CHAPTER III
Batman
───⋅☾ ☽⋅───
"What the hell, Thea?" Remi hissed while stomping across the street, looking pissed. Considering the last time I saw him he was cheating on me, I flinched before lowering my head—only to realize Myles was still holding onto me. He noticed the same time as me.
He ripped his hands off my arms, but it was too late. Remi already noticed him.
"Who is this?" He demanded and moved forward, so he was at arms reach. When I didn't lift my head, Remi let out a frustrated sigh before softening his tone. "Listen, look at it in my perspective. You didn't answer my texts. My calls aren't going through, and now I see you're with..." His nose flared with disgust as he looked Myles over, but he quickly fixed his expression before clenching out, "Another man I don't know."
Peering over my shoulder, I saw Myles focused coolly on Remi, but there was a warning glint in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, I faced Remi and stepped away from Myles, keeping him behind me.
For a moment, my eyes lingered over my ex-boyfriend. His dark brown, wavy hair was usually well-kept. With faded sides, it was hard to make it dishevelled without looking good in the process. But right now, it was a mess. And not a pretty, sexy mess. He seemed frantic. Nervous. Scared.
His eyes were downturned, and during most of the day, they were a shining chestnut brown. But staring into them now made it felt like I was swimming in milk chocolate—and I hated it.
Physically and personality wise, Remi and Myles were exact opposites. Remi was my type. He was tall, around six-foot, and lean. He had some muscles in his arms and legs because he played basketball in high school, and he had a faint tan. His nose was straight, and while his facial features weren't baby-like, they weren't as harsh in comparison to Myles. He was clean shaven, which I always liked because when Remi smiled, it felt like it was straight from a Disney movie.
Right now, he felt like the villain.
"Althea," he bit out, losing his patience. He started to step forward the same moment Myles gripped my upper arm again, and we all froze. Remi's eyes narrowed at his hand before his face turned red. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, man? Let go of my girlfriend."
Myles didn't budge, which riled up Remi more. "Let go of her before I make you."
"Remi," I gaped in surprise because he wasn't violent at all.
"Who is he, Thea?" He demanded, not moving his glare off the man behind me. "Are you cheating on me?"
I couldn't stop myself from coughing in disbelief before shrugging Myles hand off me. He released me but didn't stop hovering while I tried to take a slow, deep breath to stop myself from blowing up, even though all I wanted to say was "You cheated on me twenty-four hours ago, maybe even longer than that, and you think you have the right to ask me if I'm cheating?"
Instead, I put on a tight smile before asking a little too loudly, "How's Val's pussy?"
In a matter of seconds. all the fury vanished off Remi's expression as he stared at me with horror. But I kept my smile intact, especially while I stepped closer to him, so he could feel the hatred rolling off my body in waves.
"Well? Tell me. Was she good? Was it worth it? How long has it been going on? Weeks? Months? Come on, Rem. We both know you know how to speak. Tell me about all the ways you cheated on me. Is she the first one?"
"Thea," he rasped but I shook my head.
"Answer the question, Remi."
His eyes squeezed shut before he let out a ragged breath. "It... it was only yesterday. I swear to you, Thea. I swear. It's just, it was my birthday and you weren't there and I was upset. Then Valerie showed up with a bottle, and we ended up drinking the whole fucking thing. I don't even remember it. Fuck. The only reason I know what I did was because we woke up—"
I lifted my hands and pushed him before rushing out angrily, "I don't want to hear it."
"Thea." His eyes were pleading before he reached out for me. I jumped back before he could, and his expression shattered with anguish. "Please. I was drunk."
"So was I, Remi. So was I." I pointed at my chest hard. "I got drunk yesterday after I found you sleeping with my roommate. My friend. Borderline blackout drunk, and you know what I didn't do? I didn't fuck anyone! It was that easy to keep it in my pants." I threw my arms out in frustration. "You cheated. You cheated on me. There's no excuse."
"You didn't show up for my birthday—"
"I was going to surprise you!" I clenched my jaw to stop myself from shouting. More and more people were starting to look our way. "Are you going to say I'm the reason you slept with Valerie?"
He rubbed a hand over his mouth. "No. No. I just felt like I wasn't your priority in that moment. I had a goddamn moment of weakness. Are you seriously going to break up with me?"
"Yes, I am."
This time, he laughed humorlessly before shaking his head in disbelief. "You know what, Thea? You need to fix your expectations. You always want a fairy-tale, but you don't know how the real world works. We have real problems, so we need to fix them. So we should have communicated better, but you're always expecting me to be fucking perfect. I'm human."
"I never said you had to be perfect. But cheating on me isn't a problem that needs to be fixed. There is no fixing something you broke."
"Again with your expectations." He rolled his eyes, and something in me snapped because one second I was throwing my fist toward his face, the next, I was being tugged back.
It took a few heaving gasps of air to clear my blurry vision, and the first thing I saw was Remi's disbelieved expression, but he wasn't holding his cheek or nothing. I hadn't hit him before I got yanked away.
After another moment, I dropped my head and felt my cheeks redden when I saw Myles arm wrapped around my waist in a steel grip. I tapped his arm twice to let me go, but that only made him tighten his hold before I felt him breathing next to my ear.
"Get the fuck out of here before I finish what she was about to start," he threatened tersely before carrying me inside the tattoo shop. I yelped in surprise by how easy he lifted me, but before I could kick him, he lowered me onto my feet and set me down.
Feeling slightly woozy, I hurriedly locked my knees so I wouldn't collapse in the entrance of Myles workplace—which was dimmer than I expected.
"How the heck do you tattoo with this lighting—whoa!"
Myles had my hand in his while tugging me at the opposite end of the parlour. I didn't have a chance to look around before he thrust me into an office. Next thing I knew, he was closing the door behind him and locking it.
I widened my eyes surprise when he turned to me. "What did I do?" I raised my hands playfully in surrender while he glared. He didn't say anything, so I let them drop before checking out the office. "Why are we here? Does this belong to you?"
"So many fucking questions," he grumbled in annoyance but otherwise said nothing else before stomping to the left side of the room, where a bar sat. "You want water, princess?"
"Sure, and stop calling me princess."
He made a noise under his breath, but for some reason, I doubt it was a sound of agreement.
I watched him lower his coffee onto the bar and roughly snatch a paper cup off the table before stopping in front of the water dispenser. For a moment, I admired how muscular he was, even if his jacket was hiding his back. As if he could feel my gaze, he pushed his shoulders back tensely.
Hurriedly, I shot my head to the L-shaped black desk behind me, which didn't have much of anything besides two monitors. A large, black office chair faced the direction of the windows opposite of the entrance, and through the blinds, I recognized the back of the shop. Behind the chair, covering the whole wall on the right, were three separate industrial storage cabinets.
All the furniture was black. I was surprised that the walls were a dark, dirty green rather than black as well.
"Here."
Myles tatted hand shot in front of my face, making the water splash in the cup from his aggressiveness. Hesitantly, I gripped the bottom while simultaneously avoiding where his hand rested on the cup.
"Thank you." I took a slow sip of the cool liquid before lifting my head to his. He watched me soberly, but I noticed how his eyes tracked my movements assessingly. "What?"
His eyes flared with ire before it went away. "Your boyfriend is a piece of shit."
"And that's why he is my ex-boyfriend." My tone was hostile, but I felt the ache in my chest growing. I lowered my gaze before holding the cup with both hands. "I never expected him to be perfect. I can separate fiction from reality. But still, I thought... I thought he was my own version of prince charming. The realistic version, at least. We were supposed to end up together. That's what our mom's wanted. Heck, that's what movies and books promised. It was my fault for believing they'd promise fidelity, too."
"We've known each other since we were twelve. Twelve. Our moms were good friends, and they made sure me and Remi would be good friends. They never pushed us to be together, but I knew they wanted us to date." Flashes of my past come back to me, but the memories felt like they belonged to someone else. "Remi wanted us to date. Ever since we got to high school. It was easier to avoid his feelings back then because we didn't go to the same school, but university happened and... I caved. I caved because I knew it would happen eventually. And he cheated on me. Remi. The guy who swore to love me forever. It's almost embarrassing, right? That a guy who claimed to love me so much, cheated. There must be something wrong with me."
"Maybe I do have high standards," I whispered but Myles' harsh scoff reminded me that I wasn't, in fact, talking to myself.
"If he can't keep his dick in his pants, that's on him. Not you," he grated through his teeth. "People cheat because they want to break up, but they're fucking cowards."
Cracking a smile, I looked at him over my lashes. "You never cheated, Myles?"
"That would require me to have been in a relationship, princess."
Rolling my eyes at the nickname, I asked, "You've never dated anyone?" I was grateful we were moving the conversation onto him. When he shook his head no, I frowned. "Why?"
"Why? You want to date me or something?" He shot back crudely, almost defensively. "I don't do girlfriends, princess. I keep to myself."
"Well, that sounds lonely. Do you have friends?"
"What's with all the questions?" He grinded his teeth before narrowing his eyes to the storage cabinets. "Need a fucking question jar for you."
"Question jar?" I almost smiled when he turned his glare to me.
"Put a damn dollar inside the jar every time you open that mouth of yours and ask a question."
"It's not my fault you get riled up easily," I joked before shrugging a shoulder. "I'm in journalism. I guess I'm ingrained to ask questions about things I don't know. And you are an enigma."
"That's a big word to a guy who barely finished high school, princess."
Barely finished high school? A question threatened to spill from my lips, but I swallowed it back. I tucked that information for later.
"Mystery. Puzzle. Hard to understand," I explained, sipping some more water. "You don't like talking to me, but you helped me yesterday. You helped with Remi."
He made a low noise. "I never said I don't like talking to you." His gruff sentiment made me jerk my head back in surprise. "And I told you why I helped."
"Ah, yes. Your New Year's resolution." I smiled and cocked my head before drawling sarcastically, "You can give Disney a run for their money if you keep acting so nice."
His face wrinkled in disgust, and I almost choked on a laugh. Apparently, me implying that he was nice did not sit well with the guy. At all.
"Again referencing Disney. They must be shitting fucking gold because I don't get why you like them so much."
"I don't like Disney per-say." Myles gave me a bored expression, clearly assuming otherwise. "I like their movies. I like what they represent."
"And what do they represent? Marrying someone they don't know?"
"No—well, yeah. The earlier movies!" I rushed out when his mouth twitched in a short-lived, satisfied smirk. "Yes, the earlier movies are like that. But still. When I was a kid, it was all I watched." It helped me feel less lonely. "Now, the movies are more meaningful. Come on, didn't a movie ever let you escape from reality?"
His expression flickered with something, but before I could examine it further, he turned his head away. My eyes widened before I grinned. "There is, isn't there?" He didn't respond, still adamant in ignoring me. "Come on, what is it?"
"I won't stop talking until you tell me," I teased, rocking back on my heels. "Heck, I have a list of questions in my head already. I can ask them all day. In alphabetical or—"
"Batman," he gritted, eyes narrowed into slits when he focused on me again. He looked angry—as if he was mad at himself for yielding to my command. "I watched Batman."
My cheeks started to hurt by how hard I was smiling. He glared harder. "What now?"
Shrugging innocently, I said, "You just feel a little more human now. Batman?" I tried to think if I ever watched the movies, but I came out blank. "I don't think I watched it. Is it a series?"
He let out a deep noise of agreement before bringing his hazel eyes to mine. My cheeks rose with colour when he lingered his focus on me. I wasn't used to getting attention from someone who wasn't Remi. Heck, I've never gotten attention from someone like him. Maybe something is wrong with me, but I spent my entire life avoiding people who were like Myles. Someone who towered over me. Someone big and muscular. Tattooed. Intimidating. Someone who was clearly on the wrong side of the tracks.
I didn't come from a wealthy family, but my parents brought in a good income. Living in Detroit most of my childhood, where crimes happened daily, they always encouraged me to stay safe and recognize the potential for danger before I ever stepped into a situation. Myles had the potential.
But right now, with attention only on me, I didn't feel scared because in the two encounters I had with him, he helped me both times.
There was a sudden, hard knock on the office door, and I lurched in my spot.
Blinking back to reality, I glanced at the door and sighed in relief when I saw it still closed. Myles was already moving away from me, ripping the door off its hinges before impatiently barking, "What?"
The person on the opposite side seemed used to his short temper. "Your two-p.m. slot's here."
"And he's fucking early. He can wait."
I kept my grimace at bay. I wasn't shy at swearing, but Myles seemed to do it after every other sentence. "I'll go. I have class in an hour anyways," I admitted, quickly finishing the cup of water before throwing it in the recycling next to the water dispenser. When I turned to Myles again, I smiled when I saw his eyes already on me.
Stopping in front of him, I asked, "What time is it exactly?"
He made a frustrated sound but he still shoved a hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. The moment the screen lit up and unlocked, I snatched it from his hand.
"What the fuck?" I heard him growl, but he didn't try to take it out of my grip.
Fearful he was going to take the phone too soon, I looked for his contacts list and was immediately stunned when there wasn't anyone saved. Questions were on the tip of my tongue, but I showed restraint. I added a new contact: me.
"What are you doing?" He demanded, but it didn't sound as aggressive as I assumed it would.
Saving my information, I turned off the phone and handed it back to him. "My name is Althea, by the way," I introduced with a chirp. Ignoring his question felt good.
Surprisingly, he didn't make a move to delete me from his contacts. Although, he did glower before grumbling, "Myles."
"Now we're fully introduced," I grinned before skipping to the exit, only to notice the doorway empty. I hadn't even realized the speaker left.
With a short wave, I offered him a smile before stepping out of the office—but not before shouting, "Don't be a stranger!"
I left the tattoo parlour feeling better than I did when I entered.
───⋅☾ ☽⋅───
happy Friday loves!
anotha day anotha chapter
I'm getting close to my exams
so that means I start to breathe
easier soon :') hopefully that also
means I can write some chapters
wishing you the best weekend x