Ahoy Ladies ➵ Steve Harrington x Reader

Chapter Eight

Y/n spotted the Scoops Ahoy's telephone on the opposite wall in the break room. She had a sudden realization that she could phone her dad's work to see if he had shown up and was okay. He had a new job at the Hawkins Post, editing articles or something like that. Y/n tended to distance herself from her fathers job, never asking about it as he usually got too stressed or angry when she did. So, all she really knew was that he got paid, just enough to keep a roof over their head and stock food in the fridge.

Although, y/n still had to shop from second-hand stores and often didn't have spare money for anything more. That's another reason why she didn't take working at Scoops Ahoy for granted, without her own wage - y/n wouldn't have been able to pay off the expenses of her own car. Not having independence scared her and perhaps that's why y/n didn't want to go to university, she'd have to rely on her father for the money and he wasn't the most reliable source.

Y/n had just finished the last of her pizza slice and Steve had already been dragged out to help Robin on the front counter for rush hour. She could hear the screaming children and loud complaints from inpatient mothers from behind the closed door. Y/n got up and threw the empty pizza box in the small waste bin before making her way over to the wall with the telephone. She anxiously dialed the Hawkins Post number, having seen it amongst her fathers papers before.

She let out a deep breath as the phone rang, it took what felt like forever to pick up. Then there was a rustling sound on the other line and someone answered.

"Hawkins Post, This is Nancy Wheeler. How can I help?" A voice said, y/n hesitated as she realized she was speaking to Steve's ex-girlfriend. Who was currently dating Jonathan, the guy she was pretending to flirt with only days ago. "Hello?"
"Hi, sorry. I was wondering if my dad is there?" Y/n answered, feeling more and more anxious for a response. If he wasn't at work, or at home, she couldn't think of anywhere else.

Y/n was sure he'd never leave without saying something, it wasn't the kind of thing he'd do. Especially after what had happened with her mother. She didn't want to think about the overwhelming feeling of abandonment she felt when her mother walked out without even a note.

"You must be y/n. He's not here, hasn't showed up this morning. I'm sorry." Nancy murmured, her voice soft and quiet and y/n cursed under her breath. The confirmation of Nancy's words shattered all hope she had. Now there was really no way of knowing his whereabouts. She squeezed her eyes shut and begged herself to remain calm and rational but that didn't stop her mind from running over every bad thing that could have happened.

"Right, I'm sorry to waste your time" y/n mumbled, her breathing slowly becoming more uneven as she blinked away tears that stung her eyes.

"I'll ring back if he comes in, okay y/n?" Nancy spoke up, clearly noticing y/n's panic on the other line. Y/n only slammed the phone back on the wall in frustration, holding onto the shelf for support as she slid to the floor - unsure of what to do with herself.

Y/n sat with her knees pulled to her chest, her arms wrapped loosely around herself. He was fine. Her father was fine. She kept repeating the words in her mind but that didn't change the fact that he most likely wasn't. Y/n glanced up at the small clock across the room and noticed she'd already gone over her lunch break by fifteen minutes.

She didn't want Steve or Robin to see her like this, not when she had smudged mascara and puffy red eyes. Just as she ran a hand through her hair, trying to tame its messy state, Steve swung the door open with dramatic flare.

"Can you believe this ten year old kid dropped his waffle cone on me-" Steve declared, walking in with chocolate ice cream all down the front of his Scoops Ahoy uniform. It made y/n crack a smile as he searched the nearest shelf for napkins "-and we had to give him a refund plus a free drink to get him to stop threatening to sue me" Steve continued, turning around with a handful of napkins in hand. He suddenly halted, realizing y/n wasn't sitting at the table. Steve surveyed the room quickly before his eyes landed on y/n sat on the floor by the telephone.