Chapter 12: To Be FriendZoned Or Not To Be FriendZoned? (Part One)
I'm dead.
I'm dead.
I'm dead.
Those two diabolical words repeated over and over again in my head. There was so many things I wanted to do in life. So many places I wanted to go. So many things I wanted to experience, but all the time for those things would be shattered by some ski mask wearing hoodlum whose about forty, probably got kicked out of his mother's basement and roams around parking lots searching for innocent people to seize.
"Move faster!" He demanded, hovering the gun over the register.
"It's locked. The key, it's in the back. I'll get it." Kelly says hurriedly
"No. You think you're so smart, don't ya?" The man mocked through the mask. "While I'm out here waiting, you'll probably be trying to call the cops or something. Not gonna happen."
My heart beat increased as the man snatched Kelly by her light chestnut ponytail.
"Let's go find that key, shall we?" He grinned, one of his teeth stood out from the rest. Gold.
"I hear one sound out here and no one makes it out alive!" He booms, grasping tightly to the girl's ponytail before pushing her forward and the two entered the kitchen.
He was definitely not smart.
A few seconds of waiting until the kitchen doors were completely closed, I made my way to the people huddled together on the tile floor.
"Hurry up, before he gets back. Pass your phone." I whispered to the business woman whose heels had managed to find its way all the way near the trash can when she had lowered to the floor.
As soon as she was about to hand me the phone, the sound of car wheels mentally shocked my spine. If it was a customer we were doomed, the moment that tiny bell rung off above the door.
In a hurry I bolted over to the door. With one high jump I snatched the tiny bell and held it firm in my grasp just as the person opened the bakery door.
"New game of yours?" The familiar voice asked, almost too loud
While the door was still open, I threw the bell into a random shrub nearby.
With a mental sigh of relief I turned around to face the person. Instantly, my plain brown eyes met his sparkling emerald.
Carter
"What's going--"
I covered his mouth when the sound of arguing broke loose in the kitchen.
"Where's the freaking key, girl? Don't test me." The criminal barked
Before I had a chance to explain Carter had already took sight of the people on the floor. Within a second he was gliding over the counter.
"What are you doing? He has a gun!" I yelled whisper, but he just ignored me.
Placing his index finger on his lips, he stiffed himself behind the kitchen door.
This guy was crazy.
"Get behind the counter!" He hissed in a low volume
I did as told and returned to the spot I was in before. The voices were making their way back. The blood in my heart nearly stopped pumping when Kelly was thrown onto me when the kitchen doors opened. Not hard enough for me to fall, but we fell a little onto the counter. The man was furious. At least I think he was, seeing that I couldn't see his face.
"I'm done playing games. Someone's gonna pay." The gun motioned towards me. "One by one. You first."
The metal from the barrel glinted brightly in my eyes like a light at the end of a tunnel. I heard the silent click as the man took the safety off. I stared helplessly at the man who could possibly end my life. His eyes were like a demon's. Fiery and full of hatred. His lips slightly curved up, knowing he had full control of my life. I wanted to run, hide, to wish this was just a dream.
I started to think of all the things I'd leave behind. My family, friends and everyone I loved. My body started to quiver from the pure adrenaline cursing though my veins. My glasses trembled and my hands repeated their action.
A trickle of faith leaped inside me when Carter grabbed onto the man from behind. The man was surprised and foolishly dropped the gun in the process.
"Cerise!" Kelly called out, pulling me to the side before I could possibly get wounded by the evens that were occuring
Carter shoved the man. The impact hard enough to send him flying over the counter. The man scurried up from the tile floor, looking for his weapon that he had dropped. Watching all this was an action packed movie transform into reality. After a second jump over the counter Carter gave the man a powerful punch to the jaw.
The man almost fell back but returned a punch. Kelly and I jumped when we saw the drip of blood beside Carter's mouth, but that didn't stop him. He carried on with the fight, delivering another sharp punch. And this time the man had looked all worn out after a few hits. Carter pressed him onto to the counter, one hand behind the man's back and the man's face on the cold surface. The ski mask had already been removed from the first punch.
The man was anonymous to me. I had never seen him in my life. My age assumption was correct. He did look like he ranged in his late forties and had the lazy gut to prove it.
"Call the cops." Carter said, snapping Kelly and I out of our shock phase.
I rushed over to the group of people who had already gotten off of the floor. The woman was already on her cellphone.
One step ahead of me.
*
The police sirens filled my ear. The black eyed man was tossed in the back of a police car. I watched the car drive off until it was no longer visible.
"I'm so sorry for everything, girls." Rita apologized
"It's okay." I said, waving over to the young boy in the back of her car not too far away opposite a police car.
"No. From now on; You and Kelly are free. At least until I can hire proper security." She sighed
"But are you sure? Devin--" She cut Kelly off
"No buts. I don't want to put your lives in danger and that's final. No work until further notice for you two." And with that she returned to one of the officers that were talking to the business woman customer
"So I guess that means we're fired." Kelly said, letting out a little laugh
"I guess it does." I replied, untieing the apron around me.
"Well I think its time we thanked our hero before they take him." Kelly snickered, pointing over to Carter who was surrounded by the group of elderly women.
I laughed at the two who were tugging st his cheeks like he was some four year old. He was clearly annoyed, but they didn't seem to mind.
"C'mon." Kelly said, pulling me over towards the group. "Okay, ladies. Break it up. He's taken."
The women let out little laughs. You know the elderly kind and left.
"And what do I owe thee for saving me?" Carter asks, rubbing one of his cheeks.
"I'm sure you've helped enough. That's why we came over here. Isn't that right, Cerise?" Kelly elbowed me
"Uh, yeah." I answered with a nervous but calm smile
"It was no problem. That's what heroes do." He playfully flexed his muscle. There was a little mark from the punch beside the tug of his lips that had been treated by the ambulance that was here minutes ago. Barely noticeable now and it made him at least four hundred percent more adorable
"Yeah. Hey, look. A bush. Interesting. ." Kelly pretends to stroke a imaginary goatee before leaving the both of us.
Thank you so much. Because I really wanted to be alone with the guy whose girlfriends wants to drop me in a gallon of toxic waste.
"So.." I trailed on with a bunch of awkwardness
"Are you free tonight?"
My throat becomes dry at that question and my stomach turns into an ocean. A huge treasure
chest just sinks to the bottom into a pit and I really can't answer that.
"I have to go." I never thought I'd be saying those four words to a guy that I'd like since forever right after he asked me out.
"Whoa whoa whoa." He tugged onto my arm just as I was about to leave.
"You have a girlfriend and I really wouldn't feel comfortable going on a date with you. I just don't--" I rambled on
"Wait. You thought I was asking you on a date?" He raised his eyebrows
"Isn't that what 'Are you free tonight?' means?" I asked slowly
What? Correct me if I'm wrong. But I've never been on a date before or even asked out. Or even kissed.
"No. Like I've said a million times." He smirked. "We're partners, remember? "
Oh, right.
"God, we haven't started anything yet." I clutched my heart in a dramatic way
Stupid project
"Calm down. We can start at my place. I'll pick you up?"
"Okay, sure?" I said, almost in a question way
"Great, it's a date." He winked, walking away.
And he left
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