Chapter Seventeen - Little Old Lady
"Really?" Leroy groaned while waving his arms about in frustration. "Out of all the possible ways you chose to get us back to the city, you picked a bus?"
Jade just mocked him in response.
"Do I have to remind you what happened last time we were on a bus"
"No, no. I'm perfectly fine thank you." She chuckled. "Besides, what's so bad about taking public transport. It's supposed to be one of the ways we can fight 'Global Warming'."
"It's actually called 'Climate Change'".
"It's actually called 'Do I look like I give a rats arse?'" Jade jokingly snapped back, causing Leroy to let out his own chuckle.
"So..." Leroy began in an attempt to change the subject. "...off to the museum then?"
"Yep."
"Going to fine some more clues?"
"That's kind of the plan." She said while raising her eyebrows at his constant questioning.
"Okey dokey."
He seemed nervous for some reason. Jade wondered why that might be.
"Are you alright?"
"What me?" Leroy answered a bit too quickly. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"
"You just seem a bit...rattled, that's all."
"Rattled? Nah...I'm good."
"No, go on. What is it?"
"Seriously I'm fine."
For some reason Jade found that very hard to believe. She could hear a hint of 'fear' in his voice.
"Okay. Maybe I am a little hesitant about this whole plan." Leroy finally admitted. "I mean...what if Hadgrave is still after us, even after all this time?"
"Well, there's only one way to find out." Jade smiled as she stood up to press a little red button, indicating to the driver that she wanted to get off.
"Come on. Our stop." She said as she reached her arm down to pull Leroy off the seat.
"But we're not at the museum yet!" He began to protest.
"That's because we have one more thing we need to do." She replied before she thanked the bus driver and the two of them jumped off the bus.
The door to the small store made a cheerful 'ching' sound as Jade pushed it open. Leroy felt that he had seen this place before but couldn't quite put a finger when. Hold on. Wasn't this the shop that him and Jade crashed into while they were being chased by Hadgraves men a few months back?
It was!
"Excuse me." Jade spoke loudly, trying to get the old woman's (who was quietly sweeping the floor) attention.
The woman just continued to brush the dirt across the floor.
"Uh, hello?"
Still, the woman refused to notice Jade and Leroy's presence.
"Ugh hm!" Jade 'coughed' loudly, startling the old lady.
"Can I help you?" She asked in a quiet and fragile voice.
"Yes..well..no. The thing is...." Jade was trying to come up with the words to tell her without sounding like a complete tearaway. "My name is Jade and this here is Leroy and well...a couple months back we were driving down this road and we....accidentally crashed into your store."
An awkward silence fell across the room as the woman look from Jade to Leroy then back to Jade.
"That was you two?" She suddenly questioned in surprise. "Well then, I best go and apologise to the tattooists 'brat' of a son." She continued to talk to herself.
Both Jade and Leroy let out a nervous laugh as the woman finished chatting to herself and continued to sweep the floor.
"Well are you two okay? That was one heck of a mess you left behind."
"Yeah, you know we are sorry about...well everything really." Leroy decided to join in.
"Don't be dear boy. The damaged caused was easily covered by the insurance. Besides, the insurance company gave us more money than it cost to fix the window so we decided to go on a little holiday. You know...just a weekend away but it was still terrific. So suppose I should really be thanking you." The woman laughed.
"Well, glad we were able to help." He chuckled.
"So." The woman continued, hands on hips. "Is there something else?"
"Yes there is." Jade began as she took a step forward. "We actually came here because we, or well I thought that considering we caused the damage, we should pa-"
"No."
"No?"
"Of course not sweetheart. Like I said before, the insurance took care of all that. The fact that you two came back here to apologise is good enough pay for me." The old lady finished with a smile. "But if you are 'hell-bent' on spending some money, feel free to buy anything that you see." She added, gesturing her hands around the room.
Leroy hardly waited for the woman to finish before running off into the store like a 'giddy' child. All Jade could do was watch and laugh.
"He's a very 'larger than life' character isn't he." Chuckled the woman as she too watched him run circles around the pastry isle.
"He certainly has his quirks." Jade agreed.
"So." The woman began to cheekily grin. "Where did you and your boyfriend meet?"
That question had caught Jade off guard.
"He's not my-" Before finishing her sentence, Jade thought for a moment. She had spent that last two months trying to explain to everybody they encountered how her and Leroy were not a 'couple'. Perhaps it would be easier to just go along with it for once.
"At a nightclub." Jade finally answered.
"A nightclub?" She laughed to herself. "Well I can't say I'm surprised. Kids seem to meet each other in the most strangest of places these days."
The two of them silently watched Leroy as he continued to look for what to buy.
"You're a smart girl." The woman said out of the blue.
"What makes you say that?"
"I can just tell. You've got your head screwed on real tight." She then turned from watching Leroy and faced Jade with a smile. "He's lucky to have you."
"The feeling's mutual." Jade grinned back.
"Okay, I've got what I want." Leroy cheered as he came bounding towards Jade.
Looking down at his hands, Jade noticed a bag full of doughnuts.
"Really?" She chuckled.
"What? I'm hungry." Leroy told her as the old woman also began to chuckle. "How much do I owe you?" He asked her.
"They're on the house. It's just a bag of doughnuts." The lady replied.
Saying their thanks and goodbyes. The two of them headed out of the shop and began to walk to their destination.
The museum.