capsize me and douse me in your bay

chapter two

Leaning her head against her desk, Toni's pink hair would have fallen into her coffee if it weren't covered. She wasn't supposed to be here. Not on a Sunday. But she was a sucker for her job and quite the overachiever. Sue her for wanting to get a head start on her assignment for the week instead of sitting bored at home while she waited for Veronica's benefit to start. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little excited for it. It felt like she hadn't gone out in so long. She wasn't exactly a party girl back in Riverdale, but she definitely knew how to have fun.

Groaning, she tried to type out the words she needed, but it just wasn't happening. She was more of a photographer than a writer. But unfortunately, she boasted about her writing abilities to get her current job. Thankfully she worked for a weekly newspaper and didn't need to rush as much as she would for a daily one. And it was certainly a good idea that she decided to come into the empty office on a Sunday morning to get a head start.

But she was pushing three hours at her desk and she was getting nowhere.
Reaching for her coffee, she was in the middle of taking a sip of the now cold liquid when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Toni!" a loud, unfamiliar voice made her nearly jump ten feet out of her seat. Scrambling for her keys, she stumbled to her feet and grabbed her mace keychain, standing up to face the person behind her. The little newspaper office wasn't in the safest neighborhood and it wouldn't be the first time someone had broken in to steal and pawn off expensive equipment.

What the hell?

The person didn't look threatening in the slightest. She was maybe two inches taller than her, long red hair that went down to her hips, pale skin and pearly white teeth. She was barefoot, wearing a pair of ill-fitting boxers and a Riverdale High t-shirt that looked two sizes too big for her.

Riverdale High?

Did she know this girl? She didn't look familiar. And she didn't remember ever having trysts with any redheads back in her partying days. And she was sure that she would remember this one, who despite the wide brown eyes and eerily large smile, was actually pretty hot.

"Toni," the stranger said again, stepping closer, but Toni stepped back, still holding up the mace, ready to burn the hell out of this girl's eyes if she tried anything crazy. Hell, she'd apparently been walking barefoot around the dirty city streets and sidewalks.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"Hey!" a third voice came into the mix, loud and masculine.

The redhead whipped around, not losing her smile as she waved at the large and sweaty man who trudged into the room behind her.

"You owe me sixty bucks!" he panted in the girl's direction, coughing into his hand. His face was red as if he'd just run a mile.

"Do you know her?" Toni asked him, still holding the mace up with nothing but confusion and a bit of fear in her eyes.

"Toni!" she smiled at the man and pointed in the pinkette's direction, apparently excited for them to meet.

"No, but evidently she knows you. And one of you owes me sixty bucks or I'm calling the cops!" he said gruffly in his thick Long Island accent.

Keeping the little travel canister of pepper spray up and aimed, Toni fished out her wallet and handed the man three twenty dollar bills, her eyes darting back and forth between the two strangers who had barged into her workspace.

"C-can I ask what she owes you money for?" she stammered, hoping that it wasn't anything that was going to get her into some kind of trouble.

"Yeah, she got in my cab, kept saying 'Toni' and 'New York Observer' over and over again. The whole damn ride," he pocketed the money and crossed his arms over his chest, "And then when I pull up, she bolts outta the back seat and into the building without payin' me. Do you know how hard it is to find a parking spot on this side'a town? I couldn't just leave my cab on the side'a the street!"