chapter2 My business

Aurora's POV:

What the hell? Who the fuck was he to interfere in my business? Did he think that I was a naïve little girl who couldn't take care of herself?

I took in the man standing in front of me in the black suit, with sparkling grey eyes having the pitch-black pupil in the center, narrowed down into slits, his hair now messy after a punch. His jaw muscles were taut at first, but when he realized that the person who punched him was none other than me, his expression changed into something I could not quite decipher. Was that anger or confusion he was directing towards me?

Ohh yeah, he must be confused that how a little girl can stand up against the violence, how a girl can even protect herself. Haha.

I didn't know who this person was, but I could assume that he was expecting some kind of Thanks and Sorry which only infuriated me even more. At first, he was thinking of himself as some Don and then he interfered in my business, and as a result, he expected my apology? Not gonna happen in this life, dude.

I didn't bother to explain myself and there wasn't even a need to. That punch was not for him and he would not have been on the receiving end if he hadn't poked his nose in my matters. So, I hadn't done anything wrong, and neither did I owe him an apology or even Thanks for saving my so-called life.

I was done with all the drama of these three grumpy men acting like spoiled teenagers. I snatched the stash of cash from dav's hand and moved towards the exit. Once I reached the door, I glanced at the scene at the back; Dav and Ben had anger and loathing for me on their faces and I had no idea why. I was the one who won that cash but they refused to let me take it.

Maybe at first, they thought I couldn't win from them but when I did, they had a hard time accepting the fact of losing from a girl, but they didn't know that I would have taken that money no matter what, but then that rude man interfered and didn't let me fight my way and now, Mr. Rude had confusion all over his handsome face. Perfect.

With that, I turned the knob and went out in the clean and fresh air, hired a cab, and went straight to my apartment.

"So, you are just coming home after punching a really handsome man who tried to protect your life, aurora?" Sia said while shaking her head.

Sia was my best friend, in fact, my only friend. We were together since high school. We were not like other best friends; snuggling together and watching some rom-com or doing each other's nails and hair at weekends, or gossiping about every single soul in the world. Instead, we were trying to figure out this mesh of life together, sticking out through thick and thin, giving each other our personal space all the while being there for each other. It might sound complicated to some but it really wasn't. In fact, it was the most simple and straightforward friendship with less drama and more meaning to it.

"Come on Sia, I did not punch that guy intentionally," I tried to explain fifty-fifth time.

"But your fist did connect with his jaw, didn't it?"

"Technically yes, but intentionally no." I didn't know why I told her about what happened in the casino.

"I don't know why you would do that to someone who saved your life." She sighed.

"Oh God, don't be overdramatic. First of all, I didn't want to punch him. I aimed for Bill who was about to slap me. Secondly, my life wasn't in any danger. It was just Bill, I have tolerated many frustrated men to know how to deal with them. I didn't need anyone's help and it wasn't like I was in some grave danger." I said, rolling my eyes.

"And I can tell, you didn't even apologize," Sia replied with suspicious brown eyes directing at me.

"That punch was not for him. Besides, he had no right to interfere in my matters. So there was nothing to apologize for." I replied straightly.

"But you did punch him." She sighed.

Ughhh, here we went again. Back to point zero. Actually, I was the one who was at fault there. What was I thinking? To reason with Sia? And the drunk Sia at the top of that? How naïve of me.

"Yes my dear pear, Sia. I did punch Mr. Rude. Please forgive me for once. Won't happen again." I dramatically rolled my eyes to emphasize my sarcasm.

Sia was still looking at me with her amused look when I stood up from the couch, stretched myself, and made my way to my room. I could still hear her laughing after closing the door.

Stripping out of jeans and top, I wore my comfortable black and white checkered PJs and dumped myself on the bed to say goodbye to the day. Hoping that tomorrow would be a little better while knowing that better days are not for me, I closed my eyes.

I woke up to my alarm at 6 am. I didn't know when I drifted away to sleep. Since I was a child, I had always wanted to know the exact moment when a person sleeps. The exact instant where you are in between two realms, the moment where the line of reality blurs and the world of dreams solidifies. Unfortunately, I have never identified that moment and I have a feeling that I never will, but I couldn't keep myself from thinking about it every once in a while.

Getting off the bed, I went through my daily morning routine; taking a shower, brushing my teeth, pulling on my clothes, combing my hair into a ponytail.

I went into the kitchen to brew my coffee and prepared myself a breakfast of peanut butter sandwich while waiting for the coffee. After savoring my breakfast, I grabbed my bag and went out of the apartment to tolerate another day of my life.

The day was gloomy today; with the sun hidden behind the thick curtain of clouds. There was a huge puddle of muddy rainwater on the street. The drainage system in that area sucked, but I couldn't really complain because what else could I expect in this rent? I was innocently making my way to the subway station but apparently, the world had no peace to offer me, because a car just sped away, showering the chocolaty water all over me. Ughhh, I already wanted the day to be over and it was just 7 am. After taking shower for the second time a day, I was already late for work. There would be no trains at the moment, so I would have to take a cab now. I rarely took cabs, only during emergencies because there was no need otherwise, luxuries were not for me. Anyhow, I hailed a cab, sat in, told the driver my location, and here we went, finally.

By the time I reached the restaurant where I worked as a waitress, the restaurant was fully packed due to breakfast hours. I meekly slipped to the changing rooms at the back, to change into my uniform. After coming out, I became so busy so fastly; taking orders, serving them, cleaning up the mess people left behind on the tables.

At 4 pm, I was done with my shift. I changed back into my clothes, waved off my colleagues, and left the restaurant. I made my way to the subway station. Just as I was about to make my last turn, a man grabbed my attention. His back was to me, I couldn't see his face, but his broad wide shoulders, Sia hair, and black suit indicated that I have seen him somewhere recently.

I didn't know why this man was making me sift through my memories because I used to see hundreds of men every day; at the restaurant and then at the casino. Maybe I would have seen him somewhere but why did it matter? I stood there for a minute or two, wheels turning in my mind but no results were coming up. After a few moments, he got into the back of his shiny black Jaguar car and drifted away from the scene.

Not sure where I had seen him and slightly annoyed by myself for trying to remember and wasting my time, I pulled myself together and hastily continued my track to the train station because I didn't want to be late again and had to hire a cab.