Indebted Love

♡ quinze ♡

"I was very worried about you Jalah," I heard Angel whisper under his breath. He clears his throat as we pull up to our street.

I turn my eyes to him, noting the rough stubble on his chin and the dark circles under his eye starting to form.  He seems more tense than usual, his knuckles bruised but he's wincing less, perhaps ignoring all the pain from his body and stuck on something.

"I'm sorry," I found myself whispering back.

Angel turns off the car in our driveway. He turns to face me.

"I have a tracking device on you." He states, "that's how I - Seth was able to found you."

What the-

"You could've told me where you were and at least have one of my other body guards with you." Angel rambles on, his eyebrows heavily narrowed and he pursed his lips from any saying more.

"You have a tracking device on me?" I question, meeting his stare. "Why?" His eyes are searching for something. Looking all around me, all over my voice. I'm taken back back of how indifferent he's being.

"It's for your own protection my Jalah," Angel replies with a very long exhale and his gaze is soften. "It's for my own sanity too."

It's like he's peeling a version of himself and this one, this one's caring and attentive. There's still anger there, somewhere repressed so deeply that I barely feel his hands gripping my wrist as he leads inside our home. They go to the small of my back as we walk up the stairs.

~○~

Tamrah and I stumble face down into the bed with a very heavy sigh. The walk upstairs always seem so long and heaviy after a dinner.

"I laugh everytime I go to your room," Tamarah says with an afterthought. "We've begged mum and dad for so long for you to have your own room. So I can have some peace and quiet. Your room was so messy and washed down with hand me downs. But look at you now!"

I laugh as I lay on my back. The bed barely creak under my weight. A laughter bellow out of my mouth, ending more of a scoff as I side eye Tamarah.

"I loved my room. It's was good. Me." I say, smiling mischievously. "Are we gonna talk about my room or your date last night."

Tamarah rolls to her back with a ghost smile. He turns her head to look at me with a genuine smile and her eyes lit up.

"Seth is a man ought to be. He's a gentleman and asks all the right questions and is really honest about himself." Tamarah looks away for a second, "his rejection hurts though. It's honest, upfront but it hurts, Jalah."

My heart ache at how much Tamarah is hurting. Her face is full of painful thoughts and she's not meeting my eyes. I place my fingers on top of hers to get her attention. She smiles out of habit, concealing her pain.

"I admire you're confident to ask a man out. Let alone grumpy Seth." I said with humour which earned a chuckle from her. "I admire how you strong you are Tammy-"

"You're also stronger than you think,"

I slowly nod. "Right."

"What did you do at your date and what time did you finish?"

Tamarah took her time answering, removing her hands from mine and sits up. I follow her movements but completely turn my body towards her.

"Well, I finished work around 2:30pm and Seth surprised me with a walk around the city. We went to the museum, had bubble tea cause I always buy one at 3:30, went to a art gallery. We talked and there was some silence- it wasn't as awkward as I thought now but it's still a silence." Tamarah shifts her body towards me. "He took me home to get changed into a gown, I told him I brought but never wore. Seth took me on a last minute limo, when I told him I always wanted go on one my high school ball. We took shots and laughed and pretended to be horny teenagers. His kisses are soft and his touch... his touch feels sooo good."