Golden Touch - The Umbrella Academy Number 8
Chapter 14 - A Taste of Normality
Note - Hey, everyone! Apologies for how long it took to get this out but I have been so sick it's unbelievable. Sorry for the three week delay but hopefully we are back on track now. This is kinda filler (and shit toward the end) but I couldn't see Sienna following any of the plot points in episode 4 and I think she'd definitely need some time to decompress after the Hazel and Cha Cha fight. On the bright side, it gives us a chance to look at Sienna's life away from the academy. Anyway, enjoy whatever this is <3
Warnings: Warnings: Mention of alcohol and use, violence, blood, knives (blame Diego), drug mentions and use, mention of death, strong language, sexual references, mentions of bad eating habits and starvation, homelessness, abuse, gang, near death experience, injury, tattoos, mentions of needles, broken glass, head injury, guns, bullet wounds, PTSD, disassociation, heavy drinking, drunken behaviour.
Word Count: 9,294
Song: Another Day - Paul McCartney
New York, March 26th, 2019
The morning sun shone over Diego's face, causing him to stir. The amber rays were creeping through the cracks in Sienna's living room blinds and landing carefully over Diego's closed eyes. The two had slept on the sofa, both tired from the events at the academy the previous night. The fight had taken it out of both of them, though Diego would never admit it.
As he finally opened his eyes, blinking a few times, he carries his eyes down to Sienna's form. They'd both managed to stay sat up through the night, Sienna curled into Diego's side. His hand on top of her head even after he had stopped stroking her hair in an effort to calm her. He scanned her face, eyes still shut but covered in tears from the previous night. A few stray strands of hair had stuck themselves to her cheeks and forehead, her tears acting as glue. Despite it all, she still managed to look peaceful as she slept, her breathing even and muscles relaxed.
As Diego looked down at her, the thoughts he had been skimming through just as he fell asleep creep back into his mind. Their mother. How was he going to tell Sienna? Should he tell Sienna? She doesn't want to go back to the academy so is it best if no one tells her?
'What have I done?' He thinks to himself, wracked with guilt and sadness. Sienna aside, he had no idea how to deal with these emotions. How to deal with seeing his mother completely falling apart to the point of disrepair. To the point of him killing her.
Sienna stirs slightly, waking Diego from his thoughts. Her movements cause him to flinch gently, his eyes once again landing on her, watching to see if she wakes up. When she doesn't, he exhales, rubbing a hand over his face whilst he thinks over what to do.
If he stayed here until Sienna woke up, he would end up blurting out the truth about Grace which was definitely a bad idea, but he couldn't just leave her, not after what happened at the academy last night. He knew Sienna wouldn't want to go back the academy for at least a few days, if at all. She'd openly told him how much of a struggle it was to be back there, to be around the others and him at times. It probably was best to give her some space and have some form of normality again.
He thinks it over for a moment, looking around the room at the space she had created for herself, the life she had made away from the rest of them. It saddened and relived him at the same time. The stacks of records reminding him of her childhood bedroom, even if none of them were from her original collection. The framed photos in front of her TV of Sienna and who he assumed were the family who took her in off of the streets. He knew she was better now and that the constant interactions with their siblings over the past days wouldn't have been good for her. Diego had seen first hand the effects their upbringing had had on his favourite sister, and he wasn't about to let her start reliving memories of their childhood again.
That's when he decides he should leave before she wakes up. He wants to let her return to her normal and have him in her life if and when she wanted to. He carefully removes Sienna from his side, leaning her back against the couch cushions so he can stand up. Then he scoops her up off of the couch as gently as he can, Sienna only stirring slightly.
As he carries her to her bedroom, he realises how close they are in that moment, his arms cradling her against his chest. It reminds him of the times he'd had to carry her out of the training rooms as kids, her body so weak from overusing her power and Reginald leaving her with the instruction of not coming down to dinner.
As they got older, Diego made a habit of hiding in the halls of the training wing of the house whilst Sienna had her sessions, in broom cupboards and in corners he knew Reginald wouldn't walk past. He was caught a few times, once by Grace who ushered him back to the living quarters, another time by Pogo, but never by Reginald. Diego had the pattern of his father's footsteps committed to memory, he was only caught by his mother and Pogo because he was too focused on listening for his father.
Diego would wait for hours on end until their father exited the training room before sneaking in and closing the door behind him. Sometimes he'd find Sienna stood frozen in the centre of the room, other times sat cradling her knees in a pool of her own blood. He'd comfort her, talk her down from the height of her emotions until she was able to talk again. Then they would go and sit in his room or on the roof, Diego leaving her there whilst he joined the others for dinner but he'd always smuggle food back to her.
He wouldn't always find her in such states though. It wasn't a rare occurrence that he would find her unconscious, laying on the floor limp, after Reginald had pushed her too far. Her clothes would be splattered with blood from the training exercises, Diego could never decipher if it was hers or someone else's. Her muscles exhausted from putting all her energy into her power. Her skin pale and eyes hollow, Diego would scoop her up and carry her all the way through the academy to her bedroom.
He faces reality again as he pushes her bedroom door open, her room painted only a few shades off from her the green walls of her room back at the academy. He smiles softly and sets her down slowly on the bed before stepping back, contemplating once again.
Diego was a protector by nature but it was different with Sienna. It was more than just a need to protect her, it always had been, which was strange to him given her ability. Of everyone in the city, she was the one that definitely did not need his protection, but she was always at the top of his list, even in the years that they didn't speak.
He sighs, running a hand over his face and breaking his gaze from her sleeping form. Ultimately, he decides his instincts were right and he knows he needs to leave. He scrambles to find a pen around her room, a stack of post it notes conveniently placed next to one on her dresser. He writes:
'Fight took it out of me too, I don't want to hear any bad batman jokes when I next see you. If you need me call this number ******** - D.'
He knew it was unlikely she would call but he writes down the boxing gym's number anyway, just in case. He rips it off of the stack of notes and pushes it to her forehead, chuckling to himself as he does so. Stepping back cautiously, he takes one last look at her before leaving.
The coldness of the stairwell and the lack of Sienna's presence finally lets reality sink into Diego's skull. He hadn't realised but taking care of Sienna after the fight, through the night and this morning had weakened the severity of the loss of his mother. The grief was now fully sinking in.
Three hours later, at eleven AM, Sienna finally awoke. Initially she is disorientated, her mind flooding with images of the fight and her living room given it was the last place she was awake. Her eyes flutter open and are met with the bright yellow paper of Diego's note. Her brows furrow and she peels the post it off of her forehead. She reads it, still half asleep and it takes her a few seconds to fully understand what he's talking about. She half smiles at the batman comment before setting the note on her bedside table and sitting up.
She looks down at her body, still fully dressed in yesterdays clothes. She can feel stands of hair stuck to her face with tears, eyes puffy from crying. She felt rough to say the least. Like she used to after missions. It was like her soul was slowly climbing back into her body after having left to avoid the trauma.
Slowly, she begins to remember the fight, the sounds of the gunshots and Diego's knives slicing through the air, the sight of Vanya's blood and Luther's new form. She pushes it away, abruptly standing up from her bed and heading to the shower in hopes of washing her sorrow away.
She showers, continuously pushing the memories of the previous night away in an attempt to tell herself it was just a dream. But she knew it wasn't. She was just in denial about having converted back into her teenage self and having a fight with two mysterious assailants in her childhood home. It had taken years to push down her instincts, to push away all of her training and become the new version of herself, the lover not the fighter. It was incredibly sobering for her to realise that in the blink of an eye, the old version of herself could pop right back out.
After showering she gets dressed, a pair of black boyfriend jeans and a dark blue Henley top. Usually she would make an effort with her hair and makeup but the effects of last night's brawl were still lingering, making her lethargic and depressed. She quickly dried her hair then put it up into a low messy bun, a few stray hairs framing her face. She puts on the least amount of makeup she can, mascara and concealer to cover her dark circles from crying and lack of sleep, before grabbing a jacket and heading out the door.
She had the opening shift today and she always went in early when she was opening. Today, she needed the company more than anything so she decided to head in even earlier than usual. She couldn't stand the thought of sitting in her apartment, listening to the buzzing of her electricals in the silence of her four walls. She'd spent the last three days surrounded by chaos and the noise of the academy, the sudden shift was going to drive her crazy so she was eagerly avoiding it.
Walking into the bar with the key she still had from her last shift two days ago, she sighs in relief. The familiar sight of the upturned stools and faded booth cushions offering her solace in her hour of need. It was strange to find comfort in such things but after running away from the academy, she craved normalcy and her new life had offered it. The same feeling was happening now after revisiting her childhood home. She needed to feel normal and this run down bar could give her just that.
She hangs her coat up in the office and then begins pulling the stools off of the tops of the tables, giving each table a wipe with the bar cloth she had resting over her shoulder. Just as she finishes, Steve, the owner, walks in through the back door.
"Hey! Enjoy your day off yesterday?" His entrance makes Sienna jump, lost in her own thoughts and humming the rhythm of 'Ramble on' by Led Zeppelin.
"Jesus Christ!" Sienna shouts, clutching her chest dramatically.
"Where?" Steve jokes, smirking to himself. Sienna scoffs playfully and wipes the last table down. She'd never admit it but she had grown to love his dad jokes, a few of them she had stolen for herself.
"Seriously though, what did you get up to yesterday? Did that guy call you yet?" Steve asks, Sienna not knowing which question to answer first.
"What guy?" She chooses the latter.
"The delivery guy I told you about on your last shiftâŠ" Steve explains but is met by Sienna's confused face. So much had happened over the last 36 hours that any conversation she had had with her boss had been completely wiped from her memory.
"I told you I gave him your number. He seemed like your type⊠Or what I guess is your type given the limited information I know about you and the extremely short list of ex boyfriends you have" Steve continues as Sienna walks over to him standing behind the bar. She flicks him with the bar towel.
"I don't need you to play Cupid for me, Steve. I'm pretty sure there's an HR complaint to be made somewhere in this conversation." Sienna jokes hoping to move the conversation away from the actual subject.
"When you find our HR department, let me know, I have several complaints to make about Sammy" Steve continues to joke.
Sammy was the other employee at the bar. He was 25 and had started working there when he was fresh out of college and desperately in need of money but, like Sienna, he had grown to love the place. The two of them weren't especially close, Sammy often picked up shifts that Sienna didn't want to work and it was common practice that only one of them would be working a shift given it wasn't a busy bar. But, on the odd occasion, Steve would get them both to come in when he was running a special deal or had an event going.
"I did it for a reason though, Sienna. You don't tell me much⊠which is totally fine, I'm not saying you need to open up to me or whatever, far from it actually but⊠You're not getting any younger and⊠you've worked here a while now and I've only known you be with one guyâŠ" Steve continues explaining, Sienna beginning to cringe at the seriousness of the conversation. "I just see you like family, a niece if you will, and I want what's best for you⊠the futures just around the corner, you deserve to spend it with someone." He continues.
Sienna softens as she realises he means no harm. She'd always had walls up with Steve, Rosa and Vincent too. In fact she had walls up with everyone in this city apart from her real siblings. She had been reluctant to share any of her past life after running away, frightened that she would get weird looks from people or they would have preconceived perceptions of her. No one (who meant anything to her) had pushed for her to tell them anything. Steve was one of them, he only knew she had been in a relationship before because the guy was one of the regulars sons and it had come up whilst Steve was serving him.
"Well⊠He hasn't called so maybe you don't know how to pick 'em." Sienna jokes, Steve shakes his head. "But I'll take it on board⊠the relationship pep talk." She adds earning a nod from him.
"Good. You're not getting any younger kiddo." He quips and moves to unlock the office door.
"What did you get up to yesterday, anyway? I always wonder what you young 'uns do when you're not here⊠you more than Sammy. I know I joke about you having no life but he definitely doesn't have one." Steve rambles as walks into the office and begins clicking at the computer, talking to Sienna through the open door.
Sienna chuckles at his comment toward her co-worker. Sammy was harmless and Steve just loved playing the sarcastic boss role. She freezes for a moment as she recalls what she got up to yesterday. How the day had started by Diego practically forcing her to go to the academy, the tape, the vote on their mother's existence, seeing her mother in the condition she was, the argument with Luther and the fight with the people in the masks. There was no way she was giving Steve any part of that information.
"Erm⊠nothing reallyâŠ" Sienna forces out as nonchalantly as she can, her eyes trained on the faucet of the sink as she wipes a few glasses clean.
Steve scoffs "God why did I hire two complete virginsâŠ" Steve quips again. "When I was your age I was out until the sun came up. I hitchhiked my way from state to state, turned this entire country upside down but you twoâŠ? You two don't even know you're born." Steve shakes his head, eyes never leaving the computer.
Sienna doesn't reply, still actively trying to push down the memories of yesterday.
"You have all this youth and you just throw it all away. When you're old, you're gonna be sat on your front porch⊠alone might I add⊠rocking away thinking 'god I wasted my twenties⊠all I did was work at that shitty bar and flirt with old men for tips'." Steve chuckles to himself, Sienna coming round slightly at his words. Wasting her youth? If only he knew.
"I'm not too worried about thatâŠ" Sienna mutters, eyes finally leaving the faucet as she wipes her hands clean of the soap suds.
"Oh you sweet summer child⊠You will be." Steve replies, smiling to himself. Sienna smiles and rolls her eyes, walking away from the bar and returning to preparing the bar for opening.
Fifteen minutes pass by and there's the familiar noises of a truck driving into the alleyway behind the bar. The engine shuts off and shortly after, there are three knocks at the back door. Sienna waits to see if Steve will emerge from the office but, of course, he doesn't. She walks over and swings the door open.
Stood in front of her was a man who looked around her age (her actual age of 29). A man of thick black hair sat messily on top of his head which he had clearly not even attempted to style. He smiled up at her as she opened the door, a dimple appearing on his left cheek which was slowly turning a rosy shade of pink alongside his other cheek, contrasting the pasty white skin of his face. She gave him a quick once over, he looked around six feet tall, his arms the only muscular part of his body, probably from lifting delivery stock.
"Can I help you?" Sienna asks when he only stands staring at her for the first few seconds of their interaction.
"I- uh⊠Yeah⊠Erm⊠I'm Matthew⊠Matt for shortâŠ" He stutters, still beaming at her with a smile. He would usually tower over her given her five foot stature, but the step up into the bar was giving her the high ground.
"Hi MatthewâŠ" She says plainly, waiting to see if he was actually going to give them the delivery or just stand there like a lost puppy. He does the latter so she raises her eyebrows expectedly. Normally she'd be friendlier and would probably give him the time of day but her mind was still elsewhere.
Matthew gets the idea and looks behind him at the truck then back at Sienna. "I⊠um⊠have a delivery for you I thinkâŠ" he stutters again.
"You think?" Sienna says stepping down off of the step and into the alleyway, walking toward the truck.
"YeahâŠ" He watches her step down and trails after her, eyes only leaving her to look at the clipboard he was holding. "Looks like you guys were completely out of Jack Daniels, you ordered two cratesâŠ" He reads off of his clipboard and looks up at Sienna again who is already carrying a crate inside.
"You know, we get a lot of orders for JD⊠We have entire units of it back at the warehouseâŠ" He grabs the second crate and walks into the bar behind Sienna.
"Yeah, apparently we get lots of people ordering it here tooâŠ" She replies dead pan as she sets the crate on the floor and begins putting the bottles away, one of each flavour in the shot dispensers and the rest in the store cabinet. Matthew helps by taking the bottles out of his crate and putting them on the bar. He laughs far too enthusiastically at her comment, earning a sideways glance from Sienna as she sets up the bottles.
Before Matthew can embarrass himself further, Steve emerges from the office and pats him on the shoulder. "Nice to see you again kid. How're deliveries going today?" Steve asks from beside him, hand still resting on Matthew's shoulder.
"Ugh⊠good, Sir⊠much better than the last time I saw youâŠ" Matthew chuckles, a little nerved by Steve's presence. Despite the older man being the smaller of the two of them, Steve still managed to intimidate Matthew, he intimidated most people. Sienna always joked that Steve revelled in people being scared of him but in reality, he was just overcompensating.
"Good. Nice to see you finally getting a hang of things, it takes a while settling into a job, ask this one, she barely spoke until the third week." Steve nods to Sienna inside the store closet, Sienna holding a middle finger up to him.
"This is the girl I told you aboutâŠ" Steve adds and Sienna sighs, already knowing where this is going.
"O-oh" Matthew chuckles, Sienna still set on her task of arranging bottles.
"She's a real hoot usually, don't know what's got her panties in a twist today⊠maybe you could help her untwist themâŠ" Steve jokes, laughing to himself. Matthew joins in coyly as he tries to navigate how to continue his (awful) attempt at flirting with Sienna now that her boss was stood beside him and making crude jokes. Sienna slowly turns her head to look at Steve and gives him a 'really?' look.
"See?" he turns to Matthew. "Very tightly twistedâŠ" He whispers just loud enough for Sienna to hear, she shakes her head as the older man chuckles again.
"Ok, I'll stop playing cupid now. You two lovebirds hit it off, ok? I'm going out to grab my lunch, Sienna, open the place up in an hour even if I'm not back." He gives her a shit eating grin as he walks out of the front door.
Sienna huffs, placing the last bottle in the store cupboard and closing the door before turning to look at Matthew. "Ignore him⊠he thinks he's funny." She speaks, dryly.
"Yeah, I gathered that the other day when I was here⊠he's very talkative." Matthew replies, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck like he's out of place. Sienna walks past him, closing the door to the office.
"Yeah, he thinks it's charming but it's annoying at best." She mutters.
She realises how negative she is being, how unlike herself she is currently but she can't seem to break out of it. She looks back at Matthew, stood awkwardly between the bar and the back door. She looks him over again. Steve wasn't wrong, he was her type but with everything going on with her family and seeing Diego again, her mind was in about one thousand different places. She didn't want to lead this guy on but she could definitely be less of a bitch.
"Sorry⊠I'm not usually like this. I'm just⊠really stressed out." Sienna apologises, turning away from him to wipe an already clean surface down.
"Don't apologise to me⊠I'm nobody to youâŠ" Matthew chuckles nervously. "So erm⊠Did your boss tell you he gave me your number?" He asks, already knowing the answer but he now just wanted to have a conversation with Sienna without coming across as a dork.
"Yeah⊠I've been hanging on my phone waiting to hear from youâŠ" Sienna jokes sarcastically and Matthew finally lets out a laugh that doesn't sound forced. His posture relaxes and he leans against the frame of the back door.
"Oh, sorry to have disappointed⊠I'll be honest, I was reluctant given that it was your boss giving me the number. That's one weird working relationship you guys have if he's playing matchmaker for you." Matthew responds, trying to be as witty as he can to keep up with her.
"It's a new venture for him, you're the first victim, so, apologies." She smiles at him and he returns it, his dimple appearing again.
"I won't lie, the look of this place didn't fill me with hope about the type of person you were, either⊠or what you looked like. I thought you were gonna be some cougar with a smoker's cough." He tries another joke, Sienna huffing a laugh this time, he internally celebrates at her reaction. They both look around the room after his comment. Sienna knew exactly what he meant. It was the same thoughts she'd had when she first started working here. It wasn't a complete dive but it certainly wasn't the Ritz. It was an acquired taste.
Sienna hums and leans back against the cabinet she was idly cleaning, clasping her hands together. "Trust me, I don't blame you." She smiles gently at him, his cheeks turning pink once again.
"I'm Sienna by the wayâŠ" She takes a few steps toward him and offers him her hand which he accepts almost too quickly, shaking it gently.
One day, when Sienna was eighteen, she was helping Rosa in the restaurant kitchen. The two of them cleaning and drying plates whilst they sang along to the radio. Somehow, the conversation had turned to boys and Rosa gave Sienna a key piece of advice. She told her about how you can tell a lot about a man by his hands, what type of job he does, if he worked hard, if he was kind, if he was a good lover, the last part making Sienna cringe and Rosa laugh. Regardless, Sienna had carried that advice with her from that day and just by once shake of Matthew's hand, she could gather the type of man he was.
His grip was firm but not tight, showing he was confident despite his performance today. The fact that it wasn't too tight showed he wasn't obnoxious. He had callouses on his fingertips and on his palms. These most likely came from his job, lifting boxes but he had mentioned he'd not long been in the job. Perhaps he was new in town and had been a delivery driver in his old place, she pondered. Either way, it was clear that he worked hard and he wasn't shy of manual labour.
Speaking of his palms, they were huge, almost disproportionate to his body. They practically engulfed Sienna's hand. His fingers were no different, long and a nice balance between chubby and slender. His nails were trimmed neatly, clearly he was raised by a mother who taught him how to actually look after himself and/or he had sisters. Guys he looked after their nails tended to have at least one sister, usually older. This was contradicted by the mop of hair on his head, though. Usually, men with sister's kept up their appearance. Maybe he did and this was just the look he was going for. Either way, Sienna didn't really mind. Sure it was messy but it suited him - after staring at it for long enough. From what she could gather just from his handshake, and a little by his hair, he was worth her time if she did end up wanting to give him a chance.
She stepped back, their hands dropping to their sides. Matthew once again stands there staring at her, silently melting away until the clock at the front of the bar chimes showing its twelve o'clock.
"I uh- I have other deliveries to do but if you're up for it I could give that call at some point and we could arrange something?" Matthew asks, grabbing his clipboard from the top of the bar, mentally cursing himself for asking her that so abruptly, knowing he's going to get rejected.
"That⊠That would be nice." Sienna smiles despite herself. He seemed like a nice guy but she was silently reminding herself that this could easily end in someone getting hurt. The someone being Matthew.
Sienna was far from a player but she knew she was subconsciously welcoming this interaction as a distraction from the recent chaos at the academy, it was just another form of disassociation. She couldn't let herself lead him on, it wasn't a fair thing to do.
It was a habit she had formed when she first started working at the bar. People, mainly boys her age from the local high school, had thrown compliment after compliment her way whilst she was working with Rosa and Vincent. This followed her to the bar and now that she was living on her own, she started doing something about it. She liked the attention, it helped her forget everything, Diego included, and half convinced her that this new life was the only one that mattered. But she realised how reckless she was being and stopped just before she met her ex boyfriend, Luke, one of her regulars sons.
"Oh⊠really?" Matthew asks in disbelief earning a laugh from Sienna. "I really didn't think that was going to work. ErmâŠ" He scratches his neck again. "When works for you?"
"I wont be at home most of today but if you try my number over the next few days, my voicemail will get you if I don't." She smiles. Again, she reminds herself to slow down.
"Great! I'll erm⊠call you soon!" Matthew beams as he steps out the back door of the bar, heading for his truck. Sienna stands in the doorframe.
"You have my number!" She smiles as he starts the truck up. She waves him off as he back out of the alleyway and drives away.
After closing the door behind her, she finishes prepping the bar for opening, restocking the cash register, queuing a few songs on the jukebox, and changing one of the barrels. It's not long before she flips the 'Closed' sign to 'Open' just as the clock strikes one o'clock. Steve was still nowhere in sight but that wasn't unusual, he'd swan in when he wanted to. Sienna didn't mind, she could handle this place on her own, she had before. No one would come in for a least an hour anyway.
And she was right. Almost an hour later, their first patron came in, steadily followed by a string of customers until the place had at least one person at each table.
Most of them were regulars, coming in as soon as they thought it was socially acceptable to start their daily drinking routines. Other's came in for the company, they were Sienna's favourites. They were the ones who Sienna spent most of her time talking to. They'd tell her their lives stories and she would just listen, asking the occasional question but mostly listening to them talk about their children, families (mainly in laws), their current jobs, old jobs, some talked about how they had served in wars.
When they weren't talking about their lives, they'd talk to Sienna about music, appreciating her aged taste. They trusted Sienna with the jukebox, something Steve was never trusted with given his devotion to Queen and only Queen.
Among these were Brian and Tommy, the most regular patrons of the bar and Sienna's favourites. Brian had been unfortunate enough to get tousled up with a drug gang due to his love of cocaine. So much so that one night, eight years ago, he was stabbed in the alleyway behind the bar. Sienna saved his life, unbeknownst to him, shortly before seeing Diego in the same alleyway.
To this day, Brian has little to no recollection of the incident in the alleyway. He recalls the event dramatically almost weekly but the last thing he remembers is the lightbulb above the back door of the bar flickering as his vision faded. He woke up in the bathroom of the bar with a note from Sienna saying 'You passed out outside again, call Steve to let you out when you wake up - Sienna'. That's when Sienna always interjects with a chuckle reminding him that he must've dreamt all of this up in his drunken state. She retells the story of how he had fallen off of the back of his stool as he passed out after everyone else had left. No one, including Brian, knew she had saved him. Just like everything else, she was keeping that a secret. Â Tommy was Brian's best friend. They'd been childhood friends and somehow managed to stick it out for five decades, outlasting both of their marriages. He was the Ying to Brian's Yang, quieter and less vulgar but still a charmer after a few drinks. One fateful day, five years ago, Steve had to call Tommy's son to come and pick him up after he and Brian had both drank their weight in whiskey. When his son, Luke, walked through the door, Sienna almost had to pick her jaw up off of the floor. Instantly, she became sheepish. His olive skin seemed to glisten with the reflection of the LED lights on the ceiling, jet black hair neatly coifed and a jaw that could cut glass. He was around six foot five, tall enough to sweep Sienna off her feet and then some. His clothes seemed to have been made for him, fitting perfectly against every limb. He wasn't muscular, but he filled his clothes nicely.
Sienna busied herself with every other task she could find around the bar whilst Steve tired to help Luke escort Brian and Tommy to his car but the two drunken gentlemen were dead weight. Luke decided to wait it out, asking Sienna to cut them off so they could sober up and walk to the car themselves. That's when Sienna and Luke got to talking, about music, food, hobbies. It turned out they were a matching set, every single thing they had in common, which led to Luke taking Sienna's number.
They spent three years together, breaking up when Luke realised that she was content living a small life, working in a bar and not climbing the property or corporate adder. She hadn't been honest with him about why, hiding her need for normalcy due to her upbringing. He would constantly ask about meeting her family which she would swiftly decline. He knew Rosa and Vince but he quickly gathered that they weren't her real family, and he wanted an end to Sienna's secrecy. In the end, he became exhausted by her lack of transparency and their relationship ended in a sour argument, both insulting each other over their flaws, Sienna's vanity and Luke's materialistic nature. Both of them forgetting the common interests that once brought them together.
People like Tommy and Brian were the reason she loved the bar so much. They were nice people, good to talk to and they didn't ask questions. They didn't mind the wall she had up and that's the way she wanted it, Luke didn't see it like that.
After just over two hours of being open, Steve walks back in via the alleyway at the back of the bar. He hands Sienna a bag of food and she thanks him, eating the contents in the office after serving a customer, Steve taking the reigns at the bar. Once she finishes, she joins him behind the bar.
"How'd it go?" He asks smugly.
"Went down fine, no indigestion in sightâŠ" She responds quickly, an amused sigh leaving Steve.
"With the guy, dickheadâŠ" Steve responds, Sienna laughing to herself.
"He's gonna call me." She responds with an exhale, a smug chuckle coming from Steve.
"I won't say I told you so, just⊠good luckâŠ" He smiles down at her before a customer walks up to the bar and Steve serves them before returning to Sienna.
"Not to be too invasive but⊠Who was the funeral for the other day?" Steve asks cautiously, avoiding eye contact at all costs.
"Erm⊠just a distant family memberâŠ" She purposefully avoids over explaining, matching his stance of looking over the people in the bar.
"Of Rosa and Vinnie's?" Steve probes, seeing how far he can push.
"NoâŠ" She sighs, thinking it over one last time before adding "âŠof mine"
Steve pauses momentarily, afraid to move or breath in case he scared her off. It was as if Sienna were a deer and Steve knew she'd run away if he made even the slightest wrong move.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" He asks carefully, against his better judgement.
She shakes her head.
"Well, I'm here if you need to talk⊠You've been⊠different since that day." He replies, still trying to push the subject subtly.
"I know. I'm sorry, I just⊠I'm not sleeping well⊠I need to go to the doctor or something⊠Think its a vit D deficiency or something."
Steve chuckles knowing she's burying the conversation
"Ok well, you know where I am kid⊠Wouldn't offer this to Sammy" Steve replies, finally looking down at her next to him. She meets his gaze, gives him a soft smile and nod before pushing off of the cabinets they were leaning on and moving to collect some glasses from tables.
The shift goes on, to the same rhythm it usually does on a friday afternoon. Steadily, the flow of people coming in increases after five o'clock, most coming straight from work, others trailing in after they had been home and changed. There weren't many new faces, a few new additions to existing groups that visited on friday nights but other than that, Sienna recognised everyone. Even if she didn't know their names, they'd been in here enough times to know their faces.
As per their routine, Brian and Tommy show up at seven PM on the dot. They walk in and take their seats at the bar, their names had been etched into the wood of the stools by Steve one night as a joke. They don't even need to order, Sienna has their drinks ready on the bar in front of their seats for when they walked in. She makes conversation with them briefly before returning to her duties, serving customers and cleaning off tables, joking with the other regulars as she tends to each table. The routine of her shift helping her to almost forget the events of the previous three days. The bar was keeping her busy, much to her relief.
Two hours later, at nine PM, her shift is set to end. Steve takes over serving customers as he waits for Sammy to walk in. But he is surprised when Sienna sits down on the other side of the bar.
"You feeling alright?" He asks, eyebrow raised, hands pausing their movements as he dries a glass.
"Yeah just⊠don't feel like going home yet." She sighs, running a hand through her hair. The thought of going back to her apartment and listening to the silence made her skin crawl. It was the silence that brought back the memories of yesterday's fight and she wasn't quite prepared to face it yet.
He looks at her concerned but he knows if he asks her what's wrong she'll just shrug him off. Time for a new tactic.
"You want a drink?" He asks.
Sienna shrugs, looking to her left and seeing Tommy and Brian already looking at her, eagerly waiting for her answer. "Sure, tequila and lemonade. Double."
"Ada girl." Brian says into his glass, Sienna could hear the smile on his face.
Just as Sienna takes her first sip, Sammy walks in through the back door. He apologises to Steve for being late, something Steve would usually take umbrage with but today he didn't. He shrugs it off and motions toward Sienna.
A smile immediately plants itself on Sammy's face. The last time he had seen her was 6 months ago when the bar was running a deal on shots, the bar got so busy that Steve had to call Sienna to come in on her day off.
Sammy threw his coat into the office and walked over to the bar, Sienna looking up and smiling at him. His blonde hair had been grown out since she last saw him and he'd started to style it into a quiff. He'd lost weight too. The last time they spoke he mentioned wanting to hit the gym more and lose the pudge he'd put on in college, clearly whatever he was doing was working. He had a black long sleeved button up on, the top 3 buttons left open, paired with some black ripped jeans. He thought that was the pinnacle of sophistication for an outfit.
"Hey! long time no see." He beams as he stands in front of Sienna, nodding at Brian and Tommy.
"Blame Steve." She mumbles against the rim of her glass.
"You guys can talk outside of work y'know." Steve interjects from behind Sammy.
"He's had a stick up his ass all day, ignore him." Sienna chuckles, setting her glass down in front of her. Sammy pours her another, somehow remembering her favoured drink.
"Someone's projecting." Steve jokes, pushing himself off of the cabinet he was leaning on before walking into the crowded bar to collect glasses.
Sienna shakes her head at her bosses comment and Sammy sets her glass in front of her again. He checks to see if anyone else is waiting before speaking again.
"So, how have you been?" He asks, watching as she immediately takes a large gulp of the drink
"Good, you?" Sienna replies after setting her drink down. He looks on at her, slightly concerned by her body language and actions but he was too happy to see her to make a point of it.
"Same old, parents want me to get a 'real' job and settle down upstate somewhereâŠ" Sammy replies, upbeat despite the undertones of his statement.
"It's moments like this when I'm thankful I don't have a normal family." She jokes, swirling the glass around with her hand.
"Speaking of, how're Vince and Rosa?" Sammy asks. He had met Sienna's adopted family when they came into the bar on occasion. He could tell by they way they acted with Sienna that they weren't her real parents and Steve had explained their situation to Sammy when Sienna wasn't around.
"Good. Went to visit them last week because Leo was home. He graduates college in a couple months⊠he's starting to make me feel old." Sienna jokes, rubbing her free hand over her face.
"Join the club, kid." Tommy jokes from beside her, the four of them laugh.
"God I remember being that ageâŠ" Sammy comments wistfully.
"Sammy, that was three years ago for you." Sienna scoffs playfully.
"Shut up." Sammy laughs.
There's a beat before Sienna leans one of her elbows on the table, placing her head on her hand. Her other hand still occupied with the glass.
"What did you think you were gonna do with your life when you were 22?" Sienna asks, looking at the liquid in her glass briefly before bringing it to her lips.
"I thought I was gonna change the world with my business analytics degree." Sammy jokes.
Sienna laughs into her drink.
"Nah, I think I just thought I had the world at my feet and I was ready to embrace every opportunity. Turned out the only opportunity I got was this slum⊠but it's my slum." Sammy continues, wiping down the counter as he speaks. A dopey smile appears on his face as he says the last few words.
"Our slum." Sienna corrects.
"Precisely." Sammy's smile grows.
She sips her drink again and Sammy asks "What about you?"
"Huh?" Sienna replies just after bringing the glass away from her lips.
"What did you think you were gonna do with your life at 22?" Sammy reiterates.
"Erm⊠I don't really know⊠my head wasn't screwed on right."
Sammy laughs at Sienna's comment. This wasn't the first time he'd tried getting Sienna to open up to him but for some reason he felt like he was actually going to get somewhere with the task tonight.
"C'mon SiennaâŠ" He probes carefully, hoping the alcohol she'd consumed was going to help him.
"I don't knowâŠ" she sighs "I didn't think it would ever happen but I always wanted to make music." Sienna admits, Sammy taken aback only by the fact she'd actually offered up information about herself.
"Really?" He asks not in disbelief, it just hadn't been the answer he expected.
She nods
"Do you play?" He continues his questioning, much like Steve, seeing how far he could push.
"Guitar."
"Learn new things about you every time I see you." Sammy smirks.
"That's because we see each other once every year." Sienna replies with a raise of her eyebrows to emphasise her sarcasm. They both laugh and Sienna takes another sip whilst Sammy decides to keep his questioning going.
"What sort of music?"
She shrugs "Mainly acoustic, intimate folky rock stuffâŠ"
"So just like the dad music you listen to?" Sammy quips, smirking once again.
She rolls her eyes playfully "Something like that."
Sienna continues drinking, making conversation with Sammy as he works and with Brian and Tommy as they sit next to her. The noise of the crowded bar comforting her as well as the liquid she's drinking. Whilst it burns her, it numbs her brain enough to temporarily forget the reason she's staying after her shift.
Her tongue tingles with every sip, vision getting hazier and head getting heavier. It took more effort to move and think, blinking became a conscious movement. The songs coming from the jukebox became hard to recognise as her brain struggles to properly understand the noises going on around her, everything merging into one.
"My son was a fool." Tommy says from beside her. She looks over at him, slower than she realises, her eyes hooded from the alcohol. His grey hair had been combed back that morning but the activities of the day had caused it to become slightly unkept. Her eyes lock onto the one deep wrinkle running across his forehead before she looks back at her glass.
"We both played our part in the break up Tommy, we've been over this." She half groans, not particularly wanting to talk about the one relationship she had been in.
"No. He was fool letting someone like you go, Sienna. He thinks he's macho because he got his mom's Italian genes⊠The new girl he's with couldn't hold a candle to you, my darling." Tommy replies causing Sienna to laugh.
"TommyâŠ" She says through a laugh, trying to get him to move the conversation along.
"I'm serious! She's got more plastic in her than Steve's blow up doll." Tommy points to Steve just as he emerges from the store cupboard, the group at the bar laughing.
Steve's rolls his eyes. "Har Har Har.." he says dryly.
"What happened between you two? You were perfect together." Steve adds, nodding toward Sienna.
"I'm not going over this." She replies almost immediately, shutting the conversation down as well as she can.
"No, let's go over this, I wanna know too." Sammy interjects as he moves to stand in front of Sienna behind the bar after finishing serving a customer. All eyes now on Sienna.
She chuckles "My life is not your entertainment."
"No, but my son's is so tell me what happened between you and him." Tommy continues.
Sienna's eyes move from her glass to her lap as she tries to think of another way to stop the conversation. "We just grew apart"
"That's what people say when they hit forty and realise they've wasted their life with the wrong person." Sammy replies, looking at her knowingly.
"Well maybe that's how I felt." She shrugs and sits up straight, sipping her drink.
"No you didn't..." Steve interrupts. "You used to come in here bright eyed and bushy tailed until like 2 months before you broke up."
Sienna groans again. "We just wanted different things, he wanted money and a white picket fence and he couldn't see why I would be content working in a bar and living in a tiny apartment" She finally admits, hoping that would be the end of it.
"I'm not gonna lie it is kinda confusing, Sienna." Tommy responds, smiling.
"Whatever." Sienna says into her drink, finishing it off and setting the glass down.
"I'm kidding⊠I'm aware my son is an idiot." Tommy chuckles.
"It wasn't just him⊠I was really secretive." Sienna admits whilst Sammy makes her another drink.
"Colour me floored." Steve mutters, the other's chuckling apart from Sienna.
She shoots him a look. "Shut upâŠ"
"Maybe you should knock down some of those walls you've got up before you give that delivery guy a chance." Steve responds with a smirk.
"Delivery guy?" Brian, Tommy and Sammy say in unison, all equally as intrigued and confused as eachother.
"I'll tell you later." Steve mouths before looking back to Sienna.
"I don't know, doesn't seem like a good idea." Sienna says as she picks up her now filled glass.
"The guy or the walls?" Steve jokingly questions.
"Both."
"Not everyone is out for blood, Sienna." Brian pipes up from beside Tommy.
"Some people are though." She replies flatly, setting her glass down after taking a sip.
"Yeah, but that's the game of life. Got to take your chances otherwise you'll never meet the person that could change your life." Brian adds, with a gentle smile.
"I guess⊠but then you don't know who is going to hurt you⊠look at both your divorces." Sienna motions between Tommy and Brian.
"My marriage wasn't peaches and cream but there were good moments. If you went back in time and told my twenty year old self the story of my marriage I'd still do it." Brian responds cheerily, confusing Sienna further.
"Why? That makes no sense." Sienna's eyebrows furrow.
Her upbringing meant she never had anything appropriate to shape her life after. She didn't have parents to shape a relationship after, only an abusive adoptive father and a mother who was a robot. Her family unit was completely messed up but they were the only relationships she had. She wasn't raised understanding how to be a person. Sure, Rosa and Vince and their children had given her an idea of what life could be like but it was hard to take that on board when she was actively trying to hide who she really was all the time.
"Because those good days between me and my sweetheart were the best days of my life. Those are the moments i'll be thinking about on my death bed." Brian admits, the group falling quiet for a moment.
"Jesus." Steve speaks.
"Wow." Sammy adds, looking shocked
"Not just a pretty face, am I?" Brian chuckles and wiggles his eyebrows at the pair.
Sienna sighs, having had enough of the conversation. She was confused and exhausted. She couldn't comprehend Brian's statement and she was starting to realise how emotionally stunted she was due to her childhood. It was kind of depressing.
"Ok, that's enough of that. I'm going home before this all gets too profound." She jokes as she stands up from her stool
A chorus of 'no's' sound. Sienna ignores them, taking her glass off of the bar and downing the rest before setting it back down with an 'ahh'.
"C'mon, we were finally breaking down some walls." Sammy whines, causing Sienna to laugh. She walks to the office and grabs her jacket, putting it on and she speaks again.
"Yeah and I'm gonna go home and rebuild them. See you tomorrow." Sienna dismisses them, waving as she walks away. They groan and wave back as she walks toward the front door, saying bye to the patrons as she leaves.
She clicks the door closed behind her and the cold breeze of the city hits her, sobering her instantly. The city noises, the car horns, the bright lights of the street lamps all working together to fight against the alcohol in her system, dizzying her quickly. She exhales, wrapping her jacket tighter around herself then taking a few steps, setting off on her journey home.
As she rounds the corner away from the front door of the bar, she passes the entrance to the alleyway. She glances down it before scurrying off, her footsteps picking up speed as she pushes down the memory of seeing Diego there eight years ago. Just the sight of the alleyway sends her dizzy again.
Though it was one of her fondest memories, seeing her estranged brother after eight years, it was the last thing she wanted to think about right now. She couldn't stomach thinking about anything to do with the academy, not Diego, not Klaus, not her father's funeral and definitely not yesterday.
She carries on, walking down the same familiar streets she walked almost every day to and from work. Usually it was peaceful, the sounds of car's driving past her soothing but not today. She wasn't sure if it was her emotional state that was doing it or the copious amount of alcohol she had consumed in the past few hours but this walk was different. Everything seemed to be getting to her, each sound had her on edge, she was constantly checking what was behind her, her breathing quicker than usual. It was annoying her. All it took was 2 days back at the academy and around her siblings and she was back to her thirteen year old self, frightened by her own shadow.
Thanks to the uptick in the speed of her footsteps, she reaches her apartment quicker then she realises, still wobbling because of the booze and still breathing heavily because of her nerves. She curses as she walks in the door, trying not to slam it in her annoyed state. The silence hits her like a freight train, the only sound in her apartment was the buzzing of the fridge. She rests her head against her front door, willing herself not to cry. That's what little Sienna would do right now and to this Sienna, she was long gone.
She catches her breath and straightens herself out before walking into the kitchen. She rummages through her fridge in search of some leftovers. After finding some and smell testing them, she goes and sits on the couch, immediately turning on the TV to avoid the silence. Some pointless reality show appears on the screen and she exhales a breath she didn't realise she was holding, leans back into the seat cushions and eats her food.
The monotony of the TV show combined with the alcohol begins to lull Sienna to sleep without her noticing. Her eyelids become heavy, limbs relaxed as she slowly sinks further into the cushions.
A high pitched yell from one of the female cast members of the show playing on her Tv wakes Sienna from her doze. Her eyes remain hooded as she jolts up from her lounge position. She lets out a groan, resting her elbows on her knees as she rubs her face before giving in and going to bed.
She forces herself to wash her makeup off and brush her teeth, the alcohol making it tricky. How did Klaus do this every day? She finds some pyjamas and flops herself into bed, hoping the hangover that was inevitably coming for her tomorrow wasn't too bad.