It was around 6pm when you crossed paths with the small man again, in line to buy some ice cream.
He was in front of you, and you decided to strike up another conversation when he reached into his pocket, presumably to pay for the ice cream.
"Don't worry," you said, handing your own debit card over to the ice cream salesman. "I got you covered."
He looked mildly confused, but remained quiet as he backed off and let you pay for him.
The vendor, whose nametag read "Squala" raised an eyebrow him when he took your card. "That'll be $7.58."
Your eye twitched and you grimaced. That was absurd! You could go get an entire tub of ice cream for half of that! This man was obviously trying to rob you. You were about to say something when the little dude spoke up.
"Since when do you work here?" Um, what the heck? Do these two know each other?
The other man ignored the question as he hastily scooped out your ice cream cones and handed them off to the two of you. He handed back your debit card and said "Bye, have a nice day. Bye."
Alright... you thought.
When the both of you had made your way out of the line, he looked at you.
"Why did you do that?"
Because you assaulted his skull with a brightly colored ball when he was just trying to have a quiet walk on the beach?
"Oh, I dunno. You looked kind of sad, and I owed you. And you're also probably really hot under that coat."
Man.
He raised an eyebrow and took a small step backwards. "Oh, uh. Thank you, I guess."
You nervously forced some laughter out and tried to change the subject. "Yeah, so. What brings you here all by yourself anyway?"
He looked away for a moment like you had said something that offended him, and hesitated before answering. "My roommate wanted me out of the apartment today. Even though I'm the only one that pays for it." He shrugged and took a bite right the fuck out of his ice cream.
You narrowed your eyes at the peculiar statement. "What gives them the right to kick you out, then?"
He sighed again and you weren't sure if he was sighing at you or not. It was intimidating as hell, at least for someone his size.
"He's my boss. If he wants me gone, I must be gone."
You narrowed your eyes and nodded. "What do you do for a living, then?" What kind of person lives with their boss?
"That's a bit difficult to explain." he said, looking you dead in the eyes. "Perhaps I should just show you."
You noted the more sinister tone his voice had taken on, and you were starting to get a little weirded out by this guy. All you had meant to do was have a little friendly conversation, but it'd spiraled down into something much darker. You suddenly found yourself unable to speak, mind racing through all of the possible outcomes of this situation.
"What do you say?" The stranger's eyes brightened as if he was smiling at you behind his weird little face thing. You knew then that you would be going with him whether you liked it or not.
"I'll just take that as a yes, then. Follow me." he declared, spinning on his heel to walk back towards the city. "It's in your best interest to do as I say."
