Grenadine Dreams

10. Heat

10. Heat

{Naya}

It came as no surprise to me that Uri had a BMW parked in the apartment building's garage. When we arrived at the car, he handed me the keys and gave one of his annoying smiles.

"No more taxis."

I rolled my eyes and took the keys. As soon as we got in the car, I had to swat him away from my purse. It was obvious what he was after.

"Am I still on Angry Birds probation?" Uri asked.

I cranked the engine, noticing the newness of the car's interior.

Where the hell did Uri get this?

Shaking my head, I said, "It's rude to go through a woman's purse without asking, Uri. And besides you need to pay attention to what I'm doing right now because pretty soon you'll be driving."

Just as the last words were leaving my mouth, a realization of oh shit passed through my mind.

He nudged my elbow. "You're right. I need to be paying attention to you right now."

He shifted towards me so he could easily watch my movements. I tried to ignore the path of his eyes as I showed how to start the ignition. I went over the different mirrors and what they were used for.

Of course he could not resist making eye contact with me in the reflection of the rearview mirror. For a brief moment, I held his gaze, but only because I noticed something odd. His irises seemed to appear more maroon than brown.

"Naya?"

I blinked. "Huh?"

"How do you get the car to move?"

I tore my eyes away from the mirror and looked at the gear shift.

"Right."

I explained the different gears as best as I could. When I finally went to put the car in drive, Uri had the nerve to put his hand on top of mine. His skin was warm. Really warm.

"Are you running a fever or something?" I said as I put both hands on the steering wheel and pulled the car out of the parking spot.

Uri peered down at his hands in curiosity. He asked me, "Did you feel something unusual just now?"

I narrowed my eyes as we rolled out of the shady deck and into the sunlight.

"Your hand is really warm. Almost hot."

I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw some concern in Uri's expression. He never gave me a response and he spent the rest of the car ride wrapped up in his thoughts. To be honest, I didn't mind the silence. It had also been a while since I drove a car, so this was a treat for me. I followed the familiar road signs until we reached the nearest shopping plaza. This one was equipped with a bank, a Walmart, and a Starbucks.

I tucked in my septum ring and pulled my top down as much as I could before we entered the bank. I couldn't represent Uri looking like his weed dealer.

Uri decided to play the role of a foreign investor who wasn't fluent in English. I pulled off an Emmy-winning performance myself as his personal consultant and translator. We told the bank clerk that he was a business owner new to the Atlanta area and he needed to open a savings account.

The banker was a woman in her forties, who I noticed did a rather thorough observation of both Uri and me as we sat down at her desk. When she casually asked the kind of business we were involved in, I informed her that Uri was an up and coming distributor of hair extensions. The lady gave a sweet smile and didn't ask any other questions after that – not even after Uri produced a large deposit.