Chapter 11: Forced Hangout
Ember Corbin
I was on my way home from work, keeping an eye on my surroundings all the time.
What if someone attacked me from behind?
I had to stay cautious after that threat I received last night. I eyed the security guard of a shopping mall I just crossed. He seemed suspicious. What if he was going to assault me once the traffic police behind me disappeared?
Fastening my pace, I decided to change my route home. Instead of using the regular street, I chose the new street which I hadn't noticed before.
The threat letter meant someone was going to kill me, so the killer had to keep an eye on my daily activities, which meant he knew what streets I used on a regular basis. Naturally, those places would be the best places to catch me and finish me off.
The worst part was, that I had no idea who was going to kill me or who was hired to kill me, but all I knew was, that it was connected to my past.
I had been on a run for some time now. I changed two jobs and two houses to escape my fate of death in the last five months. My complex house location had never been unintentional; though it can be quite inconvenient at times.
I was expecting to get chased by the hitman who ruined my family back then since the only person left to die was me. But why did he trace me so soon? I just got a new friend, with whom I was comfortable, but the killer had to come and wreck my life once again.
Would he kill Lance too if he found him being my friend?
I shook my head, shoving away the scary thought.
Nothing will go wrong, Ember, and Lance is in the mafia; no one can harm him, I assured myself.
Feeling the sudden chills due to the wind, I stopped on the sidewalk and glanced at my wristwatch. It was going to be evening soon, which was the perfect time for the hitman to come and remove my existence from this world.
Not wanting to die so soon, I decided to take a cab and get home faster because walking would take more time to reach home. However, a nervous chuckle escaped my lips realizing that I was on a deserted streetâthere were barely any people, let alone cabs. I failed to notice it before as I was engaged in my own thoughts.
Great!
I just gave an opening to the murderer to shoot me dead. The hitman might even bury me here alive, and no one would notice. There wasn't even a single house here.
"Mom, please rescue me." As soon as I chanted that, a car stopped beside me, making me jump in fear. This was definitely the hitman. I placed my hands over my ears and screamed my lungs out before running in the opposite direction.
I ran as fast as I could and continued yelling, "Help, help!"
When I noticed there was no sign of existence around, I said to myself, "No one will save you but yourself, Ember. Run for your life." I continued running, but the car matched my pace and kept honking at me. For an expensive sports car like that, it was going like a tortoise.
Did the hitman grow old for which he was driving slowly? Or, someone injured him and now he was crippled or something like that? I think it was the same hitman who killed my mom and grew old in the last eight years but wanted to completely finish me before dying. Maybe it was his last wishâto kill Ember Corbin.
When I saw that the car didn't stop chasing me, I ran faster than before, even though I was tired due to the work today. My footsteps came to an end when the car pulled over in front of me when I was about to cross the street.
The door of the car opened, and a familiar person stepped out. A sigh of relief escaped from my lips.
"My rescuer," I breathed out and ran to wrap my arms around Lance, pulling him into a tight hug, feeling safe and secure now. He stood still without uttering a word. "You have no idea how relieved I am now that you are here."
"That I can see," Lance said, indicating the closeness between us.
Immediately, I pulled apart from the hug. Why did I hug him out of the blue? Why don't I use my brain for once?
Trying to hide my embarrassment, I decided to change the topic and said, "What brings you here?"
"My car," he deadpanned.
"That I kâwait a minute. Your car's been following me this entire time," I connected the dots for myself, looking at the red Lykan Hypersport. "Where is your other car?"
"I was in the mood to drive, so I decided to use this one today," he answered me.
"No wonder why I couldn't recognize the car," I muttered.
Lance placed his hands in his pocket and asked, "Why were you running like a crazy woman, which I'm fairly certain that you are?"
Narrowing my eyes in his direction, I asked, "Why didn't you roll down the windshield, instead of following me with your car? I thought it was a killer." When I saw him raising his eyebrows at me, I added, "A killer whom I don't know."
He was a killer too technically, after all.
"Anyway," he let out. "The street isn't safe. You should go home."
"Yeah, I know." I sighed. "I got out of work and started walking. I thought I would walk home since the weather was nice, but then, I got scared and started walking without taking notice of my surroundings and ended up on this quiet street. I wanted to look for a cab, but as you can see, there's not even a person around here, how can there be cabs? I still need a ride home..." I stopped midway and wriggled my eyebrows at him.
He shook his head at that instant as if sensing my thoughts. "I am just going home from the office after one hell of a tiring day, so no way in hell will I drop you."
I batted my eyelashes at him cutely, but when his decision didn't change, I mumbled, "Thank you." With that, I got into his car, pretending not to hear him.
I watched him from the window. He sighed and made his way to the car. Once he was in the driver's seat, he started driving.
"This is the last time I am doing this, I fucking swear," he grumbled.
I chortled hearing him, feeling his intense glare on me.
"So how was your day, Lance?"
"Horrible," he replied curtly, his eyes never leaving the road.
"Why?" I asked with curiosity, but he remained quiet. I poked his forearm, and he hissed at me like a cat, making me chuckle. "C'mon, tell me."
He sighed in defeat. "I had to attend tons of meetings today, and I hate business meetings where I have to sit through boring presentations and snobby clients trying to take advantage of me as if I was born yesterday."
"Do you not like business, even though you own the famous Berserkers?"
"I hate it. Not that I'm bad at it. It's just... business has always been my brother's thing. I'm more suited for the mafia side of things."
I hummed in understanding. "Are you close with your brother?"
He nodded, his shoulders relaxing a little from being mad at me earlier. "We are twins, and I'm quite proud of our bond. Even with my younger brother, though he calls me a weird name, I don't know why."
"What does he call you?" I asked, intrigued.
"Scary bro."
I burst out laughing. "It suits you."
He shot me a sharp glare.
"Sorry," I mumbled and tried to control my laughter, and when it finally died down, I wondered how different my life would have been if I also had a sibling. Maybe it's for the best that I didn't, otherwise, I would have to care more for his or her life, or worse, I would have lost them as well like my mother. I shuddered at the thought of my imaginary sister dying.
"What about you?" Lance suddenly asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"What about me?" I arched an eyebrow.
"How was your day?"
A smile formed on my lips at the question, then into a frown as I remembered my day. Sucking in a deep breath, I started speaking, "Well, I had a tiring day at work as well. There was a new kid who was crying, and I had to handle him. The senior teachers give me the responsibility to handle all the kids because they love me and actually listen to me. So I was with the new kid today, showing him around and once kindergarten ended, I was returning home. I was feeling scared today, which was why I changed my regular route and ended up here. But you made my fear come true and scared the shit outta me."
"I was just trying to warn you to get home soon because that place becomes dangerous after sunset," he informed me.
I hummed in response. Not wanting to stay silent, I said, "Thanks for your number, though. It makes us friends, right?"
"Consider it whatever you want. Explaining stuff to you is like talking to a wall."
I grinned at his response. "Then, we should hang out as friends do. How about tomorrow? Are you free tomorrow?"
I looked at Lance, eagerly waiting for his reply. When he didn't answer, I said, "I am taking this as a yes, okay?" I further spoke, "So there is this very expensive restaurant where I can't eat every month because I cannot even afford it. I save some money and eat limited delicious dishes there every three months. But I am sure you can afford to eat there every single day."
"The point, Lady?" he simply asked.
"Well, how about we go there tomorrow for dinner?" I added instantly, "You have to pay for everything, obviously."
Lance narrowed his eyes in my direction. "And why would I come? Have I opened a free food charity?"
I faked a gasp, placing a hand over my chest. "That was rude. Besides, a friend in need is a friend indeed."
He shook his head and sighed, saying, "I have work tomorrow."
I smiled at him and spoke up, "I will wait for you, Lance."
The car came to a stop. Lance motioned for me to look out of the window, and when I did, I saw that we had reached my house already.
"Thank you," I said with a grateful smile. "See you tomorrow night, then." With that, I got out of the car and went into my house, sparing one last glance at him, watching him drive away.
###
It was finally the time for our hangout.
I had texted the location to Lance last night before going to sleep. Now, I was waiting for Lance in the waiting lounge of the restaurant. The seats were booked before, but I didn't want to be a mean friend and sit there without waiting for him.
Almost two hours had passed since I was waiting, yet there was no sign of him. If he had some urgent work, he would at least text me saying he wouldn't be able to make it here, right? I had faith that he would come. He wouldn't bail on me. We were friends, after all.
After waiting for two more hours, it was already midnight.
Lance wasn't here yet.
A lady who was working there came to the lounge area and sneered at me, "I see your boyfriend stood you up. You know what? You should never come to a place you can't afford."
I was already feeling bad for Lance not coming. On top of that, the words of that woman made me feel worse because it was true. I got stood up. Maybe not by my boyfriend. But by someone whom I truly considered a friend.
The least Lance could have done was drop a text saying he wouldn't be able to make it today. But no! This just showed my importance in his lifeâwhich was zero.
It was all my fault. I forced him to become my friend and arranged this forced hangout. I should've stayed within my limits.
Taking my clutch, I stormed off the restaurant, wiping a drop of tear which slid through my eye.