If there were any good things about our country, we typically had good weather. I'm not just talking about good temperatures and sunny days; I'm talking about the beautiful skies that were painted for us to admire. Today's sky was filled with puffy clouds that occasionally hid the sun and gave us a nice breeze. We were walking across the street as I marveled at the beautiful sky.
What? Just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I can't appreciate nature's beautiful artwork.
"I'm hungry," Xavian complained from the back seat, rubbing his stomach. "Can we get some food?"
Emily and I shared a laugh. Turning around, he was making a pitiful face as if he really had to go to the bathroom. "What do you want to eat?"
"Pizza."
There was no hesitation in his answer. I turned to Emily. "Is that okay with you?"
"I'm hungry, too," she replied. "Pizza sounds great."
"Sounds good to me," I stated as I cranked the engine and started to pull out of the parking lot. "Does anyone know any good places?"
Nobody answered for a couple of seconds. Xavian pulled out his phone. "I'll look."
I turned north and drove further toward downtown Fera. After a minute, I glanced at him through the rearview mirror. "Find anything?"
"Uh, I think so. There's this restaurant that's only a few minutes down the road that looks pretty good."
"Lead me there."
"All you have to do is stay on this road and turn right on sixteenth," he said. "It's about a block down the road."
I drove until finding the street I needed to turn on and did what Xavian directed. About a block down was an attractive pizza shop that advertised its homemade and hand-tossed pizzas. It made my stomach rumble.
Turning off the ignition, I stepped out and helped Emily from her seat, much to her gratefulness. We walked into the store and waited to be sat by the host, who was walking out of the kitchen. He greeted us with a pleasant smile.
"Good afternoon! Just the three of you today?"
"Yes," Xavian answered.
The host, who looked no older than us, marked a table on a chart and looked up at us. "Right this way."
He led us to a booth not far from the front doors which had a great view of the pretty weather. After setting down the menus, he told us the waitress would be with us shortly. Emily and I sat next to each other, and I was surprised that Xavian didn't comment on it.
I scanned through the menu. Besides the obvious and endless choice of pizza, they offered a variety of pasta, salads, and a few sandwich options. A few dishes had pictures to advertise what they looked like, and I couldn't settle on one thing. Was I in the mood for a pepperoni and sausage pizza, or did I want pasta? There was a salad dish that looked appetizing as well.
Our waitress came after a minute, and she was a short, darker-skinned girl who looked to be in her early to mid-twenties. "Hey guys! My name is Jordan. How are we today?"
"Good," Emily answered with a kind smile. "How's your day been?"
Jordan seemed taken aback by her question. "My day is fine. Thank you for asking. Not a lot of people take the time out of their day to ask about my day."
I chuckled. "I understand. People are self-centered these days."
"Enough about me, though," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "What can I get you to drink?"
"I'll just do water," Emily answered.
"Lemonade," I said.
Xavian couldn't make eye contact for some reason. "Um, I'll do a lemonade, too."
Jordan gave us another smile. "I'll be right back with those."
After walking away, I looked at Xavian with confusion. He was wide-eyed and acting nervous, which was severely out of character. "What was that about?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, clearly trying to play it off.
"That wasn't like you," I answered. "You were acting nervous around her. Where's the confident and extroverted Xavian that I grew up with?"
Xavian started stuttering over his words, which answered my question. I leaned in and slyly smirked at him. "You like her, don't you?"
His eyes widened and frantically looked around to see if she was anywhere in our vicinity. "Shut the hell up! I do not!"
"It's painfully obvious," Emily added with a chuckle. "Your face is beet red. It's nothing to be ashamed of, though. Why don't you ask for her number before we leave?"
I nodded. "Yeah, we're just messing with you. You, of all people, should be able to ask for a girl's number."
His expression momentarily tensed as Jordan came back with our drinks. She set them in front of us and handed out a few straws. "Here you go. Are we ready to order, or do we still need a couple of minutes?"
I glanced at Emily and Xavian and nodded. "I think we're ready."
"Okay! I'll start with the lady."
Emily pointed to a salad dish on the menu. "I'll do this chicken salad with ranch, please."
"Sounds good," Jordan answered, scribbling in her book before turning to me. "For you?"
"I'll do the shrimp pasta."
After writing down the order, her attention was turned to Xavian, who was sitting nervously in his chair. "For you, sir?"
"U-Um, I'll do a pizza."
Jordan gave him a confused gaze. "O-Okay. Which one?"
"A pepperoni pizza."
"Just pepperoni?" she questioned.
"Yes."
I tried to contain my laughter as Jordan turned back to us, ignoring Xavian's glare. "Anything else I can get?"
"Nope, we're good," I stated.
"I'll get that started for you."
As she walked away, the laughter I was holding back erupted. Emily couldn't help but join in as well. Xavian groaned and slumped back in the booth. He threw his arms up in frustration.
"I don't know what's wrong with me."
"You're good, bro," I reassured. "It's not like I'd do any better. I'm as introverted as they come."
I felt Emily glance at me, but she kept quiet. Xavian shook his head. "I'm not going to do it. I can't."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I can't ask for her number. She's too pretty, and I'm just...me."
Emily leaned forward. "Xavian, what's going on? This is so out of character for you. I've always known you as a confident and nonchalant kind of guy. What is it about this girl that's made you like this?"
"I don't know," he responded with discouragement. "I want to ask for her number and get to know her more, but something tells me she'll turn me down. She seems like a nice girl."
"I'm sure she is, but you can't let fear control your actions too much," Emily implied. "If you don't do it, are you going to regret it later?"
I nodded silently. Xavian pursed his lips. "That's what I was just thinking about. I feel like I will."
"Then grow a pair and ask her."
Sipping on my drink, I shrugged. "She's right. I'd rather be rejected than move forward not knowing the answer."
"What if she laughs at me? What if she has a boyfriend?"
"It's better than nothing, isn't it?" I questioned him. "And you'll have that answer if you just ask her."
He sighed and nodded. "You're right. I can do this. I'm not going to let a girl get the better of me. If she says no, so be it."
"You never know," Emily noted. "She could say yes."
He shrugged. "I guess."
Small talk followed until our food came a few minutes later. Emily's salad was a large portion of the greens and vegetables with a sliced piece of grilled chicken and two portions of ranch in small ramekins. Xavian's pepperoni pizza looked appetizing as well, fresh out of the oven to where it's still sizzling on top. Looking at it made my mouth water. My pasta came in a large bowl that had fettuccine noodles and broccoli drenched in sauce and topped with a healthy amount of grilled shrimp. A piece of garlic bread was also provided.
"Everything looks okay?" Jordan asked.
"It looks great," Emily said, mixing her ranch with her salad. "Thank you."
"Enjoy, guys," she said before walking away.
We silently enjoyed a few bites of our meal before I figured it was time to talk about what was stuck in my head. "Does anyone have any thoughts about the tour?"
A few seconds passed before Emily sighed and glanced at me. "I know we talked about this, but I still feel strange about Nicole."
"What about her?" Xavian asked with a frown.
She shook her head as if she was trying to figure out what she wanted to say. "I-I don't know. Something about her seemed off to me and I can't figure out what it is."
"I didn't notice anything weird about her, but..." Xavian mumbled, chewing on a slice of pizza. "Now that you mention it, she seemed strange. It was like she was jumpy."
"Maybe she's an anxious person," I suggested thoughtfully. "I can be like that, too."
Emily nervously bit her lip. "Maybe. It was like she didn't want to be there. Like she was forced to."
I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at my pasta, twirling some noodles around my fork. What about Nicole stood out to me? I didn't notice anything blatant up front, but the more I thought about it, Emily was right. She seemed like she was scared of something, but what was it?
"What about our plan tonight?" Xavian questioned, leaning in and lowering his voice to avoid eavesdroppers. "What stood out?"
"It seems like the building is divided into three floors," I started. "The first floor is a lot of public stuff, so it's unlikely that anything important would be stored there."
Emily made an agreeing noise as she took a bite of her salad. I continued. "The second floor holds a lot of the offices and workspaces. The only floor we didn't see was the basement. That has to be where we need to go."
"How do we get there, though?" Xavian asked.
Nobody answered his question. I took another bite of my shrimp before Emily spoke. "Were there any windows near the elevator and stairs?"
"Yeah, but are you willing to risk that much noise?" I asked.
"No, but we could use it as a distraction for whatever plan we decide to do."
I finished chewing my next bite. "That'll only cause more chaos than necessary. If we break into something as big as this, we need as much cover as possible."
Xavian nodded. "The less noise, the better. It might be different if it was just one of us, so it's harder to hide three people rather than one."
"So what can we do?" Emily asked. "We're not getting anywhere."
"Let's try to think outside the box," I proposed and looked at Emily, keeping my voice down. "You and I have abilities that nobody else has. How can we use that to our advantage?"
She looked down in thought for what felt like forever. Her eyes lit up as she looked up at me, presumably coming up with an idea. "This is a stretch, but do you know how to make a tunnel?"
"A tunnel? With my abilities?"
"Yes," she replied, excitement forming in her eyes. "Think about it. The exterior of the building is made of stone, right? That should mean that the basement level is the same. If we can build a tunnel with your ability, then we can use that to get directly outside the basement. You can create an opening in the wall and we'll be inside."
I glanced at Xavian to see if he had any thoughts. He shrugged. "That's probably as discrete as we can be. The only downside is that we have no idea what's down there."
"Knowing our luck, we'll bust the wall down and guards will be waiting for us," I stated half-jokingly.
"I can't think of any better idea," Emily said. "What about you guys?"
I shook my head. "Honestly, no, I can't either."
Xavian didn't argue either. Emily clapped her hands together. "Wonderful. Let's wait until well after dark before doing anything."
Was I able to make a tunnel? I never did anything of the sort before, so I couldn't guarantee not burying me and my friends alive. How would I keep it stable? Would I be able to break the wall without causing too much noise?
We talked freely amongst ourselves before Jordan returned to offer to-go boxes. Xavian didn't see her walk to the table which caused him to jump. I contained my laughter.
After gathering our food, I decided to pay again for Emily, even though she consistently tried to argue that I paid last time. I appreciated the effort, but I tried to reassure her that it wasn't necessary. Jordan handed out the tickets for me and Emily, and Xavian's was separate.
"I can pay for myself, Eli."
"I'm aware," I answered, putting my card on top of the receipt. "I'm just trying to be a gentleman is all."
"Let the man pay, Emily," Xavian declared, flashing me a wink.
She rolled her eyes before putting a hand on my knee. I tried to hide my blush. "I guess I'll let it slide one more time. Thanks, Eli."
I smiled at her. "It's not an issue."
Jordan picked up our tickets before walking away with them while carrying a tray of plates. She skillfully balanced the tray and handed out the plates to another table without dropping them. I didn't need to work in the restaurant industry to know it takes talent and experience to be able to do that.
"She's talented, Xav," I teased. "Jordan seems like a catch."
"I'm thinking about writing my number on the receipt," he implied.
Emily tilted her head. "That's fine. There's nothing wrong with that."
After Jordan returned, she gave us back our cards and wished us a good evening. I saw Xavian printing his number before briskly standing up.
"Let's go before she comes back."
I finished signing my name on the bottom before making our way out of the restaurant. We stopped outside of the car before Emily and I broke out into laughter. Xavian threw his hands up in frustration.
"What's so funny now!?"
"You!" I exclaimed. "I have never seen you so awkward before. You're head over heels for this girl, aren't you?"
His face turned a bright shade of red. "Shut up, Eli. You don't know what you're talking about."
"I think I do," I replied. "I may not be a natural ladies' man as you are, but I know a couple of things about love."
Xavian shook his head. "I'm in the mood for a treat."
"Like what?" Emily asked.
"Ice cream?"
"I'm cool with that," I responded. "I could always go for ice cream. I know a good place not too far from here as long as it's still open. I remember my mom taking me there when I was younger."
BOOM!
A deafeningly loud noise rocked my eardrums. Before I had a chance to react, people in black military-style outfits came out of nowhere, and Xavian's body fell to the ground in front of me. I stared at him in shock.
"Xavian?" I mumbled.
Blood was spilling out of his head. What the fuck just happened? What do I do?
"Don't move!" one of them shouted.
I couldn't even if I wanted to. Xavian continued to lay lifelessly on the ground. "W-What..."
"XAVIAN!" Emily shouted. She lunged to the ground and tried to turn his body to where we could see his face, but one of the men bashed her in the side of the head. She fell unconscious beside him.
I was frozen in complete shock, and before I could speak, I lost consciousness as well.
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