Chapter 52– Hera
Chapter 52– Hera
I don't know what I'd do with Czar. The jerk scares, annoys and distresses the shit out of me yet I want him… because he excites me too. It's some minutes past eleven, cold out on a Friday night and while I thought I started the evening on a generally good note I have to end it because once again the thug is threatening me and I'm not foolish enough to ignore the writing on the wall… or more accurately, my phone.
I have to leave now before things escalate but the lovestruck fellow in front of me won't understand– I too am barely able to comprehend these cat-and-mouse-hide-go-seek games but the voice of reason pushes me to my feet regardless. My newest acquaintance rises to his too like he's attached to me somehow.
I blow out a sigh. “Bob–"
“Brian."
“I have to go home now. Something urgent just came up."
“So sorry about that. How can I help?"
By literally staying at least ten feet away from me at all times. I don't need a seer at this point to come to the conclusion that Czar knows I'm on a sort of date… and it pisses him the fuck off especially since we had a meeting scheduled for tonight earlier. Is he jealous? Obviously. This is clearly not the best time to test him.
“Thank you for offering, but I'm fine Brian," I tell the guy. “I'll manage."
“I really enjoyed our time together. Can I have your number?"
“To do what with?"
He gives me a look like he is wondering where I got the nerve to be that clueless but really I think he is the one who impresses me with the guts to not have realized I was only trying to prove a point that he apparently isn't discerning enough to understand: that while he is a nice guy, all he thinks we have between us ends here and now– more like in the next four minutes.
But the forever optimist, he still goes ahead to answer my question. “To call you. That's what I need your number for.”
“Oh, right. Call me." Why didn't I think of that, right? Someone is about to have his heart dashed to bits.
Lone Wolf: Three minutes.
I swear my heart skips a beat.
What follows is my frantic search for things I am not even sure I came with. When I have everything in my bag, I'm about heading for the door when Brian pulls me back.
"Wait, let me see you off.”
"No!" I snap and then pause. “Sorry, I meant, no. No, just stay here.”
“Please let me. I personally feel like we can become really good friends, or more, if you're up for it. I would have liked for us to keep talking long into the night–"
Lone Wolf: One minute left.
Fuck.
I'm turning and dashing for the door at once but the tail behind me follows, telling me it's quite late, insisting that he will follow me home.
I'm just counting the seconds under my breath, too accustomed to Czar's shenanigans to not be worried. I'm at the door trying to convince the guy to leave me the hell alone and rejoin the party when Czar's next text drifts into my phone with an urgency that literally prickles at the roots of my hair.
Lone Wolf: Time’s up.
At once the front door opens and my breath catches in my throat. But to my relief it's just a group of drunken girls. They stumble inside giggling and muttering nonsense and I am still trying to manoeuvre my way past them when in the distance I see two glowing X's hidden in the obscurity of some low hanging branches.
Czar.
He doesn't quite move when my eyes lock on his frame but when I take the first step out of the lit corridor, the dull orange twin glows seem to come closer, glow brighter. Without a doubt, I know they're after me. Brian is already gone, swallowed by the new crowd that flows inside as I squeeze past the girls at the entry so right now I have just one tail– not the one I prefer though because God only knows what is going on in his head; what is sponsoring these creepy stalker tendencies that I thought we had both outgrown at this stage of whatever-it-is-we’re-curently-engaged-in.
I do know that when I'm in North Manor he won't come inside. He mentioned once that– much like a vampire, though he did not use this exact comparison– he wouldn't come indoors without an invitation. If I can just make it there hopefully we can keep everything that is infuriating him strictly to the chat.
Am I already regretting my decision to avoid our meeting as well as refusing to pre-inform him of my proposed absence? Yes. Yes, I am. But even he knows that I won't grovel. He will have to deal with it.
‘So, what,’ my brain seems to be asking, ‘retreat to your fortress of protection, a.k.a home like some cornered animal?’ ‘Well no,’ I answer the too-sarcastic-for-its-own-good piece of gray matter that sits in my skull, refusing to consider the fact that I am having an argument with my own mind a sign of psychosis, ‘a cornered animal would have to be chased to be trapped in the first place and I am not… pursued, that is.’ Past the space where the small lot spreads out, I don't see any sign of Czar anymore, which is good– I'm not trailed. Cornered animal. What cornered animal? I'm fine. Everything is fine... Well until I start down the road and that prickling feeling of being followed very literally follows me.
It also doesn't help that when I look through the vegetation on both sides of me I think I see orange. Ten minutes into my journey I tell myself I am just imagining things because of my nerves. ‘There is nothing in the trees, Hera, for the sake of your sanity. Please.’