Hey, Stranger [CONSTRUCTION]

Chapter 4 : Our Unusual, Usual Day

Anthony's POV
I've been swamped with work for the past 3 weeks. Opening up a new bakery on the busiest street of Harlem isn't as easy as I thought it would be. Why is this Bushwick-born boy struggling in the city?

Jasmine's been my rock. She decided to work as Head of Management at El Sueñito. All she has to do is give out tasks to the GMs to divvy out and then complete what she wants. She loves it because she still gets hand-on work while I love it because she's still in the titled position she deserves. Thankfully, although she hates office jobs, she's been helping out with a lot of behind the scenes stuff and I'm so thankful for that. Here's how our usual day goes:

Jasmine and I would walk up to the door, our hands clasped together as I put the key in and push the door open. Jasmine usually hums.

"I will never get over this smell in the mornings." Her head would be tilted back with her eyes closed and a grin smeared on her face. I always think to myself how I can't believe this girl is mine as she's the most gorgeous woman in the world. Continuing on, we'd open all of the dessert windows, cleaning up the tables and signing into all of the cash registers. By the time we'd finish, we would have half of an hour to relax before we were officially open. I'd make us our daily cup of coffee and take them into Jasmine's office where I had a couch with a pull out bed installed. We'd sit on the couch and drink our coffee, laying down for a bit afterwards to relax with each other.

"This is my favorite part of our mornings..", I'd mumble, pressing kisses to her cheek as she giggled.

"Cause you get cuddles.", she'd respond, caressing my cheek with her hand and gazing into my eyes. It was almost as if we were scripted to say this every morning. Then, after 20 minutes, we'd flip the Open sign and she'd give me a kiss, making her way behind the register. I'd go into my office, shutting my door, and getting some business work done.

So far, our morning was going normally. The walls were quite thin so I could hear the conversations being had out in the community area. I could hear the music Jasmine had been playing, which would always be Jazz or R&B music, and the conversations she'd have, including the men hitting on her. It always bothered me how they felt so comfortable hitting on a stranger, then when turned down disrespecting that same stranger. And they all almost always brought up the same excuse that they didn't want some poor cashier anyways. Little did anyone know, my dream had become making Jasmine the richest woman in the world.

I sigh, sitting back and shutting my eyes for a moment until I heard a scream and a crowd of people frantically yelling and running. Jumping up and grabbing my safety taser, I ran out to the community area. There, the love of my life, the woman I intend to marry, was. She was sitting in a ball in the middle of the room. I saw her eyes, she was pleading for something. I watched her lips.

"Stay there." I sighed. I wanted to save her but I knew that if she was telling me to stay and the shop was clear, something was seriously wrong. I could hear men yelling in the background as I slowly stepped backwards, creeping back into my office and grabbing my gun while pressing the emergency button. I creeped back to the corner, peeking around so that I could see what was going on. No, I thought to myself. My sueñito...robbed? I fired my pistol into the ceiling as 3 or 4 hooded and masked individuals stood around my cash register. Their heads all shoot up out of fear as I rear the corner.

One jumped forwards. landing on top of the woman of my dreams. No! He grabbed her, placing a pistol to her temple.

"One step forward and the pretty lady's dead!", he screamed. I stood still, quickly speaking.

"The emergency alarm has been triggered." They look at each other. "The police will be here within minutes. Just give her to me and you can have whatever you want.", I spoke, placing my gun down and putting my hand forward. The man faced his pistol towards me. I wasn't worried about that, I was watching Jasmine's face, tears streaming down her face as her eyes watched mine. She looked hopeless as he yelled out at his friends. The other two men ran towards the door, barricading it as much as they could. Within minutes we heard sirens.

For hours we sat there with them, Jasmine's mouth covered, my hands tied. With every minute that passed, Jasmine and I signed to each other that we loved each other. I heard the door bang. Again, and again. The emergency button had turned all electricity off, so we were all sweating. One of the men unmasked themselves, queuing the others to do the same.

"Bring us to the big safe and we'll bring you the girl.", the leader said. I stood, walking slowly towards my office. Pulling my keys out of my pocket, I directed them to and opened the safe. There, my entire life's savings sat. They piled $200,000 into the bag they had, going back out front. The police were still banging the doors down. They put the masks back on, untying my hands and ripping the tape off Jasmine's mouth. She immediately stood, running towards me, smiles cascading both of our faces.

BANG

Jasmine's feet stopped moving and her face fell. No... I ran towards her as she fell to the ground, watching the man behind her with his pistol up. He cocked it, holding it back up. My hands squeezed Jasmine's back.

"WHY? Why would you do this! I gave you the money!"

"You saw our faces, what are we supposed to let you give a sketch to the police? Besides, I never said I'd return her alive.", he spoke, shrugging and aiming his gun at me.

"Do it.", I spoke. "I'd rather die a painful death than live without her.", I looked down at Jasmine as she stared up at me, choking on blood. I placed a soft kiss to her lips. "I love you, will you marry me? I do.", I whispered, kissing her once more. A tear slid down her cheek as she smiled lightly. I looked up and sighed, shutting my eyes.

BANG

I opened my eyes out of confusion. The leader fell in front of me, a hole through my door. Police kicked the door down as the other two men surrendered. I looked down at Jasmine, she was leaving me. I did my best to apply pressure to the entry wound, but nothing was working. I felt as her pulse slowly decreased into nothing as I tried to stop the bleeding, pressing kisses to her lips and pleading for her to come back. Paramedics rushed to my side, pulling me off of her. One of them gave me a somber look as they allowed me back to her side. I fell to my knees. That's it...the love of my life, gone forever.

"I love you...", I whispered. "'Til the day I die."