The Waitress

26 - Our Agents' Fault

           

While Jared got caught up on the details of Genevieve with Leo, Dex and Eliot, Kaely waited for her mum to return from settling Portia and Allison in a safe house where they'd be protected from Campbell. As she waited, she lay a big blanket from the pile in her room across the couch in the joint living/dining room and wandered off to find Eliot. She found him stretched out across her bed in her room, clearly trying to sleep.

"Eliot," she said softly. "Eliot, do we have food?"

"Mmm," he mumbled, lying on his back with a cap over his face. Kaely stepped into the room, nudging his arm gently.

"Eliot," she pressed, eyebrows twisted into a frown. "Eliot, do we have food or not?"

"I don't know," Eliot grumbled back, and Kaely sighed.

"Fine," she shot back. "Come downstairs, at least. We could watch a movie or something?"

Instead of waiting for an answer, she left the room and trudged back downstairs to the kitchen. It was empty when she got there; the others were back in the dining room. She poked through the cupboards and the fridge, but there was nothing edible in them. Muttering curses, she stepped out of the kitchen and poked her head into the dining room, where heads turned in her direction.

"Do we have food?" she asked Jared, remembering he had a bag earlier. He looked at her, then glanced at Leo and Dex before returning his gaze.

"What?" he asked, and Kaely cocked her head sideways.

"I don't think I've eaten anything but dry biscuits in days," she explained. Jared registered what she said, then realised what she was trying to say.

"Oh," he realised, eyes wide with humour. "I see. Well, the others already ate..."

Kaely's shoulders slumped.

"But," he added, "I did pick up some lunch for you."

Kaely beamed and nodded her head before Jared laughed. "We're almost done," he added as he glided out of the dining room and into the kitchen. Kaely followed him like a puppy.

"What are you talking about?" she asked quietly, observing him as he reached into the fridge to get the food he'd promised her. He was quiet as he pulled out a container, and only sighed when he'd turned around and held it to his chest.

"We're waiting on word that I wasn't followed when I came back," he admitted finally, his fingers tapping nervously on the lid of the container. "I just- I just don't want to ruin this, what you've made here, so soon after getting your mum back. I want you to be safe, is all." His voice trailed off into a murmur, and Kaely reached out, laying her hands on top of his as he held onto the container. She looked at him.

"I appreciate everything you've done for me, for all the time I've known you," she told him, and it was genuine. "I understand why you did what you did, and I forgive you. You don't have to be nervous around me, Jared. You don't have to think you're going to stuff up. You've done nothing wrong."

"You've been treated like shit, Kaely," he muttered in response, still looking down. Kaely tightened her hands on his.

"I don't care," she assured him. "It happened, so what? You're not dead, that's all I care about. So forget about if you were followed here; I'm safe wherever you are. So if you're worried, I'm worried. So just relax, alright? Let's go watch some movies or something."

He looked up at her, and Kaely thought he was going to reject her and continue feeling worrying, but she must've knocked some sense into him because he nodded tightly and handed the container over to her, turning again to get her a spoon. Kaely allowed herself a little smile before she turned and walked out, moving towards the staircase in the ballroom.