•••
I looked at my target ahead of me and fired.
I fired two more times holding the gun with both my hands and gripping it tightly. Squatting one of my eyes and shooting. I lower the gun and turned to see Anthony's jaw-dropping.
"Did you just-" he pointed to the target that had two gunshots near the heart and one in my center of the forehead. "Shoot that?"
"I told you it's my first time," I said placing the gun on the table and massaging my hands from the tight grip I had around the gun.
I didn't even hit the center of the target or the center of the face. My aim was off.
"You're telling me you just shot the target's heart and blew the target's brain out and that it's your first time."
"Yes, why would I have experience with a gun?" I asked.
Anthony was still suspicious but of what? I didn't even hit the big X on the target.
"You got skill," he said.
"That's skill?" I laughed at where the bullet hit.
"Yes,"
"Thank you," I said proudly.
The door opened and I saw Chase entering.
He came towards us and before he could say anything Anthony spoke up "Look dude," he said pointing to the target.
"Good aim, Anthony,"
"That wasn't me,"
"Who was that?" Chase asked confused.
"Jasmin," Anthony exposed.
Chase looked at me and back at the target. "Firefly, you know how to shoot?" he asked amused.
"No, that was my first time," I said looking down. I saw Chase's knuckles that had small bruises on them.
"I'm going to go," Anthony said and Chase nodded.
"What happened?" I asked to point to his knuckles.
"Don't worry about it," he said.
He took my hand and intertwined our fingers together. We left the room and the stare of different men and women got ten times worst. I could feel the glares from the women.
"Can we go?" I said quietly to Chase.
"Yeah, I just need to do something first," he said. He looked around the warehouse and saw the attention. And, everyone immediately went back to work.
He opened a door with his fingerprint and it was the biggest room I have seen yet. Chase's office, I'm assuming. He went towards his large desk and started looking through the stack of files.
"I'll be right back," he said letting go of my hand.
He left the room with the files and I looked around. I saw a million stacks of papers around the room and two different doors.
I didn't want to mess anything up so I decided to take a seat. I sat on the fancy chair that was most definitely Chase's but it was too comfortable for me to not sit on. I leaned back liking the soft cushioning of the chair.
The door opened and Chase entered the room again.
He looked at me and smiled.
I got up from the chair when he came closer to the desk.
He sat down on the chair and I was about to go to the chair across the desk but he grabbed my hand.
I raised my eyebrows and he pulled me towards him. He placed me on his lap wrapping his arm around my waist and back against his chest. He put his chin on my shoulder and began signing off the papers on the desk.
"Chase," he hummed and I could smell his hot breath on my neck.
"Let go,"
"No," I huffed in response.
He signed some more papers and after he was done he placed his pen down and leaned back on the chair.
He pulled me back with him and he started inhaling the smell of my hair.
He wrapped his other hand around my waist and I put my hands on his arms.
"Are you finished?" I asked.
"Yeah,"
"Can we go now?" I asked hopefully.
"Yes," he said but making no effort to leave.
He interlocked his hands together on my waist and I looked down at his bruises. I softly rubbed around the bruises on his perfect skin. His leather jacket was pulled showing his wrist and I saw he was wearing the chain bracelet I gifted him.
I touched the bracelet on his wrist and smiled to myself. He had his Rolex on his other wrist.
I moved in his lap to sit up straight and better posture but that caused Chase to groan.
After I sat up straight, something started poking me from the bottom. I moved again and Chase put his hands on the side of my hip.
"Stop," he gritted out.
"I'm trying to get comfortable but something is poking me," I said almost getting deja vu from this situation.
"You are making me uncomfortable," he groaned again.
"Are you okay?" I asked confused.
"Yeah," he said through clenched teeth.
His grip on my hip got looser and I got up from his lap.
"What happened?" I asked when I turned around and saw his eyes closed and his jaw clenched.
"Nothing,"
"You could've just let me set down on the other chair, I was too heavy huh?" I asked.
"What? No," he said opening his eyes.
"I just I..." he trailed.
"I need to take a cold shower, I'll be back," he said getting up and going to one of the doors in the office.
Shower?
I sat back on the chair and I could hear the water running from the supposed bathroom.
I took my phone out of my leather jacket well Chase's leather jacket but it's mine now.
I decided to finally message Karla back since I didn't earlier.
Me:
Hi, it's all good. I'm sorry if I ruined your time at the bar though.
I saw James's message for the coffee tutoring thing.
I totally forgot about that.
James:
Hi, when would you like to meet up?
James:
Are you available this weekend?
Me:
Sorry, I didn't check my phone until now. We can meet up at school at lunch if you want.
I replied and after a while of scrolling through my feed, the door opened to reveal Chase.
"You took your time," I joked looking up. His hair was wet now and some of it in his eyes.
"Yeah," he said running a hand through his wet hair. I got up from the chair and he grabbed his stuff from the desk before grabbing my hand and walking out of the office.
Everyone bowed again and we left through the front.
He opened the door to the car for me and I sat down. I put on my seatbelt and he did the same. He pulled out of the warehouse. He again started going many different ways just to come back to the same road.
"You are such a confusing driver," I said out loud.
"That's the point," he chuckled.
"Why?" I asked confused.
"So nobody knows where the warehouse is and so nobody follows me. Better to be safe," he explained and I nodded.
He pulled up to the clinic and parked towards the front.
"Do you want to meet my mom?" I asked hopefully.
He looked at me with wide eyes "I wasn't ready for this," he said more to himself.
"Come on," I insisted.
He ultimately agreed. We went inside the hospital and stepped into the elevator. I looked at Chase who visibly looked nervous.
"Relax," I said laughing.
The elevator opened and he intertwined our hands together. We left the elevator and he was drawing small circles on my skin with his thumb.
I squeezed his hands in reassurance and opened the door. He immediately let go of my hands before entering the room.
"Hi Momma," I said grabbing my mother's attention.
"Hi Jaz," she said looking towards me and smiling. She looked behind me and saw Chase.
"This is Chase," I introduced. "This is my mom, Grace," I said to Chase.
"Hi, how are you doing?" Chase asked formally and bringing his hand out for a handshake.
I tried to stop my laughter.
"Hello, I'm good. How are you?" my mom asked while shaking his hand.
"I'm good as well," he replied nervously.
I took a seat on the stool beside my mom's bed. "What did the doctors say?" I asked.
"They said I would be cured by the start of next year," she told me and I automatically started smiling.
"That's good,"
"Y'all are matching," my mom pointed out in her Texan accent.
"Yeah coincidentally,"
Chase got a call and he left the room to answer it.
"He's the one," my mom said and my face started burning.
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. I knew just from the way he was looking at you while you were sitting down. And, his face brightens the moment you started smiling," my mom elaborated.
I looked down but my stomach was filled with fireflies.
"He doesn't like me like that," I said truthfully.
"How do you know?"
"Because I'm..." I trailed off. I'm me and he's he.
"Sweetheart, don't put yourself down," my mom said holding my hand.
"It's the t-truth," I said.
"No, it's not," my mom immediately said.
"I know the circumstances aren't normal and I will forever apologize for what happened because of me," my mom said.
"It's not your fault," I replied with tear-filled eyes.
"It's not yours either,"
"I just want the best for you. If you are happy I'm happy," my mom said.
I got up from my stool and hugged her.
"I miss you," I said letting my tears fall off my face.
"Believe. Everything will be alright," my mom said as I pulled back.
I sat back on the stool while still holding onto my mother's hands.
The door opened and I quickly wiped off my tears from my face.
"Do you need anything?" I asked.
"No, I'm good. Call me more often though," she said and I agreed.
I got up from the stool and placed a kiss on my momma's forehead. "I will take care,"
"You too,"
"Let's go," I said to Chase regretting looking up and meeting his eyes.
"Bye, I hope we can meet up soon," Chase said to my mom.
"Hopefully soon, take care," she said. We left the room and I clicked on the button for the elevator. All while I could feel Chase gaze on me.
We entered the elevator and he asked "What happened?"
"Nothing. I just miss her," I said wiping off the tears in my face with the back of my hand.
It's okay.
Believe.
"Everything will be alright," Chase said pulling me into a hug. I wrapped my hands around his waist and he planted a kiss on top of my head.
"My mom likes you," I said looking up while still having my hands around his waist.
"Really?" he asked surprised.
"Yeah," I smiled. I don't know why her approval meant so much to me. It's not like we are dating.
"I'm glad," he smiled confirming what my momma said earlier.
He leaned in and kissed my forehead.
The elevator opened and we stepped outside.
In his car, he asked "Hungry?"
"Not really,"
"So you are," he said catching on to my lies now.
He drove to a nearby In-N-Out. He remembered my order of a cheeseburger, fries, and lemonade. I don't know why but that made me fulfilled.
We ate in the car and he changed my mood from dull to happy in a matter of seconds.
My phone dinged and I checked who it was.
James:
Okay, sounds good. See you tomorrow.
I was about to put my phone down when Chase cleared his throat loudly might I add.
"Are you okay?" I asked putting my phone down but it dinged again.
James:
Can I take you on a date someday?
And, I started choking on my food. I dropped my phone on my lap and drank the lemonade.
Date?
With me?
Why?
"What happened?"
"Uh it was James," I said. And his mood visibly changed, he clenched his jaw and unclenched it.
"What did he say?" he inquired me.
"The tutoring thing, and..." I trailed off. I don't even know why I felt awkward to tell him, we aren't dating anyway.
"And?" he eyed me and I swallowed the gulp in my throat.
He picked up my phone from my lap and looked for himself. He firstly looked furious but after a while, I could see the hurt expression on his face.
"A d-date?" he said but his voice broke near the end.
"I don't even know,"
"Should I reply for you, 'yes'," he sounded as if the thought of that disgusted him.
"What? No," I said.
James is a sweet guy but I can't go on a date with him. Not like this.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't see him like that,"
"He does," he chuckled darkly.
"I'll talk to him tomorrow," He forcefully handed me back my phone and ran a hand through his hair.
"Whatever," he rolled his eyes.
He turned on the car and started driving.
•••