Chapter 9: Graveyard
Ember Corbin
We were lost.
I should've paid attention to the street. It was all my fault.
"This is why you should talk less," Lance said, frustration visible in his voice.
I bit my lower lip and looked at the deserted street after stealing a glance from Lance. He was clearly annoyed, and I was the one bothering him. I shouldn't have told him to give me a lift in the first place. Now, he would think I was definitely the most annoying person he ever met.
"You know what? You can drop me here," I offered.
"And let you get injured so that you can call the cops on me? No, thanks." Lance leaned his head back against the headrest, taking in a few deep breaths.
We were currently inside the car, parked at the side of the street, surrounded by huge trees.
Due to the air conditioner in the car and my revealing dress, I was starting to feel cold, but I was afraid to say anything to Lance now.
"It's okay, you can drop me here. I will find my way home, and I swear, I won't call the cops on you," I tried to assure him.
I hoped Lance would agree with me, but he shook his head with a sigh and grumbled, "I don't understand. Why can't you tell me your exact address? If you tell me the exact location, I can easily drop you off. But no. You just tell me to go straight. If I keep going straight like you ask me to, I bet we will even end up at the borders. I don't get it. What's the issue, Lady?"
I looked at him, impressed. He had spoken so much at a time. That was something new.
"Now, care to tell me the location?" he asked, snapping me out of my admiration.
I bit my lower lip before answering, "My house is in a complicated place. If I tell someone the address, the person gets confused. Cab drivers never get to my address on time; I always have to walk a few blocks to get to them. That's why I even stopped calling for cabs, and nowadays, I just run to the main street to catch a cab. This one time I told a cab driver, and he took me to another plaâ" I stopped midway when I finally noticed him throwing daggers at me with his eyes. "Fine," I said with a sigh and showed him the location of my house on my phone.
I watched Lance reading my address. After a minute of silence, he looked at me with a blank expression and said, "You could've shown me earlier. I know this place." With that, he started driving once again, reversing the car to take a U-turn.
Gaping at him in disbelief, I asked, "Do you really know this place? But how? And if you know it, why don't other people?"
He answered calmly, "I don't know about other people, but I know every nook and corner of Las Vegas."
"Oh, right, you are a mafia leader, after all," I mumbled under my breath. "I should've told you the address sooner to avoid getting lost."
"Not lost. We were just in the wrong place," he corrected me.
I nodded my head.
Soon enough, we reached my house. It turned out that the isolated road we were on led to the suburban town nearby, and the road that led to my neighborhood was just beside it. Due to missing one turn way early on, we ended up in a totally alien place.
When I was about to get out of the car, a thought came into my mind. I turned to Lance and asked him, "Do you want to come inside?"
Lance arched an eyebrow. "Are you possibly inviting a stranger to your house, that too at night?"
Shaking my head in denial, I explained to him, "No, no, you are not a stranger to me. I know you, and you know me. Who's the stranger here?"
"But we don't know anything about each other. We just coincidentally meet every time, and that's all," he pointed out.
He did have a logical explanation for everything. Technically, we were strangers, yet not strangers because we knew each other's deepest secrets.
"My mom said that even if you talk with a person, that person becomes a friend instantly, so we can keep talking and talking. It's the start of a friendship," I said, giving him a smile.
He narrowed his eyes. "Who said I am interested in being your friend?"
Immediately, a frown appeared on my face. "You aren't?"
"I don't even know you, Lady."
"Well, we know each other enough to rescue each other, right?" I inquired, giving him a teasing look now.
"I didn't rescue you," he said, meeting my eyes.
"That's bullshit," I objected, matching his intense gaze, "You are my mafia rescuer. You show up to save me every time I get into trouble."
"It's just a coincidence," he tried to reason.
I rolled my eyes. "Coincidence only happens once, Lance."
"Well, it happens multiple times with us. What can I do?"
Sighing, I said with confidence, "Cut the crap. I know you will rescue me every time I get in danger because that's what friends do." I opened the door and was about to get away until he mumbled something.
"I hope we never meet again."
I turned to look at him. Did he pray that we never meet? Poor him because God was trying to make us friends, not separate us. "Hey, can I have your number?" I asked him.
He gave me a poker-faced look. "Why?"
"Friends tend to have numbers," I stated in an obvious tone.
"I am not your friend," he deadpanned.
I got out of the car at last and said before closing the door, "Your opinion doesn't matter. I treat you as a friend, whether you like it or not."
I watched him drive away without saying a proper bye.
With a smile on my face, I shook my head and got into my house. I texted Candy saying I reached home safe and sound. Then, I freshened up and dived into a deep, peaceful slumber.
###
It was a bright new day, most importantly, a Sunday. It was Ember's day, meaning I would spend the entire day for myself and with myself only.
I finished cleaning my house an hour ago. Deciding to cook something nicer for me, I had to buy some groceries, so I went out to the nearby grocery store. It was the most popular supermarket in Las Vegas, at least for me, because it had the cookies n crème ice cream tubâmy favoriteâwhich was only available here.
After buying all the necessary groceries, I went to the ice-cream section and found only one tub remaining for cookies n crème. Immediately, I placed my hand over the tub and found another hand over it. I looked up at the owner of the hand.
Coincidences really happen a lot between us, doesn't it?
"Oh, hey there, my friend," I said with a smile. "I love this flavor, so let go. It's mine, Lance."
Lance gave me a tight-lipped smile. "Turns out I love this flavor as well."
An awkward silence took over among us as none of us took our hands off the ice cream tub.
"Oh, so you love cookies n crème as well," I commented. "You have a good taste. It's the best flavor out there." My gaze remained still on the ice cream tub like a hawk.
"I know," Lance replied.
"Let me have this, please," I pleaded.
"Same here, Ember."
It was nice to know he was just as desperate for this tub as I. But that didn't mean I would sacrifice this last tub of cookies n crème for him.
"I came here first. Not to mention, what would a person like you do by eating ice cream? You already have a cold aura," I reasoned.
"Well, I need to make sure this cold aura stays." With that, he used force to snatch the tub out of my hand.
"I can't believe a mafia leader is fighting with me over an ice cream tub," I let out in disbelief. "Also, why are you here? You could have sent your guards to bring this. They would've shown me the gun and I would give it to them." I snatched the tub back from his hand.
He raised his brows. "Does this mean I have to show you my gun?"
I shook my head in denial. "I wouldn't be scared even then because I know you wouldn't shoot me, so it's pointless."
Lance took the tub once again and said, "Fine, let's make a trade. I will give you my phone number if you let me have this."
I gaped at him.
I adored his dedication towards this ice cream, but no way in hell would I sacrifice this tasty heavenly thing. Snatching the tub from his hand for the last time, I held it to my chest ignoring the coldness, and said, "Or, we can come to a truce to equally share it." Before he could say something, I added sternly, "Only if you still agree to give me your number and pay for my groceries." I wasn't one of those girls who hesitated to spend money of someone who had plenty of it. Not to mention, I was short on cash currently and he was literally rolling in it. "If you don't agree, I swear on this ice cream, I will run away with it."
"Fine," he agreed after releasing a deep breath.
With a smirk on my face, I motioned for him to go to the cash counter and pay for my groceries. After he paid for those things, we left the supermarket.
"Do you want to come to my place or wait here?" I asked him.
"Why?" he asked in confusion.
"Well, my house is nearby, so I will keep half of the ice cream with me, and give the rest to you so that you can take it," I informed him.
Keeping his hands in his pocket, he said, "I am going to wait here."
"Okay," I agreed and was about to take the bags Lance was carrying for me until he stopped me.
"Wait, uh... On second thought, these bags are heavy. I will walk you home since it will be hard for you to carry it all alone," he offered and started walking toward my house.
Despite never having someone assisting me in anything after my mom's death, it felt extremely nice to have that someoneâsomeone to share my burden with.
I grinned ear-to-ear and started walking beside him. "Thank you."
###
"Here you go," I said and handed Lance the ice cream tub. He was waiting outside the door while I went inside to keep half of it in my fridge.
"Thanks." With that, he was about to walk away, but I wanted to ask a favor from him.
"Wait up," I called out and stood in front of him. I bit my lower lip anxiously as he waited for me to speak up. After mustering enough courage, I said, "Can you drop me somewhere? I need to meet my mom."
"I would've declined it, but since it involves your mom, I guess I can spare a minute or two to drop you," he said after giving it a thought. "I know how anxious moms can get when we don't meet them on time."
Giving a grateful grin, I said, "Thank you," and grabbed on the chance to make more conversations with him, "So your mom gets anxious when you don't meet her on time?"
He nodded. "She's always checking up on me and my brothers, but she's especially always concerned about me because I live the farthest from her."
From the research I had done right after meeting Lance, everyone in his family seemed to live in California. While Nevada was still close, I could see how being in different states could trouble his mom.
"It's really nice, though. Having a mom to care for us, right?" I said with a smile. If I was being honest, I was a little envious of himânot just for his mom, but for his whole family. I would sacrifice my everything for a chance at having parents and siblings who loved meâor someone to at least eat meals with me or be there for me when I was feeling low.
He nodded and said, "Sebastian's here," as his car pulled up in front of my house.
"So we meet again, Sebastian," I greeted the driver as he came out to open the door for us. "How are you?"
Sebastian gave me a firm smile and went to open the door for Lance once I got inside.
Once all of us were settled in, Lance said, "Sebastian, we have to drop her at her mom's place, which is at..." He looked at me expectantly to give the address.
"Graveyard." As soon as I said that, a blank look covered his face.