Children of Fire (Complete)

twelve

Emerson

I found myself completely captivated by the man sitting next to me on my couch. He was relaxed, almost melting into the cushions, with one of his muscular legs resting precariously on top of my coffee table. He was mumbling into his phone, a hand running through his hair. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be listening in on his conversation or not, but it didn't matter, I was too distracted to comprehend what was being said only a few inches away from me. My thoughts kept running between Gideon, his gift, and what in the absolute fuck I was doing with my life-- still cozy in the town of Luciana, Texas.

The man next to me had gone out of his way and bought me a plant that he knew brought me comfort, a plant that he knew would make me feel close to my mom, a woman he knew almost nothing about. How could I have ever gotten lucky enough to find someone who would listen to the things I rambled on about? How could I have gotten so lucky as to find this man in a town I didn't belong to, a town that I should have already left, a town that I now had every intention of remaining in.

"Sorry about that," Gideon mumbled sheepishly, turning his attention to me. "Duty calls. Something has come up, as usual. I've got to get out of here, but I'll see you around, yeah?"

I let my eyes rake over him again, taking in his strong physique, admiring the way his eyes seemed to soften when they landed on me. I nodded my head before responding, "That's alright, and yeah, I'll see you around. I'll walk you out." I told him, standing up and smoothing down the hem of my old t shirt. He stood up and strode towards the door, smiling down on me before he exited my apartment, leaving behind the scent of his cologne- it smelled musky and woodsy, nice and manly, just the way I liked it.

Since Gideon had woken me up early, I decided to take a nice long nap before I had to wake up and start getting ready for work. It was a dreamless sleep, something that I always tried to appreciate when the time came for me to open my eyes and get back to the real world. The times I got to enjoy a peaceful, relaxing sleep were few and far between, and I always enjoyed them the best. I felt fully rested for the first time in quite a while, and I was looking forward to a normal Tuesday night at the bar, working diligently so that I could make as much money as I could, Tuesday's were usually fairly slow, considering we had a pool tournament.

Once I got to the Hideout, I began opening the bar like I normally would, Linda was nowhere to be seen which I found a bit odd. The building was unlocked, which meant that she had to be around here somewhere.

I continued wiping down the liquor bottles, stocking the beer and ice, and cutting up the few pieces of fruit like I did every night, and glancing over my shoulder every now and then for a sign of the middle aged woman I had grown to like so much, when suddenly a man's gruff voice came from the office, startling me.

"It's nice to finally meet the whore that seems to have captured my sons attention." The voice boomed, I wheeled around searching for the source of the voice that sent shivers down my spine. I had never heard it before, and I could feel my insides churning, turning to ice. Who was this person, why were they in the bar with me, and were we alone? Where was Linda? Had something happened to her? Better yet, was something going to happen to me?

I frantically dove under the beer well for my purse, where was my gun? Why had I let my guard down? This is what I got for becoming comfortable in a new environment. Anything could happen.

Wait a minute? His son's attention? Who was his son? And had he really just called me a whore? Suddenly, I wasn't fearing for my life anymore, I was pissed. My blood was boiling, and I could feel my cheeks flushing out of anger. "I don't know who the fuck you think you're talking to, but I am no one's whore." I seethed, my eyes narrowing as the source of the gruff voice finally made its way into my line of vision.