SECOND CHANCES (ORIGINAL WORK)

CHAPTER EIGHT

Samantha sat back in an empty booth and sifted through the emails on her phone while on break.

"Hey, Aaliyah?"

Samantha stared down at her phone

"Hmm?" Aaliyah replied as she wiped down one of the tables.

"You said you're from Los Angeles, right?"

She hesitated, wondering where this conversation was heading. "I did. Why?"

Samantha shifted in the booth.

"Breaking news. Fernando Chavez with the L.A.P.D. was found dead in his apartment this morning."

Aaliyah stared at her blankly, her jaw agape and no words coming out. She shut her mouth and made an effort to mask the panic. Her mind spun, trying to make sense of the news.

"What happened?" Her voice wavered. She swallowed hard, pressing her damp palms to her sides.

Samantha scrolled through the article for a few more seconds. Aaliyah wanted to rip the phone out of her hands to read it herself, but refrained.

"Apparent suicide, but they aren't saying how. Says a toxicology report is pending."

Chavez was dead. Dead. Aaliyah silently repeated the fact over and over in her mind, willing herself to believe it.

One of the worst nightmares of her life was gone forever.

She stared out the window, trying to grasp the magnitude of the news Samantha had just shared. She waded through the emotions that flooded her. The relief was unmistakable.

As these realities slowly dawned, a heaviness lifted. As if she'd been given a gift, a prayer answered. Tears welled, and she bit her lip to still its quivering.

"Did you know him?" Samantha's voice was quiet and laced with all the appropriate sympathy one should have in a moment like this.

What she didn't know about the truth of the matter could fill volumes.

Aaliyah cleared her throat and straightened. "Yeah, I did."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she answered. "It's just shocking, is all...sad."

Was it? This wasn't a tragic accident, and as relieved as she felt, she couldn't shake her uneasiness. Chavez had killed himself, but why? With everything he had going for him, she couldn't understand it. Chavez seemed to take special interest in tormenting her emotionally since he'd come into Nathan's life. What else could be at play? She knew nothing about him except the personal hell he'd created for her.

Aaliyah forced herself to finish the rest of her tasks, though Chavez's death barely left her mind as she pushed through work. She was about to give in and check the news again when Samantha popped in.

"How's it going?" She beamed in front of her.

"Almost done with this. How about you?" Aaliyah said as she filled the napkin dispensers.

"I already filled the condiments for the morning shift, sorted the cutlery, swept and mopped the floors, and the last of the tables were wiped down," Samantha said.

"Wow, you're on fire." Aaliyah raised her eyebrows, genuinely impressed.

Samantha smiled broadly, and then her expression became more serious. "Have you been following the news?"

"No, what's new?"

"They said he shot himself. His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit."

Aaliyah closed her eyes, fighting the vision of what that scene must have looked like. Of all the ways to attempt to end his life, he chose the one he was guaranteed not to survive.