Prompt#306 -Redemption – Where Thoughts Dwell - Tekia - Original

[tekia.livejournal.com]

Title: Where Thoughts Dwell
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Redemption
Warnings: none
Rating: PG
Summary: Rewrite of my story of the same title; Billie is living her life just as she planned it. But you cant always plan for everything.

There was a woman staring at the back of her head.
Billie glanced over her shoulder, a habitual smile curving her lips. “Can I help you?”
The woman grinned and stepped closer. She had her purse dropped in a hand held basket and the whole ensemble propped on the crook of her arm. Her brown hair was thick and long where it hung over her shoulder.
“Where are the fitting rooms located?”
Billie stood from where she had been crouching on the floor to reach the bottom shelves. She pointed to the fitting rooms and quickly gave the directions. The woman nodded, her eyes still intent on Billie’s face.
“Can I ask you a personal question?”
Billie’s smile froze on her face, and she blinked in surprise. “Um, sure?”
“Do you know Robert Marr?”
Billie made a face and nodded. “Not personally, but yeah, I know him.”
“He’s your father?”
“Yeah, he is. How do you know him?”
The woman finally closed the distance between them and held out her hand for Billie to shake. “My name’s Lauran Strarter. I’ve never met him, but I know someone who has. Do you think that you might have time to meet with my friend?”
“I don’t know much about Robert. Uh, I haven’t seen him in years.”
Lauran’s smile was understanding as she nodded. “The thing is Richard wants to meet Robert’s family.”
Okay… Billie glanced away then back. “I guess? I get off work in two hours. I can meet up with you then.”
Lauran grinned. “Great! We’re not from around here, so where would be a good place to meet?”
Billie gave her directions to a very public restaurant, and Lauran confirmed the time before waving goodbye.
Still at a loss, Billie turned back to her project. She dropped down to the hard floor and sighed.
Her father hadn’t been a part of her life. He had left her family about the same time she was born. Her brothers had said that he had been around for a little while, but as far back as she could remember, she only had the few memoires of him.
Once or twice, when he was in town, when she was still young, he had picked the three of them up from their mother’s house for a day out, and once she had gone to visit him for the summer. That was the extent of her knowledge of the man that was her father.
It had been quite a while since she was interested in finding out more about him. Over the last few years she had gotten over the fact that she didn’t have a father in her life. She got along just fine. Once or twice she thought about putting forth the effort in finding him, but if he didn’t want to be a part of their family, so be it. It wasn’t her job to force her father into some unwanted redemption mission.
When she finally clocked out for the day and bought the cat food she had promised not to forget, Billie debated the wisdom of meeting with these strangers. Maybe they really were friends of her father’s that wanted to get in touch with him through her. If they were, she was going to disappoint them.
Maybe they were scam artists. She screwed up her face in a mocking expression. Who was going to scam her? She had no money save for her rent and some change. True, her father was wealthy, but when her mother got the divorce, she didn’t get any of the money. Everything Billie had she had worked hard for.
What harm could it do to meet with them? Billie had deliberately given them a public place in which to meet. And it was only across the street from her store. She left her job, moaning over her wayward hair for only a moment as she stepped out into the summer wind, and walked to her car.
The restaurant they were meeting at was one of Billie’s loves. It served Mexican food and had the best cherry cola’s around. They even gave you a cherry in the soda.
Lauran saw her as she walked in and waved and grinned at her. “Over here, Billie!”
She was sitting in a booth, opposite a man in a baseball cap. He had his chin cupped in his palm, and when he turned toward her, Billie couldn’t see his face. When she finally reached the table, she slid her purse off her shoulder, meeting Lauran’s eyes.
“Hi.”
“Billie,” she said with a hand out toward her companion, “This is my brother, Richard.”
Billie turned toward the mysterious man. “Brother? I thought you said he was a friend.” Then she about swallowed her tongue as she realized who she was looking at. Her eyes went wide and she snapped her mouth shut with an audible click.
Seated before her was none other than on Richard Starter, famous actor and talented musician. He stood and held out his hand toward her.