Unlikely Knight

Chapter Four

Tanner and Gwen's tickets for Joust were for later the following week. Gwen magically had the day off and was refusing to answer her phone, no matter what. She'd already decided to go into the city ahead of time to shop for her sister's birthday, so she told Tanner she'd meet at the Joust arena instead of driving up together in his car. She wasn't the type of girl who needed someone to go with her wherever she went. She liked being alone wandering around the city, the freedom to stop where she wanted and see what she wanted. It was fun and put her in a good mood. She even found herself looking forward to spending the evening with Tanner.

She wandered from shop to shop, picking out some things that she thought her sister would like, and it felt like only minutes had passed when she looked at the time and realized that she was going to have to rush if she wanted to make it to the arena on time for the show. Tanner had given her the tickets the day before because he was working all afternoon and would be leaving straight from work. He figured that if traffic kept him a few minutes late, she could go in and wait for him in their seats instead of waiting outside. She hopped on a streetcar to take her across town and rushed the last few blocks, half running to the front doors. A slight chill was in the air, and she zipped up her coat. At the front door, a few people were milling around, and some guy in a black leather jacket with his back towards her who looked like he was having an animated discussion with the person on the other end of the phone. When the guy turned, she had just reached for the door handle on the large glass entrance. Gwen found herself face-to-face with Josh.

Why was he here? 

He held up a finger as if to say don't move as he returned to his conversation. How rude, thought Gwen, but then realized her feet weren't moving from their frozen spot after being so surprised by his appearance.

"Seriously, I have done everything you ask. When is it ever going to be good enough?" He ran his hand through his hair, his voice sounded exasperated, but his eyes flicked with flames. "I have to go."

Who was he talking to? Wondered Gwen.

Josh hung up the phone and shoved it forcefully into his back pocket. "I'm your date," he said and opened the door waiting for Gwen to go through.

"Um, Tanner is probably waiting for me inside. I'm not exactly sure why you're here."

"Tanner's out. I'm in. Let me see the tickets."

"What are you talking about?" She pulled out her phone to see if she had missed any messages – nothing.

"Listen, Tanner doesn't play fair, and I decided that perhaps he needed a lesson to put him back in his place. He's doing a little late-night inventory."

"I have no idea what you are talking about. His bird said happy birthday just the way that she was supposed to. He won fair and square."

"Do I need to spell it out for you?" He paused and sighed heavily. "Are you really that blind? I don't like people being taken advantage of, especially not one as naive as you. Okay, this is what happened. Idiot boy knew the bird could already say happy birthday. Why do you think he picked that to say? Why not hello, or cracker, or some lame thing like that? He took delivery of the bird. Right?"

Gwen nodded slowly, not sure if she should believe the situation.

"He just handed you the bird and not the paperwork that went with it, right?"

"Yes, but, he was just being helpful."

"Or, he just wanted any excuse to get you alone. Like I said, I know that kind of guy, I can smell him from a mile away."

"How did he end up working late? Elizabeth never makes him do that."

"Can't you see that he's sleeping with her? I told her he works late tonight, or I'll let everyone know about their backroom play time."