Delusional Sunset

"Stupid."

Punch.

"Idiotic."

Punch.

"Chop off his-"

Double punch.

"-fucking dick and-"

Left upper cut.

"-feed it to him!"

Round house kick to the punching bag.

"Gi, ow! That fucking hurt!"

Gail huffs angrily, staring at the red leather of the punching bag in front of her. Her shoulders move up and down quickly with each angry breath; her chest expands and contracts with each breath she takes. Blue eyes finally begin to cool from the angered chill they held, to a cool azure, moving off the red leather and to the brunette holding the bag in her hands, wincing from Gail's rough damage to the punching bag.

"Sorry, Ash."

"It's cool," Ashlyn mumbles, letting go of the bag and backing away from it. For the last two hours that the two had been working out, Ashlyn stood back as Gail went off about her latest break up and heart ache. Ashlyn was used to it, and she expected Gail to be expecting of it too. "You better make me lunch, though, Gi."

Gail, through her heavy breathing, gives a slight smile and nods. She moves her blonde bangs from her eyes, taking in one slow, deep, breath before her shoulders relax and the anger in her body begins to ebb away, draining from her body the same way sweat pours down her limbs.

"I can do that, Ash. Let's go wash up."

The two friends leave the main gym section of the building and find their way to the female locker rooms on the other side of the building. It's empty for other than another girl changing into her gym clothes. Ashlyn and Gail ignore her, simply giving the friendly nod of the head, before going to their lockers and pulling out their bags. Gail is the first to get into a shower stall, ready to rid her body of the sweat and grime that had built up over the last two hours.

Gail stood under the hot spray, watching as the steam rose from behind the curtain and to the ceiling.

"What do you want for me to make for you, Ash?" Gail asks after a few minutes when she hears Ashlyn occupy the shower stall to the left of hers.

"I really liked that panini you made a few weeks ago, but that blue-cheese salad from the other day was fucking delicious, too."

Gail smirks and gives a low laugh before lathering her hands in shampoo and running her fingers through her shoulder-length blonde hair. Ashlyn laughed in her own stall. They occupy the showers for just a tad bit longer.

"How about I make you a blue-cheese panini?"

Ashlyn groans, "That sounds fucking amazing!" Gail gives another laugh as she washes the suds of shampoo from her hair. The suds go down, down, down the drain and into the pipes and under the building and down the street and- Gail shuts off the water, finally clean. She reaches from behind the curtain and grabs for the towel she made sure to leave out. Once it's wrapped around her body securely, Gail steps back into the locker room and goes over to her bag to grab the hair dryer she has hidden in the bottom of her duffle bag. Gail plugs in the device and lets it lose on her fair, short hair. Just at it begins to dry completely, Ashlyn steps out of her shower and walks over.

Gail hands the dryer over with a smile once she's done, and goes back over to her bag to gather her clothes. Ashlyn isn't far behind, although her thick, long hair is still a tad damp. The two turn their backs to each other and dress quickly. Gail dresses in a simple striped top and a pair of shorts. Sitting on the bench in front of the lockers, Gail pulls on her socks and sneakers, waiting for Ashlyn to braid her hair. It was a tradition between the two - every time Gail would cook something for Ashlyn, Ashlyn had to return the favor and braid Gail's hair. It was an awkward tradition, but Gail hated her hair being in her face and Ashlyn was a hair stylist, so the usual ten minute mess that Gail did was turned into a three minute perfection by Ashlyn's talented hands.

"M'kay, done," Ashlyn says after a few moments, slipping the hair band off her wrist and using it to hold the tail end of Gail's braid.

"Thanks," Gail murmurs before pulling on the rest of her things; a necklace, a ring, her charm-bracelet watch that had been a birthday gift from her younger sister, and a simple pink hat the keep the California sun out of her eyes. "Alright, let's go make some lunch."

The two best friends walk side by side out the door. Ashlyn can't help but give a flirtatious wink to the employee at the counter. He sends one back, making Ashlyn nudge Gail in the side with her elbow once their outside and on the sidewalk in front of the street-corner gym. Gail rolls her eyes at her friend.

"If my earlier proclamation wasn't enough for you, Ash, I've given up on men. I might as well go lesbian or asexual. I can get a sperm donor whenever I want a kid."

Ashlyn lets out a loud, obnoxious laugh, slapping her hand down on Gail's upper arm.

"You? With kids? That will be the day I finally go see my father in his jail cell."

Gail winces at the horrible teenage memory of Ashlyn's father, and Ashlyn notices it. Her amused smile falls quickly.

"Shit, sorry Gi, I totally didn't think about that-"

"Don't worry about it, Ash." Gail waves her hand toward Ashlyn and walks over to her truck parked against the curb. "C'mon, I'm getting hungry now."

The tense moment between the two is still there, but it is disguised with their tight smiles and fight over the radio station. Gail wants to listen to the news, and Ashlyn wants to listen to the local rock station.

"I braided your hair!"

"I'm making you fucking lunch, back off my radio!"

Gail slaps at Ashlyn's hand, glancing over before putting her blue eyes back on the road and flicking the channel to the right one. There is a ten second commercial before the noon time news starts to be spouted out by the newscasters.

"Coming up, local Long Beach teacher wins the Lottery Jackpot. We got the first interview with the man on what he plans to do with the eighty million he acquired just yesterday from picking the lucky numbers 7, 14, 23, 29, 32 and the power ball - lucky number 13!"

Ashlyn groans, but keeps quiet as she complains to herself. Gail is completely engrossed in the road and the radio.

"In other news, the First Community Bank of Huntington Beach was robbed this morning at about 9:30. A complete investigation is being put forth to find the missing ten million dollars, but sources tell us that evidence shows that the robbery may be linked to the Sevenfold Gang..."

Ashlyn perks up, and looks over at Gail. Gail has her hands tight around the steering wheel, and her blue eyes are a frosty cold as she stares out over the hot asphalt from underneath her pink cap.

"What's going to be in the blue-cheese panini?" Ashlyn asks, turning off the radio and changing the subject on Gail's mind. Gail gives Ashlyn a subtle 'thank you' smile before going off to explain what all will be in her newest culinary creation.

The ride to Gail's restaurant goes much faster as Gail becomes distracted with food and the thought of new creations for the next month. She always tried to have new specials every month, something different and delicious and that would bring more reoccurring customers. The last few months had not been going well for Gail, finances wise. Ever since the crime rate grew, less and less people were willing to go out at night, and Gail's restaurant was mainly for the night crowd that was now growing smaller and smaller.

The restaurant, which had been jokingly named Eating for Three, was just two blocks from the Huntington Beach pier, which brought a large crowd during the summer, but as of late, it didn't look like this summer was going to go very well.

Gail pulled up to the curb again, and shut off the ignition of her truck. Ashlyn quickly got out and disappeared in the door, ready for her food. The blonde rolled her eyes and laughed to herself before grabbing her small purse from behind her seat and also getting out of the vehicle. Able to see in through the window, Gail watched as Ashlyn weaved through tables to behind the bar counter and into the back kitchen. Amused by her friend, Gail shook her head and went digging for her phone among the mess that filled her purse. She opens the door to her restaurant, head still down, looking for her phone.

She collides into a firm chest.

"Whoa!" she and the stranger shout. Gail drops her things, going to catch her balance, just as two strong arms wrap around her waist. Gail's breath catches in her throat.

She curses herself for forever putting off men after what she's just seen.

'Attractive' is not the correct word to describe the man holding Gail from falling on her ass. The deep brown eyes, the dark styled hair that seems to be messy just-got-out-of-bed yet also perfect in each small spike that sticks out, and those thin lips parted just slightly in surprise.

"Are you okay?" he asks, a genuine tone of worry in his voice. Gail nods.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

Slowly, he sets her back firmly on her feet and lets her go.

"Sorry about that. I wasn't watching where I was going," he apologizes, taking a step back.

"Don't worry about it, I was being the klutz looking for my phone-" Gail goes to take a step back too, but there's a tug around her neck. Looking down, the two of them find their necklaces tangled from the mishap.

Gail stares at the infinity pendent; she can't bring herself to take it off no matter how much she hurts from the harsh break up.

The pendent is tangled with his dog tags. They both reach up to pull their respective necklaces away, and Gail feels their fingers touch. His are calloused on the pads, yet his palms are smooth. Gail smacks his hands away, something he makes a noise of surprise about, and carefully untangles the two necklaces from each other.

Once finished, Gail takes a large step back.

"Sorry," she mumbles before slipping past him and going into the kitchen. As soon as Ashlyn sees her, she starts to complain of her ever-growing hunger. Gail forgets about the stranger with the gorgeous eyes and goes to cook Ashlyn's promised lunch.

However, when Gail has finished cooking and sitting with her friend to eat, Gail finds her fingers going to the necklace around her neck, playing with the pendent. Ashlyn catches the action but says nothing. Ever since Ashlyn first met Gail in grade school, things had never gone well when Gail was in relationships, and with the last one, Ashlyn began to think Gail would never get the happiness she deserved.

Ashlyn began to think Gail would never get the happiness she so longingly wished for.