My Cup of Tea

Luck be a Lady

Released: May 2 | 2018
Edited: May 3 | 2018

"Wait...! Slow down, I can't... breathe...!"

The man who was gripping my wrist tightly turned to face me, finally skidding to a stop with a face that seemed to have realized something and smiled apologetically. His grip loosened and I took that chance to take my wrist away, rubbing circles to the ease pain. He looked away, but I could that sense that he felt guilty about pulling me roughly.

I took this moment to recollect my thoughts, musing the reason why I helped him. Why? I didn't know even know him. But why did I help him? One of the answers was, I couldn't help it. It was a split second decision. Until the voice back again, making me doubt things all over and over again; Are you sure about that? You were frozen still, completely scared. Stop lying to yourself, just to feel good about your choices..., My traitorous mind whispered and I ignored it. I'm no good at rejecting people who needs help and favours. Even those who are bad? Again, traitor. Leaving me in confusion and just in complete uncertainty, once again. I sighed and leaned forward, placing my hand against my knees and took a deep breathe. Just saying the truth.

Let's go back to where it first started.

I was a waitress, I worked in an ordinary cafe as a part time job and thus was ordered to throw a garbage bag outside, behind the building; which where an alleyway resides and a pair of dumpster. It was just one of those days, simple enough. Nothing unordinary. Then there was a man, this man, he was running and out of breath, clearly exhausted. He paused, glanced at me, then towards the opened door which I had just went out of. He had black, raven hair, eyes; jet-black, narrowed and tired. He wore a simple blue jeans, black running shoes and a plain white shirt with blood stains and a green winter jacket with brown fur on the tip of it's hood, despite it being summer. Below his nose was a smudged blood on his skin, I slightly grimaced.

Dangerous, my mind supported.

His eyes glinted, but then hesitation was clear on his expression as it looked pinched and all scrunched up. Until a shout of, "Come back here, you thief!" Which I immediately reacted to, staring at the man in front of me with wide eyes who did exactly the same. He raised a finger to his lips and said, "Be quiet." Then gently placed his hand on my wrist and tugged a few times, telling me to go back inside. Despite this gentle handling, I could tell he was impatient and slightly threatening me from his rigid expression.

I nodded mutely. I was afraid for my life, I didn't know what to do at all, he could possibly have a weapon hidden somewhere. He looked nice and didn't seem like a bad person... even seemed like a victim that had gotten beaten up, but his demeanor was... well, you can't judge a book by it's cover, right? You should've ran. Ignore. With legs slightly trembling, I followed his lead and entered the building once again, but nobody could've have noticed anything when we only had four people who can go into the back room, which is solely for the employees. One was the cashier, the other was the one who makes the drinks and snacks, then me, the waitress, and then the manager.

Unfortunately they were all on the front, serving the customers, with the manager reluctantly covering for me since I had to throw the trash away. How very nice, shouldn't you hurry and go back then? Wouldn't want to trouble them. Quiet. But here I was, in the back room and stuck with the man, who was called a 'thief,' and could possibly kill me anytime. How, did this happen? Everything was quiet for a while, until somebody started to bang and knock on the door numerous times, "Hello? Is anyone there?" It continued for another several minutes until his knocking became significantly louder, and now I was worrying whether the others could hear him. His loud shrieks in addition made it a plenty more worse. "Let me in! I know you're in there!" You should've ran inside and locked the door. You wouldn't have been in this mess.

I tried to take his attention by tugging my wrist, "C-can you take him away? M-my co-workers will hear him!" The man looked down on me and tightened his grip, lips thinned into a line. He was contemplating, "He probably saw me entering the building with you..." He took a deep breathe and looked at me, gauging my expression, "So," Again, he paused and breathed out, "You'll have to run away with me. He didn't see your face, but he knows what your wearing and-" he glanced at my ebony bangs and grimaced, "Got any workers with the same exact hair style and hair color?" I stiffened, already answering his question without saying a word. He gave out a huff of breath and quietly chuckled, "Exactly, now listen. At the count of three, we'll open the door and run, just run." Tell him to go by himself, our shift is over soon. Can't you just pretend like nothing happened? Your co-workers will side with you.

No.

I nodded, not knowing what else to do. Because seriously? I'll get in trouble if this continues until one of my co-workers finally notices that something is wrong. Really? Dragging me silently towards the door, he gave me a glance, "Are you quick?" I shook my head. "Damn," He sighed, "Well, get ready either way." He gave a rueful smile and slowly unlocks the door, making sure it's quiet as possible. Then with a tight grip on the doorknob, "Three, two... one." He slams it open, hitting the man on the face, hard, stunning him. The man who was holding my wrist immediately bolted, which ended up pulling me roughly since I couldn't catch up with his speed. Only did we lose him when we turned to a corner and entered a store that sold jewelry out of impulse and panic. There was a guard, but he was sitting there in the corner, staring at us plainly, most especially towards the man's shirt who stood beside me. Zip up his jacket. And I did, the man though gave me a weird look before shrugging without a care.

Gah, why am I acting intimate? I inwardly scolded myself and immediately took a step away from the man. Wow, you finally noticed? Be quiet.

The cashier barely glanced at us before looking away in boredom, tapping on his phone and scrolling away. I narrowed my eyes at his rude attitude, not even greeting us. What a bad service, no wonder they don't sell much- judging from the amount of rings and other jewels they still have. Suddenly angry, I pinched the man's hand who stood beside me painfully, You need to do that a lot more harder darling, I bet it felt like a bite from an ant. It was true. He didn't even wince or gave any slightest reaction, but simply gave me a strange look, "Really?" I looked away, and he pulled me again, leading me back towards the door and he took a peek before walking outside again, "Let's go back to your cafe, your co-workers must be looking for you right now." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Didn't mean to drag you in this. Sorry." Aha, good one. That was a hilarious joke.

Thus, we ran again in a hurry. But I was just tired, "Wait! Slow down, I can't... breathe....!" This all happened in a matter of 2 hours, and my job was already finished half an hour ago, what was the point of going back? I straightened up, staring at the man with frustration, "This is... all... your... fault!" I took another big gulp of air and just, closed my eyes. I felt him staring, and I opened my eyes, glaring in response, "What?" He shrugged and looked uncomfortable, "Sorry, I really didn't mean to." I ignored him, but instead recalled some of his words. 'He said that the man didn't see my face, so I could've just changed my hairstyle, and the clothes are no problem,' I looked at my outfit and quietly sighed in annoyance, 'I was in uniform for my job, not my casual clothes. So I didn't have to get included in the runaway... I could've just changed into my other clothes then!' Genius! Why didn't you think of that? Idiot. Groaning in realization, I covered my face with both of my palms and simply stood there. Knowing that the man is staring holes at me and shifting his feet awkwardly, clearly waiting for me.

Peeking through the holes of my fingers, I gave another sigh. What to do? With  this man, and myself, and my job?