Sorry, I Love You.

2.14

"Here." Kenneth stepped up to Zoe with a glass of water in one hand and his other hand closed over something in his palm. When Zoe turned to him, he unraveled his fingers to reveal three different pills. "Something to take the edge off."

Zoe examined the pills in Kenneth's hand as she anxiously rubbed up and down her own arms. "What are they?"

"They'll help you relax." Kenneth smirked as he gestured both his hands forward. Zoe was still reluctant, looking between Kenneth and his hands. "I'm glad you're hesitating to accept unsolicited drugs, Zoe. It's good to know you're not a moron. But, you can trust me. I'm not going to give you anything that you can't handle."

"Then, you should appreciate me asking what they are and tell me." Zoe firmly pressed.

Kenneth sighed and pushed the water even closer to Zoe. She accepted it as she watched Kenneth pick up one pill after the other to explain them. One was an anti-nausea pill, nothing special but, definitely useful. The other was suppose to calm her anxiety, which had been tormenting her for hours. Kenneth was very vague about the third, bright orange one. He said Hiro took about five of them before an important meeting, on good days so, on a bad day, only one should do the trick for Zoe.

"So, mother approves of these, then? I can ask her if I should take these?" Zoe bitterly asked as she plucked the pills out of Kenneth's palm.

"You trust Rin to give you pills over me?" Kenneth chuckled.

Zoe shot Kenneth a half-hearted glare as she bounced the pills idly in her palm. "Good point."

Without anymore questions, Zoe tossed the pills and her head back before she gulped down some water. Zoe hated swallowing pills but, she hated this situation a whole lot more. The amount of guns all around were making her sick. She didn't want to look at another gun, let alone hold one and fire one. However, this is the agreement she made with her mother so, she could go back to Cincinnati and she would do anything to go back.

"Alright! This is the one we're using." Rin announced as she turned away from the wall full of various handguns displayed in little spotlights against a black wall.

Zoe and Kenneth turned to see her open one of the black drawers under the display and grab a full magazine from within it to load the gun. Zoe could feel her muscles tense as she watched her mother so proudly cock the gun and start across the room to get to the station you were suppose to shoot from. There were only two stations, both with paper targets a few feet ahead, in this customized shooting range located in the basement of a high-class mansion.

Zoe didn't know who's house this was but, Rin came here with confidence and greeted the owner before she led Zoe, Kenneth, and a few bodyguards downstairs. They were immediately greeted by a tacky seating area centered around a stripper pole once they stepped downstairs but, against the far end of the room, there was a shooting range and a huge wall of polished guns. For whatever reason, Rin preferred this method over simply going to a professional shooting range.

"Get the lead out, everyone!" Rin hollered when she realized nobody was moving.

Kenneth and Zoe hurried after her, along with two bodyguards. Zoe raised the big earmuffs from around her neck and placed them over her ears just as her mother did, Kenneth following suit. As if she had done this a thousand times, Rin stood in between the two black walls of the station she had picked and lined up her shot with the paper silhouette on the far wall across from her.

Zoe fearfully backed away and put her hands over her earmuffs to brace herself for the sound of the gun firing. She was already shaky and nervous and totally not prepared for this. So, when Rin took her first shot, Zoe violently flinched and squeezed her eyes shut. To everyone's surprise, though, Rin only fired one shot before she turned around to Zoe.