Bands of the Unpaid Dowry

Chapter 8

A bright orange car came to a stop in front of them after they crossed the street. The window to the side of the driver rolled down to reveal a blonde haired man who was grinning with his white teeth on display glinting in the brightness of the sun. Jace who was still holding onto their bags grinned in the same bright manner at the blond who exited the car.

"Yo Jace! I thought you'd been swallowed by the sea." He spoke as he bumped into Jace for a manly hug. The latter tipped his head up in a smug way.

"You wish, Sean. Back in the flesh."

When they pulled back the blond turned to look at Millicent in awe and then back at Jace in question. The young man and his long time friend next to him had never been seen with an African or African American woman beyond business, so he was intrigued, especially after he had received a bizarre request from Jace.

"Sean, this is Millicent. Millicent, Sean." Jace quickly dismissed the look of interest Sean had thrown to him when he had finally realized the woman's presence. Sean slowly released his hand from his khaki pants and extended it to the woman whose dark curly hair beautifully flowed down her back, and Millicent's big doe eyes took in his tall form before gently putting her hand in his.

"Hello Millicent. It's a pleasure to meet you." Millicent shifted on her feet, taking a moment to make out the words from his slur and feeling shy of the curious glance that Jace's friend was giving her.

"It's nice to meet you too." Her voice came out meeker than she would have liked. She felt intimidated by his tall form. This was the first time she was seeing someone with such light blue eyes and she could finally understand the charm behind the sandy blond hair and blue-eyed people and why it was revered. She felt Jace's hand drape around her shoulders and he pulled her in closer to his body warmth to which she glared up at him.

"You do remember the rule, don't you?" She questioned to which he only shrugged and stared at her with a mischievous glint.

"Rule? What rule?"

"Don't get cheeky with me Jace." They heard Sean bark out an abrupt laugh that caused their heads to turn to find him with his head thrown back to accommodate his weirdly loud laughter.

"Dude, we don't need to make a detour to the hospital right?" Millicent felt the immediate loss of the additional heat of Jace's body when he moved to grip the right shoulder of his friend, bringing him down back to sanity. The two battled in their height with Sean only an inch higher than Jace.

"Oh, I like her." Sean grinned in appreciation at the woman who seemed to be able to stand her ground around the almost always demanding Jace. He seemed to be extremely different around Millicent for whatever reason.

"And I like you!" She bounced up in an attempt to catch his gaze. She had taken a liking to the man after she saw his round of spontaneous laughter. He looked like a very laid-back person and she always looked forward to meeting people like that because in her line of work she has seen that they help to eliminate stress wherever they are. Millicent heard Jace clear his throat and shoot her a very strange look almost as if he was chastising her. Before she could understand the gesture, he sharply turned to face Sean who was grinning and pressed his hand into his fluffy and curly hair messing up its arrangement.

"Did you get what I asked you?" He asked Sean in a thick voice and proceeded to put the bags in the trunk that had been opened by Sean. They had stayed down for quite a while chatting and angry drivers who were looking for spaces to park were glaring in quite an obvious way at them.

"Oh! Is this her? Does she know?" But Jace quickly stopped his friend from speaking any further while pushing him into the driver's seat after he opened it for him.