Hero
After watching Kylie enter her house, I light a cigarette, start the engine, and drive to Felix's. When I'm close to Felix's apartment, I stop at a store to buy him something for his birthday. I know he'll give me shit that I'm two hours late. Not that I should explain to him why I'm late. If I could have spent more time with Kylie in that closet, I would have gladly missed his birthday. But since I haven't seen him or the boys in almost a month, it would be a dick move to miss his birthday. I walk into the store and go through the wine district, looking for the wine he likes. Eventually, I bought him a Cabernet Sauvignon 2018. This damn wine is close to £90. But once in a lifetime, your best friend turns 25. I don't even want to think about it when I turn 25. Almost everyone I know and around my age has achieved something. Meanwhile, I have done nothing besides working in a hell-on-earth corporation, breaking up with my girlfriend of three years after she decided that she wanted something new — meaning a new dick — and a cat that is like a little devil in a cat's body.
I take the bottle of wine from the shelf and go to the cash register smiling at a cashier.
"That's all?" She asks me with a smile, scanning the wine bottle.
"Yup," I answer with a grin, taking my wallet out of my back pocket.
"That's an expensive bottle of wine. Date night?" She leans over her counter, puts her chin in her palm, and looks at me, smiling.
"No, birthday. But I like how you tried to find out if I'm single or not." I smile at her and give her the money, and she presses something on the tablet, opening the cash register.
"And you still didn't answer me." She looks at me and gives me back £10.
"If there is an answer, there is no mystery, right?" I take the £10 note from her and put it in the jar that says 'Tips'. "Here. I would probably buy cigarettes with it anyway, so." I take my bottle of wine, get out of the store, and say good night when she says thank you. I get in the car and drive to Felix's. I look at my watch when I get there. It's already nine-thirty, and I don't feel like doing anything. I get out of the car and walk into the building, going upstairs to the floor where Felix and Jack live. I knock on the door and wait for someone to answer. I wonder how the neighbours haven't called the police when the music is playing loud enough in the corridor.
"How are you, love?" Kristen opens the door, making room for me to get inside.
"Tired. Where's Felix?" I bend down, kiss her on the cheek, and then close the door behind us.
"He's there with Mia and a g–"
"You're finally here, you bastard!" Felix shouts at me over the music, and Mia turns her head very quickly and then rolls her eyes when a smile appears on her face when she sees me and Felix grabs me into a hug, slapping each other on our backs.
"Sorry I was late. I had something to do after work." I grin, wink at Felix, and then give him the bottle of wine. "As a peace offering because I was late." I look at Mia and move uncomfortably from one foot to the other. I know exes shouldn't see each other after they break up, but it's a bit complicated when we have mutual friends. Besides, I promised Destiny and Kristen that I'd be civilized whenever she came to hang out with the boys and me.
"Hi ..." She almost whispers as she smiles shyly at me.
"Hi." I bend down and kiss her on the cheek –so much for being friendly, right?– then look at the girl beside her, raising an eyebrow. "Who is she?" I look at Felix, giving him a look, and he raises his hands defensively.
"She's Mia's co-worker." He looks at me and then again at her, and I do the same thing and extend my hand, trying my best to smile. "Hero, nice to meet you. I hope this idiot hasn't scared you off yet."
She looks at me, widens her eyes when she hears my name, and then blinks all over as if she saw a ghost, which didn't surprise me. If she is her, then she saw a ghost.
"Josephine, are you okay? You look a little pale." Mia grabs her hand and looks at her, worried. –Since when does Mia give a fuck about what other girls are feeling? If she knew... God, if she knew, the poor girl would be thrown against the wall.– Josephine nods and smiles, assuring her she's okay.
"Felix, can you please get her a glass of water? I think it's because of the smoke." Mia instructs Felix on what to do while we look at her.
"No, no! I'm fine. Please don't bother. I'll go and have a glass of water on my own. You're the host." She tries to reason with him, but he shakes his head. Thank God, mother fucker.
"You're the guest. Wait here." He hits me on the shoulder, and we both make our way to the kitchen.
I enter the kitchen and go straight to the sink, washing my face and hands, trying to calm down and not have a panic attack. How the hell is it possible for her to be here in London? –No– How is it possible for her to be here? In Felix's apartment with my ex-girlfriend, who both seem to be co-workers. How the fuck is that possible? Only such a thing could have happened to me.
"Hero, listen, bro, I didn't know she was well–her. Mia just now introduced her to me." He slaps me on the back, trying to calm my nerves, but it annoys me more. I take a few steps through the kitchen and grab the roots and put my hands in my hair.
"How? How... How!!!" I grab Felix by the collar and hit him against the fridge.
"How do you want me to know, man? You act as if I talked to her, not you." The fucker is right. All I have to do is just ignore the whole situation. She doesn't know I'm –well– me, right? Yup, that's what I'm going to do. I'll completely ignore the problem until it's gone.
"Can I get her water before she faints and Mia breaks down?" He pours water into a glass and looks at me, raising an eyebrow.
"Okay, fine. Go give her water." I lean against the kitchen counter and look at my watch.
I watch Felix slip through the crowd and give her water, and Mia looks at me smiling, and I signal for her to come into the kitchen. She whispers something to Josephine and comes quickly to me.
"Hi." She whispers again and blushes then leans to my left on the kitchen counter.
"Nice girl. Where did you find her?" I look at her trying to read her expression. Many people don't know this, but Mia isn't that friendly, so there has to be something in between. Either she knows who Josephine is, which I don't think she does, or she has other intentions.
"Mmhm." She looks at Josephine and Felix, who Oliver and Jack now join. "She was transferred from the Seattle office here in London. She said she didn't know anyone, so I brought her here to make some friends. I can see Felix stripping her clothes off with his eyes, which is a good sign, isn't it? That means we'll see her around us more often. Well, at least as long as Felix is interested. " She smiles at me, and I feel my jaw almost crack as I grit my teeth and nod.
"Why are you so interested in whether Felix fucks her or not? What do you get out of this?" I open the fridge door, get a beer, and open it with my lighter.
"Nothing. I was just saying that. They're both single. Don't you want your best friend to be happy?" She grins at me, takes the beer bottle from my hand, and drinks from it.
"I'm single too. Maybe I'll fuck her," I tell her, smirking, and she chokes on the beer she swallowed.
"You? Single? Come on, Hero, spare me. We both know it's not true. You've always been with your dick shoved in every whore but me. Why would I want the poor girl to be played? I know first-hand what that feeling is like." She drops the beer on the table and leaves the kitchen, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
***
"Remember when we went to the lake with my bike?" I look at Felix, who instantly begins to laugh.
"And we both climbed to the top of the hill, rode it down the valley, and jumped straight into the lake with it. And we lost the rods and bait." Felix laughs, gesturing with his hands as we plunge into the lake with my bike.
"You looked like that kid with the alien from the E.T. who was riding his bike in front of the moon," Oliver says, laughing even harder.
I laugh hard and rub my eyebrows with my thumb and middle finger. "When I got home, I didn't even know how to tell my dad I lost my new bike." It's true tho... When he found out I lost the brand new bike, he kicked my ass badly and ensured I had zebra marks on my skin from his belt. But no one has to know that.
"My mother grounded me by not allowing me to go out for a week." Felix laughs and drinks his beer. Jill – Felix's mum– has always been more understanding when it came to us breaking things like –I don't know– the neighbour's window.
"Then we brought you the ladder to climb down the window and helped you escape, and you hid in Jack's garage for a few days." Oliver laughs and looks at Josephine, giving her his one million bucks smile.
"What about you, Australia? What did you do as a child?" I stare at her, grinning as I take a sip from my beer.
"Um ... Sure, I didn't have a childhood like you. I was the kid who stayed in the house and read or played with dolls." But I already knew that from the hundreds of conversations we had a year and a half ago. But like I said. Ignore the problem until it's gone.
"Well, I had fun walking down memory lane. But I'm bored. Let's play something." Destiny says, gets up from the chair, and takes Jack's hand. "We can play cards." It's probably one in the morning. Who the fuck wants to play cards? I can't wait to get home, lie on the bed, and sleep.
"It's getting late. I should go." I get up from the couch by taking Mia off my lap –don't ask me how she got on my lap, I don't know either–and put my jacket on. "How are you getting home?" She looks around for a few seconds, and I try my best not to laugh. Then she realized I had asked her.
"Me?" She looks at me, and I nod my head. "Um, by bus? I live in the area anyway."
"If you want, I'll take you home. I can drive you there." I look at her and then at Felix. "Take care of her, okay? Lock her in the guest bedroom until she sobers up." I lean closer to Felix and whisper. "I'll be back in an hour or so."
"Yeah, don't worry," Felix whispers something to Destiny about taking Mia into Felix's room and locking it until I return, and she takes Mia to the room.
"So? Are you coming?" I turn my attention back to her.
"But you are drunk... I don't know if it's safe." She bites her lower lip –God, I want to bite that lip so badly. I also want to see those lips around my dick, but I don't think that'll happen very soon– so I shake my head and start laughing. Is she questioning my driving skills when I used to always drive to work while texting her? I know, I know—safety blah blah blah. I can hear my mother's rants from here.
"I barely drank a beer. Come on. I'm sure you don't want to be alone at a bus stop in Brixton" I take a dramatic pause and look at my phone. "One-thirty in the morning." I've always had a flair for the dramatic.
"All right." She takes her coat from the coat hanger and walks to the door. "I'm glad I met you. Happy birthday once again, Felix!" I roll my eyes and hold the door open for her to walk out. For fuck's sake, you barely know him.
"Thanks. Take care." He and the others wave at her while I wait for us to leave in the hallway.
We quietly descend a few rows of steps and leave the building, and the cold November air hits us. Jo hugs her shoulders and looks around the empty streets. I clear my throat and look at her, pointing to my car. I can't wait to get home, but I promised Felix I'll return to take Mia home.
"Come on," I say as I put my hands in my pockets and walk forward to the car, she follows me to the right side of the vehicle, and I can't help but laugh.
"What?" She looks at me, confused. I can see the little wheels rolling in her brain, trying to figure out why I'm laughing at her.
"If you don't want to drive, doll. The passenger side is on the left." I look at her and try my best to smile.
"Yes, sorry. I was used to the passenger on the right." She looks down, embarrassed, crossing to the left, and I can see her cheeks slightly turn red.
She gets in the car and waits quietly until I get inside and start the engine. She looks out the window at all the buildings trying her best to probably avoid my eyes as we drive through the almost empty city.
"It's going to be Mia, okay? I feel bad that I left her alone." I don't like her tone at all. I know what's going through her mind about leaving Mia alone and drunk with Felix and the others. But still, that makes her special. She worries about Mia while Mia doesn't know how to hook up for one night with none other than Felix.
"You have nothing to worry about. They would go through the fire to make sure Mia was safe. They would do it for anyone." She smiles and sighs in relief. It doesn't take long for us to get to the front of the building, and I stop the engine and don't bother to unlock the doors. I must think carefully about what I'm about to say before she leaves.
"Well ... Um, thanks for the ride. See you next time." She unbuckles her seatbelt and takes her bag in her hand like she's ready to run for her life when I unlock the door, but I don't want to do that yet. We sit quietly for a few minutes, and then I look into her eyes for the first time.
"How did you find me, Josephine?"
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AN: I don't know when I'll update the next part. I just want to see where this story is heading. 💕
I thought I should also post down below the songs that inspired this chapter. Enjoy.
↳ today's chapter playlist;
What About Us - P!NK
Somebody Else - The 1975
August - Flipturn
The Night We Met - Lord Huron
Just Me and You - Ramin Djawadi