She always had that problem.
Roman pulled up front and center of the car shop and parked near the entrance. His eyes looked around, noticing how the place seemed closed, doors looked locked. "I think it's closed," Zadia whispered, looking around as well.
"Why are you whispering?" He asked confused, before pointing at the group of men that seemed to be gathered in an alley. "If it's closed, why are they coming in and out of an alley that leads into the shop." He glanced at her, shutting off the car. "Let's go. Remember, no talking and stay close."
Zadia's eyes widened. "What? We're actually going in?" She shrieked. "We don't even know who's in there or better yet what's waiting for us in there. It's a rising gang, they don't take kindly to outsiders barging into their place.
"Would you just stop talking and follow my lead. Keep the glasses on and your head down." He opened the car door, halfway and stepped out. "I'm serious about the no talking, we're just gonna go inside and all you've got to do is point her out and let me handle the rest."
Zadia raised her hand in surrender. "Okay, okay." She said, tired of his scolding. She got out of the car at once and slammed the door louder than needed. "Sorry! I didn't mean to do that. I'm just... nervous."
Roman shut his door, feeling annoyance creep into his mood. He put his keys into his pockets and began walking. "Let's go." He commanded, which made Zadia roll her eyes yet again. She still followed behind him though, making sure to keep up so she wouldn't get left behind. At this point, she did believe if she got lost Roman wouldn't bother looking for her. As they neared towards a fire hydrant, he looked back at her and said, "Act normal."
"Normal?" Zadia had said to herself. "I can't act normal... I'm not even close to normal." She bit her lips, trying to calm herself. "Stay calm... stay calm."
When they made it to the dark alley, Zadia pushed her head down, not trying to make eye contact with any of the guys that stood around drinking and joking with one another. From the glance she took of them, she could tell they were drunk. The smell of liquor-filled her nose as she passed them. Roman took a look at them and paid them no mind as he strolled by.
"Got, damn!" One of the guys said, nodding towards Zadia's backside. "Look at that ass!" They whistled when Zadia didn't acknowledge them. "Aye, you know you hear me. Let me get ya number!"
Zadia lifted her head, ready to give him a piece of her mind but Roman quickly grabbed her by the arm and pushed her in front of him so he could walk behind her and they wouldn't be able to look at her ass anymore. "I'll handle it." He mumbled, but he never went into depth about how or even when.
"Oh, that's your girl? I see what you workin with, maybe when you're done with her you can pass her to us." The one guy said, causing everyone in his group to burst out laughing. "We'll treat her good... we'll treat her real good." Zadia's cheeks burned in embarrassment. Sure, she'd been cat-called before... but never in front of someone she knew. She self consciously put her hands in her pockets, cursing herself for even wearing sweatpants and a cropped shirt.
She never felt so uncomfortable in her entire life.
Roman leaned against her a little to open the back entrance door. The both of them walked into the car shop that was filled with people socializing and loud music playing. "A party at a car shop... that's something you don't see every day," Roman said, glancing around the place. "See her anywhere?"
Zadia squinted her eyes, looking for any sign of Akasuki. "It's hard to tell, the glasses and the lighting make it hard to see." She said. "Maybe I should take it off."
ChApTeR - 7 pT. 2
Start from the beginning
