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Chapter Two
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
tornado warnings
—by fifteyshadesofdylan
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"You know, moving to Haven on a whim. I didn't expect all these gas leaks and random microbursts," Louisa said to Vince as she reclined back in Dave's chair with her legs up on his desk. Something that would've irritated the shorter man if he was there at that very moment. Though she had been in luck in that department since they had sent him to go pick up their breakfast from the cafe.

"It's a lot more common than you think. Maybe it didn't happen where you grew up. But you'd be surprised," Vince told her, refusing to make eye contact with the younger woman.

Louisa squinted her eyes slightly, reading the older man like he was an open book. Though it had been a couple of weeks since she had moved to town, she seemed to settle down easily. She didn't feel as out of place as she would've initially thought. And the blonde was quick to stick with the Teague brothers. It wasn't just because they were the main factors in her moving to town, but it also had to do with how familiar they felt to her. They were easy to be around.

Something she had learned quickly was that they were also easy to read once she started to hang around the Haven Herald. Though she never called them out when she caught onto their lies which they seemed to do quite a lot. And it was probably one of the reasons why she always tried to spark up the conversation of the random occurrences in the town that were so clearly a cover up for what was really happening. Vince might've thought he was slick, but the same thing happening one too many times, it was clear she was out of the loop on what really went down around town.

"Vince, you do realize that if I'm going to be working for you guys here. I'm going to eventually need to have a little sum up of what the hell goes on here if you want me to sell a story. And clearly you guys need help if you keep using the same cover ups. I don't get how no one has caught on to it. I could go through past papers and color code in highlighter how many times you sell the same story," Louisa brought up, flipping through her magazine. Looking at the different fashion styles celebrities had recently worn on a red carpet and judging the magazines opinions. It was her favorite pastime.

Vince peered over at the blonde before shaking his head.

"Not everything has to be a conspiracy, you know?"

The woman clicked her tongue, "Are you sure about that? I feel like that's the fuel that keeps this town going."

She raised her eyebrow at the man in a challenging manner once he finally caught her eyes. He had a deadpanned look on his face. Suddenly having a stare down between each other, the only thing that broke the older man and younger woman from their little battle was the front door bell going off.

"Louisa, if I look over and see your feet on my desk, I will throw your coffee and bagel onto the sidewalk for the seagulls," Dave spoke up as he walked through the door. The woman was quick to put her feet back on the ground, rolling her eyes slightly.

"No need to threaten me, Dave. I would probably just take your stuff in return," Louisa declared.

Vince stood up from his desk, making his way over to the front where Dave placed the stuff down. Louisa patted her thighs before standing up herself.

"Are you sure you don't want to go with us fishing later on, Louisa? You could learn something new," Vince brought up again. Maybe it was his attempt of not being stuck with his brother and his terrible fishing skills all by himself.

"Yeah, no. I don't touch worms. And I'm an impatient person. I will not stand there and wait for a fish to take the bait," Louisa passed on the offer.

"Louisa, you don't have to stay here the entire day while we're gone. You could, I don't know, explore? Meet people your own age?" Dave suggested.

"Hey, I have mingled a little," Louisa tried to defend herself.

"Yet you still are always with us and when you aren't you're at home sleeping," Vince said while the woman crossed her arms over her chest, "And your idea of mingling is terrible if you've only really hung around that Crocker boy."

"If you want me to go out and be a vigilante, just tell me Vince," Louisa playfully glared, "Besides, he's not terrible. And I have met Audrey and Detective Miserable Pants."

"Oh goodness, three people. That's a new achievement. And try to not break any laws. You're still new around here. They might not go easy on you," Dave sarcastically told her.

She scoffed, "Please, people love me. I'm a lovable person. At most I'd get a slap on the wrist, IF, I got caught. And even though he's crabby, I think Nathan's warming up to me. I'd be behind bars for 5 minutes max."

The two men shook their heads at the woman. She was something else. Though they did see that familiar glint in her eyes that they knew all too well. So they couldn't help but admire the slight mischievousness the blonde had.

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Louisa made her way through the crowd of people who filled the Grey Gull. Not even surprised by the packed place even though a dead body had been found earlier that day. It was a grand reopening after all. Though the only reason she was there was because she wanted a nice drink to end her night right. However, the amount of people did put a damper on her mood slightly. She wasn't feeling too chipper about all the bodies in the place, but that would probably just fuel her one drink night to a few too many.

"Could I get a beer?" Louisa asked the bartender. They nodded and popped the cap off the bottle before passing it over. She went to pull out some of her cash from her back pocket when she heard a familiar voice from behind her.

"It's on the house."

She turned to catch a glimpse of a smirking Duke Crocker. The new owner of the Grey Gull. Louisa chuckled, pushing the money back into her pocket.

"How generous of you, Mr. Crocker," Louisa said.

"Oh please don't ever address me like that. It makes me feel like I aged 50 plus years," Duke cringed, she laughed in response.

"So how does it feel to now own this place?" Louisa wondered as she took a sip from her beer.

"Well, I like the business that's already been brought in. A little more money in my pocket now," Duke said while he looked around. "Plus, it's a nice open-season here. A lot of nice looking ladies."

He smirked down at the woman.

"But of course, none as nice looking as you are, Lulu," Duke flirted with her which caused her to roll her eyes. Though she would be lying if she said his charm wasn't working on her. Ever since they met he had been constantly using it.

"You're right," Louisa mumbled, bringing the bottle towards her lips.

"Oh, don't fuel my ego. But do tell... how am I right?" Duke wondered, leaning down slightly onto the bar getting closer to her.

"Open-season. It gives me a chance to find a guy that will catch my eye," She batted her lashes slightly at the Crocker man, "Preferably, blonde."

A smirk graced Louisa's lips as she watched Duke's cocky demeanor drop.

"Blonde?"

She turned away from the man and began to make her way across the room. After he took a moment to process her comment, he began to follow her a few paces behind. Mentally battling with himself if she was just messing with him or not.

Blonde? Are you kidding?

Leaning against the doorway that led out onto the deck, Louisa watched as Audrey Parker stood up in front of the group of people who were outside socializing. Questioning them on if any of them had seen or known the dead man in the picture she was presenting to everyone. It made the Gordon woman slightly cringe at the image. Seeing a picture of the dead man wasn't really on her bingo card for the evening.

"She sure knows how to work a crowd," Louisa commented to Duke once she felt his presence come up right behind her again. He had a slightly amused look on his face due to Audrey's tactic of working the room. She definitely knew how to pick a time and place.

"If anyone knows anything about this man, you can drink free," Audrey offered out to the people.

"For a month," Duke chimed in, causing the crowd of Haven residents to cheer. Louisa peered up at Duke in a challenging manner.

"So if I went up to her and told her something about the man, I'd get free drinks for a month?"

"Yes. Though, you're still new to town so I can guarantee you have no information on the dead guy," Duke said, giving her a knowing look, "Besides, your drinks are already on the house."

"Yeah, just for the night," Louisa pointed out.

"They are on the house," Duke stated, looking into her eyes. Louisa caught onto his seriousness and smiled. He meant that they were 'on the house' indefinitely.

"Crocker, you spoil me too much already," Louisa commented, a victorious smile painted across her lips.

He mumbled slightly under his breath but she didn't quite process what he had said because she was soaking in the new idea of her getting free drinks whenever she wanted. That was nice of him, she thought.

Duke walked past her to offer a hand to Audrey. Helping her get down from where she stood.

"Your work here is done," Duke declared to Audrey. Once she was back on the ground he questioned her drink of choice that night. Everyone else had a drink in their hand, Audrey could definitely use one herself.

"I'm not drinking actually."

"Audrey, it's my grand reopening. Have a drink," Duke told the blonde detective.

"Yeah, Parker. It's on him anyway. He's being generous tonight to us blondes," Louisa spoke up as she made her way over to them. She grabbed a drink from one of the trays a waitress was carrying around and handed it over.

"Alright, just one," Audrey gave in, not wanting to say no to woman. Instantly she took a sip of her drink. She sent a sincere smile over to Louisa, glad to see her. Somehow feeling comforted with her there.

Once the two had been introduced to each other by Dave and Vince, they had bonded slightly about being the newbies around town. It wasn't a usual thing for two strangers to roll into a town such as Haven. Then one day when Audrey and Nathan had come around to the Haven Herald, Nathan was being all brooding with caused Louisa to tease him. That was where she really seemed to win Audrey over. Nathan on the other hand... not so much. But it was a work in progress.

"What brings you here tonight, Louisa?" Audrey asked. Louisa ushered to the beer in her hand.

"A nice cold beer. Seemed fitting this Friday night."

"She's not telling the truth. Obviously it was to actually see me," Duke chimed in. Louisa peered up at the man who smirked down at her but she didn't say anything. Maybe he wasn't necessarily wrong. But it also could've really just been the beer she was already halfway through.

"Yeah right," Audrey chuckled, "It's been nice running into the both of you but I really do have to work the crowd."

"Audrey, it's Friday night. I think it's alright for you to put the badge down for the rest of the evening," Louisa pointed out. This woman always seemed to be on the go. How was she not exhausted? Louisa couldn't recall a moment in the bit of time she had known the woman that she had ever taken a break or even a nap.

"If it makes you feel any better, no one here knows anything about your dead guy," Duke brought up, trying to give Audrey a chance to drop her lead searching for the rest of the evening.

"Wait. What do you mean by that?" Audrey asked, curious to how Duke would know that small bit of information. But he was a man of many talents, he was sure to get information the normal way or the sneaky way.

He shrugged, "People talk, I like to listen."

Louisa raised her eyebrow slightly. No, he didn't like to listen necessarily. He liked to have the upper hand on the dirt around town. It helped him play his cards right in situations.

"No, wha–."

"Audrey. Take a break. It's time to clock out for the night," Duke gave her a look.

"Alright. Coming from a guy who has never worked a day in his life. That doesn't really mean much," Audrey commented which made Louisa quietly giggle. From what she learned from Duke and then Nathan's side comments, Duke wasn't someone who worked. At least didn't work legally. He liked being the boss of himself for the most part, and now owning the Grey Gull, it worked even more in his favor.

"Well, that's not how friends talk to each other. I feel like at this point we're friends. And as your friend I worry about you. All you do is work. It would be sad if you realize one day that you haven't lived your life," Duke said.

Louisa was always good at reading the room. But whatever was going on between the two, it was harder to decipher in that moment. She caught the look Duke was giving Audrey and she didn't know what to make from it. Though she was a little oblivious at the moment of how Duke looked at her. It was much different from what she was witnessing right there. But she was an over-thinker, so her thoughts began to consume her while she continued to look between the two.

Were they a thing instead? She could've sworn Audrey liked Nathan more. Was Duke actually being concerned for his friend or was it his flirty nature that had taken the reigns in the situation?

"If I keep eating this unhealthy, then I won't have a life to forget about," Audrey peered around the tall man. Still keeping her eyes out on the different people who wandered around. Louisa sipped her beer looking between the two.

"I don't care about eating unhealthy food. I'd rather die happy than unhappy," Louisa declared, "I feel like you just gotta embrace that kind of style, Audrey."

Duke chuckled at the woman. One of the few reasons why I like her, he thought to himself.

Louisa had handed her empty bottle over one of the waitresses walking around. Thanking her in return.

"How about if you quit working for just one night. I will cook you a healthy, delicious dinner," Duke offered to Audrey.

Was he asking Audrey on a date? Louisa tilted her head.

"That is so sweet," Audrey laughed, not taking him seriously.

"Next Friday night, right here," Duke told her. Louisa shifted slightly as she watched them.

Is this awkward? Yes, it is, She thought.

Maybe Duke does like Audrey. Louisa tried to ignore the slight lurch in her stomach.

"You, planning something in advance? Yeah no, that's not going to happen," Audrey called his bluff. Though the Parker woman wasn't reading into the situation as much as Louisa had been doing. It was clearly platonic. Though maybe it all was getting lost in translation the way Duke seemed to be a smooth talker.

"I bet you cancel before I do," Duke challenged.

"Not a chance," Audrey said.

"Where's Detective Moody?" Louisa spoke up, looking over to Audrey. Trying to still feel out if she should just leave now or not. If Nathan was there maybe they could be miserable together.

"He wasn't really feeling like mingling here," Audrey told her before turning back to Duke. Duke's eyes were looking down at Louisa who didn't seem notice. He was now wondering why she cared about where Nathan was.

Louisa pursed her lips slightly.

"Maybe he was onto something. I'm going to call it a night actually," She mumbled. She didn't spare the two a glance before she pushed her way through the people. The sudden feeling of not wanting to be surrounded by everyone came back to her. And from the outside looking in on the conversation of Audrey and Duke's plans, she felt a little out of place.

Duke stared on as her figure retreated from them while Audrey watched the man herself. A small smile appeared on her face.

"How come you didn't offer her a nice dinner?" Audrey wondered. Duke broke his stare from the direction Louisa disappeared in to turn back to Audrey. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"It's uh... not that easy," He let out.

"Not that easy? Says the ladies man himself. You know what? Whatever you say," Audrey said in amusement before taking another sip of her drink, "If it makes you feel any better, I do believe she would've said yes."

"Shit," He cursed under his breath. Wondering if he just blew the perfect chance to ask Louisa to spend some time together with him. This woman had his confidence running for the hills, leaving him acting like a complete chicken.