Shut Your Mouth

Violet had gotten word from the PD that her records had been amended a couple of days ago and to say that she felt relieved to some amount was a lie. For all she cared, she no longer was leading a rather dangerous double life and that fact alone allowed her to feel much more settled around everyone at the studio.
Pushing a rack of new clothes towards the dressing room, she could hear the door to the office being opened and Chibs standing in the door, looking around the warehouse space.

“Hey Vi, you’ve got a minute lass?”

She took a quick look around to see if Luanne was anywhere near to protest, but shrugged her shoulder, as she couldn’t spot her around. Making her way over, Chibs offered a small smile and stepped back to allow her into the room. Tig, Happy and Juice where sat around the small room, not really giving her a spot to sit, so she came to a stand in front of the desk, uncomfortably stuffing her hands into the small pockets of her denim skirt.

Juice was sat behind the table, typing away at the laptop in front of him. She took a shaky breath as Chibs moved around her to take a seat against the edge of the desk, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips.

“What’s up?”

The small space appeared even smaller with these 4 men filling the room and even though she had never been an insecure person, she still wasn’t sure how to act amongst these men at times.

“Anything on your mind? Anything you wanna talk about sweetie?”

Tig looked her straight in the eyes, his baby blues were piercing and she knew what this “talk” was going to be about. She cleared her throat and shifted her weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably.

“Nope, I’m all good! Work’s been alright and I am glad that Luanne allows me to help around the studio for some extra cash.”

Chibs slipped his lighter out of his pocket and lit his cigarette, remaining quiet. Her eyes wandered over to Happy, who was scratching his stubble chin in a thoughtful manner. Obviously they were waiting for her to speak up before they were going to say anything but she still wasn’t sure if she should just assume and speak out.

“We did a regular check on all new employees last night. It’s procedure after all the shit we had happen over the last few years, I hope you don’t mind.”

Tig spoke up from his spot on the sofa, his eyes still locked onto her, as if he was waiting for something to give away unrest or fear.

“I assumed that Luanne would have run a check on me when I started, but ok? I don’t have anything to hide.”

Her brows scrunched up as her view fell onto Chibs, who still hadn’t said a word since asking her to join them.

“It’s just funny how you never mentioned that you worked with the local PD. I mean, looking at your records, you pretty much joined the force right after high school.”

She was prepared for this; she had her reaction and response down to par for at least a week now.

“So? I am sure you’ve also read that I got discharged dishonorably a good while back with no hope on claiming pension payments. It’s not something to brag about if you were concerned why I didn’t bring it up casually. Is this a problem?”

She kept her cool, starring into Tig’s eyes just to get her point across. She had nothing to worry about.

“We know what we’ve seen on your record. You pretty much sent some colleague to hospital without a reason after a punch-up in a known police bar…why don’t you give us your side of this story lass?”

Chibs finally spoke up, looking at her as he blew smoke up into the air.
She laughed out shortly, raising her eyes to the high roof of the room. Oh perfect, she could spin a story seen that obviously nothing of the sexual harassment was mentioned in the files the guys had read.

“Without a reason? So the report doesn’t mention anything about the sexual assault the guy pulled on me before I rearranged his face? Typical police department shit, women in the force get treated like crap! This guy was an out-of-town guy who was with our office for a few weeks looking into a federal matter. He didn’t take no for an answer when we all went out for dome drinks and all but dragged me into the restrooms. More than one of my guys saw me with my pants down as I kicked the bastard in the nuts! I may have punched him once or twice but trust me it was not hospital worthy! I filed an internal complaint the same night, but no one believed me, as he was FBI and I had been ‘intoxicated’ when all this went down. I was sure they’d come down on him hard seen that I was well-liked in the PD…but only 2 days later they sent me packing.”

She looked from Chibs, to Tig, Happy and lastly Juice, who shot her a small apologetic smile. Her face must have been a grimace, as she tried to paint herself the scenes of ‘her past’.

“So what, the guy got away with trying to rape you and in turn you lost your job?”

Happy jumped out of his seat starring her down, anger written all over his hardened features. She had learned to appreciate this man over the last few weeks and seeing him react this way made her heart melt. Almost.

“I have no idea. I was off the force, but some of my old colleagues told me, that he was called back home shortly after. I didn’t even care anymore at that stage, my career was gone and I was too pissed off with my superiors for taking this guy’s word over mine.”

I felt a hand on my shoulder, tracing it back to Chibs, who looked at me with soft eyes.

“Well I guess that answered all our questions, isn’t that right Tig?”

My eyes shot back over to Tig, who was now leaning back, avoiding my eyes at all costs. He had been the one doubting me. How come that didn’t come as a surprise to me!

“You have the assholes’ name?”

Hap piped up, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and in turn removing Chibs’ hand from me. I voiced a short but loud laugh, throwing my head back into my neck.

“Sure do, but I’d be worried about the news if I’d tell you. All of this happened like two years ago, I’ve made my peace with the situation. Was there anything else or can I go now? Luanne will be pissed if I don’t take the new stuff back to the dressing rooms, seen that no one else around here seems to be doing any work!”

This comment had all four men chuckle and she knew immediately, that she was in the clear.

“All good, thanks for clearing that up for us.”

Juice piped up from behind his laptop, shooting her a toothy smile. She nodded and turned around, hearing quiet murmur behind her as she opened the door.

“Hey Vi!”

She turned in the door and looked up into Tig’s bright eyes as she raised a brow.

“Don’t make any plans for the next few days. We’re having a party down in Charming and we’d love you to come along. Hap will pick you up tomorrow around noon, pack a bag with some changes of clothes and maybe some stuff to wear for ‘entertaining’, if you know what I mean.”

She appeared confused.

“I’m not sure if Luanne…”,

Chibs cut her off as he snubbed out his cigarette in an overflowing ashtray.

“Don’t worry about her lass, I’ll take care of her. 4 days worth of clothes should be enough. Accommodation and board is looked after, so you won’t be put out.”

Violet nodded her head and sent a smile into the room before she turned to leave.
Well, this had gone much better than expected! And judging by Happy’s reaction, she knew that he cared for her more than just another one of the guys. Moving back to the rack of clothes, or lack thereof, she smiled to herself as she kept pushing it back towards the dressing rooms.