Tares City

70. Trouble Rears Its Head Again

NAOMI REID

Sitting comfortably in the backseat, Naomi hums along to the song on the radio softly as Sean drives her to her loft. Avery sat in the passenger seat, the three of them riding in content silence, happy that Avery was finally cleared to go home. 

It had been an entire day since the alleyway incident, and Naomi felt comfortable heading back to her loft. It was early evening now, the sun now beginning to dip out of sight as stores began to close their doors. Having spent the night of the incident at Jensen's and the following day with Avery and Sean at the hospital, she figured any threats related to the incident would be long gone by now. 

She begins saying her goodbyes as her building comes into view, promising to visit Avery the next day. Exiting the vehicle, she gives them a wave before entering the lobby, heading to the mailboxes to check hers. 

"Naomi!" She hears a voice calling her, sighing as she recognizes it could only be one person. 

"Josh, hi," She says politely. "How's everything at the firehouse going?" She adds conversationally as she focuses on her mailbox.

"We need to talk, it's important," Josh says to her in a whisper, looking bothered and impatient.

"What's wrong?" Naomi asks in return, watching him glance around them.

"I want to talk to you in private, let's head up to my place," Josh replies.

"Wow, what's going on?" Naomi asks taking a step back. "What's so important and sensitive that you can't tell me here?"

"Naomi please," Josh sighs, "Look, you... you're not safe." 

"I'm not?"

"It's going to be a long conversation, with long explanations... let's head to my apartment, I'll explain it all." He says to her, moving to grab her hand. 

Naomi glances at him skeptically, quickly trying to think through her situation. Alone with Josh was the last place she wanted to be. Alone with him in his apartment seemed worse, yet she wasn't going to lead him to her place instead.

"You know what, let's head to the café on the corner, they don't close for another hour and you look like you could use some Chamomile tea." She responds smoothly.

"Naomi, I'd rather-"

"Come on, it's not a long walk!" She says cutting him off, walking to the main doors without him. She watches his jaw twitch in annoyance before he follows after her with a heavy sigh. 'One problem averted.' Naomi thinks to herself as she leads them to the café, wondering what would be in store for her. 

~

Entering the cozy establishment, she begins to lead them to a center table, but Josh grabs her hand gently, leading them to a corner booth against the wall instead. With no logical reason to object, Naomi allows it, letting him lead her. Taking the seat where she could see the entire restaurant, Josh sat opposite her. 

He leans in to speak, sighing heavily when a young waitress comes to them. Josh tries to dismiss her but the teenager fires back, letting them know they'd have to leave if they didn't order anything. "I'll have an iced caramel latte," Naomi tells her sweetly, the girl smiling back at her before writing her order down. 

"And you...sir?" She asks with a scowl as she addresses him. 

"Coffee, tall." He replies, the girl walking off without writing it down.