Ache

Ch 5

"I mean can you believe him?!"
The three of them; Reed, Mika and she walked side by side down the lamp lit sidewalk. The two lovers holding hands while she raved and ranted until her cheeks were flushed a brilliant red. Despite the utter indignation she felt towards her sworn enemy/boss/ex/ self-proclaimed ruler and owner of her life she couldn't help but feel her mood lighten just by the sight of her friend chuckling softly beside her.
The usually light brown color of his hair that usually seemed to change between ashy and golden at times now glowed a fiery orange from the street lamps they passed. The delicate silky fringe that fell softly over his eyes when he laughed seemed almost to crackle with flames. Even those eyes of his glowed brilliantly when he looked at her. She smiled trying oh so very hard not to gawk and squeezed his arm.

He really was a sight to behold. 

Like no one she'd ever known or even come across.

Just his presence alone made the events of the day seem trivial.
"If you ask me though it actually seems a bit fun." He chuckled softly.
She snorted. "Yeah right. About as much fun as sawing my arm in half. Loads. I mean he made me clean every square inch of his office... not once but twice after my shift was over. Plenty of "fun" there.And let's not forget that he even used one of those white gloves to double check for dust. And then after he was finally satisfied he made me organize the new shipment of books he'd ordered months ago alphabetically then waited till I was done to tell me to redo it but this time according to genre. And after I'd done every godforsaken thing he'd asked of me he told me to come in early tomorrow morning so I could redo the entire back room organization!"
She practically blew steam from her ears.
Again Mika chuckled softly holding a slender hand to his mouth in an attempt to hide his mirth from her.
"C'mon, it couldn't have been that bad, I'm pretty sure he did end up teaching you something."
She sighed feeling a small smile tug at her mouth despite herself and crossed her arms over her chest. Though she was loathe to admit it, she had to give the dude credit. A jackass? Yes. The bane of her existence? Absolutely. Full of knowledge and experience where and when it counted, especially when the shop came into question?
Without a doubt.

Of course, she would never, ever admit that to his face.

"Yeah... but that's beside the point Mika. You're not looking at the big picture here."
"And that would be?"
She looked up at the looming darkness that was Reed and cringed sheepishly. It was the first time since they'd met earlier that night that he spoke. His voice smooth like silk not only affected Mika but her as well as they both shivered in delight at the sound of it... Mika though might've been shivering for a whole different reason though from the pink flush that crept up his pale slender neck and cheeks. She watched heat fill Reed's eyes but he did nothing else and instead raised a brow her way daring her to say something while a small smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. She opened her mouth, closed it and opened it again yet no words would come out. She settled then for silence feeling her own cheeks burn bright enough to light up the dark night sky.
"So you had to spend well over an extra hour after your intended scheduled time with your ex-boyfriend... what's the issue here?"
She balked. "That's exactly the issue here!"
Reed never smiled. At least never for her, always only for Mika, so when she saw that small hint of a smile tug at his lips she felt the indignation swelling in her chest deflate.
"Is it because you still have feelings of attachment towards him?"
And just like that it was back. She felt all of the blood drain from her face. Aghast. Appalled. Completely flabbergasted was she.
"What?!"
The warm feeling that'd been  growing inside her was suddenly crushed by the icy indignation his words had produced.
"Are you kidding me here?! Feelings?! Me? For him? Ha! Don't make me punch you Reed, that my friend is ANCIENT history."
Reed's words had hurt her pride just a bit. Okay, a whole lot. But she wasn't going to let them get to her. If anything all she wanted to do that night was hang out with the two people she cared about most in the world and forget about the events of the day. So instead of taking his words to heart she decided to play along, then again it wouldn't hurt to knock some sense into Reed, even "playing", hitting him would make her feel a lot better. So she did.