" He scoffed.
"My name is Theresa Harvey," She took a gulp.
"I know."
"What's your boss's name?"

"Barbara Harvey," he said slowly.
"What's the name of this place?"
"Theresa's...Diner," he said, reality dawned on him. "Oh my gosh! I had no idea!" He placed his hands on his face. "This feels embarrassing."

"It is."

He groaned.

"So,how's your girl?"
"Vanessa? She has a new boyfriend."

"You still haven't told her how you feel?" Tess shook her head.

"No I haven't. I think it's better if I don't, I don't wanna make things awkward between us." He fiddled with his fingers.

"You are so dumb," she looked at him closely.
"Hey!" He said suddenly.
"I was joking, chill."

"No, Vanessa just walked in." He sank in his chair trying to hide his face.
"Really?" Tess started looking around. "Where is she?"

"She's going to order," he whispered as he looked at the girl closely.
"The brunette?" She questioned with a smile.

"Yeah," he said dreamily.

Vanessa turned around and looked exactly at the direction where Tess and Tony sat. In an attempt to hide, Tony hit his jaw on the table, letting out a high pitched,'ow!"

"Tony?" Vanessa walked with a smile and coffee in one hand.
"Here she comes, now's your chance," Tess whispered to Tony while trying to make the situation look less embarrassing.

"I knew it was you," she smiled. "Are you okay?" She looked concerned.
"Vanessa!" Tony let out an awkward smile and tried to sit down properly. "Didn't see you there."

"Yeah, I was told they make great coffees here," she raised her cup.
"Ah, yes. Such great beverage!" He replied while sweating.
"Are you okay?" She asked again.
"Will you quit being a wimp already?" Tess sighed.

"Who is this?" Vanessa asked Tony.
"She's like a sister to me, we hang out together," he answered.
"It's nice to meet you,I'm Vanessa," she extended her hand to Tess who took it.

"Beautiful and polite, I like her already. You made a good choice kid," she ruffled Tony's hair and stood up. "I hope you guys are happy together," she walked out and Tony squirmed in his seat.

"You should be able to handle that like a man Anthony," she muttered as she put on her sunglasses and entered her car.

She pulled up in front of Alessia's salon but refrained herself from getting down when she saw a familiar car. Johnson walked out of the salon with Alessia. He placed a quick kiss on her forehead and waved bye to her. Tess sat still in the car watching the drama unfolding. She took some pictures just like a paparazzi would.

After he drove away and Alessia had gone in, Tess waited for a few minutes before walking in.

"Tess?" Alessia greeted with an innocent smile. "What a surprise!"
"Yeah, I thought I'd drop by. I wanna dye my hair."

"Oh really? What color?"

"Black."

"Wow,we'll get right to it. Take a seat," she pointed at one of the empty chairs.

After two hours, Tess squirmed like a worm. She had fallen asleep while she was being attended to. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and stood up slowly.

Her straightened black hair now reached a little bit below her shoulders. It was shining. She took some time to take in her reflection and beauty.

"So? Do you like it?" Alessia asked eagerly.

"Of course I love it," she hugged Alessia tightly and released her almost immediately.
"Great!"

"Where do I pay?" She reached into her purse.
"No, this service is on the house."

Tess looked at Alessia weirdly.
"You're really gonna do this for free?"
She nodded.
"I have to pay, if I don't, I'm not gonna feel comfortable."

"It's okay Tess, I've always wanted to do that. You deserve it," she said.

"It's not okay. I'm your friend, I'll always come here, you can do this on another day. But today, I insist," she looked at Alessia.
"Fine," she agreed grudgingly.

"It's tommorow Tess, I just need an hour out of your time," Jason pleaded over the phone.

"You were there when my team and I agreed to start working tommorow. I can't just come there and be your date while they work here."

"It's just an hour, please! I don't have anyone else," he pleaded.
"I'm sure Hailey would be happy to go with you," she suggested.
"I don't want her, I want you!"

"Will you stop whining already?" She sighed. "I have work to do."

"Why do you keep pushing me away? I'm reaching out here!"

"I'm not pushing you away! I'm busy, I already said that. Can't you be more understanding?"

"I'm sorry for not being more understanding," he disconnected the call.

Tess rubbed her temples out of stress and sighed.

She called Caleb.
"Tommorow,we have to sneak a bug into the Captain's office," she said silently.
"Got it. When it's done, we'll see you at your house."

She went on Instagram and went to Jason's profile. She scrolled through his feed and saw her pictures that he had been posting. She was surprised.

It was full of her pictures.

The ones she was aware of and the ones she weren't. Eighty percent of the pictures were unaware.

She started going through the comments and saw hate brimming. His fangirls were busy shaming her while some other sensible set of people were saying nice things about her.

She refreshed the page and saw that he just posted a selfie. He was looking bored and unhappy. The caption read, "You're probably stalking me right now, I'm mad at you! This is my angry face 😐🔥!"

"He is so childish," she muttered to herself and called him.

"What's the dress code?"