I wake up early in the morning out of habit. My first class of the day does not begin until the afternoon so I do not need to worry about school as much. However, I need to meet up with my parents and Robin soon for breakfast. They chose some crepe place in downtown Los Angeles. I am tempted to sleep in instead of meeting up with them. However, I know my parents might not see me in a while. Thus, I should see them before they leave.
Conscious of my injuries, I decide for black boyfriend ripped jeans, an olive green turtleneck ribbed top, and a bomber jacket. I place one of my watches with the wider band over my wrist. Then, I add on a few bracelets. The accessories almost cover the marks completely. I wear some more bracelets on the other wrist too. The slightest movement of each bracelet chafes against my raw skin, but it's necessary.
I take my car and drive over to the crepe place. I blast some random music on the radio in hopes of drowning out the thoughts in my mind. The crepe place is only ten miles away, but because it's in downtown, traffic doubles the amount of time it takes to get there.
I grow frustrated as I arrive at the location but notice no parking. I end up parking two blocks away in some decent looking alley. I avoid meters because there are never enough quarters that could feed the nasty machine.
The walk to the crepe place is not as bad. Some of the areas of Los Angeles are sketchy looking because of the rundown buildings and homeless roaming around the area. In some ways, Los Angeles reminds me of Rinza and Chicago. I am still not used to all the traffic and the congestion in this city though I do love this city.
Glancing at my watch, I figure I still have an hour of half to explore the city. One great thing about Los Angeles is that there are always many places to explore. A lot of hidden gems are waiting to be founding. Spotting a coffee shop less than a block away from the crepe restaurant, I decide to enter to grab some coffee. The shop is fairly small, but very cute. I scan the various cushioned furniture that look worn but have a homey feel. There are some people sitting and conversing with their coffee mugs. I like the vintage look they have in the shop; it reminds me of those old fashioned jazzy shops because of the light, smooth jazz playing in the background. At the back of the shop, there's a small platform meant for live music. Fliers are hung up on the windows to show the upcoming events here.
"Welcome to Scout Coffee. Have you been here before?" A young lady at the front greets me. Her black hair is cut to her shoulders and I admire the pale blue tips at the ends. The look works for her really well. I glance at her perfect winged eyeliner, accentuating her monolid eyes. For a second, I envy how well she pulls of her edgy, hipster look. Her pale skin brings out the blue in her hair.
"No, I have not. What do you recommend?" I glance at the menu above my head. It's written cutely in white chalk on a blackboard.
"What are you in the mood for? We are known for our coffee, milkshakes, and handmade pastries." I glance at the cute jewelry ring she has for her septum piercing. It's a decorated ring with jewels and looks very stylish.
"I'll go with a regular mocha latte." I hope this shop doesn't make their latte too sweet. "Also, I love your hair. It's very pretty."
"Thank you very much." She smiles at me shyly. She also has a sweet smile, one that reaches her eyes. "For here or to go?"
"I'll have it for here." I smile back at her before heading to a seat near the window. The dark red vintage chair is just as comfortable as it looks. I take a picture with my phone at the store to remember it. As I put it away, I pause as the phone starts vibrating at an incoming call.
The screen reads, "Unknown caller." I freeze at the possibility of the caller being from the men who took me. That's too soon.
Taking a deep breath, I answer the call. "Hello?"
"Naomi." The distorted voice states. I can only guess at who it is since the voice is disguised. "We have a task for you."
"There is a flashdrive within your mother's purse. You will replace it with the one we give you. When it is swapped, you will place it on the table you are at."
I look around at the last statement. I narrow my eyes at everyone around me and wonder who the caller is. He or she must have a good view of me so he could be outside. Immediately, I walk outside the shop and search for the caller.
"The flashdrive you will receive from us is at the meter to your right. If you do not follow our instructions, then someone you know will die. Have a nice day." The caller terminates the call. I do not see anyone out of the ordinary as I scan through the crowd of people around me. The caller could have been the construction worker down the street or the uber driver near me. It could be anyone around me.
I grab onto the meter next to me for support as I feel another panic attack coming. I take deep breathes, trying to soothe my emotions. Closing my eyes, I count slowly to ten in hopes that this technique will work. Eventually, the symptoms die down and I am able to function normally. Walking over to the meter to my right, I feel a deep dread form in my stomach. Part of me hopes this is all a dream and that the call was a figment of my imagination. Upon approaching the meter, I discard that notion.
Inside a plastic bag taped onto the meter, the flashdrive hangs there in all its glory. Stuck on top of the plastic bag, I see my name written on it in all caps. As I reach for it, I stop myself and realize this could be evidence. There is also the chance that the organization behind this is very careful and did not leave any evidence whatsover. Knowing there is barely enough time as it is, I grab the baggy and head to meet with my parents.
On the walk there, I feel suspicious of everyone and everything. I try to calm my nerves once again but cannot shake the feeling someone is watching me. Whenever I get the feeling, I look around and it disappears. Perhaps it is just my overthinking brain. I dread the fact that I need to go behind my own mother's back and do this. I try to think of an alternative choice. There must be one. I know they will kill whoever they choose to without hesitation. I cannot let another person die because of me.
"There you are." My mother spots me as she turns to hug me. "Now we can head in." I glance above at this crepe place. It's very quaint and delicate looking. I admire the assortment of flowers they have arranged at the entrance. There's a line of people waiting outside, so I can tell it's a popular place to eat.
The four of us are seated on the second floor near the terrace. I sit next to Robin across from our parents.
"Hey, you okay?" I glance at Robin and ask softly. There's something off about him. I would not be able to tell appearance-wise. It is more of a gut feeling, perhaps the twin bond. I actually don't believe in the twin bond that people talk about all the time; I think it is just bullshit. However, there are some times where it is the only explanation as to why I sense things from Robin.
"I'm fine. Are you?" He searches my face as he asks the same question.
"I'm better." I reply. Honestly, I am far from good. I have never felt as shitty as I felt right now.
"You sure?" He asks skeptically.
"Are you sure?" I ask, just as skeptical. I emphasize and shoot the question right back at him.
"We can talk about it later." He pauses a little long before answering. His facial features show nothing as I try to read off his expressions.
"Fine." I glance back up at my parents, who are in their own lovey-dovey world. At least, that's what I thought they were until my father asks in a casual tone, "What are you two whispering about?"
For my father, there never seems to be a casual question. That is what I noticed throughout the years. He and my mother are so aware of others and can pick up little expressions like naturals.
"It's nothing." Robin and I say at the same time, which further incriminates us.
"Alright." My dad shrugs before lighting up at the sight of the waitress with our food. He almost beams as the plate is placed in front of him.
"Delicious." My dad sighs in content at the first bite. He scoops the whip cream and licks it in an upbeat manner.
"I married a weirdo." My mother shakes her head and laughs.
"I'm not as weird as you." My father takes a bite at the strawberry on my mother's fork.
"Whatever you say." My mother smiles in an amused manner.
The rest of the brunch continues in a light manner as opposed to the somber mood from yesterday. The brunch consists of my parents teasing each other and then teasing Robin or me. My parents really brighten the mood up naturally. I guess they want to leave on a good note. Thinking about them leaving, I feel saddened since it really reminds me of how shit everything has become. When we finish, I head to the restroom with my mother.
"Are you okay?" My mother looks at me worriedly. "You were a little quiet today, more so than Robin."
"I just have a lot on my mind. It's been a rough few days. I'll be fine." I give her a small smile.
"If you want, I can stay a little longer with you. We can have some quality mother-daughter time. Maybe we can have some wine and watch movies. I feel like we haven't had some quality time in a long time." She hugs me affectionately as she says this.
"I mean we had that training quality time." I joke half-heartedly.
"It isn't the same." She smiles. She places her purse on the side as she washes her hands. "Oops, I left my jacket in the stall." She walks over to the stall and I realize this is the perfect opportunity to switch the flashdrives.
I hesitate. This is my own mother that I'm stabbing behind her back. I stare at her opened purse and realize the window of opportunity is closing in seconds. Do I want to do this? My heart thumps as I see the bathroom stall open once more. I grow angry at myself for succumbing to the other person's demands so easily. I am not going to break my own mother's trust in me. I will not let someone else control my life. I can make my own decisions. I can protect my friends and families.
I clench the flashdrive they gave me in my hand and stare at the nasty thing. I put it back into my pocket and look at my mother. She stares at me obliviously.
We meet Robin and my father outside the restaurant. "We are heading straight to the airport. Your uncle flew his private jet over." My mother states as she almost tears up.
"Aww mom, why are you getting so emotional?" Robin frowns at her and hugs her tightly. Robin is more than a head taller than my mom already, something that is always strange when I notice it.
"I hate leaving you two. I never know when I'll see you guys again." She frowns with sad eyes. She pulls me into the hug with Robin as she squeezes us very tightly. I experience how strong she is once again as she does this. "You two better call me at least once a week."
"Yes, mom." I smile at her fierceness. "No need to be melodramatic. We are literally a call away. Plus, Leo's got that jet of his." I reassure her even though she always worries so much.
"Bye dad." I hug him tightly.
"Bye sweetie. Make sure you take of that troublemaking brother of yours." My father whispers in my ear as he lifts me up.
"Da-ad!" I almost shriek in surprise. "Put me down!" He laughs at my reaction as he swings me around in a circle. His blue eyes brighten enthusiastically as his laugh wrinkles pop out.
"I'm going to miss my little princess." He gives me one big bear hug before letting go. "Can I have a kiss before I go?" He points to his cheek. He has a little gray hairs growing out, so I know it's going to be a prickly peck.
"You almost crushed my ribs." I pout. "Dad, I'm a grown woman now. You should also shave your face." I roll my eyes at him before I give him a little peck.
"Your ma likes this look on me. I think the hair gives me the "rugged, sexy look" that is trending right now." He rubs his cheek against my mom's cheek, knowing she won't like it. The last time my dad grew out his gnarly beard, my mom refused to kiss him until he shaved the damn thing. He said he wanted to grow it out for no-shave November. Honestly, he just wanted to be able to see if he could braid his beard. I sometimes forget how weird my dad can be.
Then again, who else did I inherit this weirdness from?
"Jacob!" She says in surprise. "Stop it."
"Yes ma'am." He salutes as a joke.
"Sometimes, I feel like I'm the only one who's mature in this family." Robin grumbles as he stares at our parents.
"Stop hiding that jokester within you. We know it's there." My dad grabs Robin's cap and ruffles Robin's hair. Robin lets out a string of complaints as he tries to fix it.
"Dad, don't bother Rob. He's too cool for us." I push Rob playfully to the side. He rolls his eyes and shoves me back.
"We should hurry though." My mother glances at her watch.
"Love you!" She raises her voice cheerfully as she grabs my father by his arm. She pulls him after her and I laugh at the sight. My father protests a little bit as he says, "I haven't got my kiss from my beloved son!" Then, he turns around and plants a kiss on her lips before walking beside her.
"I don't get it." I cock my head at my loving parents. "How can they be so gross but also so dangerous?"
"Me either." Robin agrees seriously with me. "I'll never understand anyone in this family."
We stand there watching our parents leave.
"Are you in a rush to get back?" I start walking towards my car with him.
"Nope."
"Okay."
There's a small silence between us before we both say, "I have something to say."
"No, you first-" We stare at each other.
"You go first." I tell him.
"Anthony's death and Sebastian's attack was my fault." He sighs. We stop walking as he says this.
"You shouldn't blame yourself for the accident. You didn't kill Anthony. The son of a bitches who pulled the trigger did it." I reason with him. I may be a hypocrite in saying this because I've been putting the blame of everything wrong about my life on me.
"NO, you don't understand. The reason why they pulled the trigger in the first place was because of me!" Robin gets a little angry. I'm a little surprised at his outburst since he rarely has outbursts.
"Fine. Explain then! You don't need to shout at me!" I raise my voice at him. We get some strange looks from bystanders so we end up walking into an alley to talk.
"Sorry." Robin apologizes immediately. "I just...I caused it. It's a long story." Robin takes a deep breath. I can feel that he wants to tell me. He wants to get rid of the burden and finally tell someone.
"I got a call a week before Anthony died. It was an unknown caller with a disguised voice. Immediately, i tried tracing the call because it was sketchy. The caller made one demand. He said that I needed to plant something they gave me inside dad's cell phone. Of course, I wasn't going to do that. It's dad. I'm not going to plant some tracker or listening device in my own dad's phone. I said I wasn't going to do it, but they threatened me. They said that if I didn't comply with their demand, someone I knew was going to die." He looks up at me with a sad expression. I can tell he blames it all on himself.
"Rob..." I bring him closer to me and hug him tightly. "You didn't have to shoulder all this alone. I'm here for you."
He pulls away to respond to me. "You don't get it. I thought I could handle it. I believed I was able to find them and track them down. Of course, I was wrong. I couldn't get anything off of the call. Not only that, they killed Anthony. Sebastian wasn't even supposed to get hurt. I was trying to disarm the killer and Sebastian just happened to be there. He wasn't supposed to get hurt!" Robin's voice grows louder and stronger. He leans against the wall and takes a deep breath to calm himself. He's furious with himself. He's also ashamed. "How was I supposed to tell you or tell anyone after Anthony died?" He sounds miserable. My heart feels for him.
"You made the right choice. I know how that sounds, but Anthony would have understood. You didn't even know who the victim would be. It wasn't your fault." I lean against the wall beside him. "You need to believe it wasn't your fault. if you had planted the device in dad's phone, then who knows what could have happened. Dad could have died. Now, I'm not saying I'd rather you kill Anthony over Dad. What I am saying is that either way, someone would have died. You couldn't have done anything to prevent that. Yet, next time we will team up to stop it."
"Next time?" He looks at me with a fierce expression. I gulp at what I am about to reveal. Not a day goes by without drama.
"I got a call today." I take a deep breath before telling my story. When I finish, I can tell Robin is doing his best to remain calm. His fingers are digging into his palms as his fists clench up tightly. A vein bulges in his neck as he clenches his jaw tightly.
"Robin..." I glance at him warily. I have only seen him like this a few time. Robin is the type to hold in his emotions and some might even say he's shy on the outside. He's very quiet and closed unless he's with close family and friends. With me, he's very mischievous and dorky. He's also fiercely protective of me and just everyone he's close to. The last time I saw him this enraged was when Robin and I were almost mugged in the Bronx. That's a story for another time.
"Robin!" I snap at him. "I didn't follow through, but what am I going to do? I want to buy time because they will notice if I don't hand them the flashdrive to the coffee shop."
Robin is silent for a little bit. "I have an idea."
He takes out his laptop from his bag and opens it. "Flashdrive." He opens his palm for it. Then, he plugs it into his laptop.
"Wait, what if there are viruses..." I am about to stop him but he has it plugged in already.
"It does." He narrows his eyes at the screen. "I'm looking at its code and it's bypassed three security stages. It didn't get past the fourth or fifth stage." His lips turn up a little at the corner.
"There isn't much to the drive besides reading the information and sending it to whoever it needs..." He stares intensely at the screen before looking up. "I can set it up so it looks like you managed to swap mom's flashdrive. Then, I can send them a false backup from this flashdrive as if mom has plugged in this flashdrive. First, I'll make fake data so it seems like it is mom's." He says as he types furiously. "This might take a while."
In Robin's terms, it means it'll take twenty minutes tops. "Well, hurry because my class starts soon and we need to drop this flashdrive off."
"I can make the second data after because I doubt mom would use the flashdrive until later. That one is tricky because I have to make up a lot more bullshit." He mumbles more to himself than me. I sit next to him and watch as he does all this in hopes of learning it. There are a lot of parts where he does so quickly that I miss them. There's also the fact he uses a lot of shortcuts and advanced programming language that I have not learned. I get lost in the language as he codes rapidly.
"Done."
"Done?"
"Yeah." He hands me the flashdrive.
"Will this work?" Doubt lines my stomach as I stare it at the small, black flashdrive.
"I can only make it foolproof to a certain extent." Robin shuts his computer and puts it away.
"Until then, let's protect our friends. Shall we?" I stand up and offer him a helping hand.
"We shall." He grabs my hand and follows me out of the alley.
___________
A/N
Another one :)
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