After Kim's departure, which was a relief, I decided to wander around for a while. Fortunately, she was in a hurry, so she wouldn't pursue her question. I succeeded in lying by saying that Pedro (our best friend) had hugged me before the flight. At least in her haste, Kim just believed what I said.
It seemed like visiting fun places around here couldn't go wrong. I opened G****e Map, searched for interesting places around here and found Colombus Square Park. Seven minutes away by car. Okay, not too far either.
Kim is calling...
"For God's sake, what is it again, Kim?" I said in an unusual tone.
"I'm sorry, Leanne …. Really, but I wanted to ask you one more favor. The folder I brought was wrong. Please bring—"
"Where did you put it?" I asked, cutting her off.
"I'm really sorry, Leanne," she squeaked.
I let out a long breath. I was absolutely sure that right now her expression must be that of a child who had just finished standing on the corner of the wall. Coupled with the baby-like complexion of her Asian face, I couldn't bear her sometimes. Kim had a Chinese father, and unfortunately she did not inherit the physical features of her American mother. Well, at least that was her charm that made me want to do whatever she asked.
"Alright. Where did you put the folder?"
"On the shelf next to the television."
I headed for the shelf Kim was referring to. "Which one?"
"The dark blue folder," she replied.
I shook my head. No wonder she picked the wrong folder. "There are four dark blue ones, Kim Chan."
"Turn to the first page!" Kim interrupted. I activated the loudspeaker mode and put the phone on the shelf.
"Project with Mr. Matthew Cumberbatch?" I read the first page of the first blue folder I picked up.
"No."
I opened the second blue folder. "Name: Kimberly Zhao Chan. Place of—"
"That's my curriculum vitae, Corbin."
"Hey, look, your forehead in this picture is really awful," I teased. Kim growled in annoyance on the other side. I giggled softly before moving on to the third blue folder. This looked like the news. "Mysterious Deaths of Weaver Family?"
"Yes!" she squealed excitedly. It's lucky I didn't stick my cell phone in my ear. "Oh yeah, just bring your notebook. There's a café nearby. You can do your work while waiting for me."
"You know that it's not free, right?" I started to walk out of her hotel room—which would be my room tonight as well.
"Don't worry, I'll take you sightseeing tonight," she chuckled.
"It's still not worth it, honey!" I said in a demanding tone.
"And treat you to a nice meal."
"Perfect!" I exclaimed with a chuckle. "Alright, send me the address!"
From: Kim
1000 Market, Saint Louis.
I stopped the taxi and told the driver my destination. During the ride, I thought of that man again. His sooty eyes are always ringing in my head. Sharp, cold, and warm at the same time. I even still feel his lips on mine. The fragrance of Terre D'Hermes that poisoned my mind and his embrace that felt like shackling. It was crazy. In an instant that man affected me, even just because of his kiss. And until now, I didn't know the reason for his behavior.
I shuddered softly when the taxi driver informed me that we had arrived at my destination. Oh, a television station building with a very famous channel. No wonder Kim was so enthusiastic about her mission this time. Well, at least it's much better than the private television channel she used to work for. Ah, my dear Kim Chan, you really know how to make money.
"Leanne!"
I turned to the source of the voice. There was Kim waving. With a small run, I approached her.
"Thank you so much, Leanne. You are indeed my best friend."
"You always say that when I bring you things, Kim Chan." I rolled my eyes.
Kim giggled softly. "Because I don't know what else to say, Leanne. You're so reliable. You must be tired. Walk a little north, you'll find a coffee shop. I'll be there in less than an hour. Thank you again so much, Leanne. I really owe you a lot."
"Of course you do. You owe me a lot," I joked. She chuckled softly. "I'll wait for you there. See you, Squinty!"
Arriving at the coffee shop, I immediately ordered my favorite Americano. It seemed like a cozy place to refresh my mind. I took out my notebook from my bag, intending to continue my research report from yesterday, about the Clostridium botulinum bacteria. From that organism, I was able to learn that something so small and even invisible could endanger the lives of other living things many times its size.
Shit! Even while typing, I'm still reminded of that guy. Weird. For God's sake, who was that charming bastard? I'm really going to go crazy if I keep getting influenced by him. I don't usually get like this. Even when Pedro kissed me before, it didn't have the same effect as that mysterious man.
About fifty minutes had passed, and Kim hadn't called yet. My gaze was suddenly drawn to a bald man wearing sunglasses. For some reason, I caught a strange movement from the man sitting in the corner of the room. His hand moved slowly, pulling out an object that I could tell was a gun. (Wait, what?) I looked in the direction the gun was going to be launched. Shit, the Baldy was aiming at the man sitting in a chair not far from me. Without thinking, I got up and ran at him.
Bang!
"Look out!" I pushed him just as the bullet passed us by. It all happened so fast as the gun missed and we hit the table, causing everything on it to fall apart.
"Thank you."
Time seemed to stop. I swear I recognize that voice and that tone. I was still holding him as those sooty eyes looked at me. For God's sake, it's him! The man who had been haunting my thoughts for the past few moments. The scent of Terre D'Hermes emanating from his body added to the conviction that this man was really the one who kissed me in front of the elevator earlier.
The realization woke me up. Suddenly, the atmosphere around us was noisy as a woman received the misdirected bullet. The man quickly got up and looked for the culprit of all this. He put back his sunglasses that had fallen off earlier. Things got noisier as the two of them clashed guns. Wait, this charming man is also playing with a gun?
People screeched as the sound of explosions came from their weapons. Some ran for their lives and others hid wherever they felt strong enough.
"Take cover!" the handsome man shouted at me. The ugly bald guy was still attacking us. The handsome man picked up the gun again and fired both of them while occasionally taking cover behind the table that had been overturned.
"Arrrggghhh!" I growled loudly as a bullet hit my left shoulder.
"Fuck!" he cursed. "Hold on!"
He pulled me to cover behind him.
My moans intensified. My right hand pressed against the wound. It really hurts. The heat and sting seemed to radiate throughout my body, centered on my left shoulder where the blood kept flowing.
The bang of the gun could no longer be heard. It looked like the bald guy had lost. The man carried me, who was now limp and gasping for breath. He shot two more times upwards in different directions. Maybe he intended to destroy the CCTV. I don't know, I'm not interested in thinking about it.
"Please, just hold on for a little while longer," he whispered softly and led me away from the place.
I felt him put me in the car. He tore off his shirt and tied it around my shoulders through my armpits. I couldn't see clearly anymore. He mouthed some incoherent words before I felt the vehicle moving. The sound of sirens sounded faintly in my ears, then his deep voice said something again which was the last thing I heard before unconsciousness picked me up.
"I will definitely pay my debt, Blonde.”
211122, Anne Joyce
"No, Isaac. I don't think she knows who I am. She did it out of humanity."That deep voice made me regain consciousness. I blinked slowly, only to discover that I was in an unfamiliar room dominated by gray and white."No. I've destroyed the CCTV and I'm still wearing gloves."I looked at a man standing with his back to me. He was wearing jeans combined with a thin white shirt with the sleeves folded up to his elbows. From here I could see his sturdy arms and beautiful back. Intending to listen to his conversation, I decided not to show any signs that I had woken up. Although I tried desperately to endure the pain in my shoulder. A thick blanket covered me up to my neck. I was eager to open it, but was afraid that the handsome man would find out about my consciousness."Let's just say I'm unlucky if it's going to be like that. You know for a fact, don't you, that I can always evade the police."Wait, what? Why is he bringing up the police? Sure enough … what if I'm involved too? No, n
"Who are they? Why are they following us?" I asked frantically. My heart was racing fast, my breath was ragged."Calm down, let's just say they don't like me," he replied quickly. He steered the car into a fairly quiet lane. I saw from the rearview mirror that the black sedan was still following this car."What the—aaakkkhhhh!" I screamed hysterically as the bullet fired and hit the rear windshield, making a loud shattering sound."Unbuckle your seat belt!" he ordered."What for?""Drive my car!""I can't drive with one hand.""You can use a gun?""What? Of course not!""Therefore, drive the car—"Prang!"Hurry up!"Quickly, I unbuckled my seat belt, and so did the young man. We switched positions with great difficulty, until the car felt like it was swaying right and left. I ignored the pain in my shoulder and drove the car without wearing the seat belt.He opened the desk on the dashboard and found a revolver-type firearm. He opened the car window and looked out. A shot rang out fro
He lowered his head while his hands tightened on the steering wheel. "I can't say it. I'm sorry. And now I'm even more burdened because you've helped me twice.""Then you'll have to pay," I said flatly and quickly. He looked at me with an inexplicable gaze. "Give me an explanation.""Other than that.""I don't want anything else," I retorted, not to be outdone."Then be prepared for disappointment." The young man replied softly and coldly."But you promised me."He ruffled his hair and growled, "You've turned my two principles against me." The man let out a long breath. "Well, let's just say that I'm not a man whose life is smooth and doesn't have a variety of problems chasing me wherever I go. You know, I've done something that makes them angry and eager to take my life. Are you satisfied?""I'm not really surprised," I commented in a coldly pretentious tone. Although inwardly I was thinking about what he had done to put his life in danger.The roar of the car sounded faintly, growin
For a moment, Marco looked surprised. But it quickly disappeared as he immediately changed his expression to a calm one. "Are you serious?"" I am," I replied confidently. "Kiss me."Without any rush (like he did in the elevator earlier), Marco's left hand grabbed my waist to bring me closer, at the same time as his right hand cupped my cheek. I had already closed my eyes when those thin lips touched mine. He didn't do it hastily, gently and carefully as if I was the most fragile creature in the world.I squeezed his coat, trying to prevent Marco from ending the kiss quickly. He was still gently sucking on my lips, and I didn't want to let him go so soon. The reluctance to separate from him was driving me crazy and I wished that Marco would always be near me.His lips movement stopped. I opened my eyes and was greeted by his dark irises. A feeling of deja vu came over me. Marco pulled away from the hug, but not the catch on my cheek. He rubbed my lower lip with his thumb. "I remember
Three days had passed since the incident and I had never once seen Marco again. However, the memory of him didn't want to leave my head, nor did the pain of the gunshot wound on my left shoulder.Thankfully, the shot only grazed the periphery of the shoulder, not penetrating the flesh or bone. So I didn't need to go to the hospital and avoided the doctor's question of where I got this gunshot wound. And without me answering, they would have guessed that I got it from a gunshot incident in a cafeteria. If that was the case, the police would join in. They would question me, Marco's name would inevitably be mentioned, and the accident I had a few days ago would also be revealed.I'm not safe. I've had almost two run-ins with the police in my day here. And both of them were related to Marco. According to what I heard at his house when he called Isaac, Marco is indeed a suspicious person. Ninety percent of me was convinced that Marco was a bad guy who was always being chased by people and
"Marco?"He was silent for a moment. He always had this mysterious look. I swear he looked at my exposed waist for two seconds, then back at my face."Leandra ...." His voice floats in the air.I smile. He remembered me this time. My subconscious had the idea of getting into the elevator, but before my feet had even taken a step, Marco reached over and grabbed my hand. He pulled me out onto the balcony, out of the way of the partying crowd."Hi...," I greeted awkwardly. "I didn't expect to see you again."What a lie. I spent three days just thinking about when I would see her again."How on earth did you get here?" he asked without looking at me. Both of his hands were holding the bars of the balcony. His gaze wandered far into the unknown.I followed the position of his body. My face was hit by the cold night breeze. "It's Kim's coworker
I made it through the sex well, at least for Fred, and was lucky that I didn't screw up by mispronouncing Fred's name as Marco. If I had, I don't know how would Fred have felt.My reflection in the bathroom mirror portrayed someone more confident, more refreshed, and happier. Being in touch with Fred helped me a lot not to be sad about what Marco had done to me. I also felt less pathetic, I proved myself that I could kiss (and have sex) right after Marco thought that he kissed me just to pay a debt, just to give him an advantage. And it wasn't an emotional advantage.My cell phone rang from inside my bag. Of course it was Kim."Leanne, where are you?" I could hear her lowering her voice.I leaned against the edge of the bathroom counter. "I'm with someone, no need to worry.""Someone...? Oh...," I was one hundred percent sure she was holding back a giggle. "Alright, have fun!" And Kim immediately hung up, very hurriedly, not like she would normally ask a lot of questions. Maybe she wa
At nine in the morning, I packed my bag, preparing to fly back to Chicago. Kim wasn't coming home with me, she'd be back in about three weeks to take care of her official move to Missouri. She'll haul all her stuff here once she finds a permanent place to live. Yes, Kim will be settling in Missouri, we'll be living apart. I know it's hard for both of us. But no matter what, life must go on. My education in Chicago is also coming to an end. Maybe I'll find a job in Missouri, meet Kim again and it's possible that we'll live under the same roof again. "Make sure you don't leave anything behind," she said as she picked up her car keys. I rolled my eyes. "I'm not Kimberly Zhao Chan." The girl groaned a little in annoyance, but also chuckled. I don't know how she'll fare now that I'm not around to bring her things that she left behind. I hope her clumsy nature disappears soon so that she won't trouble herself and others. I followed Kim to her car. "By the way, sorry about Fred. I still