It's Only a Matter of Time

Chapter 9

A/N: So like halfway through the chapter my writing suddenly switched to Nina's POV, and I decided to keep it for a new perspective.

It will be marked by a "Nina's POV".

They must have met before, but Inej didn't remember it.

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Instead of pondering more on that topic, which seemed like it could hide some unpleasant truths - given Inej's past - Ines decided to go distract herself by doing something useful.

She took a spot behind the bar in the corner of the room and started serving drinks to the ever-growing line of customers. As the night progressed, the line just grew, and so did Inej's intrusive thoughts.

"'Not necessarily'".
Kaz's words haunted her, making her mind yearn for answers.

"What did he mean?"

"What did who mean?"

Inej's raised her head from the drink she was mixing and came face to face with Nina, who was leaning against the bar.
"Nina! Sorry, I didn't man to say that out loud. I was just thinking."

Nina smirked. "Of course. Thinking about something so hard you say it out loud. That happens. But honestly, girl. Who were you talking about?"

The drink in Inej's hands suddenly became the most interesting thing in the world. She lowered her head and inspected it, hoping her friend wouldn't notice the blush on her cheeks. Inej's dark skin usual hid the fact that she was blushing, but Nina was one of those people who could tell.
"Kaz Brekker. I was just thinking about a conversation we had earlier today. It was...delightful, but left me with many questions."

Nina raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to no doubt pummel Inej with questions about the 'delightful' conversation she'd had with Kaz, but Inej was saved.

"'Ey you there! I've been waiting for a drink for the past three minutes! 'Urry up and get me it before I die of thirst!"

Inej motioned to the man who had spoken, as if saying "Duty calls", and slipped away from the bar and to the left to fix the drink.

Nina was left to sigh and wait.

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(Nina's POV)

It didn't take long for Inej to return, though she was always called away by customers right when Nina was about to find a juicy piece of information to later gossip about.

By the end of Inej's shift, Nina had gotten only 3 big pieces of information, all about a certain Kaz Brekker.

Kaz was being ridiculously nice to Inej
Every single one of Inej's coworkers was shipping her with Kaz
And 3.) He had said something to Inej, some simple phrase, that had her acting really weird.

The third piece of information took an entire hour to get, but was better than the other two combined. Nina had guessed Inej would be shipped with her boss, given their crazy romantic potential - Nina had an eye for those things.
The fact that Kaz was being nice was worth digging deeper, but maybe later on. Right now, all that mattered was what Brekker had said to Inej.

It hasn't been anything romantic or inappropriate, given the lack of a blush on Inej's dark cheeks, and given Brekker wasn't one to say those things, from what Nina knew of him.

But it also wasn't totally innocent. That fact, at least was certain. Nina had seen her best friend bury a man she'd thought was her friend, and Inej hadn't even shed a tear. The brown-skinned girl wasn't shaken easily. But whatever Kaz had told her had left her confused and unable to focus properly.

Which meant Nina had a secret to seek out.

A/N: Sorry for the shorter chapter
Hope you like how the story's progressing so far.
Comments appreciated!