The Middleman | ongoing

28 | the calm after the storm

28 | the calm after the storm

Song: Mask by Niykee Heaton

Depicted Above: Deepika Padukone as Leia Kar

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We were at a relatively safe distance away from McKay's car, and I found myself releasing a sigh from the pent up anxiety and nervousness that came with pulling off such a stunt.

I don't know if it was really as great as it seemed when McKay was pretty much a dumbfuck.

But I'd take the win.

I adjust my skirt and look over to Quinn. His eyes are glued to the road, determined to put miles of distance between us and McKay.

"Fernando, really?" I interrogate Quinn, humor coating my words and amusement dancing in my eyes. "That was quite the improvisation you pulled off, Carter." I lightly nudge his shoulder but not enough to disrupt Quinn's driving and essentially die a GTA death. "Could've had me fooled, dude. Didn't know you did business for the other company," I attempt to incorporate business themes into my insinuation.

His jaw is still pretty hardset, but the tension in his body soon seems to ease however slightly. "Wow. How long did that one take you to come up with?" He deadpans, but a small smile is flickering at the corner of his lips, not to mention his eyes, which convey emotions of their own.

We come across another red light and halt to a stop. Before I can even wittily retort, Quinn's nabbed some air time to finish whatever he wanted to say. "Leia... did that dude fucking know that you're a high schooler?" Real genuine seriousness seeps back into his tone this time.

It's not just in the way he says it, but in the way his body communicates it—stiff posture, a confused yet thoughtful expression, eyes slightly squinted, and drumming fingers on the steering wheel.

"He never ID'ed me. Whenever I go to Club Titanic, I take that route. Last time, when he pulled me over he probably thought I was headed there. Although I still can't seem to understand how he remembered me. That was a while back..." I ruffle my hair to one side, wondering how the shitface recognized me instantly. Did I leave an impression on him?

Quinn glances to my side and then back to the road, sighing softly.

"Are you... okay?" A few moments of pause take place, and his arm is back on his neck lightly massaging it and then smoothing down his hair. "Like with all that fucked up shit he was saying...?"

He had felt it.

I may have played it cool in front of McKay because no one could rattle me.

But I didn't feel right.

Quinn had noticed. He had observed.

He knew what those lecherous stares at my body had meant to me.

He knew what those words laced with predatism and carnal urge had done to me.

He knew what I had been reduced to even though I had made all the power plays.

Damn him for knowing.