Whatcha gonna do?

 "Just what are you doing with her?" The question practically made Rico jump. To his surprise, Mona found him at his locker. It was strange to see her since he hadn't seen her in ages. It was like she was a ghost.

"What are you talking about?" He looked back at her to see if she was really OK. In fact, she looked better than ever which kind of made him happy yet sad at the same time.

"You know, Liv." Mona's eyes lit as if this was not a good thing. It was as if he was just asking for it.

He sighed, trying to think what to say. "Well, we are co-workers." He reminded her that they were both at the mega grocery store. "I am just trying to be a friend." He mentioned that Liv lived with his brother's girlfriend.

"Oh, so you just decided to date her." She crossed her arms as if that was an easy solution.

"Go ahead and think what you want." He shrugged. "Liv is a friend and well, I'm worried about her as much as I worry about you."

Naturally, Mona made a face of disgust as she tossed her soft brown locks behind her shoulder as if she might be ready to walk away on the catwalk. Rico didn't want to make her mad, but he thought it kind of funny that she might be worried about him. Maybe. 

"You should stay away from her," Mona said.

"Oh really?" He slammed his locker shut. "It's not that big of a deal. I give her a ride to school. I give her a ride to work and then home." They were practically on the same schedule. Of course, he'd been waiting for an encounter with Tristan. Not Mona. "You know, you can't protect me from Tristan."

She watched him walk away. She looked as if he should have listened. As if she were his messenger girl. Rico winced hard. What had Tristan done to her? Was this something like where the hostage has a deep loyalty to the person who took her?

"Oh, it's as crazy as politics these days," Liv told him later when he mentioned this on their drive to work. "She's just afraid for you." Of course, who knew if the mask mandate was really working either. They just needed to go on and protect themselves the best they could.

The temps were cold. Everything was cold in fact. Somehow they'd sufficed these last few weeks. And without even trying, he felt more loyal to Liv than anyone, but if she knew she certainly didn't let it show.