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lauralifeleaf · 2 years ago

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Another Problem: Chapter 7

Heres Chapter 7!

Enjoy~

❤️Laura

~Trigger Warning: Mention of Alcohol/Mention of Blood~

I sat down on my couch as I clutched a homemade plush a child gifted me after helping find her mother. I sat in my pajamas and gazed at the wall. It had been an hour since the encounter with the intoxicated man, which forced the party to end early. Despite the party ending earlier than planned, we had hit the target goal. All we knew was that this fundraiser was for a surprise for the band and we would find out in a month or so.

The bleeding had stopped, and I had just finished sharing my account with the cop. A short knock at my door made me jump a little, quickly groaning at the pain throughout my body. I clutched the soft plush as I slowly got up and opened the door shyly. I peaked behind the door to see Freddy and the others. "Hey, Cupcake, how are you feeling?" asked the worried chicken. I stayed quiet and left the door open, allowing the group invites themselves in.

I sat back on the sofa and curled up into a ball as the others walked over. I was trembling as I still had some leftover anxiety from the encounter. Freddy sat next to me, "It's okay, Superstar." His soft touch and tone eased my shaking body as I relaxed my tense body. "Can I have a hug, Freddy?" I asked quietly, lifting my head. His ears wiggled as he carefully pulled me into a big hug, humming a quiet tune.

As he broke the hug, the sound of pots and pans colliding made us jump, especially me, as I was already on edge. I turned to witness Chica going thru my pantry, already snacking on some chips. "Chica, can you not go through Violet's pantry?" Freddy sighed, looking at the chicken. I quietly smiled as I hobbled over to help the chicken pick up the pans. "It's fine, Fred. That pantry is full of stuff I can snack on. Violet doesn't mind since we are besties!" Chica exclaimed in apologetic laughter.

"Do you guys want anything while you are here?" I questioned the group, trying to reach the top shelf of the pantry. Freddy shook his head, "I am fine, superstar, just grateful to see you are back to being yourself." I smiled, then looked at Montgomery and Roxanne. Roxanne shook her head as Montgomery hummed in thought. "Got any beer?" "Dude!" scolded Roxanne, smacking the back of the gator's head. "What? She offered," he defended himself, rubbing his head. "I do not have any alcoholic beverages. Sorry, Montgomery," I replied without care. "Wait, you can't drink?" asked Roxy. "I can, I just rather not." Roxy rolled her eyes, "Well, you must be fun at parties." I giggled a little, "I'm not much for parties anyway... unless it involves a good book."

I let a slight yawn as I waved Freddy and the girl farewell, only to turn to see Montgomery was sitting on the couch looking at his phone. "Is everything okay, Montgomery?" "Ya," he answered without taking his sight off the phone. "Okay... Feel free to help yourself to any snacks or drinks. I'm going to go to bed," I nervously responded as I limped to my room. He saluted as he remained on the couch. I closed the door and crawled over to my bed. Still hugging my plush, I slid underneath the covers and put on a sleeping mask. I sank into my pillow as a faint piano started to play on my overhead speakers. I shifted to the side as I drifted to sleep, feeling safe at last.

Montgomery's POV

"Oh, I am surprised to see you here, Gaderade," expressed Penny as she sat on the couch next to me. I ignored her as I kept scrolling through Twitter. She sighed as she took my phone. "What the fuck?!" I quietly yelled. "She asleep?" "Why else would I be quiet?!" She smiled, "Good. I was worried I would have to use a Moondrop candy on her." I rarely showed emotion on my face, but this made me a bit concerned. "She not sleepin'?" She sighed, "She tends to hide that she hasn't slept in ages. To be honest, I think she hasn't slept more than four hours for the last month." I stayed quiet as I retreated into my thoughts. 'I could tell she was tired, but this is fuckin' ridiculous!'

"The sad part is this has been happening for a while now. The poor girl keeps having horrible nightmares that make it hard for her to fall back asleep." Penny continued with a bit of sorrow in her voice. "Does she tell ya 'bout 'em?" Penny looked at me and shook her head with a frown before standing up. She glanced at the clock and walked towards the door. "I better get going. I'm going out of town for a bit so I better head home and get some rest." She opened the door, "Night, Gatorade!" She shut the door as I stood up to go check on Violet. I quietly opened the door and saw she was sound asleep. "Sleep well, Chere," I whispered as I shut the door.

*Time Skip*

Violet's POV

The following Monday, I was informed the man was fired as this wasn't the first time he had been called out for harassment. Apparently, this man was also one of the manager's nephews, which didn't end well for that manager. Most of the employees had found out about the incident and were glad to see I was okay. A few of the employees made it clear that if I need any help, just to ask to which I nodded and thanked them.

While I would periodically get spotted in a crowd, I was sent to go and retrieve some tools a mechanic left behind somewhere in Mazersize. It wasn't my first time in the attraction, seeing as I meditated with Chica in the morning, but it was awkward to hobble inside. As I retrieved the tools, I waved at Chica, who was occupied with one of her Jazzercise classes. She waved back as she continued her class as I walked out, heading back to Parts and Services.

Children's cheers and screams echoed across the walls as I walked into the atrium. I wasn't in a rush, so I decided to take the scenic route. I mean, could you blame me? I am basically in the dim, uninteresting tunnels most of the time during the day. It was nice to see the place full of happy families as they ate the greasy pizza and enjoyed the numerous attractions.

As I was about to head back to the dull tunnels, I felt a tiny figure grasp my legs. I looked down to see a small girl with red pigtails holding a Montgomery plush. "Miss Violet!" she glowed as she hugged my leg. I smiled and placed a hand on her head, "Hello, Lily. It's nice to see you again." Lily was a regular with her mother. Her father would occasionally watch her when wasn't swamped with work. She then noticed the bandage around my ankle that was peeking out from under my jeans. "What happened to your leg, Miss Violet?" I knelt down to her level and booped her nose, receiving a giggle from the small girl. "I tripped and hurt it the other day. Nothing too serious," I said, hoping not to talk about it any further.

She nodded as she let go of my leg and then began to jump up and down repeatedly, "Can you play today?" I thought and nodded as I messaged one of the mechanics that I would be with the small girl. Her face lit up as I agreed, "Yay!" "Lilian! There you are." hollered a woman running up to the girl. The woman was wearing a nice blue spring dress with sandals and was the mother of Lily. "Hello, Miss Janette." "Hello, Violet. Sorry about Lillian. She keeps disturbing staff asking when you might be able to play," she replied, picking the girl. "She said she can play today, mommy!" she squealed out with a bright smile.

The mother looked at me, "Are you sure? I don't want to hold you from your job." I smiled, "I do not mind, Miss Janette. I wanted to thank you two for the plush, so I am happy to play with Lily for a while." She shook her head with a small laugh, "You don't need to thank us for that, sweetie. We are happy to see you liked it." "I made it for you and you can't give it back!" scolded the small girl. I giggled quietly, "I won't, Lily. I promise." Janette turned to the child in her arms, "So, what do you wanna do with Miss Violet?" She raised her hands in the air, "Gator Golf!" We chuckled at her enthusiasm as we walked to the golf course.

The attraction was pretty busy as teens and young adults were often hanging out there this late in the day. It didn't stop Lily from giggling with excitement. Janette placed the girl down, "I am going to go grab a strawberry smoothie for you two. Is it okay if you take care of her while I do that?" I nodded as I held the girl's hand as her mother ran off and we walked to the counter. "Oh! Violet! It's nice to see you again. What can I help you with?" asked James behind the counter.

I was thankful that Freddy made sure to let the staff know that I didn't want attention involving the incident. "Hello, James! I was wondering if me and Lilian here could play some mini-golf." James peered over the counter to see the small girl, "Of course! Let me grab you some clubs and golf balls." He walked to the back room to grab the items. He came back seconds later with a green and purple club with their matching golf balls. "Here you go! Have fun, you two!" he yelled as we waved farewell.

We arrived at the first hole, which caused me to realize that I had no idea how to play. "Hey, Lily? Have you played before?" I asked her quietly. "Yeah! Mr. Gator taught me!" she spun and smiled. "Can you teach me? This is my first time playing." She bounced as she grabbed my hand and explained the rules. "So I just have to hit the ball into the hole?" I asked the energetic child. She nodded, "Here! Let me show you!" She placed her ball down and struck it a bit too hard as it ricocheted off one of the walls, soaring into the air.

It had just missed a walking couple, and I apologize for scaring them on behalf of Lily. "Let's be a bit more careful, Lily. We were fortunate those young girls were forgiving," I sheepishly told the child. She nodded as her mother came up carrying two smoothies. I decided to let her mother play instead of me, feeling as if I might end up being called back to work. We had arrived at hole 20 as Janette placed her ball down. I saw a group of kids giggling and running as they played by the river in the corner of my eye. I smiled softly until Janette spoke, "Lily?" I darted to see that the small girl was gone. Her mother, evidently panicking, was looking around.

"Lily? Where are you?" shouted the worried mother on the other side of the channel. I was looking around until I heard a small sob coming from one of the fake scrubs. I peeked around the scrub to a crying Lily, clutching her plush. I looked to see her knee had a small scrap, bleeding a tiny bit. "Are you okay, Lily?" I softly asked. She looked at me and wrapped her arms around my neck as she continued crying. I hugged her back as I comforted the small child. I reached into my pocket, pulled out a Chica-themed bandaid, and opened it up. "Let me see your knee, Lily." She let go and sat on my leg as I placed some disinfecting cream on her wound before putting on the bandaid.

Lily was still a bit gloomy but had stopped crying after a bit. "Can we see Mr. Gator, Miss Violet?" she requested shyly as I carried her. "Once we find your mother, Lily. She should be around here somewhere," I replied to the sad child. "Who ya lookin' for, Chere?" I turned to see Montgomery appearing from behind me, holding his signature club over his shoulder. "Mr. Gator!" Lily squealed out, making me place her down. I supervised as she practically ran to him like a lost dog to its owner or something like that. "Hey, wildflower! It's been a while," he replied gently as he patted the child's head. I smiled a little as they interacted, only to be snapped out of it when a message popped up on my fazwatch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey Vi! How's golf going?~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I slightly blushed as I saw it was from Roxy, looking around to see where she was. "Miss Violet? Are you okay?" I looked at the confused child, "Y-yeah. Just t-trying to see if I-I could find your mom." "Janette, right?" I nodded at Montgomery as he grabbed his glasses from Lily. "I think I saw her at the entrance talkin' to James." "Oh, thanks, Montgomery. I'll let her know I found Lily." "I'll accompany ya two seein' as I've nothin' better to do," he quietly replied as Lily climbed on his tail. "Weeeeeee!" she exclaimed in joy. Montgomery chuckled quietly as he wagged his tail a bit, getting more happy cheers from the girl. "Lily, please be careful," I cautiously told the child. "I will!" she exclaimed back as we began to walk towards the entrance.

"Violet! Montgomery!" waved James standing next to a security guard and Janette at the entrance. I looked at the worried mother and smiled, "We found her, Miss Janette." She glanced at the happy little girl as she hung onto Montgomery's tail. "Thank you, both." "Of course, ma'am... just doin' our job," Montgomery shrugged as his tail came around his body. Janette grabbed the girl and looked at her knee. "I am fine, Mommy. I just tripped while I was playing with some other kids," the happy child responded to her as she looked at me. "Okay, Lily, but please tell me where you are going next time." She nodded as the overhead speakers announced it was closing time. "Bye, Miss Violet! Bye, Mr. Gator!" waved the little girl as they left the attraction. I waved back before letting out a sigh of relief. "How does that girl have so much energy?" I mumbled to myself.

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